Stories from Friday, June 17, 2016

Though we love the new music and support the next generation of Christian singers at every turn, sometimes, don’t you just miss the old Gospel songs we used to hear, the ones we (over 45) know and love? Tonight hear them again at the Heritage Service at Calvary United Pentecostal Church, 581 Broadridge Dr. Jackson, MO 63755. Starting at 7 p.m., everyone is invited for a hand clapping, foot stomping, Gospel Music Celebration!...

Fun begins nightly at 6 p.m. VBS from 6 to 8 p.m. Join us for exciting games, sensational music, great crafts, awesome snacks and exciting Bible adventures. Kids ages 4 to 11 years are invited to attend. On Saturday and Sunday night the VBS Kids take part in a Multi-Media, Live Action Presentation we call KidsPraise. ...

Students in Ms. Miller's Summer School class decided to honor the victims of the Orlando shooting by treating their fellow classmates to a sweet treat and a handwritten letter. On Thursday,students wrote over 100 handwritten letters that contained phrases such as "You are Loved" and "You Matter." On Friday, students handed out cookies, brownies and candy to students, as well as handwritten letters. Our slogan for the day was "spread love, not hate."...

No matter that the Burger King Capahas are undefeated, manager Jess Bolen is unconvinced that he’s seen the team play anywhere close to what its capable of. He was happy with his team’s 9-1 victory over the St. Louis Bulls on Friday night at Capaha Field that brought the Capahas’ record to 5-0, but not satisfied...

Tourism in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, just got a little easier and a lot more endearing, thanks to a new trolley service. The trolley runs from 10 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and hits several wineries and other locations around town...

Republican 8th District congressional candidate Hal Brown wants to scrap the federal income tax, abolish the Internal Revenue Service and implement a “fair tax.” Brown, a Cape Girardeau dermatologist, outlined his views before more than 30 people Thursday at a meeting of the Southeast Missouri Pachyderm Club. The session was held at Dexter Bar-B-Que in Cape Girardeau...

Running water returned to homes in the McClure-East Cape Girardeau, Illinois, water district Thursday afternoon after a major leak that left hundreds of homes without water during the hottest day of the year. The water district had shut off water to every home in the district Thursday morning to contain a leak in McClure ...

Southeast Missouri State University plans to offer a new bachelor’s degree in geographic information science, starting with the 2017 fall semester. Southeast would be the first public university in the state to offer this degree, school officials said...

Levi White collects pool toys Thursday with his brother, Jack, at the Jackson City Swimming Pool. Area temperatures reached 99 degrees Thursday and are expected to cool off into the weekend.

The Cape Girardeau County Commission decided Thursday to patch crumbling steps at the Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau. Commissioners made the decision less than a week after the publication of a Southeast Missourian story about the condition of the steps...

Before the new school year begins in Jackson, all certified teachers in the district will have brand-new Chromebook laptops that run on Google operating systems. Matt Lacy, associate superintendent of curriculum, instruction and human resources, said the decision to buy the 400 machines grew out of the strategic planning process that has been underway in the district for several months...

Two men are accused of chasing a woman through parts of Cape Girardeau and out into the country on Highway 177, reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour and shooting at her vehicle. Police said the men threatened the woman when the chase ended, then retreated when her mother arrived and they realized they were chasing the wrong woman. ...

Today is Friday, June 17, the 169th day of 2016. There are 197 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On June 17, 1775, the Revolutionary War Battle of Bunker Hill resulted in a costly victory for the British, who suffered heavy losses...

O Lord God, thank you for fathers who seek you, our Heavenly Father. Amen.

Though most college students have left campus for the summer, Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus will be buzzing with activity Saturday during the Community Summer Arts Festival. The annual event, which starts at 10 a.m., will have activities and entertainment for all ages. ...

The day after we moved last summer, when both the temperature and humidity might have been in triple digits, our new doorbell rang. There to welcome us, bright and early, holding a plate of warm blueberry muffins, was Mrs. Rueseler, our new next-door neighbor...

Anthony Salazar of Cape Girardeau has been selected to travel with the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps of Dubuque, Iowa. The Cape Girardeau City Council debates whether to adopt licensing requirements for all building-trades contractors in the city, prompting some council members to defend city staff against "blind attacks of innuendo;" the council approves a motion city staff prepare a contractor-licensing ordinance for consideration next month...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Jeffery Pashia, 63, of Perryville died Wednesday, June 15, 2016, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. A private service will be held for the family. Young and Sons Funeral Home in Perryville provided the arrangements...

