Stories from Thursday, August 2, 2018

Salvation Army and United Way are joining forces to host the fifth annual multi-location Stuff the Bus event at 10 Walmart sites in Southeast Missouri on Saturday to benefit more than 20 school districts. In a telephone interview Wednesday, United Way of Southeast Missouri community relations manager Kristin Funderburk said the event is usually scheduled around the same time each year to coincide with the start of school. ...

ST. LOUIS -- A tourist boat was on the lake despite wind speeds far exceeding allowable limits when it sank last month in Missouri, killing 17 people, according to a certificate of inspection made public Wednesday. The Coast Guard announced it has convened a formal Marine Board of Investigation into the July 19 accident involving a Ride the Ducks of Branson duck boat. The vessel sank at Table Rock Lake near Branson during a storm...

Perryville city officials want voters to approve three bond issues on Tuesday's election ballot to fund construction of a sewage plant to replace an aging facility that increasingly can't meet environmental regulations. City administrator Brent Buerck said Wednesday that "it is not a tax increase. It is a tax extension."...

Former Scott City administrator Ron Eskew has filed a lawsuit against former Mayor Ron Cummins and the city, alleging he lost his job last year after he sought to prevent city officials from firing the parks director at the time. In the lawsuit, filed last month in Scott County Circuit Court, Eskew alleges the defendants violated the Missouri Human Rights Act. The suit seeks damages of more than $25,000 against each defendant...

This was a tough question to answer. "Late night bar food" reminds me of college days and fast food drive-thru. Whataburger. Jack in the Box. Taco Bell. I don't recall college bars having food. Late night? At my age, a "late night" probably still ends before the evening news. ...

Anthony Levar Sinks, 41, of Cape Girardeau has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action for the shooting death of Derwin Alexander Simmons, 45, of Ohio, according to the Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney's office. The incident occurred at approximately 10:39 a.m. Wednesday inside Hardee's restaurant at 2115 William St. in Cape Girardeau...

Today is Thursday, Aug. 2, the 214th day of 2018. There are 151 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 2, 1939, Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt urging creation of an atomic weapons research program...

Southeast Missouri is unique in that a person can travel in a 100-hundred-mile radius and visit four neighboring states. In my 40-plus years in the construction industry, I have worked as a carpenter, estimator, and project manager in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee and my home state of Missouri...

In 1966, the American public was aware we were sending military advisors to a country called South Vietnam. The country was under attack by communist guerrilla fighters trying to overthrow the government, and the advisors were there to help build a functional military to fight the communists. The communist force was a carryover from the Viet Minh units that had fought the Japanese in World War II and then the French in a fight for Vietnamese independence from its colonial status...

The Marquette Tech District is hosting its third Tech Fest Aug. 9 and 10. The event has grown each year, and because of the popularity, will move to the Isle Casino Cape Girardeau's event center to accommodate the crowd. One of the more popular aspects of the Tech Fest is the 1st50K competition that invites startup companies to vie for $50,000 in cash and pro bono services. ...

On Tuesday, Missouri voters will weigh in on Proposition A to determine the fate of Missouri's Right to Work law. A yes vote would end forced unionism in Missouri, while a no vote would block workers from being protected by Right to Work. Despite the many millions of dollars -- much of it in forced dues seized from workers -- spent by Organized Labor to confuse voters about Prop A, Right to Work is remarkably straightforward and simple...

After reading Holly Rehder's article on Right to Work, renamed Freedom to Work so it sounds better, I am compelled to write a response. I wish she would have listed a few of these companies that are bypassing Missouri and running to our neighboring RTW states. ...

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration says people would drive more and be exposed to increased risk if their cars get better gas mileage, an argument intended to justify freezing Obama-era toughening of fuel standards. Transportation experts dispute the arguments, contained in a draft of the administration's proposals prepared this summer, excerpts of which were obtained by The Associated Press...

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump declared Wednesday his attorney general should terminate "right now" the federal probe into the campaign taking him to the White House. Trump also assailed the trial, just underway, of his former campaign chairman...

HONOLULU -- Decades after the end of the Korean War in 1953, the remains of dozens of presumed U.S. war dead returned Wednesday to Hawaii for analysis and identification. The U.S. military believes the bones are those of U.S. servicemen and potentially servicemen from other United Nations member countries who fought alongside the U.S. on behalf of South Korea during the war...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort personally directed millions of dollars in international wire transfers to pay for high-end suits and more than $3 million in improvements at his various houses, witnesses testified Wednesday, the second day of his financial fraud trial...

WASHINGTON -- The White House announced the Treasury Department is imposing sanctions on two Turkish officials over a detained American pastor who is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the Trump administration will sanction Turkey's minister of justice and minister of interior over the holding of 50-year-old Andrew Craig Brunson...

WASHINGTON -- Consumers will have more options to buy cheaper, short-term health insurance under a new Trump administration rule, but there's no guarantee the plans will cover pre-existing conditions or provide benefits such as coverage of prescription drugs...

