Stories from Saturday, March 3, 2018

When Wes Blair was hired as Cape Girardeau police chief nearly five years ago, he was impressed with the department’s staff. But the aging, cramped police station didn’t make the same impression. Blair called it “probably the worst building I ever had to work in.”...

The Cape Girardeau SportsPlex is garnering national recognition less than a year after it opened. The 121,000-square-foot complex recently was ranked the top indoor sports facility in the Midwest by Sports Planning Guide. The SportsPlex ranked ahead of several larger arenas and sports facilities in the top-10 list...

A brand-new school building in New Hamburg opened its doors this week, around the bend from the former facility, leaving behind both structural problems and sentimental regard for a building generations of students had attended. The Kelso School District’s new building at 820 Route A will house pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade classes in a 21,000-square-feet facility engineered for 21st century learning, completed within budget, according to a release from superintendent Kimberly Burger...

Ohio River flooding will force motorists to make an 80-mile detour with the closing of the U.S. 51 bridge between Wickliffe, Kentucky, and Cairo, Illinois, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials said Friday. The U.S. 51 Ohio River bridge at Cairo was scheduled to be closed to traffic at 6 p.m. Friday because of flooding on the Kentucky approach levee, Kentucky highway officials said in a news release...

The State of Missouri continues to defend David Robinson's conviction. In a 76-page document, submitted by Attorney General Joshua Hawley and released early Friday evening, the state has asked Missouri's Supreme Court to revise its report from special master judge Darrell Missey to correct "erroneous findings of facts and conclusions" in Robinson's appeal in the 2000 murder case of Sheila Box...

Today in History Today is Saturday, March 3, the 62nd day of 2018. There are 303 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On March 3, 1931, "The Star-Spangled Banner" became the national anthem of the United States as President Herbert Hoover signed a congressional resolution...

Southeast Missouri State University is considering establishing a shuttle bus system to encourage greater student use of parking lots on the perimeter of the campus; the system would also help alleviate traffic congestion in the central portion of the campus...

The school day ends, the classrooms clear out, and Matthew Laudie, 19, goes to work. Laudie is a full-time employee in the maintenance department at Jackson school district, earns benefits, contributes to his pension fund -- but it took a lot of work by a lot of people to bring this about...

The three ducks I have photographed here are a mallard drake and two mallard hens. Mallards can be found year round in most of the United States. Some in the Midwestern U.S. do not migrate at all, but many do. Those that migrate will fly north in late winter and early spring heading back to places in Canada or Alaska to raise their young...

Submitted by Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary Frankie and Rachael are a two-year-old male and female that need to stay together! Very sweet cats! They are available for adoption at Safe Harbor; call (573) 243-9823.

Monday: Sweet 'n sour meatballs with rice or hot chicken salad, peas and carrots, spinach salad, whole-grain bread and mixed fruit dessert or ice cream and cookie. Tuesday: Rotisserie chicken or broccoli cheese soup and 1/2 sandwich, baby baker potatoes, zucchini and tomatoes, whole-grain hot roll and spiced peaches or fruit dump cake...

At the American Council of Engineering Companies of Missouri (ACEC Missouri)'s annual awards banquet Feb. 10, Horner & Shifrin and the City of Cape Girardeau were honored with an Engineering Excellence Award for the South Sprigg Street Bridge Project, according to a city news release...

The following students have been awarded scholarships to attend Southeast Missouri State University for the 2018-2019 academic year. n Abby Buchheit of Perryville, Missouri, has received the University Scholarship and Residence Life Leadership Award. Buchheit is the daughter of William and Suzanna Buchheit of Perryville, Missouri, and will be a 2018 graduate of St. Vincent de Paul High School...

Last week I confessed my number one veggie or fruit was tomatoes. But a real close second happens to be cucumbers. In the summer I probably eat as many cucumbers as I do tomatoes. If I were to ask my dog Dutchess which is her favorite, the answer would be cucumbers by a long shot. I can offer her a slice of apple or a piece of cucumber and she'll go for the cucumber. She will sit and beg for cucumbers, but then she loves turnips as well...

