2019: A look back, Part 2

Thursday's review of some of 2019's top stories focused on water, major projects and unfortunate deaths.

Today's finale will be a bit more upbeat, if a little wonkier:

In the weeds

In November 2018, the state's voters approved medical marijuana use, and unlike in some states, Missouri officials wasted little time getting the pot ball rolling.

Locally, infrastructure has already begun to take shape. Municipal officials in Cape Girardeau and Jackson approved zoning plans for locating medical marijuana facilities. In July, Missouri Green Doctors, became the first clinic in Cape Girardeau to certify patients for medical marijuana permits. Earlier in the month, officials announced approved testing facilities, and Monday came announcements of the first transportation certifications. 5th Meridian Group Inc. of Cape Girardeau and KLN Logistics LLC of Jackson have been approved as transportation facilities.

An artist rendering shows a proposed Veterans Affairs health care center for Cape Girardeau.Submitted

Has the issue sparked interest among potential users? User permit applications far outpaced projections, coming in at the rate of about 1,000 per week.

Up in (not)smoke

Vaping became a thing a few years ago, but this year saw a nationwide epidemic of illnesses associated with the smoke-free practice.

One of the first victims in the country to fall ill after vaping was Brianna Sikes, a senior at Southeast Missouri State University.

She found herself hospitalized in August with double pneumonia and, later, acute respiratory distress syndrome. Her symptoms included a rapid heart beat and extremely low oxygen levels. She ended up in a St. Louis hospital and spent weeks recovering.

A truck turns onto Hopper Road coming from Veterans Memorial Drive on July 8 in Cape Girardeau.Jacob Wiegand ~ Southeast Missourian, file

Officials ultimately traced many of the illnesses to tainted products and said Vitamin E may be one of the main culprits.

Good medical news

Two major health care projects -- one to treat behavioral health issues and the other for veterans -- got off the ground in 2019.

Universal Health Services Inc. and SoutheastHEALTH partnered on a $33 million behavioral health hospital for Cape Girardeau.

The facility is due to open late next year.

Located near the intersection of South Mount Auburn Road and Highway 74, the inpatient facility will include 68,000 square feet and 102 beds. Officials said it will employ 200 full- and part-time employees.

The hospital will have an area neighbor in the form of a Veterans Affairs health care facility.

The 43,000-square-feet facility will replace an 8,400-square-feet clinic. The facility's cost is set at more than $47 million, and officials expect to break ground in 2020.

TTF6 on deck

Cape Girardeau municipal officials embrace acronyms, and the city's residents vote for them on a regular basis. Next year, voters will decide whether to extend the city's Transportation Trust Fund tax, commonly referred to as TTF. The measure would be TTF6, and city officials spent 2019 crafting a list of projects to fund with the tax should voters approve extend it.

The tax raises about $5 million per year.

This year's debate involved repairing vs. creating, with officials agreeing to use a majority of the fund to repair streets, sidewalks and streetlights.

Among the more controversial projects was whether to extend Veterans Memorial Drive. Ultimately, that can has been kicked down the road -- five years down the road. The project will be part of the 2025 package.

Major reconstruction projects included in next year's package are Sprigg Street, Lexington Avenue and Bertling Street.

One of the letters received by area residents whose medical debt had been retired thanks to charitable contributions is seen.

Pennies from heaven

An Illinois Christian television network and a Cape Girardeau church each embarked on projects to erase the medical debt of thousands of residents across the region.

TCT Television Network of Marion, Illinois, and Cape First Church separately worked with RIP Medical Debt, a New York organization, to purchase medical debt for pennies on the dollar and retire the debt, freeing the debtors of the obligation.

In September, 201 families from Cape Girardeau County had their medical debt retired thanks to TCT. The total amount of medical debt forgiven in the county was $269,428.

Judy Church, TCT vice president of sales and marketing, said the network's involvement was born of need.

"There are people out there who are below the poverty line or who don't have insurance or who fall between the cracks and can't pay their bills, so we joined forces with this agency ..."

Cape First Church originally set a fundraising goal of $24,000, which would allow RIP Medical Debt to purchase $2.4 million in medical debt. The church's members donated more than $61,000.

"We've never seen that many envelopes come through our offering," said David Urzi, communications director for the church. "There were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of envelopes with mostly gifts of $20, $50 and $100. Everybody played a part."

Research assistance provided by Nicolette Baker.

In the weekend's look back at top stories, we focus on the unusual -- and, yes, a puppy plays a starring role.