Stories from Monday, July 31, 2017

Last week, Marquette TechFest highlighted the finalists for this year's 1st50k competition, in which startups vie for $50,000 in cash grants and other assistance. Of the seven finalists, three were Cape Girardeau- based, but some came from as far as Moscow and Warsaw, Poland...

Across the region, school district strategic plans identify professional development as a key area of growth. For Southeast Regional Professional Development Center officials, that's great news. The center is one of nine regional centers established by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, or DESE. It is going into its 22nd year of serving the region, director Rita Fisher said...

With Peter Cowles' daughter enrolled at Southeast Missouri State University, he soon will move from Tennessee to Cape Girardeau. However, he will be at home for only about six weeks of the year. Cowles spends the rest of his time in the Philippines, where he works as founder and president of Seeds of Dignity Ministries, which helps impoverished Filipinos...

Sale of alcoholic beverages at a Cape Girardeau movie theater won't create a bar atmosphere, an official with the theater's parent corporation said. Marcus Theatres, which owns Cape West Cine, received approval from the Cape Girardeau City Council last week to sell alcohol...

From left, Bev McCann, Jim Sheldon and Rachel Taylor perform Sunday during a gospel concert at Fellowship Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau.

Today in History Today is Monday, July 31, the 212th day of 2017. There are 153 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 31, 1777, during the Revolutionary War, the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the American Continental Army...

Lord God, may we not lean on ourselves but on you and your enduring promises. Amen.

A myriad of thoughts and emotions are encountered whenever the diagnosis is cancer. It's the dreaded "C" word nobody wants to hear, whether personally, friend, family member, neighbor or stranger. Cancer does not discriminate by age, gender, race or occupation...

I wish the home health and cleaning companies would stop the workers from bringing their cell phones in the work area because they spend most of their time on cell phones. I would like to say thank you to the gentleman who paid for several individuals items, including mine at Schnucks on Friday. Thank you again; it was very kind of you and I will pay it forward...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri appellate judges are changing the description of a Missouri referendum aimed at repealing right to work Missouri Western District Court of Appeals judges Friday ruled to switch back to the original summary approved by Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft's office...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Missouri man is accused of injuring a woman critically by purposely dropping an old television set onto her from a third-floor balcony. Jackson County prosecutors charged 36-year-old Otishus Kirkwood of Kansas City, Missouri, with first-degree assault and armed criminal action...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A former student at the University of Missouri's Columbia campus is suing a fraternity, its parent organization and three members over an alleged hazing he said left him with near-fatal alcohol poisoning...

SUNSET HILLS, Mo. -- A suburban St. Louis woman whose water broke during a traffic jam has delivered her third child in a parking lot. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported 31-year-old Katie Gaeta thought she had plenty of time to get to the hospital when contractions began last week. She had been in labor several hours before her older children -- ages 2 and 4 -- were born...

Kenneth Berry Grigsby, 92, passed away peacefully Saturday, July 29, 2017, at the Lutheran Home nursing facility in Cape Girardeau. Mr. Grigsby was born in Hattieville, Arkansas. He was the fourth child of seven born to Walter and Veda (Berry) Grigsby...

Cape Girardeau County Commission 1 Barton Square, Jackson 9 a.m. today Approval of minutes n Minutes of the July 27 meeting Communications/reports -- other elected officials n None at this time Public comments n Items listed on agenda Routine business...

The price of gasoline in Cape Girardeau has dropped below 90 cents a gallon at some service stations. Gasoline prices plummeted to 89.9 cents a gallon at some Cutmart, Kwik Pantry and other stations yesterday, marking the lowest gasoline prices seen here since November 1991...

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- America's top law enforcement officer wandered through a Salvadoran jail, sizing up the tattooed gang members who sat with their backs to him on the concrete floors of their cells. His soft voice was barely audible over the downpour pelting the tin roof as he spoke to the local police...

BOSTON -- A Massachusetts museum's decision to part with 40 artworks, including two by illustrator Norman Rockwell, has touched off a debate over whether it's ethical to sell pieces of the collection to pay the bills. The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield has come under intense national and local pressure after announcing it's auctioning the art...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The only son of Nashville Mayor Megan Barry -- whom her office described as "a kind soul full of life" -- has died of an apparent drug overdose, and she asked for privacy as she and her husband face life "without his laughter and love."...

LEWISTON-WOODVILLE, N.C. -- Tucked in northeastern North Carolina is Bertie County -- a rural, primarily black community in one of the state's poorest areas with many of its fastest-shrinking towns. There are plenty of pothole-marked roads, mobile homes and overgrown lots of weeds and shrubs scattered among fields of tobacco, cotton and sage. But there aren't many stores, banks or other businesses...

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday the United States would have to cut its embassy and consulate staff in Russia by 755 under new sanctions from Moscow. Russian's Foreign Ministry on Friday ordered a reduction by Sept. 1 in the number of U.S. diplomats in Russia. It said it is ordering the U.S. Embassy to limit the number of embassy and consular employees in the country to 455 in response to the U.S. Senate's approval of a new package of sanctions...

