Stories from Thursday, March 28, 2019

Renovation work at SoutheastHEALTH's College of Nursing and Health Sciences is complete and will pave the way for a more modern student experience, officials said at an open house Wednesday. Work began last summer, and the first floor of the former bank building at 2001 William St. in Cape Girardeau has been transformed: New spaces include three classrooms, a student commons area and a student lounge and administrative offices...

Five candidates are vying for three seats on the Delta school board as the small district faces financial and declining-enrollment challenges. Incumbents James "Jim" Gloth and Meredith Cox Scherer are seeking re-election to three-year terms. They are challenged by Amy White...

I love the sheer romance of Italian food. Shaped by hand, crafted with skill and soaked in flavor, you would be hard-pressed to find a cuisine more comforting. Ciao is an Italian word rife with meaning, and can informally mean both "hello" and "goodbye." Two years ago, the Italian restaurant Ciao Ristorante + Enoteca in Cape Girardeau was taken over by new owners. ...

A successful charter school and YMCA partnership in Atlanta sparked plans to construct an indoor aquatic center on the Jefferson Elementary School campus in Cape Girardeau. Cape Girardeau public schools superintendent Neil Glass described the charter school and YMCA as "a community center." Glass said, "It got me thinking, 'Hey, this is what we need.'"...

Today is Thursday, March 28, the 87th day of 2019. There are 278 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On March 28, 1979, America's worst commercial nuclear accident occurred with a partial meltdown inside the Unit 2 reactor at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania...

Shopping for a home may be fun, but serious homebuyers need to start the process in a lender’s office, not at an open house. You will benefit by consulting with a lender and obtaining a prequalification letter. Important things to know: When you have an idea of the home you can afford, and have received prequalification from your lender, the shopping process becomes easier. ...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Tribal leaders are calling on U.S. land managers to put off an upcoming oil and gas lease sale, the latest in an ongoing battle over energy development in a region that's home to a national park and other sites of cultural and historical significance...

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Theresa May offered up her job in exchange for her Brexit deal Wednesday, telling colleagues she would quit within weeks if the agreement was passed and Britain left the European Union. May's dramatic concession that "there is a desire for a new approach -- and new leadership" was a last-ditch effort to bring enough reluctant colleagues on board to push her twice-rejected EU divorce deal over the line...

ALGIERS, Algeria -- Algeria's powerful army chief insisted Wednesday that the military won't get mixed up in politics, a day after he said a constitutional process should be set in motion to declare ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika unfit for office...

PHOENIX -- A trip to the grocery store. A little league baseball game. A cute baby swinging from a tree. Millions of people have watched strangers do these everyday activities online. Family video blogs are a multimillion-dollar industry allowing some parents to quit their jobs and be with their children full-time as they document their daily lives and post the footage for anyone to see. But the popularity of the videos, which draw corporate sponsors, has come with a price for some children...

WASHINGTON -- A grand jury that was involved in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation is "continuing robustly," a federal prosecutor said Wednesday. The prosecutor, David Goodhand, made the revelation during a hearing over whether court filings in the Mueller probe should be unsealed related to an unidentified foreign corporation that had refused to turn over documents to the special counsel...

BEIJING -- China said Wednesday it has expelled former Interpol President Meng Hongwei from public office and the ruling Communist Party as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Meng was elected Interpol president in 2016, but his four-year mandate was cut short when he was detained without notice by Chinese authorities last October during a visit to China from Interpol headquarters in France...

KIEV, Ukraine -- As Ukraine's presidential election draws near, its ultranationalist groups are becoming increasingly visible, posing a dilemma for the West. Thousands of far-right activists marched to incumbent President Petro Poroshenko's administration headquarters earlier this month, chanting about alleged corruption and throwing funeral-style bouquets and toy pigs to symbolize the embezzlement of state funds. ...

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration and Chinese officials are about to hold their eighth round of trade talks in Beijing with several tough issues unresolved, including a timetable for lifting tariffs and a way to enforce any agreement. Many analysts say they expect some limited agreement to be reached in the coming weeks or months, likely including a pledge by China to buy more U.S. ...

EL PASO, Texas -- The Trump administration said Wednesday that it will temporarily reassign 750 border inspectors to address a growing number of migrants arriving at the Mexican border, many of them Central American families who turn themselves in to authorities and seek asylum...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- An Ohio man pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal hate crime charges in a deadly car attack at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Virginia, a case that stirred racial tensions across the country. Under a plea agreement, James Alex Fields Jr. ...

WASHINGTON -- Under fire from lawmakers on Capitol Hill over the two deadly Boeing crashes, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday defended the agency's practice of relying on aircraft makers to help certify their own planes for flight...

ST. LOUIS -- A 107-year-old St. Louis building that houses rare manuscripts was badly damaged in a fire, but the museum's owner says the manuscripts were spared and he plans to rebuild. The fire broke out Tuesday night at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. At least 80 firefighters responded as flames shot out through the roof and smoke poured from windows...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A U.S. jury on Wednesday awarded more than $80 million in damages to a California man who blamed Roundup weed killer for his cancer, in a case that his attorneys say could help determine the fate of hundreds of similar lawsuits. Edwin Hardeman proved Roundup's design was defective, it lacked sufficient cancer warnings and its manufacturer, agribusiness giant Monsanto, was negligent, the six-person jury in San Francisco found...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Republicans on Wednesday pushed to make it harder to file initiative petitions after voters last year raised the minimum wage, changed the redistricting process and shot down a GOP-backed law forbidding contracts requiring workers to pay union dues...

CLAYTON, Mo. -- A Missouri man who robbed a restaurant then waited for police to arrive so he could return to jail and avoid homelessness has been sentenced to five years of probation. Paul Borroni, 58, pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree robbery of a Clayton restaurant last year, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Borroni had spent almost four decades in prison before the arrest and was struggling to settle on the outside...

The mechanization of farming is having its toll on the number of farms in Cape Girardeau County and Southeast Missouri; farms here are following a state and national trend, getting smaller in number and larger in acreage. Southeast Missouri State University students living in Greek housing say the six residence halls of their housing complex on the north side of the campus are falling apart from neglect and deterioration; students in fraternity and sorority housing have complained of everything from inadequate lighting and rusting faucets to deteriorating ceilings and defective smoke detectors.. ...

Kelly High School drama students have dominated flu season and found time between extracurricular activities to polish the mystery comedy, "Help Us, Mr. Holmes!" director Valerie Ward said Wednesday. The show opens 7 p.m. today at the school gymnasium...

Wanda Sewing, 82, of Friedheim passed away Tuesday, March 26, 2019, at her home. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson and from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim...

ARAB, Mo. -- Ada "Marie" Lacy, 96, of Arab passed away Tuesday, March 26, 2019, at Bloomfield Nursing Center in Bloomfield, Missouri. She was born Jan. 24, 1923, in Arab, daughter of Jesse and Minnie Irvin Myers. She was one of 10 children. Marie and James Delmar Lacy were united in marriage Aug. 1, 1942, at Zalma, Missouri, and he preceded her in death Jan. 13, 1994...

Julie "Juju" Gurley, 52, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, March 26, 2019, at her home. She was born Dec. 13, 1966, in Cape Girardeau to Jack and Mary Ann Kellogg. Julie had many interests, such as hummingbirds and professional wrestling, but she especially loved spending time with her family and their weekly adventures, which she described as "the thrill of the hunt" as they searched many local stores and shops looking for treasures...

Curtis Easterwood, 57, of Buhl, Alabama, passed away Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Cape Girardeau after a valiant fight with cancer. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. at McCombs Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau. Funeral will be 1 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Wavis Jordon officiating. Burial will follow at Russell Heights Cemetery in Jackson...

Daivlyn SueAnn Douglas, 2 days old, died Monday, March 25, 2019, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City. Memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Mike Smith officiating...

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Regina Rosella Bruenderman, 98, passed away peacefully Monday, March 25, 2019, at Mount Caramel Senior Living in St. Charles. Born Sept 10, 1920, the daughter of the late Alfred Carlisle and the late Bernetta Telker Carlisle, Regina lived most of her life in Charleston, Missouri. July 4, 1939, she married Edward Joseph Bruenderman, who preceded her in death June 12, 1991...

An important issue on the ballot Tuesday for Jackson voters is a 2.5 percent use tax. This is the third time in recent years the city has asked voters to approve a use tax with the previous attempts coming up short. This time officials outlined how funds would be used...

Some of our local school district administrators are being untruthful in their communications about the voucher bill currently being debated in the Missouri Senate. The bill is a privately funded option for Missouri students and does not divert public money from public schools. Administrators have a choice where to work and students deserve a choice as well...

O Lord Jesus, may we look for opportunities to tell others about your love. Amen.

Verna M. Tidwell, 80, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, March 27, 2019, at Saint Francis Medical Center. Arrangements are pending at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

It is bridal shower and wedding season and we are so excited to be right in the middle of it all this spring. Our son, Ross, and his sweet fiance, Anna, are making all of the necessary plans to be married in late June, and we couldn't be happier for them. We feel like God has led them together through friends and circumstances, and we are so thankful it all fell into place at the right time. I love it when that happens!...

William Dale Klobe, 87, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, March 24, 2019, at Lutheran Home. There will be no public visitation. Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, with the Rev. Patrick Nwokoye and Deacon Mark Kiblinger officiating. Burial will be at Mount Hope Cemetery in Perryville, Missouri...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Army veteran Richard Bean Sr. took his wartime secret to the grave, dying a hero without anyone knowing about it for decades. Now Bean and four other long-deceased Alaska Natives are being hailed in their home state this month for their lifesaving efforts as servicemen...