Stories from Friday, March 9, 2018

Instructor of musical theater Joshua Harvey is the man behind the music of Southeast Missouri State University's productions, such as "Mary Poppins," which was the River Campus' most attended musical to date. His role as music director requires him to be a "jack-of-all-trades, master of none," but he is well-studied and -traveled, having earned experiences across the globe...

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) plans to replace the Interstate 55 bridges over Highway 61 between Cape Girardeau and Jackson and redesign the entire interchange, a state highway official said Thursday. The project would eliminate the grassy median at Center Junction, said MoDOT project manager Jason Williams with the agency's Southeast District...

Your weekend forecast is looking artsy with a 100 percent chance of live music, comedy and nature. So grab your friends, some cash -- maybe even an umbrella in case of actual rain -- and get ready to party like it's 2018! Get this weekend's tomfoolery started here:...

The Cape Girardeau County Archive Center in Jackson houses many treasures, and is committing those treasures to microfilm. But to do that takes time, and it takes manpower, said director Steve Pledger, the latter of which is in short supply these days...

Today's Highlight in History: On March 9, 1862, during the Civil War, the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimac) clashed for five hours to a draw at Hampton Roads, Virginia. On this date: In 1661, Cardinal Jules Mazarin, the chief minister of France, died, leaving King Louis XIV in full control...

Congratulations to Caroline Kahler, winner of this year's Otto F. Dingeldein Award from the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri. The Dingeldein Award is given annually to an individual whose artistic achievements have made a considerable contribution to the culture in the region...

A few miscellaneous musings by an old man about guns. Guns are tools just like saws, screwdrivers and hammers are tools. When my wife was very young, there were times when the meat on the dinner table was small game that her brothers had shot. When I was in grade school, my family lived at the end of a gravel road on a hilltop in northeastern Kentucky. Dad kept a rifle and shotgun handy because you never knew what might crawl out of the wood line...

For the purposes of today's discussion, let's agree on two terms. First, let's call traditional, fact-checking, multi-sourced news "mainstream news." Second, let's call the trend to pop news and trivia "la-la news." I don't have any proof to cite, but I would bet that the majority of readers of this column are over 55 and have hair -- if they still have hair -- that matches mine. These are, by and large, consumers of "mainstream news."...

NEW YORK -- The 90th annual Academy Awards were, by any definition, a moment of triumph for Latinos. Guillermo del Toro became the third Mexican-born filmmaker to win best director, and it was his lavish Cold War fantasy "The Shape of Water" crowned best picture. ...

WASHINGTON -- Twitter loves lies. A new study finds false information on the social media network travels six times faster than the truth and reaches far more people. And you can't blame bots; it's us, say the authors of the largest study of online misinformation...

MADRID -- Women across Europe and Asia shouted their demands for equality, respect and empowerment Thursday to mark International Women's Day, with protesters in Spain launching a 24-hour strike and crowds of demonstrators filling the streets of Manila, Seoul and New Delhi...

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- U.S. scientists studying the effects of uranium mining around the Grand Canyon say they are lacking information on whether the radioactive element is hurting plants, animals and a water source for more than 30 million people. And they would not get to fully gather it if President Donald Trump's 2019 budget proposal is approved...

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi lawmakers on Thursday passed what would be the nation's most restrictive abortion law, making the procedure illegal in most cases after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The state's only abortion provider pledged to sue, and the attorney general said he expected a tough legal battle ahead...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Three weeks after the Parkland high school shooting, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has a gun-control bill on his desk challenging the National Rifle Association but falling short of what the Republican and survivors of the massacre demanded...

CUCUTA, Colombia -- In a cramped hospital near Colombia's border with Venezuela, migrants fill stretchers bearing the wounds of the deteriorating nation they left behind. An 18-year-old woman rubbed her swollen belly after fleeing with her infant daughter when the wounds from her C-section began to ooze pus. ...

HATZOR AIR BASE, Israel -- If war breaks out in the Middle East, U.S. and Israeli forces are preparing to one day fight alongside one another to defend Israel against missile attacks from across the region. Nearly 5,000 Israeli and American troops have been training together in Israel for just such a scenario. The "Juniper Cobra" exercise includes field training, computer simulations and live-fire drills of sophisticated missile-defense systems...

BEIRUT -- A second convoy with desperately needed aid for the besieged rebel-held eastern suburbs of Damascus was postponed Thursday because of the violence and a rapidly evolving situation on the ground as Syrian government forces effectively split the eastern Ghouta enclave into two parts...

