Stories from Friday, November 13, 2020

The Illinois-based consultant charged with identifying candidates to replace retiring Cape Girardeau city manager Scott Meyer will update the City Council on progress privately Monday. GovHR USA vice president Mark Peterson, a former 20-year municipal manager of Normal, Illinois, will gather with the seven-person council during closed session...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. — Those part of the Association of General Contractors Missouri Chapter (AGCMO) and government officials met Thursday at Robinson Construction in Perryville to hear remarks about the “Contractors at the Wall.” A partnership of AGCMO, the Wake Foundation and Three Rivers College, Contractors at the Wall seeks to help veterans in Southeast Missouri secure employment in the construction industry...

COVID-19 cases continued to spike in Cape Girardeau County on Wednesday and Thursday, with county officials adding nearly 300 cases. Officials with the county’s Public Health Center reported 154 new cases Wednesday and 127 Thursday, pushing the county’s total case count to 4,210, while 3,210 county residents have recovered from the disease. As of Thursday, 940 cases were active in the county and officials have attributed 60 deaths to the virus...

They say you can’t prepare for everything, but Buzzi Unicem and members of the region’s Homeland Security Response Team are trying just the same. Response team members gathered at Buzzi Unicem’s barge loading facilities in south Cape Girardeau on Thursday morning to practice rescue techniques they might use if an employee fell into the Mississippi River or found themselves trapped inside a cement barge...

Cape Girardeau Mayor Bob Fox revealed Thursday he has tested positive for novel coronavirus and is quarantining in his home until at least Nov. 18. Fox, mayor since 2018, tested positive Monday after taking a rapid COVID-19 test. “Every fall, I get allergies, but over this past weekend, I felt worse and worse,” said Fox, who turns 72 next week, adding he has no idea where he may have contracted the virus...

O'FALLON, Mo. -- Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday announced new guidance aimed at keeping more students, teachers and staff in school, even those who have been exposed to the coronavirus, citing concerns quarantines interrupt learning and create staff shortages...

Thanks to the pandemic, this year has brought a new kind of competition that is more social-distancing-friendly. In the "48 Hour Lecture Project", teams of aspiring educators are each given a random subject and have two days to research and produce a one-hour lecture on the topic. The end product is delivered by live video conference to an audience of jaded students...

Everyone from acquaintances to relatives likes to ask, "Hey, Greta, are you nervous about gearing up for college?" It's a question I've been hearing since August. To be completely honest, I don't have time to dwell on whether I'll receive rejection or acceptance letters. ...

Southeast Missouri State University will host the first of several upcoming commencement ceremonies this weekend to recognize the university's new graduates. The spring and summer 2020 commencement was postponed earlier this year due to COVID-19. And with the university's in-person portion of the semester coming to a close at the Thanksgiving break, Southeast is using Saturday to recognize spring and summer graduates and Nov. ...

Arabella Stike, daughter of the late Otto Charles and Mamie Westrich Scheeter, was born June 21, 1917, in Caney, Missouri, and departed this life Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau at the age of 103. Arabella retired after many years working as a housekeeper for several nursing homes in the St. Louis area. She was a member of St. Mary's Cathedral in Cape Girardeau and a former resident of Chaffee, Missouri...

THEBES, Ill. -- Kimmy L. Newbolds, 59, of Thebes died Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, at his home. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Jones Funeral Home in Tamms, Illinois. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. The Rev. Kenny Strong will officiate. Interment will follow in Rose Hill Cemetery in Thebes...

WASHINGTON -- As President Donald Trump refuses to allow President-elect Joe Biden to receive intelligence briefings -- even those he was getting during the campaign ---- an increasing number of Trump's allies are calling for Biden to have access to the information...

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Joe Biden's top allies on Capitol Hill adopted a combative posture on COVID-19 relief Thursday, pressing their case for a $2 trillion bill that's a nonstarter for Republicans and faulting the GOP for dragging its feet on acknowledging Biden's victory...

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump has publicly disengaged from the battle against the coronavirus at a moment when the disease is tearing across the United States at an alarming pace. Trump, fresh off his reelection loss to President-elect Joe Biden, remains angry an announcement about progress in developing a vaccine for the disease came after Election Day. ...

ATLANTA -- As Georgia counties prepare for a hand tally of the presidential race, the state's top elections official plans to quarantine after his wife tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said Thursday. The count stems from an audit required by a new state law, not because there are any questions about the integrity of the election in Georgia or the results. ...

MILAN -- Dr. Luca Cabrini was certain his hospital in the heart of Lombardy's lake district would reach its breaking point caring for 300 COVID-19 patients. So far, virus patients fill 500 beds and counting. Italy, which shocked the world and itself when hospitals in the wealthy north were overwhelmed with coronavirus cases last spring, is again facing a systemic crisis, as confirmed positives pass the symbolic threshold of 1 million...

HONG KONG -- Pro-democracy legislators in Hong Kong began resigning Thursday to protest the expulsion of four other lawmakers, heightening a conflict with Beijing over the semi-autonomous Chinese territory's future. Pro-democracy activists say China's ruling Communist Party, which has tightened control in Hong Kong in response to demands for more democracy, is destroying the civil liberties and rights that were promised the territory when Britain returned it to China in 1997...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-- Tropical Storm Eta dumped blustery rain across north Florida after landfall Thursday morning north of the heavily populated Tampa Bay area, and then sped out into the Atlantic off of the neighboring coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. is starting the 2021 budget year the way the old year ended, with soaring deficits. The Treasury Department reported Thursday that the federal government ran up a record October deficit of $284.1 billion, double the red ink of the same month a year ago, as revenue declined while spending to deal with the impact of the coronavirus soared...

Thank you, O Heavenly Father, that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Amen.

FORT BELVOIR, Va. -- A sword from the defense of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812. A stopped wristwatch recovered from the wrecked E-Ring of the Pentagon on the Sept. 11 attacks. The Sherman tank that first broke through enemy lines at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II...

Cape Girardeau's Convention and Visitors Bureau wants new offices, but Mayor Al Spradling III doesn't think the City Council should rush ahead with plans to build a $250,000 building for the CVB; the budget has earmarked money for the project, but Spradling says the council will have to approve any design work before the project can proceed...

CAPE GIRARDEAU The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls: Nov. 11 n Medical assists were made at 9:55 a.m. on South Kingshighway; 1:34 p.m. at North Ellis and Pacific streets; 3:32 p.m. on Jefferson Avenue; 5:30 p.m. on North Sprigg Street; 5:30 p.m. on Linden Street; 11:17 p.m. on Morgan Oak Street...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Assaults n Assault was reported in the 500 block of North Kingshighway. n Assault was reported in the 200 block of North Spring Avenue. Thefts n Theft was reported in the 200 block of Broadway...