ST. LOUIS -- If you plan to livestream next month's solar eclipse from one of the prime viewing spots, here's a thought: Keep your phone in your pocket, put on your paper shades and just enjoy the celestial wonder. The Aug. 21 solar eclipse, when passage of the moon blocks out the sun, will be seen first in Oregon and cut diagonally across 14 states to South Carolina. It will be the first total solar eclipse visible coast-to-coast since 1918...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri's database of banned character combinations on license plates has grown over the past 40 years to include more than 7,000 arrangements of letters and numbers deemed too offensive. State legislators first got involved with personalized license plates in 1977, and the rules for obscene plates have remained the same since 1992, the Springfield News-Leader reported...

WASHINGTON -- Democrat Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election to President Donald Trump, but some Republicans in Congress are intensifying their calls to investigate her and other Obama administration officials. As investigations into Russian meddling and possible links to Trump's campaign have escalated on both sides of the Capitol, some Republicans argue the investigations should have a greater focus on Democrats...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Some Republican Missouri lawmakers are questioning whether their fellow GOP governor has the authority to spend more money than legislators intended on foster-care families. Republican House Budget Committee chairman Scott Fitzpatrick said Republican Gov. Eric Greitens' efforts to increase spending on those families is an "unconstitutional" move by the first-year governor that steps on the toes of legislators, who are responsible for building the state budget...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tianna Rooney already has bought the poster board for the sign she'll wave when the 16-year-old refugee boy her family is taking in arrives in the United States. Rooney knows the exact words of welcome she'll write on it -- in the teenager's native language from the African country of Eritrea...

SEOUL, South Korea -- The United States flew two supersonic bombers over the Korean Peninsula on Sunday in a show of force against North Korea following the country's latest intercontinental ballistic missile test. The U.S. also said it conducted a successful test of a missile-defense system located in Alaska...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelans stayed away from the polls in massive numbers Sunday in a show of protest against a vote to grant President Nicolas Maduro's ruling socialist party virtually unlimited powers in the face of a socio-economic crisis and a grinding battle against its political opponents and groups of alienated and violent young protesters...

LOS ANGELES -- "The Emoji Movie" survived negative reviews but couldn't conquer "Dunkirk," which had enough fight left to conquer the box office for a second weekend in a row. Down only 44 percent from its first weekend, director Christopher Nolan's World War II film earned $28.1 million to take first place, according to studio estimates Sunday. "Dunkirk" has grossed $102.8 million domestically to date...

BLODGETT, Mo. -- Blake Wade of Wade Farms is in his third year of growing watermelons, which are picked by hand and delivered straight to the store for sale to the public. "We provide about 2,000 melons per week to Food Giant stores in Missouri and Tennessee," Wade said. "The watermelons go from the field to the store."...

BARTLETT, Tenn. -- Millions of eyes will be fixed on the sky when a total solar eclipse crosses the U.S. in August, and it's likely many of them will be safely behind the special glasses churned out by a Tennessee company. American Paper Optics ramped up production for this year's eclipse and expects to make 50 million paper and plastic eclipse glasses. John Jerit, the company's CEO and president, said they began preparing about two years ago...

SEATTLE -- Amazon has some job openings. Lots of them. The company last week said it's looking to fill more than 50,000 positions across the U.S. The announcement comes at a time when the labor market is growing tight, with back-to-school and holiday shopping around the corner...

OAK BROOK, Ill. -- McDonald's is trying to modernize its image by rolling out delivery and promising fresh beef in Quarter Pounders. But for now, $1 sodas are helping get people in the door. The company said last week discounted drinks and a new line of pricier burgers helped boost sales in its flagship U.S. market by 3.9 percent at existing locations during the second quarter...

Modern Woodmen Fraternal Financial representative Kelly Darby of Jackson was ranked eigthth in the nation for June for the Monthly Annualized Premium Club, according to a news release from Modern Woodmen. Darby has been with Modern Woodmen since November 2010...

QUEBEC CITY -- There are lucky men; then there's Jules Parent. For the second time in nine years, the 69-year-old Quebec retiree won a million Canadian dollars playing the lottery. He showed up at lottery offices to pick up a check for $1,222,069 after winning an online play worth $3.20. Parent also won $1 million in 2008. He said gambling is one of his favorite pastimes, along with walking, hunting and fishing, and he intends to keep playing. He also plans to build a new home...

CAPE GIRARDEAU The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Two juveniles were taken into custody on suspicion of theft at Walmart, 3439 William St. Assault n Assault was reported at 1 S. Kingshighway...

CAPE GIRARDEAU The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls Saturday. n Medical assists were made at 3:56 p.m. on Timon Way; 5:56 p.m. on Ritter Drive; 6:20 p.m. on Fitzgerald Street; and 8:41 p.m. on William Street. n At 2:01 a.m., a system malfunction on South Sprigg Street...

Timmy Lee Pogue, 58, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, July 30, 2017, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

Joseph F. Lorberg, 78, of Jackson died Saturday, July 29, 2017, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Crain Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

Congratulations to the Leopold R-III Summer School Program for surpassing their goal of completing 100 hours of computer program coding. Summer school students in grades K-8th participated in on-line computer coding activities for a total of 104 hours! These activities were designed to encourage and promote an appreciation and interest in computer science. ...

Free Car Show on September 9 at 9:00 AM at the Jackson City Pool parking lot. No judging or classes – public donates to their car of choice for Best in Show! 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place Trophies Awarded at 2:00 PM. BBQ starting at 10:00 AM – hamburger or hot dog, chips, and drink for $5...