The Nancy Hunter Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution met Jan. 24 at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. The program was "Story of the Underground Railroad" given by Merle Denele. Two new members were inducted, Linda Sue Kemp and Mary Darby...

Kevin and Cindy Lagace of Eagle, Colorado, announce the engagement of their daughter, Addie Marie Lagace, to William Lucas Pecord, both of Vail, Colorado. Pecord is the son of William and Deana Pecord of Thebes, Illinois. Addie is a 2008 graduate of Eagle Valley High School. She is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, California. She is manager and merchandiser for Ptarmigan Sports in Edwards, Colorado...

Mark and Terri Nagel of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Kelli Susanne Nagel, to Luke Andrew Levulis, both of Denver, Colorado. Levulis is the son of Kevin Levulis and Anita Levulis, both of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Kelli graduated with a Master's of International Affairs and Juris Doctorate degrees from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is an attorney in Denver for the state of Colorado...

My! But things move so fast, so quickly, don't they? It seems that daylight savings time just stopped. Now it's almost time to, again, have longer days. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. But I have no choice except to accept it, or try to start a major crusade against it...

Recently, on an episode of The View, Joy Behar caused quite a stir. Vice President Mike Pence had made the comment that when he makes consequential decisions he talks to Jesus and he also said that he sometimes hears responses from Christ. Behar mocked Pence and likened hearing from Jesus to "mental illness."...

Happy birthday to Barbara Owens, Jeff Glassock, Mark Dragoni, David Jirik, Amy Sanders, David Gladwell, Clair Abernathy, Travis McGuire, Karen Whitaker, Stefani Hall, Nancy Hampton, Ashlee Glastetter, Lorene Kinsey, Linda Phillips, Sarah Gordon, Vickie Taylor, Reggie Seyer, Rosemary Ross, Pam Wilson, Charles Hemingway, Jaime Ralph, Marty Moore, Sheila Richardson, Taylor Friga, Louis Bollinger, Danny Lindy, Sam Burnett, Whitney Horrell, Susan Hampton, Margaret Cahill, Charlene Johnson, Norma Mawhinney, Jeannie Chapman, Charlie Ditto, James Haney, Belinda McMurry, Cindy Gadberry, Ken Schlitt, Freddie Wicker, Jim Haney, Mayme Cobb, Ronnie Senciboy, Sheila Gilmer, Martin Scheffer, Melanie Clubb, GP Glueck, Johnny King, Chris Kirn and Brianna Hibdon.. ...

Post 3838 VFW recenlty donated $2,000 to the capital campaign of Adult and Teen Challenge - Mid-America to help in the building of the induction center. Also, Post 3838 Auxiliary donated $500 towards the campaign. Shown from left are Matt Hampton, Carrie Whitsel, Jana Jateff, board member of MATC, Kate Hampton, post commander, Dale Humphries, president of the women’s auxiliary, and Dr. Gary Bridges, chaplain.

A few weeks ago I prepared this recipe column on the theme of easy recipes for our son to make and enjoy. I tried to find recipes that I thought he could manage and get away from fast food and drive-through restaurant dining. My good friend Jim Govreau was quick to tell me that the recipes I chose had way too many ingredients and too many steps of preparation. I guess I was just so optimistic that I overestimated the ability and ingredients on-hand of gentlemen living single...

There is nothing quite as devastating for many older people as having to leave the comfort of home because of poor health or limited mobility. But a new generation of services and technology is making it possible to stay at home longer, safely and happily, experts say...

Days after returning from a trip to Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia to give a speech at the business school, writer and businessman Stan Crader came to the office for an interview with B Magazine. Crader is a humble man, and though he was happy to talk about his new book "STIHL American: Exemplary People -- Extraordinary Times" the Jackson man wanted to make sure this would not be a story that gave him more credit than he deserved. ...

Father God, may your guiding hand of protection be on us as we travel. Amen.

