2019: What we followed this year

The final ledger may well identify 2019 as a year of contrasts.

Water -- everywhere and nowhere.

New beginnings -- underway and kinda still stuck in bureaucratic mud.

Community-touching tragedies -- accidental and otherwise.

And much, much more.

As 2020 approaches, we take a two-part look back at some of the stories covered in the Southeast Missourian during 2019.

Up first:

More than enough water

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau reached flood stage March 15 and stayed above that level for 144 days, breaking the flood duration record here.

Though floodwaters had gotten higher before (this flood included the fifth-highest floodwater reading), never had they stayed as long, making life -- and death for Robbin Christopher Franklin, 31, who died in the flood -- more than inconvenient. The river bridge at Chester closed for nearly three weeks in June. Route 3 in Union County, Illinois, closed for 68 days May 2 through July 9. Illinois Route 146 closed for more than five weeks.

Crop losses in the region came to around $14 million.

For weeks, residents in East Cape Girardeau watched as floodwater -- and seepwater, which became a serious thing -- inched upward and refused to leave.

Not enough water to go around

What began as a grand-scale project whittled itself in participation and scope, and as it stands now, what will ultimately become of a proposed aquatic center in Cape Girardeau is still somewhat murky.

Competitive swimming enthusiasts lobbied for a 50-meter facility worthy of large meets.

Jackson school officials asked to be part of locating such a facility at a mutually beneficial location -- the Sportsplex, say.

Cape Girardeau school officials decided to build an aquatic center -- a pool, something with water -- at Jefferson Elementary to benefit the city's south side.

And Cape Girardeau municipal officials wore out consultants, committees and calculators.

All to little avail thus far. What emerged toward the end of the year is a plan to put a hard cover over the existing Central Municipal Pool and build a leisure pool of some sort at Jefferson. And THAT will take care of that.

But ... there's not enough money for even those scaled-down plans -- let alone the $1 million price tag for annual operations.

Diamond in the rough

Center Junction is the nickname of the busy intersection of Interstate 55 and U.S. 61 near Jackson.

It's also the site of a Missouri Department of Transportation plan to create a diverging diamond interchange.

Question: What is a diverging diamond interchange?

Multiple-choice style:

A. An increasingly popular traffic flow system in locations with vehicles coming from and going to multiple directions. There's even a fancy video explaining it on MoDOT's website.

B. A complicated way to make the best (hopefully?) out of an otherwise messy traffic situation.

C. The end of commerce in Jackson.

Answer: Depends on whom you ask.

Transportation officials wanted to completely close U.S. 61 for seven months to complete the project, but area business owners/managers balked at the idea, fearing lost business. Keeping the roadway open or even partially open would significantly raise the project's cost and lengthen the time it would take to complete. Debate on the matter is ongoing. The most recent bids came in about a million bucks over projected budget, which is in the already ritzy neighborhood of around $16 million.

Innocent victim

In a year featuring the sound of more than a few gunshots in Cape Girardeau, none captured the community's attention more than the one felling 15-year-old Cape Girardeau Central sophomore Madison Robinson on Aug. 24.

She was shot in the neck while on the front porch of her home on Jefferson Avenue, an innocent bystander in what appeared to be someone else's argument.

Her suspected killer, Isaiah Lane, 29, was later arrested -- but authorities dropped charges because a witness refused to cooperate.

Her memory has not faded: On Dec. 7, community members conducted a "justice march" outside police headquarters.

Standout

The most-read story on semissourian.com in 2019 was a story on the drowning death of Samantha "Sam" Ratledge.

The 22-year-old former Kelly High School standout athlete fell off a pontoon boat and drowned in Kentucky Lake on the evening of Sept. 1. James T. Nance, driver of the boat, was later charged with driving under the influence.

Ratledge, an All-State softball player at Kelly, was remembered as an "awesome kid."

Research assistance provided by Nicolette Baker.

In tomorrow's second look back at top stories, we focus on the politics of pot, health care happenings and benevolent benefactors.