Stories from Tuesday, February 5, 2019

A Cape Girardeau man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in connection with the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old girl. Judge Michael Gardner sentenced Isaac Egbuka on Monday. Egbuka, 29, pleaded guilty in December to first-degree involuntary manslaughter and one count of armed criminal action, the Cape Girardeau County Circuit Clerk’s Office said...

The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, seen Monday from the Missouri bank, is partially obscured by heavy mist hanging over the Mississippi River.

Federal regulators are hoping revised guidelines will alleviate persistent issues stemming from the use and misuse of the popular herbicide dicamba. While the herbicide has a tendency to damage adjacent crops if used incorrectly or in the wrong weather conditions, farmers across a wide swath of Midwestern states rely on the chemical to protect their crops; mostly cotton and soybeans...

Police arrested a 23-year-old Cape Girardeau man Monday in connection with a fatal shooting outside a house at 911 S. Benton St. in Cape Girardeau. The victim was identified as a 22-year-old Cape Girardeau man who did not live at the Benton Street address ...

Putting sales tax issues before voters this year and next topped Cape Girardeau City Council discussion Monday night. City manager Scott Meyer said the city’s 1/4-cent capital improvements sales tax will expire at year’s end. Meyer said city officials must decide soon what projects would be funded if voters are asked in August or November to extend the sales tax for another 10 or 15 years...

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 5, the 36th day of 2019. There are 329 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Feb. 5, 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed increasing the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices; the proposal, which failed in Congress, drew accusations that Roosevelt was attempting to "pack" the nation's highest court...

A hub for Southeast Missouri State international students is now open and providing both space and services for students and visiting scholars. Located at 1025 N. Sprigg St, the International Village serves several functions and combines space for SEMO's Office of International Education and Services (IES) and the Intensive English Program, or IEP. ...

This week the abortion debate has been front and center on social media following New York's new state law which essentially legalizes abortion at any time prior to the natural birth of a baby. All of this is disguised by clever and pleasant sounding wording. They deemed it the Reproductive Health Act which is a key component of their 2019 Justice Agenda. Reproductive health and justice. Neither of which are present in the killing of the unborn...

You ever miss the good old days? You know, the days when folks sat out on their front porches drinking lemonade, or whatever they had in those glasses, talking to neighbors and laughing. I was reminded on Friday how precious -- and far-gone -- those times are and how needed they are now...

Four members of Congress in Missouri and Illinois have taken a new approach toward funding of replacement bridges crossing the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau and Hannibal; 8th District U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson has teamed up with U.S. Reps. Harold Volkmer, who represents Hannibal, Missouri, and David Durbin and Jerry Costello, who represent the Illinois side of the river, to seek funding for bridges as an "authorized project" in the National Highway System authorization legislation...

Lois Leming Woodford died Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019, at her home, with her daughters and sons-in-law by her side. She was born Dec. 1, 1932, in Cape Girardeau to Thelma Coleman and Merit Elmer "Em" Leming Jr. On that day, she was entered into the "Cradle Roll" of her lifelong church, Centenary Methodist in Cape Girardeau...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- William J. "Bill" Pfefferkorn, 80, of Chaffee passed away Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. He was born Nov. 6, 1938, in Chaffee to the late Paul and Marjorie Davidson Pfefferkorn. He married Mary Jo AuBuchon on Sept. 11, 1965, in St. Louis, and she survives of the home...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Dennis DaWayne Mouser Sr., 68, of Marble Hill died Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019, at his home. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1048 W. Cape Rock Drive, in Cape Girardeau...

Samuel Paul Hale, 92, of Jackson passed away Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 29, 1926, in Jackson to Warren S. and Elva Blaylock Hale. He and Dorothy "Imogene" Brown were married March 28, 1948, in Advance, Missouri. Three children were born to their union, and they had been married nearly 69 years when Imogene passed away Feb. 4, 2017...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- John R. Blechle, 84, of Perryville died Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, at Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and from 6:30 to 9:20 a.m., with rosary at 8:15 a.m., Thursday at Young and Sons Funeral Home...

