Stories from Friday, April 24, 2020

Two additional COVID-19 cases were reported Thursday in Cape Girardeau County. The county’s total number of cases is 43. One of the new cases is in Jackson, raising its total to 18. Cape Girardeau’s total count remained at 14, and the other new case was reported elsewhere in the county. Eight of the patients remain hospitalized...

More and more Americans find themselves buying stamps and stockpiling them in support of the financially struggling U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The coronavirus has had a direct impact on first-class mail. “The estimate is we’re facing $35 billion in lost revenue due to the virus,” said Michael Birkett, St. Louis-based Region 5 national business agent for the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), responsible for Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas...

Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville, Missouri, now has 3D mammography available. 3D mammography is a Food and Drug Administration-approved technology that takes multiple images, or X-rays, of breast tissue to create a three-dimensional picture of the breast, according to a news release...

After nearly two months of court restrictions, a growing backlog of postponed proceedings will flood local court dockets once the Missouri Supreme Court-ordered suspension of in-person court hearings expires May 15...

The new splash pad in Cape Girardeau’s Capaha Park was slated to open Saturday as part of the annual Friends of the Parks Day, but both events have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The city has tentatively rescheduled Friends of the Parks Day for May 16, but Parks and Recreation Department director Julia Jones said the date won’t be finalized unless it is certain the statewide “stay at home” directive will end before that date...

Elective surgeries will resume next week at Saint Francis Medical Center, but Southeast Hospital is not following suit, at least not for the time being. Procedures classified as elective were put on hold more than a month ago at both Cape Girardeau hospitals as medical facilities across the nation redirected their resources in preparation for the COVID-19 pandemic...

More first-time unemployment claims were filed in Cape Girardeau County last month than in all of 2019, reflecting the first wave of layoffs and business closings related to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to data released this week by the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, 2,012 Cape Girardeau County residents submitted first-time claims for unemployment benefits in March, more than in any prior month in generations...

As of Thursday night, a total of 20 inmates at the Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston, Missouri, have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Mississippi County Health Department. The announcement was made in a Facebook post Thursday night, one day after more than 100 inmates and employees of the prison were tested for COVID-19...

\Today is Friday, April 24, the 115th day of 2020. There are 251 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 24, 1877, federal troops were ordered out of New Orleans, ending the North's post-Civil War rule in the South. On this date:...

One of the poll questions in the Southeast Missourian was "Whom do you blame most for the world-wide Covid-19 pandemic?" 63.7% of those surveyed wisely said China, but 22.6% said Trump and his administration. Are you kidding me? You may not like Trump or his bombastic task force briefings. ...

An important fundraiser for Southeast Missouri State University's student athletes will be held this weekend, though in a different format than previous years. The annual Cindy Gannon Walk for Women, which normally brings folks to Houck Field House, will be held virtually due to COVID-19 guidance...

NEW YORK -- Lala, a 3-month-old black Lab, romped into Ufuoma George's life a few weeks ago, just as she retreated into her New York apartment in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Lala, she thought, would be company. But she's turned out to be so much more...

WASHINGTON -- It started in late March with a self-professed high school "news junkie" and a lone 3D printer. Georgetown Day School senior Jonah Docter-Loeb was transfixed by television footage of the "suffering on such a large scale" caused by the coronavirus pandemic...

NEW YORK -- Casper ter Kuile lights a candle in front of his computer screen. And then the music begins. All around the world, linked by video, more than 100 people sing "Come, Come Whoever You Are," lyrics adapted from a poem by Rumi, the 13th century Sufi mystic. Then, laughing together, "Kookaburra," the Australian nursery rhyme. And then, in Hebrew, "Hinei Matov."...

NEW ORLEANS -- The messenger is anonymous, but the messages are heartfelt, and appreciated. In recent days, workers at New Orleans' Ochsner Medical Center who take the familiar stroll from the parking lot to the main entrance have been greeted with expressions of gratitude from an unnamed artist, sketched out on the sidewalk...

WASHINGTON -- Dance instructor Lola Jaramillo switches the radio to an uplifting salsa song. "My students love this one," says Jaramillo, dancing to the rhythm of "Life is a Carnival" and encouraging her class to follow her steps. But her students -- mostly older Hispanics -- are not around. Instead, a video camera records her in an empty room...