LONDON -- Nearly two dozen people have received medical treatment after a nerve-agent attack on an ex-Russian spy, British police said Thursday, as the U.K. vowed strong action against whoever was responsible for the "brazen and reckless" act. Three people remain hospitalized after the poisoning Sunday in the southern English city of Salisbury -- former spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter and a British police officer who tried to help them...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Senate approved a bill Thursday to increase the age people are automatically tried as adults from 17 to 18. The Senate voted 31-0 to send the measure to the House. Two senators were not present for the vote. Similar legislation was approved by a House committee last week...

LOS ANGELES -- A broad swath of U.S. industries is unhappy with the tariffs that the Trump administration is imposing on aluminum and steel imports, warning the penalties will jack up costs, raise prices for consumers and potentially put people out of work...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The University of Missouri's medical school is working to make sure students train to be responsible doctors in the face of the nationwide opioid crisis. Lucas Buffaloe is an assistant professor of clinical family and community medicine at the MU School of Medicine. He lectures on opioids, their effects on the brain and how patients develop addictions, the Columbia Missourian reported...

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau is forecast to crest late this week at 36 feet, four feet above flood stage; however, no significant flooding is expected at that level. Cape Girardeau public schools have been designated drug-free and gun-free zones, as part of a citywide effort to curb drug and weapon offenses; the Cape Girardeau Board of Education Monday adopted a formal resolution designating all school properties within 1,000 feet of the schools as drug- and gun-free zones...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri House on Thursday passed legislation to change the rules for lawsuits over asbestos exposure, an effort praised by supporters as a way to stop plaintiffs from being overcompensated but criticized by others as limiting access to justice for those with illnesses such as mesothelioma...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A dying Missouri officer said over the police radio he had been shot multiple times and didn't think he could make it through the window of a home from which two other wounded officers managed to escape. Clinton Officer Christopher Ryan Morton is heard saying "I don't know if I can move my feet" after gunfire erupted Tuesday night when he and the other wounded officers were sent to the wrong house while responding to a 911 call made from another town, according to captured police scanner communications. ...

WASHINGTON, Mo. -- Schools in the eastern Missouri town of Washington were closed Thursday after a school maintenance worker allegedly tried to buy a gun and ammunition while warning of "a lot of shooting." The Washington Missourian reported 33-year-old Thomas Wingfield of Union was charged Thursday with marijuana possession and is jailed...

Southeast's recent production of "Mary Poppins" took the box office by storm, becoming the best-selling musical in the history of the theatre and dance department. "I was surprised at how successful it was, but I'm not surprised it was very successful," director Kenn Stilson said. "[Mary Poppins] is the highest-grossing musical that we have ever produced in the Conservatory of Theatre and Dance. It's even the highest-grossing show that has ever come through the River Campus."...

1. "Black Panther" Black Panther follows T'Challa who, after the events of "Captain America: Civil War," returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to take his place as King. However, when an old enemy reappears on the radar, T'Challa's mettle as King and Black Panther is tested as he is drawn into a conflict that puts the entire fate of Wakanda and the world at risk. ...

Wanda Sue Schwartz, 81, of Scott City died Wednesday, March 7, 2018, at her home. She was born June 17, 1936, in Vanduser, Missouri, to Thomas Jefferson and Myrtle Mae Cruse Jackson. She and William R. Schwartz married Aug. 22, 1975. She was a registered nurse at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau and Chaffee (Missouri) General Hospital...

A caller lamented that Gov. Greitens is the victim of a witch hunt perpetrated by a prosecutor funded by mega donor George Soros. While it is true both political parties are swimming in money from mega donors such as Soros, Rex Sinquefield, and the Koch brothers, the governor has admitted to infidelity. ...

O Father God, may your Holy Spirit guide us in all things. Amen.

NEW YORK -- Bones found in 1940 on a western Pacific Ocean island were quite likely to be remains of famed aviator Amelia Earhart, a new analysis concludes. The study and other evidence "point toward her rather strongly," University of Tennessee anthropologist Richard Jantz said Thursday...

Work to complete street repairs after a recent water main break will close both lanes of Cape Rock Drive between Perryville Road and Bel Air Drive, starting Monday, city officials said. The street closure will start at 7 a.m. While street repairs are being made, sections of Lexington Avenue, which had been closed for a different project, will reopen as a detour route, officials said...

CAPE GIRARDEAU The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Samantha Bowen, 32, of Cape Girardeau was arrested on a Cape Girardeau warrant for improper registration. n Sheldon Wren, 28, of Potosi, Missouri, was arrested on a Cape Girardeau warrant for violating a steady signal...