Stories from Friday, August 9, 2019

Jackson city officials have issued a boil water advisory as a precaution after repairing a broken water main. Kent Peetz, director of public works, said the affected area includes an area on East Jackson Boulevard from Walton Drive to Huber Crest Drive. ...

The new Scott City school superintendent says he wants to be sure every student in the district is prepared for "life after high school," regardless of whether they go to college or straight to work. Michael Umfleet, who began his tenure as superintendent of the Scott City R-1 School District a few weeks ago, talked about his goals for the district Thursday at a meeting of the Scott City Chamber of Commerce...

A Cape Girardeau fire department veteran echoed a sentiment strongly expressed on social media in recent days: swimming in the Mississippi River is not safe. A Southeast Missourian photo gallery posted Tuesday night of children swimming at Cape Girardeau's riverfront park area sparked a strong response about the dangers of swimming in the river. The parents were in close proximity of the children...

Construction of a new terminal and control tower at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport isn't ready to take off yet despite voter approval Tuesday of a sales tax to help fund the projects. Deputy city manager Molly Mehner said Thursday that is because those projects must be coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration, which may want the city to undertake other airport improvements first...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Local authorities are searching for a man accused of taking inappropriate photographs of women as they recently were shopping at the Walmart Supercenter. On the evening of Aug. 1, Poplar Bluff Police Patrolman David Perkins responded to Walmart, where he contacted the store manager, said Detective Joey Woodruff...

There's so much happening this weekend it's going to be nearly impossible to make it to everything listed below, but don't fret -- your TGIF is all you need! Today you'll find me at Arena Park in Cape Girardeau for the annual Cape First Church Family Day and Demolition Derby. There's nothing better than being surrounded by the smell of hot dogs and exhaust!...

Standing before his private collection of 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis relics -- paperweights, glassware, trinkets, coins and prints -- Dennis Gardner said he hasn't counted how many pieces of history he's obtained through the years. "Oh gosh; I have no idea," Gardner of Cape Girardeau said under his greying mustache Wednesday at the Cape Girardeau County History Center in Jackson. "I'm missing a box; I can't find one of the boxes."...

Today in History Today is Friday, Aug. 9, the 221st day of 2019. There are 144 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, a U.S. B-29 Superfortress code-named Bockscar dropped a nuclear device ("Fat Man") over Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people...

Crashing cars in the name of Jesus. That's what Cape First plans to do tonight at Arena Park, where thousands are expected to enjoy a night of Demolition Derby and many other activities. The event is free and open to the public. Overall festivities begin at 5:30, with the derby to begin at 7:30 at the grandstand...

All you politicians that denounce the NRA should take step back and actually look at the NRA members and the organization. The NRA haås done more for the education of safe firearms handling through its Eddie Eagle training than any other group. The NRA is a first class organization with 5 million members who believe in gun safety and in the constitution of this country. I am proud to be one of those members, all firearms owners should be members of the NRA...

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday he wants Congress to consider legislation to expand federal background checks and other gun violence measures when lawmakers return in the fall. The Republican leader told a Kentucky radio station President Donald Trump called him Thursday morning and they talked about several ideas. The president, he said, is "anxious to get an outcome, and so am I."...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A day after Puerto Rico got its third governor in less than a week following angry street protests, top officials from new leader Wanda Vazquez's own party were talking openly Thursday about their desire to see a fourth take over the position...

NEW DELHI -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the nation Thursday night he stripped Kashmir of its statehood and special constitutional status in order to free the disputed Himalayan region of "terrorism and separatism." Modi's Hindu-led nationalist government imposed an unprecedented security lockdown and a near-total communications blackout in the Muslim-majority region since Sunday night, arresting more than 500 people...

GENEVA -- Human-caused climate change is dramatically degrading the Earth's land, and the way people use the land is making global warming worse, a new United Nations scientific report states. That creates a vicious cycle already making food more expensive, scarcer and less nutritious...

CAPITAN, N.M. -- There will be 75 candles on his birthday cake, and Smokey Bear still hopes none of them start a forest fire. The icon of the longest-running public service campaign in the U.S. is being honored with birthday parties around the country this week, a celebration including a social media campaign to share his safety message...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Police in arrested an armed man who showed up a Walmart store wearing body armor, sending panicked shoppers fleeing the store. Springfield police posted on Facebook "an armed individual" was arrested. No shots were fired. The Springfield News-Leader quoted Lt. ...

FERGUSON, Mo. -- Michael Brown's death at the hands of a white Missouri police officer stands as a seismic moment in American race relations. The fledgling Black Lives Matter movement found its voice, police departments fell under intense scrutiny, progressive prosecutors were elected and court policies revised...

KINGSTON, Mo. -- A man charged with tampering with a vehicle used by two Wisconsin brothers who are missing and presumed dead in Missouri was involved in a business arrangement with another farmer including calves owned by the brothers, according to people involved in the deal...

MORTON, Miss. -- Mississippi residents rallied around terrified children left with no parents and migrants locked themselves in their homes for fear of being arrested Thursday, a day after the nation's largest immigration raid in a decade. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said 680 people were arrested in Wednesday's raids, but more than 300 had been released by Thursday morning, ICE spokesman Bryan Cox said in an email...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Republican Party, the Trump campaign and other GOP organizations said Thursday they are freezing their spending on Twitter to protest the platform's treatment of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Twitter temporarily locked McConnell's campaign account Wednesday after it shared a video in which some protesters spoke of violence outside his Kentucky home, where he is recovering from a shoulder fracture...

NEW YORK -- The first spinoff of the 18-year-old "Fast & Furious" franchise, "Hobbs & Shaw," sped away with $180.8 million in its worldwide debut, including $60.8 million domestically-- a strong opening that dethroned "The Lion King" after a two-week reign at No. 1 but couldn't match the box-office pace of recent "Fast & Furious" films...

LOS ANGELES -- Casting director David Rubin has been elected the new president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that bestows the Oscars. He is the first casting director to ascend to the film academy's presidency. He succeeds cinematographer John Bailey, who has served as the academy's president since August 2017...

ST. LOUIS -- C.W. Scherer died Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, at his home in St. Louis. C.W. was born Dec. 25, 1944, in Cape Girardeau, son of Cyril and Anita Leible Scherer and stepson of Opal Koehler Scherer. He graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a Bachelor of Science in business/accounting and from Saint Louis University with a Bachelor and Master of Science in nursing...

WHITE HOUSE, Tenn. -- Lloyd "Stanley" Pierce, 67, of White House died Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019, at White House Health Care and Rehabilitation, surrounded by family, after a long battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was born Nov. 26, 1951, in Cape Girardeau to Lloyd and Freida Riden Pierce. He married the love of his life and best friend, Sue Birk, on June 13, 1997, in Cape Girardeau...

Richard Miles Hammond, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 31, 1934, in Salina, Kansas, to Ernest Dow and Anna Marie Vidrickson Hammond. He and Helen Hutson were married Nov. 7, 1963, in Crestwood, Missouri...

Emma Jean Green, 86, of Crump passed away Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 8, 1933, at Crump, daughter of James F. and Emma E. Brase Williams. She and Ray Clinton Green married Aug. 27, 1955, at Hahn's Chapel in Marble Hill, Missouri. He died May 7, 2019...

O God, we praise you, for all your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. Amen.

CAPE GIRARDEAU The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Summons n Katherine L. Ray, 30, of Cape Girardeau was issued a summons for stealing. Theft n Stealing was reported in the 2100 block of William Street. JACKSON The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Arrest does not imply guilt...

Son to Jacob and Katie Blattel of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Hospital, 9:38 a.m. Saturday, July 20, 2019. Name, Wesley Fox. Weight, 8 pounds, 2 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Blattel is the daughter of Craig Williams and Robin Williams of Cape Girardeau. She is employed by Katie Blattel Photography. Blattel is the son of Tom Blattel and Cathy Blattel of New Hamburg, Missouri. He is a clinical analyst with SoutheastHEALTH...

A 19-year-old man who escaped from a jail work program in Cape Girardeau County last week is again in custody; he was arrested Sunday by police in Clearwater, Florida, as he got off of a Greyhound bus; he escaped custody Aug. 2 at Cape County Park North while he was part of a work crew from the county jail...

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- A Florida woman said lightning destroyed her septic tank and caused a toilet in her house to explode. Marylou Ward said the sole toilet in her Port Charlotte home was shattered into hundreds of pieces Sunday. Ward said the explosion was the loudest sound she's ever heard, and she also smelled smoke. ...