Heartland Pops presents Christmas concert

The Heartland Pops Orchestra and Chorus will present its annual Christmas Concert at 7 p.m. Dec. 1 at Cape First Church. This year's guest choir will be the Notre Dame Regional Concert Choir under the direction of Ellen Seyer. The special guest narrator for the concert will be KFVS12 anchor Ryan Tate. The concert will feature Christmas music and non-Christmas music from "Les Miserables" and Andrew Lloyd Webber. For more information, call Jerry Ganiel at 579-6127 or Janell Hinkebein at 243-3367.

Firefighters rescue three people from apartment

Three people were rescued by firefighters Friday when smoke from a Cape Girardeau apartment fire hampered their escape from the building. The kitchen of apartment 6 on the second floor of 2806 Independence St. caught fire around 12:15 p.m. Friday, according to fire Capt. Brad Dillow. Two men and a woman were trapped on the third floor by smoke from the fire and were rescued from a balcony by ladders, Dillow said. No one was injured. The fire was under control within five minutes. It damaged a couple of cabinets and counters, but was confined to the kitchen, according battalion chief Steve Niswonger. The fire began when an apartment resident was cooking on the stove and a fire got out of control, Niswonger said. When the resident threw baking soda on the blaze to put it out, it splashed grease onto the walls and spread the fire, he said.

Woman charged with beating son with belt

A Cape Girardeau County woman was arrested this week on charges that she beat her 13-year-old son with a belt. The boy reported to a school nurse Wednesday that his mother, Yulunda Pryor, whipped him with a belt the day before, according to a probable cause statement. There were numerous welts and bruises on the child's back, forearms and legs, the statement read. Pryor admitted to officers that she struck the boy about eight times around 4 p.m. Tuesday, and about 24 times an hour later, according to the statement. She struck her child because he failed to do book work and hid that he wet his bed, the statement read. Pryor was charged with felony abuse of a child. If she secures her $7,500 cash-only bond, she is to have no contact with her son and must stay 500 feet away from where he is staying.

Man pleads innocent to enticement charges

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- A Dunklin County man caught in a Bollinger County sex sting pleaded innocent to charges that accuse him of arranging a sex meeting with a 14-year-old girl via the Internet. Jerry A. Hollis, 37, of Holcomb, Mo., entered his plea Friday before Circuit Court Judge William Syler to attempted statutory rape and enticement of a child. The Bollinger County Sheriff's Department set up a profile on the Internet site MySpace.com to conduct an undercover operation targeting online sexual predators. Police accuse Hollis having a sexual conversation with the underage profile via Yahoo! Messenger and arranged to meet with the girl for sex. On Aug. 25, he drove about 70 miles to a home in Zalma, Mo., where police arrested him. He admitted to police that he knew the girl was 14 years old and he intended to have sex with her, a probable cause statement read. Hollis was next scheduled to appear before Syler Dec. 1.

Teen pleads innocent to auctioning stolen items

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- A teenager accused of selling stolen goods on the Internet auction site eBay.com pleaded innocent Friday. Christopher Abell, 18, of Perryville, was charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor stealing for stealing two receivers and a transmitter from a radio tower shed near Shakertown in late July. Police later arrested him when they located the goods on eBay. During an appearance Friday before Circuit Judge Benjamin Lewis, Abell entered his innocent plea to the charges. He was next scheduled to appear before Lewis Dec. 1.

-- From staff reports