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI n Mariena Carter, 22, of Cape Girardeau was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxictaed at Broadway and Lorimier Street. Arrests n Brenda Talue Hall, 26, of Cairo, Illinois, was arrested on Cape Girardeau warrants for driving on a suspended license, no insurance and improper lane usage...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls: Wednesday n Medical assists were made at 12:54 a.m. on Perry Avenue; 1:04 a.m. on Parksite Drive; 3:15 a.m. on North Silver Springs Road; 11:35 a.m. on Megan Drive; 3:13 p.m. on Independence Street; and 8:05 p.m. on South Hanover Street...

WASHINGTON -- Citing mysterious "health attacks" in Havana, the United States said Friday it was making permanent its withdrawal of 60 percent of its diplomats from Cuba as investigations continue. Last October, the State Department ordered non-essential embassy personnel and the families of all staff to leave Havana, arguing the U.S. ...

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- More than 100 police officers, some heavily armed in camouflage uniforms, searched neighborhoods near Central Michigan University on Friday for a 19-year-old student suspected of killing his parents at a dormitory and then running from campus...

Clinton Wren Jr., 92, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, at his home. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to noon March 10 at Greater Dimension Ministries in Cape Girardeau. Funeral will follow at noon, with the Rev. William Bird officiating. Burial will be at New Lorimier Cemetery in Cape Girardeau...

** Glenn Saupe Glenn E. Saupe, 78, of Shawneetown died Friday, March 2, 2018, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson.

Cora Arlene Mabrey, 75, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, March 2, 2018. She was born June 4, 1942, to John Wesley and Elda Earle Miller. She and Billie Mabrey were married Aug. 17, 1963, at Riverton, Missouri. She was a 1960 graduate of Doniphan (Missouri) High School. She also earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Southeast Missouri State University...

** Pamela Larson Pamela Larson, 66, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018, at her home. Arrangements are by McCombs Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

Dolores Mary Gerhardt, 82, of Cape Girardeau passed away Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, in St. Louis. She was born May 22, 1935, in Cape Girardeau to the late Walter Howard Linebarger and Rose Wissmann Linebarger. She graduated from Southeast Missouri State University and then joined the Navy. While serving in the Navy, she worked in naval intelligence at the Pentagon and held the rank of lieutenant junior grade...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- James "Jim" Henry Chronister, 81, of Chaffee passed away Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, at South Baldwin Regional Medical Center in Foley, Alabama. He was born Oct. 1, 1936, in Toledo, Ohio, to the late Leamon Lee and Louise Campbell Chronister. He and Irmgard Pertl married Feb. 14, 1970, and she preceded him in death Aug. 28, 2003. He and Virginia Lee Harris married October 2016, and she survives of the home...

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso -- Islamic extremists opened fire on the French Embassy and army headquarters in separate attacks in Burkina Faso's capital Friday, killing at least seven soldiers, while eight of the militants were slain, a government official said...

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- One tried his hand at standup comedy. Another wrote a psychological dissertation about loneliness among the elderly. A third, from eastern Siberia, studied economics and wildlife management, and was known to his work colleagues by the unlikely nickname of "Jay Z."...

BEIJING -- China has warned U.S. President Donald Trump's vow to impose high tariffs on steel and aluminum would have a "huge impact" on the global trading order and said Beijing would work with other nations to protect its interests. A Commerce Ministry official said Trump's plan to levy tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum would "seriously damage multilateral trade mechanisms represented by the World Trade Organization and will surely have huge impact on normal international trade order.". ...

ATLANTA -- Georgia lawmakers' decision to punish Delta Air Lines for publicly distancing itself from the National Rifle Association was an extraordinary act of political revenge. By killing a proposed tax break on jet fuel, pro-gun Republicans won a political victory perhaps paying off in the short term, but other companies won't soon forget Georgia allied itself with the NRA over one of its largest private employers, with 33,000 workers statewide...

NEW YORK -- In 1960, black students staged sit-ins forcing Woolworth's to desegregate its lunch counters, and other stores and restaurants followed suit. In 1986, General Motors, Coca-Cola and dozens of other U.S. corporations pulled out of apartheid-era South Africa after years of pressure from activists, college students and investors...

