Stories from Tuesday, February 26, 2019

A Cape Girardeau lawmaker has proposed a measure designed to create more military jobs in Missouri. State Sen. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, has introduced legislation that would offer a tax credit for the expansion or improvement of a military base or installation that leads to an increase of 10 or more military or civilian support personnel jobs...

Cape Girardeau Central High School’s cyber defense team, part of the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) formed in September, took home a state title in cyber defense in its first year competing, with coaching from Southeast Missouri State University cybersecurity students...

Living while black is exhausting. It’s also about struggle, triumph and resilience. Those were some of the messages delivered Monday night by five black panelists from Southeast Missouri State University and the community. The “Living While Black #Unity” panel discussion was held at the Cape Girardeau Public Library as part of the university’s Black History Month celebration...

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 26, the 57th day of 2019. There are 308 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Feb. 26, 1904, the United States and Panama proclaimed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to undertake efforts to build a ship canal across the Panama isthmus...

Neither Snow, nor rain nor construction will deter the Southeast baseball team. The Redhawks (5-2) kicked off their regular season schedule two weeks ago as much of Missouri was hit with winter weather. Thanks to the all-turf field, the snow could be removed and the Redhawks swept the three-game series against Western Michigan. ...

The late Sen. John McCain called Russian President Vladimir Putin "a thug and a murderer". Indeed, dozens of slayings have occurred on Putin's watch including journalists and activists opposing his rule. Putin, a former Soviet KGB intelligence operative, has also ordered the invasion of several neighboring countries and expressed the desire to re-establish the power lost by the old Soviet Union...

WASHINGTON -- Roughly half the nation's business economists say they think the U.S. economy will slip into recession by the end of next year, and three-fourths envision such a downturn beginning by the end of 2021. The finding comes from the latest survey by the National Association for Business Economics of its member economists. Just 10 percent of them say they foresee a recession beginning this year. At the other extreme, only 11 percent expect the economy to avoid a recession through 2021...

More made up fake news, "The Smollett Story." ABC, CBS, NBC, and especially CNN have egg on their collective faces again. Watch any of these networks and then believe the exact opposite of what you see and hear. Mr. Knudtson outlines all the progress that has been made in bringing folks and dollars to Cape. ...

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump is going after director Spike Lee, who used his Oscar acceptance speech to urge mobilization for the 2020 election. Trump tweeted Monday that Lee did a "racist hit on your President." Trump claimed he had "done more for African-Americans" than "almost" any other president...

LOS ANGELES -- The decision to hand the best film Oscar to "Green Book" continued to be debated Monday, long after the last champagne glass had finally been emptied. Rarely in Oscar history, after all, has a winning movie prompted a noted guest in the audience, who had just won his first competitive Oscar, to try to storm out of the night's big coronation...

LARAMIE, Wyo. — A Wyoming school district plans to re-open an isolated school to serve a single student entering kindergarten this fall. The Laramie Boomerang reported Cozy Hollow School is about 60 miles north of Laramie. A modular classroom is already there but hasn’t been used for about a decade. ...

KANO, Nigeria -- Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari surged to an early lead in election returns Monday, winning seven of 36 states in Africa's largest democracy, while the main opposition rejected the count, alleging manipulation. Election observers said the last-minute postponement of the vote until Saturday discouraged some Nigerians from going to the polls as Buhari seeks a second term heading a country troubled by corruption, insecurity and a weak economy...

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt -- Britain's main opposition party took a big step Monday toward backing a second Brexit referendum amid intensifying concerns the country could crash out of the European Union next month without a deal. The Labour Party did not specify what voters might be asked to consider in any future vote, though it has previously said the option of Britain remaining an EU member would be included...

BOGOTA, Colombia -- The Trump administration announced new sanctions Monday on allies of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro as it struggles to find new ways to boost his opponent after an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the economically devastated nation faltered amid strong resistance from security forces loyal to the socialist leader...

Several Democratic presidential candidates are embracing reparations for the descendants of slaves -- but not in the traditional sense. Over the past week, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro spoke of the need for the U.S. ...

STAFFORD, Conn. -- Having lost his 29-year-old son to a fentanyl overdose, Dean Palozej believes dealers who peddle drugs that kill should be locked up for a very long time -- for the rest of their life, in some cases. A state representative who heard the story felt the same way. ...

WASHINGTON -- Redefining success, President Donald Trump heads into his second meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un determined to tamp down expectations he'll gain a roadmap to denuclearization. Yet he's still eager to claim a victory to offset the political turmoil he faces at home...

Cape Girardeau stands to lose more than $2 million annually in local revenue, if a majority of City Council members are unable to decide which riverboat casino operator ought to be allowed to build in the city; with Councilman David Limbaugh already declaring he will abstain from voting on the issue, the seven-member council could face a deadlock March 7, when a proposal is chosen...

Earlene C. Shirrell, 87, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, at Fountainbleau Lodge. Visitation will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home. A memorial service will follow at 3 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home...