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio -- Betty Jean Drake McGowan, 81, of Mount Vernon joined her Heavenly Father on Tuesday, June 14, 2016. She passed away peacefully in her son's home in Cape Girardeau. Betty -- "B.J.," as she was known to many -- was born Sept 20, 1934, in Mount Vernon to the late Dr. ...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Georgia M. L'Hote, 96, of Perryville died Wednesday, June 15, 2016, at Independence Care Center. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday and from 6:30 to 11 a.m. Monday, with a recitation of the rosary at 10 a.m., at Young and Sons Funeral Home in Perryville...

Helen M. Feagan, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, June 15, 2016, at Fountainbleau Lodge. There will be no visitation or funeral service. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Theft n Theft was reported in the 1600 block of Jessica Drive. Miscellaneous n A court-order violation was reported in the 600 block of Broadridge Drive. n Keep the peace was requested in the 900 block of Jessica Street...

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls Wednesday: n Medical assists were made at 12:25 a.m. on Morgan Oak Street; 12:41 a.m. on Whitener Street; 12:45 a.m. on Surrey Lane; 5:38 a.m. on Harmony Lane; 12:03 p.m. on Meyer Drive; 8:56 p.m. on Linden Street; and 10:04 p.m. on South Benton Street...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI n A suspect was in custody pending formal charges of driving while intoxicated, displaying plates of another person, driving while revoked, no insurance, failure to drive within a single lane, seat-belt violation and no tail lamps...

Son to Kenneth Stanley and Sara Elizabeth Whited of Perryville, Missouri, Southeast Hospital, 5:26 p.m. Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Name, Gage Alexander. Weight, 6 pounds, 6 ounces. Third child, second son. Mrs. Whited is the former Sara Huber, daughter of Gary Huber and Patricia L. Huber of Perryville...

CAIRO -- Egypt said Thursday it has recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the submerged wreckage of EgyptAir Flight 804, a major breakthrough in the investigation that could help resolve the mystery of why the jetliner plunged into the Mediterranean Sea last month and killed all 66 people aboard...

DOVER, England -- Don't try to talk to Brian Hall about economics, trading blocs or the value of the British pound. He won't listen. There's one factor -- and one factor only -- shaping his view in the June 23 referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union: immigration...

LONDON -- A lawmaker who campaigned for Britain to stay in the European Union was killed Thursday by a gun- and knife-wielding attacker in her small-town constituency, a tragedy that brought the country's fierce, divisive referendum campaign to a shocked standstill...

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. -- An Illinois eighth-grader earned laughs and cheers -- as well as a diploma -- when he graduated from middle school. Jack Aiello, who graduated last week from Thomas Middle School in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, impersonated current and former presidential candidates in a speech to the school's graduating class. ...

As Virginia's only Latino state lawmaker, Alfonso Lopez made it his first order of business to push for a law granting in-state college tuition to immigrants living in the U.S. illegally since childhood. The bill died in committee. So Lopez tried again the next year. And the year after that. Now, in his fifth year in office, Lopez is gearing up for one more attempt in 2017...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- It's an unwritten rule for Florida residents: Keep your kids away from ponds and lakes because alligators are everywhere. But after a gator killed a 2-year-old Nebraska boy at a Walt Disney World resort, attention turned to tourists...

WASHINGTON -- The slaughter in Florida and an attention-grabbing filibuster in the Senate did little to break the election-year stalemate in Congress over guns Thursday, with both sides unwilling to budge and Republicans standing firm against any new legislation opposed by the National Rifle Association...

Offering sympathy but no easy answers, President Barack Obama came Thursday to Orlando to try to console those mourning the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Obama's solemn visit was meant to express solidarity with a grief-stricken community and to show some measure of unity from a political world that largely has used the tragedy to renew its fights over guns and terrorism...

PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia became the first major American city with a soda tax Thursday despite a multimillion-dollar campaign by the beverage industry to block it. The City Council gave final approval to a 1.5 cent-per-ounce tax on sugary and diet beverages...

SANTA FE, N.M. -- Lois Duncan was perhaps best known for her pioneering suspense novels that captivated more than one generation of young readers, including "I Know What You Did Last Summer," which became a movie with a sequel. But the prolific writer of nearly 50 titles also chronicled her deeply personal, decades-long inquiry into the unsolved killing of her daughter in 1989, an experience that led her to counsel other parents whose children's homicides went unsolved...

LOS ANGELES -- "Bridesmaids" was supposed to change the game for the female-driven comedy. But each new movie still is treated like a beta test for the genre, and the next unwitting subjects are "Ghostbusters," out July 15, and "Bad Moms," out July 29...

