Flooding, Waller case, smoking ban the top stories of 2011

Too much water. A missing mother of triplets. A downtown on the brink of major change. Too many deer. 2011 has been a year of major natural disaster and major crime. It has also been one of politics and progress. Now, a look back at the stories that make this year one to remember, based on a poll of Southeast Missourian news staff.

1. Flood of 2011

The Mississippi and Ohio River valleys were inundated with record-setting rainfall in April, resulting in a 500-year flood and prompting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to activate the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway for the first time since 1937.

On May 2, the corps began using explosives to intentionally breach three holes in the levee holding back the river at Birds Point in Mississippi County to relieve pressure on the levee system and prevent massive flooding near Cairo, Ill., and Hickman, Ky. The result was 130,000 acres of flooded farmland in Mississippi and New Madrid counties and the loss of several small communities, such as Pinhook, Mo., which may never recover.

Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh, then-commander of the corps' Mississippi Valley Division and president of the Mississippi River Commission, gave the order to blow the levee, calling the pressure on the system created by the unrelenting rain "enormous and unprecedented."

Totals for damage in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois from flooding and the levee breach continue to be reported and so far extend into hundreds of millions of dollars. Damage to public infrastructure in the floodway is estimated to be between $10 million and $15 million.

The corps outlined a plan to rebuild the levee in June, but repeated high waters have forced setbacks to the work. After the water in the floodway receded, farming resumed despite many doubts about the quality of the land after the flood. Farmers in the floodway lost $85.2 million in crop value due to flooding, according to early estimates by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute.

As of mid-December, breaches in the levee have been built back to levels that would provide protection up to 55 feet on the Cairo gauge. None of the levee breaches has been restored to the preblast protection level of 62.5 feet.

The corps has called fixing the levees its No. 1 priority once funding comes through. On Thursday, the corps announced it received $1.7 billion to make emergency repairs, $802 million of which is set aside for the Mississippi Valley Division.

2. Jacque and Clay Waller

When Jacque Sue Waller's blue Honda Pilot was found abandoned with a flat tire on a stretch of Interstate 55 in early June, her family cried out with accusations of foul play involving her estranged husband, Clay Waller.

According to her family, Jacque Waller was filing for divorce from Clay Waller, the father of her 5-year-old triplets. Clay Waller's home in Jackson was the last place she was seen.

Since June, thousands of acres have been searched for Jacque Waller by law enforcement and volunteers with the aid of dogs. Early in the investigation into her disappearance, police named Clay Waller a person of interest in the case. In August, prosecutors said Clay Waller was a suspect. In September, Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said he anticipated a murder charge, although Jacque Waller's body has not been found. Some of her personal belongings were found by law enforcement in early November in the same area her vehicle was recovered. Clay Waller has repeatedly denied having any involvement in her disappearance.

Clay Waller was charged by federal authorities with making Internet threats to Jacque Waller's sister, Cheryl Brennecke, who was given custody of the Waller triplets after Jacque Waller's disappearance. Clay Waller pleaded guilty to the charges and remains in custody. Sentencing for the charges is scheduled for Tuesday.

3. Smoking ban

Voters rejected an ordinance in April which would have prohibited lighting up in all public workplaces, including bars and restaurants.

Citizens for a Smoke-Free Cape, a group supporting the ban, began collecting signatures in November 2010 to put the ordinance on the ballot. It raised $83,000 for the campaign. Members of an opposing group, Stand Up Cape, What's Next?, raised only $3,000 but celebrated a victory on election night when the ordinance failed passage by 325 votes.

Cape Girardeau was the only city in the state to vote down a smoking ban during municipal elections. O'Fallon, Springfield and Webb City voters all passed similar bans.

4. Casino breaks ground

Streets were rerouted, houses purchased and demolished and building began on the $125 million Isle of Capri casino complex just north of downtown Cape Girardeau.

Work to relocate North Main Street around the casino site began in April and finished in October. In August, the foundation was poured for the basin to hold the floating casino floor. Soon after, crews began raising steel beams for the facility's frame.

Next in the casino construction will be topping out the steel structure, which is expected to occur in February. Sixty-five to 70 workers have been at the casino construction site daily, but once the building is under roof, that number could go up to as many as 200 per day on average. According to Isle's last financial statement, during the second quarter of its fiscal year, it spent $7.8 million related to its Cape Girardeau casino project and expects to spend an additional $30 million here before the end of its fiscal year.

5. Convictions, sentences in triple homicide

Ryan Patterson's response to the suggestion that he should receive three life sentences from a Pemiscot County jury in September for his conviction in the murders of Jamie Orman, her unborn baby and her 15-year-old son Derrick fell on deaf ears.

"Tell them not guilty!" he yelled to a reporter from a police car.

Patterson is serving his sentences without the possibility of parole. His co-conspirators in the three deaths, Michelle Lawrence and Samuel "Ray Ray" Hughes, received plea deals and were also sentenced in 2011.

Prosecutors put Lawrence behind bars for 15 years on a conspiracy charge. They said Lawrence masterminded killing her estranged husband, John Lawrence, for insurance money, but the plot instead resulted in the death of the Ormans at Lawrence's home on Missouri Avenue in Cape Girardeau on Oct. 27, 2009. Hughes was sentenced to 20 years on a charge of second-degree murder. Prosecutors said Hughes served as the lookout while Patterson committed the killings.

6. Broadway upgrades

A planned $2.4 million renovation and conversion of the Esquire Theater on Broadway into an independent film house is just one of the projects beginning in an effort to bring back and beautify a main corridor in Cape Girardeau's downtown.

Cape Girardeau art dealer John Buckner bought the empty, rundown theater and in October announced his plan to rehab the building. Its doors have been closed for 25 years. Buckner said recently he will likely buy other buildings in the same area of Broadway as the theater and has more plans for improvements. Buckner wants his Esquire project completed in early 2013.

The city plans to resurface the road, replace sidewalks, curbs and gutters and relocate overhead utility lines. Improvements are also planned for improving landscaping, intersections, parking and alleyways. The project is in final design stages and work will begin after the first of the year.

7. Annexation fight

Voters in Jackson will decide Feb. 7 whether to support annexation of parts of the village of Fruitland into their city limits.

If they approve it, five public hearings and a vote on extending the Jackson city limits will be held. Some Fruitland residents do not want to be annexed into Jackson and instead want to incorporate on their own. Those residents have said they want incorporation to protect themselves from the "industrial interests" seeking to operate near Fruitland, which are the limestone quarries Heartland Materials and Strack Excavating.

8. Fights over quarry

The two limestone quarries have also been the concern of representatives of Saxony Lutheran High School, who want to stop mining operations from establishing near the school. Litigation is continuing in two cases filed by the school and Save Our Children's Health Inc., a group of Fruitland residents, asking for a judicial review of permits issued by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Land Reclamation Commission to Heartland Materials and Strack Excavating. Both quarries have asked that their properties be annexed into the Jackson city limits.

9. Commander eviction

Nearly three years of no lease payments and a long court battle resulted in the city of Cape Girardeau evicting the bankrupt airplane manufacturer Commander Premier Aircraft Corp. from a municipally owned hangar at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport in October. City officials hope the company's bankruptcy status will be changed from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 so they can recoup the more than $800,000 owed the city as shown in court documents. A Texas bankruptcy judge will consider a motion to convert the status Jan. 17.

10. Deer hunting issue

In an effort to control the growing deer population, the city appointed a volunteer committee in November to evaluate allowing bow hunting inside Cape Girardeau city limits. Committee members have been holding meetings to learn about the effects of deer roaming within city limits, which some say is a nuisance.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627