UPPER LAKE, Calif. -- A massive wildfire in Northern California has torched more than 1,000 homes in and around the city of Redding, authorities said Wednesday as some evacuees were allowed to return home and new blazes exploded in what has become an endless summer of flame in the Golden State...

A sign hanging on the street clock at the corner of Main and Themis streets in Cape Girardeau proclaims the feelings of downtown merchants: "We love our floodwall"; the sign, installed by John and Evelyn Boardman, marks where Mississippi River water would be at the predicted 49-foot crest, if not for the wall...

LOS ANGELES -- Preliminary data show Death Valley, California, set the world record for hottest July for the second straight year. National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Lericos said the month's average temperature at Furnace Creek in Death Valley was 108.1 degrees...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Roger Glenn Neumeyer, 53, of Sikeston died Tuesday, July 24, 2018, at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Visitation and funeral service were held Sunday at Miner Baptist Church in Miner, Missouri, with Danny Kuykendall, Brother Mitch Jackson and Joel Kidwell officiating. Burial was at Zion Church cemetery in Gordonville...

GRAFF, Mo. -- Terry Dean Lynn, 65, of Graff, formerly of Chaffee, Missouri, died Monday, July 30, 2018, at his home. He was born April 4, 1953, in Cairo, Illinois, to the late Cecil and Louise Brown Lynn. He and Nancy Lee Smith were married Feb. 9, 2018, and she survives of the home...

Shirley Mae Keesee, 78, of Scott City died Tuesday, July 31, 2018, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 9, 1939, in New Hamburg, Missouri, to August and Agatha Bucher Goetz. She and William A. Keesee were married Feb. 16, 1966...

Dorothy Mary "Dot" Glueck, 79, of New Hamburg, Missouri, died Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018, at Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 24, 1938, in Glennon, Missouri, to Anthony John "Tony" and Rosella Mary Horrell Koenig. She and Cyril "Cy" John Glueck were married June 20, 1959, in Glennon. He preceded her in death March 22, 2010...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- University of Missouri recommendations to improve its fraternity and sorority system could sharply reduce freshmen students living in chapter houses. The university released a task force's report Tuesday outlining proposed changes in rules governing fraternities and sororities on campus, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported. ...

OMAHA, Neb. -- Economic growth is still slowing in nine Midwestern and Plains states amid trade and tariff disputes, according to a monthly survey report released Wednesday. The Mid-America Business Conditions Index declined to 57.0 in July, from 61.8 in June and 67.3 in May, the report states. It's still the 20th straight month the index remained above 50. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth...

Wyatt Wheat, 7, releases air from a balloon to knock over plastic cups Wednesday at the Jefferson School booth during the Back to School Kickoff at Central Junior High School Tiger Field House. More photos are in a gallery at semissourian.com.

Lord Jesus, blessed be your name, the name above all names. Amen.

CAPE GIRARDEAU The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Richard Geiger, 19, of Cape Girardeau was arrested on three Cape Girardeau warrants. n Destynnie Cotner, 24, of Cape Girardeau was arrested on a Cape Girardeau County warrant...

CAPE GIRARDEAU The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls: Tuesday n Medical assists were made at 4 a.m. on William Street, 8:12 a.m. on Cape Centre Drive, 10:27 a.m. on North Broadview Street, 10:28 a.m. on North Frederick Street, 2:46 p.m. on South Mount Auburn Road, 4:18 p.m. on William Street and 8:22 p.m. on Siemers Drive...

Regarding President Trump's Supreme Court Pick, the liberal left thinks abortions are more important than protecting the constitution of the U.S.A. That makes me proud to be a Republican, and a Trump supporter. Pro life and pro Second Amendment. Following up on an earlier speaking comment if Donald Trump discovered a cure for cancer the Democrats and the media would claim the Russians gave it to him!...

ROGERSVILLE, Mo. -- A southwest Missouri day care operator is charged with 34 felonies after a 4-month-old child in her care died. The Springfield News-Leader reported 52-year-old Cheri Beason was indicted for child neglect or endangering in the August 2017 death of Brynlee Jones. The indictment became public Wednesday...

The Brain Injury & Stroke Resource Group of Cape Girardeau along with Yvonne Brown and The Crafty Lab would like to thank the following sponsors for helping make the July 27th Paint Nite Event Fundraiser a huge success. Twenty-four individuals came together for a Paint Nite fundraising event to bennefit the Brain Injury & Stroke Resource Group with expenditures for various activities they hold throughout the year. ...

Bankruptcies filed through July for the Southeastern Division of the Eastern District of Missouri's U.S. Bankruptcy Court are listed below with their corresponding case numbers. Included are bankruptcies filed in Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Perry and Scott counties. Court is held in Cape Girardeau...

Cape Girardeau County Tax liens and lien discharges recorded at the office of Drew Blattner, recorder of deeds, during July are filed by the Missouri Department of Revenue, except as indicated by IRS designation. For more information, contact the recorder's office at (573) 243-8123...