Bill Birk, 82, of Jackson died Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, at Missouri Veterans Home. He was born Sept. 29, 1936, in Cape Girardeau to Henry William and Laura Schmuke Birk. He and Roberta Lee Rafferty were married June 2, 1960. She preceded him in death Oct. 1, 2015...

Pearl Lucille Berry, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, at Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau. Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Ted Torreson officiating. Burial will be at Cape County Memorial Park in Cape Girardeau...

BERLIN — Voters in a municipality in northwestern Germany have delivered a clear message: no street names, thanks. Official results from a referendum held Sunday showed 60 percent of voters in Hilgermissen rejected the local council’s plan to name the streets, while 40 percent supported the proposal. ...

NEW YORK -- After nearly three months of testimony about a vast drug-smuggling conspiracy steeped in violence, a jury began deliberations Monday at the U.S. trial of the infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. A federal judge in Brooklyn gave instructions to jurors before they were asked to begin deciding the verdict for Guzman, who faces life in prison if convicted...

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam consulted with top administration officials Monday about whether he should stay in office or resign amid an uproar over a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page. Practically all of the state's Democratic establishment -- and Republican leaders, too -- turned against the 59-year-old Democrat after the picture surfaced of someone in blackface next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe...

HOUSTON -- The U.S. government is preparing to begin construction of more border walls and fencing in South Texas' Rio Grande Valley, likely on federally owned land set aside as wildlife refuge property. Heavy construction equipment began to arrive Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. A photo posted by the not-for-profit National Butterfly Center shows an excavator parked next to its property...

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's president hit back Monday at Donald Trump for saying U.S. troops should stay in Iraq to keep an eye on neighboring Iran, saying the U.S. leader did not ask for Iraq's permission to do so. "We find these comments strange," said Barham Salih, speaking at a forum in Baghdad...

PITTSBURGH -- In the world of autonomous vehicles, Pittsburgh and Silicon Valley are bustling hubs of development and testing. But ask those involved in self-driving vehicles when we might actually see them carrying passengers in every city, and you'll get an almost universal answer: Not anytime soon...

RICHFORD, Vt. -- It was about 2 a.m. on a moonless October night in 1987 when the police chief of a small northern Vermont town spotted a man carrying a black bag and walking down the railroad tracks from Canada toward a waiting van about a mile south of the border...

WASHINGTON -- Just how financially secure you feel depends on your age, your race, your education and -- perhaps not surprisingly -- your income. A new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows college graduates feel far more confident than high school graduates they could afford an emergency $1,000 expense...

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump likes to describe the state of the union as he wants it to be, not how it really is. In day-to-day comments, he routinely inflates the magnitude of what he's done, claiming, for example, that he's "created the greatest economic success in the history of our country." Or he'll rewrite a campaign promise on the spot -- asserting he never meant Mexico will pay for his border wall directly; "obviously they're not going to write a check."...

WASHINGTON -- The White House says President Donald Trump will call for optimism and unity in tonight's State of the Union address, using the moment to attempt a reset after two years of bitter partisanship and deeply personal attacks. But will anyone buy it?...

Father God, may your perfect peace fill our hearts. Amen.

Mary Frazier, 66, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, at Southeast Hospital. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

George L. Duff, 89, of Scott City died Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City.

NEW YORK -- Ever since the historical musical "Hamilton" began its march to near-universal infatuation, one group has noticeably withheld its applause -- historians. Many academics argue the portrait of Alexander Hamilton, the star of our $10 bills, is a counterfeit. Now they're escalating their fight...

Fredericktown's Alternative Learning Campus received a $1,800 donation from The Rushing Family Trust on January 4, 2019. Fredericktown Alternative School provides students with traditional academic material in a non-traditional academic setting, personalizing the program of study to the individual needs of each student. Students, staff and parents work together to provide a place where every student can succeed...

The Jackson High School chapter of Future Business Leaders of America attended the District Leadership Conference on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University on Monday, February 4, 2019. A total of 36 members attended the event and competed in a variety of events from computer skills tests to case studies/presentations and interviews to online exams...

The students and staff of Guardian Angel School held their annual birthday party for Jesus on December 18 in the school gym. Money was collected from the school and parish for an adopted family in order to buy presents and necessities. The gifts were wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree. ...