George Vernon Perr, 81, of Jackson passed away Monday, Feb. 25, 2019, at Monticello House. He was born March 30, 1937, near New Wells to Edward and Margareta Tiedemann Perr. George was baptized and confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran Church at New Wells. He had been a long-time member of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson...

Danny Lee Hartless, 54, of Burfordville passed away Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019, peacefully at home in his sleep. He was born April 12, 1964, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to the late Clyde and Dyann Waters Hartless. He and Amy Koehler were married July 26, 2005, in Las Vegas...

SEDGEWICKVILLE, Mo. -- Gary Lee "Butch" Hahn, 74, of Sedgewickville died Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, at his home. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Liley Funeral Home in Patton, Missouri. Funeral will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home, with the Revs. Bob Eisnenhauer and Michael Davis officiating. Interment will follow in Yount Community Cemetery near Perryville, Missouri...

ST. LOUIS -- William F. "Bill" Garvey Jr., 64, formerly of Ferguson, Missouri, died Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, at St. Clare Hospital, with his family present. He was born to Floyd and Georgene Garvey on May 31, 1954. Bill received a biology degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He worked for Washington University Research Department and Monsanto. He was a handyman by trade...

Robert "Bob" Cruse, a native of Scott City, passed away Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. Louis, following a long illness. Bob was born Jan. 2, 1942, in Fornfelt to Rex and Frances Cruse, who preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Betty Varnon Cruse of Morley, Missouri. Their only son, Stephen Robert Cruse, passed away in 1998...

FULTON, Mo. -- Two people have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors in the death of a developmentally disabled Missouri man whose body was found encased in concrete after he was reported missing from a supported living home. KMIZ reported Anthony R.K. Flores and Shaina Osborne pleaded guilty Monday to making a false report in the death of 61-year-old Carl DeBrodie...

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and two Republican state lawmakers are backing a bill aimed at cracking down on carjackings. Schmitt, a Republican, along with Sen. Bob Onder and Rep. David Gregory were in St. Louis on Monday to promote a proposal that would allow prosecutors to charge suspected carjackers with motor vehicle hijacking. Currently, suspected carjackers are typically charged with robbery...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Planned Parenthood cannot resume abortions at a clinic in central Missouri after a federal judge ruled state restrictions were not "undue" burdens on women seeking abortions. Current Missouri law requires clinics providing abortions to have physicians with admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley's Monday comment President Donald Trump's nominee to a high-profile appeals court doesn't have a clear anti-abortion record is meeting swift pushback from conservatives. Hawley on Monday told KFTK 97.1 FM Newstalk's Marc Cox he hasn't made up his mind about D.C.-area U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Neomi Rao. He said he wants to make sure she's anti-abortion, and "it's as simple as that."...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Some Missouri inmates sentenced to life without parole who've served at least 25 years in prison could get a shot at a parole hearing under a criminal justice reform bill being considered by state lawmakers. A bill sponsored by Republican Rep. ...

O Lord Jesus, may we forgive others as you forgive us. Amen.

By now, you've heard. Actor Jussie Smollett allegedly staged an anti-gay, racist attack against himself. Happy Black History Month. Now that I've gotten the obligatory "allegedly" out of the way, let me dispense with the word, and let's just say it's, um, implied throughout...

BLADENSBURG, Md. -- Steven C. Lowe says he has always thought a 40-foot-tall concrete cross standing on a large, grassy highway median near his home was odd. For years, he said, he didn't know the cross in Bladensburg is a war memorial. A plaque on the cross' base lists the names of 49 area residents who died in World War I, but it isn't easily read from the road and getting to the monument requires dashing across traffic. ...

Bloomfield Road to close temporarily Ameren Missouri will close Bloomfield Road, between Albert Street and Sheridan Drive, on Wednesday for a pole replacement, according to a Cape Girardeau Public Works Street Division news release. Road closure will begin at 8 a.m. and should last until the end of the day, the release said. Traffic will be detoured around the work zone, and motorists are urged to use different routes. For more information, call 339-6782...

ST. LOUIS -- The United Methodist Church teetered on the brink of breakup Monday after more than half the delegates at an international conference voted to maintain bans on same-sex weddings and ordination of gay clergy. Their favored plan, if formally approved, could drive supporters of LGBT inclusion to leave America's second-largest Protestant denomination...

Marvelous March...signs of spring, sounds of wind, sights of dandelions. The earth is starting to awaken from its winter slumber. A strong wind is often heard inside the walls of the library, an alarm clock for the earth saying time to wake! The wind in springtime is important because it helps dry the ground with all the rain we get, as well as blow the seeds around so things will grow. ...

Practicing theater basics and putting on a performance. Learning the fundamentals of baseball while playing on Notre Dame’s high school field. Making tie dye shirts, programming robots, scoring stream-bed life in a creek. These are just a few of the possibilities for your child this summer at Notre Dame Regional High School’s summer camps...