WASHINGTON -- It's taken just two weeks for Washington's immigration battle to fade from blistering to back-burner. Lawmakers now seem likely to do little or nothing this election year on an effort eclipsed by Congress' new focus on guns, bloodied by Senate defeats and relegated to B-level urgency by a Supreme Court ruling...

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's move to impose tariffs on imported steel is meant to protect an industry employing about 140,000 Americans. Yet by raising the price of steel, those same tariffs stand to hurt a far larger group of U.S. workers: the 6.5 million who work in industries that buy steel -- from automakers to aircraft manufacturers to suppliers of building materials...

WASHINGTON -- In his quest to tackle gun violence, President Donald Trump has ricocheted between calling for tougher laws and declaring his fealty to the Second Amendment's right to bear arms, leaving a trail of befuddled lawmakers and advocates in his wake...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Rev. Billy Graham's children remembered "America's Pastor" as a man devoted to spreading the Gospel, living his life at home as he preached it in stadiums, with a personable humility and an unwavering focus on the Bible. As his oldest son told the funeral congregation, "There weren't two Billy Grahams."...

PARKLAND, Fla. -- A sheriff's office captain told deputies to form a perimeter instead of confronting the gunman at a Florida high school where 17 people were killed in a mass shooting, according to documents obtained by the Miami Herald. The newspaper reported late Thursday it had obtained a partial Broward County Sheriff's Office dispatch log, which showed Capt. Jan Jordan gave the order for deputies to establish a perimeter...

ATLANTA -- A Georgia teacher accused of firing a handgun in his classroom had three rifles taken away after setting the family car ablaze at his home two years ago, according to a sheriff's report obtained Friday by The Associated Press. But authorities responsible for protecting his workplace, Dalton High School, say they only learned about this disturbing episode this week...

NEW YORK -- The worst of the nation's nasty flu season is finally over. The season apparently peaked in early February and has been fading since, health officials said Friday. The number of people going to the doctor with symptoms of the flu has continued to decline. Deaths from the flu or pneumonia are going down, too...

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- A central Missouri man has been acquitted of causing the death of a Missouri state trooper in 2015. Jurors in St. Charles County on Friday acquitted 23-year-old Serghei Comerzan of involuntary manslaughter in the August 2015 death of trooper James Bava...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Visitors to the Missouri Capitol will have to weave their way through a construction zone as the 100-year-old building undergoes of major renovation. Crews were erecting metal fences Friday and dumping gravel on the Capitol lawn to serve as a staging area for heavy construction equipment during the project that will last until late 2020...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's governor is facing a showdown with the Legislature over what to do with an unexpected budget windfall. On the table is $80 million, which had been set aside to help fund the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) over the next two years, in case congressional gridlock blocked the state from receiving additional federal funding. A government shutdown in January further endangered the program's future...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Since he was indicted on allegations related to an extramarital affair, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has shifted into attack mode, zeroing in on the St. Louis prosecutor who launched the investigation with comments decried by some critics as politically or racially charged...

There are a lot of discussions taking place right now in Jefferson City about Missouri's energy future. As legislators consider the best path forward, it's critical they have all the facts. For starters, it's important to understand the electric power industry's impact on the U.S. ...

It was prom open house this weekend with about 25 girls coming from around the area to find their perfect prom dress! Though this weekend was their open house , girls can still set up an appointment. Just message us on Facebook or call 660-886-1957 enclosed is a photo that was posted on our Facebook page.https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1941130382572282&id=198792540139417...

Daughter to Cody Wayne and Autumn Rose Clark of Advance, Missouri, Southeast Hospital, 9:01 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. Name, Haddie Faye. Weight, 8 pounds, 5.8 ounces. First child. Mrs. Clark is the former Autumn VanGennip, daughter of Robyn and Scott VanGennip of Advance. She is a dental hygienist at Cross Trails Medical Center. Clark is the son of Penny Zoll of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and Curtis Clark of Puxico, Missouri. He is a seed technician with Monsanto...