An extended season at Southeast Missouri State University's third annual River Campus Summer Arts Festival is bringing three productions -- "Always ... Patsy Cline," "Steel Magnolias" and "Honk! Jr." -- to its stages, beginning this week. "We are excited to offer an expanded summer season with something for everyone," Rhonda Weller-Stilson, associate dean and director of the Earl and Margie Holland School of Visual and Performing Arts, said in a news release. ...

Celia Farran will present an "unplugged and barefoot" concert from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Yoga East Healing Arts Studio, 827 Broadway in Cape Girardeau. Her performance is described as a mix of Enya, Joan Baez and Tina Fey -- a combination of silly and sacred entertainment. More information can be found at celiaonline.com/music...

To conclude Summer Jam 2016, Pitter's Cafe and Lounge will host a concert featuring DRIvIN RAIN with special guests Bones And Ammo and Improv of 7 Dying Men at 8 p.m. Saturday at Pitter's, 811 Broadway in Cape Girardeau. The event will cost $5 per person, and attendees must be at least 21 years old...

Tomatoes are looking good! #semoselfie

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri public colleges and universities are set to restructure general education courses to make it easier for students to get credit for classes if they transfer schools...

FLORISSANT, Mo. -- St. Louis County prosecutors have filed child-endangerment charges against the parents of Xavier Robinson, a 3-year-old who was shot in the chest in December in Florissant. Xavier died after being shot by a 15-year-old boy who was visiting Xavier's 16-year-old brother. Prosecutors on Thursday issued charges against Xavier's mother, 37-year-old Semaj Porter, and the father, 36-year-old Shawmane Robinson. Neither suspect is in custody, and police are searching for them...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A man who posted threatening messages against black people on an anonymous social media app during racial protests at the University of Missouri last year has been sentenced to probation. Hunter Park was a Missouri University of Science and Technology student Nov. ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A sweltering heat wave is expanding as temperatures in the Midwest and South approach near record-setting levels in the waning days of spring. The National Weather Service says the number of states under heat advisories nearly doubled Thursday to 12. The affected states are Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Louisiana, Kentucky and Tennessee...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- State health officials have confirmed a seventh case of Zika virus in a Missouri resident who had traveled outside the country. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said a non-pregnant woman who went to the Dominican Republic tested positive for the virus...

HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- A suburban St. Louis man is in custody, accused of groping a woman and running off, only to leave his phone number behind. Twenty-five-year-old Jerome Devaughn Smith of St. Peters, Missouri, is charged with first-degree burglary and sexual abuse. He is jailed on $50,000 bond...

GLADSTONE, Mo. -- A Gladstone man has been charged with chasing a 13-year-old boy with a hatchet Tuesday. The Kansas City Star reports Joseph Havner, 21, is jailed in Clay County, Missouri, on charges of assault and armed criminal action. Court documents state Havner told police the boy had stolen $40 from his home four months earlier. The boy told police Havner chased him, demanded the money and threatened him with a hatchet. The boy said he knew nothing about the $40...

PLATTE CITY, Mo. -- A western Missouri county commission is demanding the county's treasurer personally repay more than $20,000 of public funds lost in an email scam. A letter signed by three Platte County commissioners Tuesday also demands Treasurer Rob Willard pay more than $1,900 in attorney fees and gave him a week to come up with the money, The Kansas City Star reported...

ST. LOUIS -- The lights -- and perhaps more importantly, the air conditioning -- came back on Thursday afternoon in downtown St. Louis after an underground fire knocked out electricity for much of the city's urban center. Crews for Ameren Missouri restored power, but not before several offices and businesses closed for the day, including City Hall, an adjacent building known as City Hall West and the Carnahan courts building...

It's been more than 50 years since Keith Newcomb played baseball at Southeast Missouri State, but the memories haven't faded much. The 74-year-old recalled transferring to Southeast, then Division II and the Indians, and starting out his sophomore season 0-for-22...

ST. LOUIS -- Firefighting's loss is the St. Louis Cardinals' gain. Back in 2012, Brandon Moss seriously pondered a career change because he was stuck in the minors. Finally healthy from hip surgery that robbed him of much of his power, he's become one of the top long-ball threats in the majors with a homer every 11 at-bats...

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues have re-signed forward Dmitrij Jaskin to a two-year contract. The 23-year-old Jaskin had four goals and nine assists in 65 regular season games and in six playoff games had a goal and assist. Born in Russia, he was named to the Czech Republic roster for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey...