Stories from Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Old shade trees bordering some Cape Girardeau streets have torn up sidewalks and will be removed as part of street projects that will include replacing some sidewalks, city officials said. The city’s annual asphalt overlay of streets will include new, wider concrete sidewalks in places because federal law requires it, city engineer Casey Brunke said...

Cape Girardeau already has children’s clothing shops, but Once Upon a Child, set to open late next month, takes a different tack. Staff will spend the next five weeks buying gently-used children’s clothing, equipment and toys, said the owners, sisters Marla Teter and Sandy Johnson...

A 29-year-old Cape Girardeau man has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death Monday of a 1-year-old girl. Isaac D. Egbuka also was charged with first-degree domestic assault and two counts of armed criminal action in connection with the incident, according to police...

A 13-month-old girl died at a local hospital after she was bitten by a caregiver's dog Friday on North Hanover Street in Cape Girardeau, police said.

Today is Tuesday, March 13, the 72nd day of 2018. There are 293 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On March 13, 1928, at least 400 people died when the San Francisquito Canyon in Southern California was inundated with water after the nearly two-year-old St. Francis Dam collapsed just before midnight the evening of March 12...

Joy Behar, co-host of ABC's "The View," has reportedly apologized to Vice President Mike Pence for disparaging his Christian faith, equating it with "mental illness." Behar's apology came via a personal telephone call to Pence, during which she apparently acknowledged the error of her ways. Recently, on the television talk show, Behar said, "It's one thing to talk to Jesus. It's another thing when Jesus talks to you. That's called mental illness, if I'm not correct -- hearing voices."...

Parents of children with autism or other disorders, see up close the challenges those children face. It's a 24/7 commitment, and the parents immerse themselves into helping them through every step. Watching a child struggle to learn basic things is heartbreaking for parents, but the moments of achievement are magnified when the lightbulb goes on, when that child meets and exceeds the challenge set before them. ...

Humans survive three seconds without hope, three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food -- so, ... how long would we flourish without electricity? On Feb. 15, the Missouri Senate passed Senate Bill 564 sending it next to the Missouri House of Representatives, and the House now considers this energy policy legislation. ...

I agree with Dana Grace's recent letter opposing a special tax to help a local developer. Government subsidies for private companies, whether they are farmers, bankers, industries, developers, etc, are misguided. Our economy should be market driven, meaning companies should compete in a fair, honest manner. When government enters, fairness goes out the window...

PARIS -- French couturier Hubert de Givenchy, a pioneer of ready-to-wear who designed Audrey Hepburn's little black dress in "Breakfast at Tiffany's," has died at the age of 91. The house of Givenchy paid homage to its founder in a statement as "a major personality of the world of French haute couture and a gentleman who symbolized Parisian chic and elegance for more than half a century."...

CLIFTON, N.J. — Two high school sweethearts in New Jersey returned to the high school hallway where they first met nearly three decades ago for their wedding over the weekend. Chris Gash and Jenn Sudol, who met when they were freshmen at Clifton High School in 1989, were married Saturday at their old high school...

N'DJAMENA, Chad -- U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday he is hopeful Chad could be removed from the Trump administration's travel restriction list. Tillerson was speaking at a joint news conference with Chad's Foreign Minister Mahamat Zene Cherif in the country's capital, N'Djamena. Tillerson said the visa restrictions were necessary because of "all the conflict that exists on Chad's borders."...

BEIRUT -- Parallel offensives waged by Turkey and the Syrian government on two separate towns in Syria on Monday pushed residents into overcrowded shelters for safety as others tried to flee the advancing forces by road. Residents and displaced families in the besieged town of Douma in the rebel-held Damascus suburbs of eastern Ghouta were sleeping in shops and in the streets as basements in the town filled up beyond capacity, said Haitham Bakkar, a local resident...

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- A plane carrying 71 people from Bangladesh swerved erratically and flew dangerously low before crashing and erupting in flames as it landed Monday in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, killing at least 50 people, officials and witnesses said...

NEW YORK -- Donald Trump Jr. has a previously undisclosed business relationship with a longtime hunting buddy who helped raise millions of dollars for his father's 2016 presidential campaign and has had special access to top government officials since the election, records obtained by The Associated Press show...

BEIJING -- China's steel mills, a target of President Donald Trump's ire, are their industry's 800-pound gorilla: They supply half of the world's output, so every move they make has a global impact. The steel industry swelled over the past decade to support a history-making Chinese construction boom. Once the growth tailed off, the country was left with a glut of half-idle, money-losing mills...

BEIJING -- Orville Schell, a longtime China expert, has vivid memories of his first trip to the country back in 1975. Mao Zedong was leading China through the tumultuous Cultural Revolution, and Chinese were being shamed, beaten and even killed for perceived political mistakes...

LONDON -- Russia is "highly likely" to blame for poisoning a former spy and his daughter with a military-grade nerve agent, British Prime Minister Theresa May said Monday, demanding Moscow give a compelling explanation or face "extensive" retaliation...

CANONSBURG, Pa. -- The final day of campaigning Monday before votes are cast in western Pennsylvania's closely watched congressional election drew a visit by Donald Trump Jr. and lots of door-knocking all over the southwestern district, where polls show a close race...

WASHINGTON -- The federal government censored, withheld or said it couldn't find records sought by citizens, journalists and others more often last year than at any point in the past decade, according to an Associated Press analysis of new data. The calculations cover eight months under President Donald Trump, the first hints about how his administration complies with the Freedom of Information Act...

AUSTIN, Texas -- Two package bomb blasts a few miles apart killed a teenager and wounded two women in Austin on Monday, less than two weeks after a similar attack left a man dead in another part of the city. Investigators said the bombings are probably connected, and they are looking into whether race was a factor because all of the victims were minorities...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Trump administration's decision to end a program letting immigrants from four countries live and work legally in the U.S. was motivated by racism and leaves the immigrants' American born children with an "impossible choice," according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday...

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Teacher Jessica Page was showing her central Kentucky elementary school students how to play the recorder last Friday while fearing the worst from state Senate deliberations in the capital city: lawmakers have begun considering potential reforms to the state's woefully underfunded public pension system, and cutting some benefits for retired teachers was among leading possibilities...

WASHINGTON -- It's a time-tested Washington strategy for making a difficult policy question disappear: death by "blue ribbon" commission. Presidents, Congress and some agency heads set up panels stocked with subject experts to offer sage advice to policymakers. But these panels sometimes are used to slow-walk thorny policy into oblivion...

WASHINGTON -- It started as a bipartisan attempt to curb soaring health care premiums. But Congress' effort to stabilize the nation's insurance markets is faltering amid escalating demands by each party and erratic positions by President Donald Trump. Democrats want bigger federal subsidies for consumers under President Barack Obama's health care law while Republicans, still fighting the statute, aim to relax its coverage requirements and win abortion restrictions...

WASHINGTON -- Republicans on the House intelligence committee have completed a draft report concluding there was no collusion or coordination between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, a finding sure to please the White House and enrage panel Democrats...

WASHINGTON -- Not two weeks ago, President Donald Trump wagged his finger at a Republican senator and scolded him for being "afraid of the NRA," declaring he would stand up to the powerful gun lobby and finally get results on quelling gun violence following last month's Florida school shooting...

National and state Republican officials voice their optimism in the GOP's future at Cape Girardeau's 23rd annual Lincoln Day celebration; despite the loss of the White House and the State House to Democrats, the Republicans say they are poised to once again become a political party that's united internally and with the American people...

KELSO, Mo. -- Margaret T. Tracy, 76, of Kelso passed away Saturday, March 10, 2018, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 21, 1941, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Phillip and Cecelia Teahan Staebel. She and Gary Tracy Sr. were united in marriage Jan. 28, 1960, and he passed away in 1965...

KELSO, Mo. -- Angela Dawn Ralls, 56, passed away Saturday, March 10, 2018, at her home in Kelso. Angie was born Jan. 21, 1962, in Anna, Illinois, to Herman and Shirley Ralls. She was their third and youngest daughter. She grew up in Jonesboro, Illinois, living with her parents and two older sisters, Rhonda Ralls (Boyd) and Lisa Ralls (O'Neal)...

Troy Howell Montgomery, 75, of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at Saint Francis Medical Center. He was born Feb. 3, 1943, to Troy and Thelma Bowden Montgomery in Jackson County, Arkansas. Troy was the beloved brother of Mary Montgomery Ferronato and beloved uncle to Margo Ferronato Sample and Monti Jerome Ferronato (deceased)...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Ruby Miller, 96, of Olive Branch died Monday, March 12, 2018, at The Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms, Illinois.

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Treva M. "Nina" Loughary 75, of Advance died Sunday, March 11, 2018, at her home. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Liley Funeral Home in Marble Hill, Missouri. Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Donnie Ray officiating. Burial will follow in Bollinger County Memorial Park Cemetery in Marble Hill...

Lourine F. King, 91, of Scott City died Monday, March 12, 2018, at The Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Scott City. Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the church...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Dale William Frazier, 69, of Chaffee died Saturday, March 10, 2018, at Southeast Hospital. Friends may call from noon to 1 p.m. Friday at Book of Acts Church in De Soto, Missouri. A memorial service will follow at 1 p.m. at the church, with the Rev. Barry Lakes officiating...

Leavada Daniels, 91, of Oak Ridge died Sunday, March 11, 2018, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 23, 1926, in Canalou, Missouri, to George Franklin and Flora Matthews Asher Volz. She and J.P. Daniels were married Dec. 25, 1948, at Oran, Missouri. He died Aug. 27, 2004...

Gordon L. Brown, 79, of Scott City passed away Saturday, March 10, 2018, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born June 4, 1938, in Battle Creek, Michigan, the son of Clyde Emanuel and Viola Vesta Martin Brown. Gordon worked in various places, National Food Stores, Wolverine Insurance Co., John Deere Harvester Works, Caterpillar (Davenport), DG & J Properties Inc. ...

BENTON, Mo. -- Orland "Jim" Bollinger Jr., 73, passed away Saturday, March 10, 2018, at Southeast Hospital. He was born May 17, 1944, to Orland and Mary Jane Brock Bollinger and lived in Benton all of his life. Jim attended Kelly High School and graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in August 1966. He was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He later returned to the university to earn a degree in computer science...

Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls: Sunday n Medical assist calls were made at 12:16 a.m. on Louis Street; 10:40 a.m. on South Benton Street; 5:42 p.m. on North Frederick Street; and 7:37 p.m. on South West End Boulevard...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Assault n Assault was reported at 235 N. Lorimier St. n Assault was reported at 3303 Campster Drive. Miscellaneous n A report was made at 1021 Big Bend Road...

CLINTON, Mo. -- Hundreds of mourners have paid tribute to a young Missouri police officer killed in the line of duty. Law enforcement and military personnel were among the throng of people attending Monday's funeral for 30-year-old Clinton officer Ryan Morton...

ST. LOUIS -- Leaders at St. Louis Public Schools hope a new program will address the long-standing problem of teachers leaving the district. District leaders have partnered with St. Louis Teacher Residency, an organization formed last year to recruit, educate, train and embed new teachers within hard-to-staff public schools, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Republican Senate candidate Josh Hawley appears to be distancing himself from the state's embattled governor as he prepares to kick into full gear his campaign to unseat Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Hawley announced his candidacy in October, but so far he's been relatively absent from the campaign trail. ...

O Lord Jesus, may we raise our children based on the Bible, your Holy Word. Amen

North West End Boulevard between Broadway and Harmony streets in Cape Girardeau will be closed from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to a city news release. Construction activities will require closing both the northbound and southbound lanes of traffic. Crews will be working on driveway entrances, water lines and sewer main connections. Detours will be available, but motorists are encouraged to use alternate routes...

“4-H shows you lots of different worlds and because of 4-H I was inspired for my career,” tells Pastor Tony Kobak, feature speaker for the 2018 4-H Southeast Regional Energizer held at Advance Elementary School in Advance, Missouri on Saturday, February 17. ...

March for Our Lives is a national movement that grew out of the aftermath of the massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland FL. On Saturday, March 24, 2018, the Cape Girardeau County Democratic Party is sponsoring a bus trip to St. Louis for members of the general public who wish to participate in a march & rally in support of the national event to be held in Washington, DC...