Stories from Tuesday, August 28, 2018

The trade war with China has hurt agriculture, Cape Girardeau area soybean farmer Matt McCrate said Monday. McCrate, past president and board member of the Missouri Soybean Association, voiced concern about the escalating trade war during a roundtable discussion with Missouri business and agriculture leaders hosted by U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill in St. Louis, according to a news release...

Cape Girardeau County’s plans for construction of a new justice center are moving along. The county had put out a request for proposals to secure $20 million in funding for the new courtroom facility, Associate Commissioner Paul Koeper said. He said 13 firms had responded with bids for the financing, including Stifel Nicolaus, Raymond James, UMB Bank and several others...

Sand-mining company Capital Sand Proppants and Cape Girardeau County amended an agreement at Monday’s regular county commission meeting. In 2015, Capital Sand Proppants and the county agreed on a plan to pay for improvements for county roads 346 and 347, which the sand-mining company uses. Capital Sand paid 15 cents per ton of sand transported up to $500,000, Commissioner Paul Koeper said. “After that, a nickel a ton was to be deposited for any maintenance,” Koeper said...

Former Southeast Missouri State University baseball player Broc Kreitler has settled a lawsuit he filed against the school and then-head baseball coach Steve Bieser over an injury he suffered during a team practice in March 2015. Attorneys for both Kreitler and the defendants — the university and Bieser — agreed to dismiss the nearly three-year-old lawsuit Aug. 20 in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court...

Today is Tuesday, Aug. 28, the 240th day of 2018. There are 125 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 people listened as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C...

It's probably too small of a sample to officially call it a trend, but the crime numbers shared at a recent city council meeting by Cape Girardeau police chief Wes Blair are encouraging. As reported by Mark Bliss, Blair told the council the city has seen a decline in serious crimes overall. Blair said total serious crimes in Cape Girardeau dropped nearly 11 percent for the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2017...

O Lord Jesus, in all we do may we always honor you. Amen.

It's finally football season! Bring on those Friday night lights. Former CIA Director Brennan continues to do the same thing he laments of Trump; spewing hatred with no proof. Here's an idea. How about those who work for a union shop and don't want to pay dues can do so, but they don't get to benefit from union negotiations for better pay, working conditions, healthcare, holidays, etc. Or, is it just about getting nothing for nothing?...

Sen. John McCain passed away Saturday. The senator from Arizona had been battling brain cancer. My heart and prayers go out to his family. My prayers also go out to the people who have used his death to be cruel and score political points. Hiding behind social media to demean and devalue has become the norm. How does one live with himself when he jumps on someone's death to speak ill of him? It makes me sick to my stomach...

Laura Beth Proffer, 51, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018, at her parents' home. She was born Aug. 6, 1967, the daughter of Noretta S. Phillips (David) Blattner and James Ketcher. She and Joseph W. Proffer were married Dec. 31, 1993, at Cape Girardeau...

AVA, Ill. -- Troy Lee Crowden, 58, of Ava passed away Sunday, Aug. 26, 2018, at his home. Troy was born Dec. 19, 1959, in Painting, Missouri, the son of Edward E. and Wanda Lee Tuttleton Crowden. He was married to Betty Jo Scholz. He was a logger and a member of First Pentecostal Church of Ava...

ORAN, Mo. -- Barbara Dell Tyler of Oran passed away Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, at her family home in the Caney Creek area near Oran, with her family in attendance. She was born Sept. 25, 1937, to Ulmont Ray and Ruth Handley Howell on the family farm near Lone Rock, nestled in the Caney Creek area, and this is where she returned in her late years. She said she had missed the fields of corn...

Glenda I. "Punkie" Bollinger, 92, of Jackson died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018, at Jackson Manor Nursing Home in Jackson. She was born Aug. 25, 1926, near Oak Ridge to John H. and Lydia A. Wedekind Ludwig. She and John W. "Bill" Bollinger were married Jan. 19, 1946. Three children were born to their union, and they had been married 63 years when Bill passed away Feb. 11, 2009...

Workers for the Main Street Levee District yesterday opened the Broadway floodgate for the first time since July 5, allowing people to get a closeup view of the river for the first time in nearly two months; the river gauge yesterday was at 37.6 feet, down from its record crest of 47.9 feet set Aug. 7...

THERMAL, Calif. — Talk about driving a lemon! Authorities said a man has been arrested in Southern California after deputies found about 800 pounds of stolen lemons inside his car. Riverside County sheriff’s officials said 69-year-old Dionicio Fierros was arrested Friday and booked on a charge of theft of agricultural products. ...

NEW YORK -- Another day, another twist in what Michael Cohen may -- or may not -- know about Donald Trump, Russian dirt and the 2016 election. Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, is walking back his assertions his client, the president's former "fixer," could tell a special prosecutor Trump had prior knowledge of a meeting with a Russian lawyer to get damaging information on Hillary Clinton...

NEW YORK -- The government's top official overseeing the $1.5 trillion student loan market resigned in protest Monday, citing what he says is the White House's open hostility toward protecting the nation's millions of student loan borrowers. Seth Frotman will be stepping down as student loan ombudsman at the end of the week, according to his resignation letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press. ...

WASHINGTON -- The rallying cry from some liberals to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement isn't a likely winner this election year, as a new poll finds only a quarter of Democrats support eliminating the agency that carried out the Trump administration's policy of separating immigrant children from their parents...

CHICAGO -- Investigators seeking the cause of a deadly Chicago fire were searching the porch area where the blaze started for evidence of fireworks, cigarettes or other smoking materials, a fire official said Monday. Fire department spokesman Larry Langford said children had been known to have set off fireworks from the porch of the apartment that caught fire before dawn Sunday, killing six children and two adults and leaving a boy and a man in "very" critical condition. ...

WASHINGTON -- Glowering in public and near-silent for two days, President Donald Trump relented under pressure Monday by tersely recognizing Sen. John McCain's "service to our country" and re-lowering the White House flag. While much of the nation remembered McCain's record as a war hero, longtime senator and presidential nominee over the weekend, Trump had nursed his grievances. ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A California man who played video games to earn money for college and a West Virginian whose e-sports winnings helped support his young family were slain at a Florida tournament where a gunman specifically targeted fellow gamers, authorities said Monday...

WASHINGTON -- Snubbing Canada, the Trump administration reached a preliminary deal Monday with Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement -- a move that raised legal questions and threatened to disrupt the operations of companies doing business across the three-country trade bloc...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Vegetarian food-maker Tofurky filed a lawsuit Monday in Missouri seeking to defend its right to describe its products with meat terminology such as "sausage" and "hot dogs," as long as the packaging makes clear what the ingredients are...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Unions representing teachers and other public employees sued Monday to try to block a new Missouri law they claim imposes "a raft of harsh restrictions" that "effectively eviscerates" their right to organize and bargain on behalf of employees...

West Mary Street in Jackson will be closed today and Wednesday, as part of the 2018 annual asphalt pavement improvement program, according to a city news release. Jokerst Inc. of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, will perform the overlay work between the intersection of North Russell Street and the low water bridge in City Park...

Martin Trahan, left, of Montreal, Canada, and Tanner Aljets of Illinois, pull their kayaks out of the Mississippi River on Monday during a resting stop in Cape Girardeau on their excursion to Miami.

SEDGEWICKVILLE, Mo. -- Charles William LaHay, 76, of Sedgewickville passed away Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. Graveside services will be at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Baker Cemetery near Marble Hill, Missouri. Hutchings Funeral Chapel is handling arrangements...

NEW YORK -- When master playwright Neil Simon accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2006, he was visibly nervous. But his gentle humor was evident. "It took me six years to write my first play," he said, recalling he found the title for "Come Blow Your Horn" from one of his daughter's nursery rhyme books. He said it turned out to be "a so-so play" turned into "a so-so movie" with Frank Sinatra...

https://www.facebook.com/events/1798923186812169/?ti=icl We are having a free event in Perryville this weekend to help raise awareness of our up and coming All-inclusive playground in Perryville. This playground was inspired by a 10 year old boy who saw his friends with disabilities didn’t get to play outside like he did. ...

The Ronald McDonald House Charities has awarded The Oak Ridge High School, Family and Consumer Science Class, FACS, a grant in the amount of $2,300.00. This money will be used by the FACS Department to purchase kitchen work spaces and a sewing/embroidery machine...

The Ronald McDonald House Charities, is pleased to announce that Oran High School, Family and Consumer Science Class, FACS, has been awarded a grant in the amount of $2,374. This money will be used to purchase cooking equipment and 4 iPads for the FACS classrooms...

Friends of the Cape Girardeau Public Library Foundation is hosting an upcoming travel presentation to highlight an upcoming travel opportunities with 1st Class Travel. Interested travelers can learn more about the Canadian Rockies by Train by attending a free, informational presentation from Lora Carlson a local Collette representative...