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- With legions out of work, Republicans across the critical battleground states are trying to lay blame for the economic wreckage of the coronavirus outbreak on Democratic governors, ramping up a political strategy that is likely to shape the debate in the run-up to the presidential election...

DETROIT -- Cindy Parkhurst could have stayed home collecting most of her pay while the Ford plant where she normally works remains closed due to coronavirus fears. Instead, she along with hundreds of workers at Ford, General Motors, Toyota and other companies has gone back to work to make face shields, surgical masks and ventilators in a wartime-like effort to stem shortages of protective gear and equipment...

NEW YORK -- Just when Americans need it most, a U.S. newspaper industry already under stress is facing an unprecedented new challenge. Readers desperate for information are more reliant than ever on local media as the coronavirus spreads across the U.S. They want to know about cases in their area, where testing centers are, what the economic impact is. Papers say online traffic and subscriptions have risen -- the latter even when they've lowered paywalls for pandemic-related stories...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo -- Last autumn, when schools were in session, sports stadiums full and no one had even heard of the COVID-19 disease, the Missouri health department made an eerily foreshadowing request. It asked the state for $300,000 to buy supplies and services in case of a large-scale disease outbreak. The goal was to fill a gap between local and federal sources...

MADILL, Okla. -- Severe weather blew through the South on Thursday after killing at least seven people in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana, including a worker at a factory hit by an apparent tornado, a man whose car was blown off the road and a man who went outside to grab a trash can and was swept away in a flood...

WASHINGTON -- Congress delivered a nearly $500 billion infusion of coronavirus spending Thursday, rushing new relief to employers and hospitals buckling under the strain of a pandemic that has claimed almost 50,000 American lives and one in six U.S. jobs...

Douglas Glenn Pender, 86, of Jackson passed away Wednesday, April 22, 2020, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born June 1, 1933, in Ruble, Missouri, to the late William N. and Edna M. Church Pender. He and June Albert were married Dec. 24, 1953...

Ted Dean Loso, 67, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, April 19, 2020, at Fountainbleau Lodge. He was born March 20, 1953, in Sterling, Illinois, to David and Adela Alvarez Loso. He received his doctorate, Master of Science and Bachelor of Science from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. ...

Constance Love Bunch Gray, 72, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, April 20, 2020, at Life Care Center of Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

Gary Wayne Fee, 63, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, April 18, 2020. Service will be held at a later time. Smith Family Funeral and Cremation Services in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is in charge of arrangements.

O'FALLON, Mo. -- Leaders of counties on the edge of Missouri's two metropolitan areas are showing an increasing urge to end business shutdowns necessitated by the coronavirus, breaking with urban leaders who have extended stay-at-home orders for several weeks...

Daughter to Ryan Michael and Michelle Ann Garnett of Scott City, Saint Francis Medical Center, 11:39 a.m. Thursday, March 26, 2020. Name, Maya Rose. Weight, 6 pounds, 10 ounces. Fourth child, third daughter. Mrs. Garnett is the former Michelle Hulshof, daughter of Shirley and Greg Eftink and the late Gordon Hulshof. ...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Assault n Assault was reported in the 2100 block of William Street. Theft n Theft was reported in the 100 block of South Louisiana Avenue. Miscellaneous n Property damage was reported in the 1200 block of South Pacific Street...

Crowded jails in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties have the sheriffs and county commissions trying to find solutions; Cape County Sheriff John Jordan has approached Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell about solutions to their mutual problem; the answer in the long run may be a regional jail, operated by a private company or through a joint agreement of the counties involved...

Note: This story has been updated. Cape Girardeau marketing agency Creative Edge recently announced a new streaming television application for churches -- and it's being offered free of charge through June 1. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, churches across the world have suspended in-person services, and several churches in the Cape Girardeau region have switched to a livestreamed service, in accordance with social distancing guidelines...

Note: This story has been updated. Cape Girardeau marketing agency Creative Edge recently announced a new streaming television application for churches -- and it's being offered free of charge through June 1. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, churches across the world have suspended in-person services, and several churches in the Cape Girardeau region have switched to a livestreamed service, in accordance with social distancing guidelines...