Region digest 1/15

Rep. Emerson works alongside area citizens

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., spent Monday in the Eighth District, kicking off her "On the Road and on the Job -- Washington and Missouri at Work" tour.

She and her staff will spend four days working alongside constituents in the district.

On Monday, Emerson spent time with the crew at the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge in Cape Girardeau. The bridge, which will be completed in 2003, is named for Emerson's late husband.

"We'll learn what works, what doesn't and find out more about what Congress can do to make America work for you, not the other way around," she said in a release to news media.

Stops for Emerson and her staff included television and radio stations in Cape Girardeau, four area hospitals and an ice cream factory.

Broadway Street closed this morning for work

Broadway Street in Cape Girardeau between Lorimier and Fountain streets will be closed for three to four hours this morning.

Starting at about 7 a.m., Penzel Construction will use a large crane to place some 900-pound batteries for a cellular tower on the third floor of KFVS' lower building.

Judge: Evidence gives pharmacist reason to flee

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City pharmacist Robert R. Courtney faces "overwhelming" evidence that he diluted chemotherapy drugs and has more reasons than ever to flee if he were released on bond, a federal magistrate wrote Monday.

Courtney, 49, is accused of watering down cancer drugs to increase his profits. He has been jailed since August, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert E. Larsen again denied bond for Courtney on Dec. 19. Larsen's order Monday offered a written explanation of that decision. Larsen said he could not imagine release conditions for Courtney that would guarantee his presence at his March 11 trial.

Prison guard pleads guilty to heroin charge

ST. LOUIS -- A guard at Missouri's maximum security prison has pleaded guilty to possession of heroin with intent to distribute the drug to prison inmates, U.S. attorney Ray Gruender said Monday.

Michael Dunivan, 29, of Farmington, Mo., entered the guilty plea Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. Sentencing was set for March 28. He could face up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Dunivan worked as a guard at the Potosi Correctional Center. Gruender said that on Aug. 14, Dunivan received drugs from a witness cooperating with police and planned to take them to the prison and distribute them to inmates. In exchange, Dunivan was to have been paid.

Police stopped Dunivan shortly after he received the drugs, Gruender said.

Guard forgets to lock jail door; prisoner walks out

CALIFORNIA, Mo. -- A man walked out of the Moniteau County Jail early Monday morning after the night guard forgot to lock the prisoner's cell door, a jail official said. Michael Jackson, who is about 30 years old, walked out of the county jail around 1 a.m., said Mark Inman of the Moniteau County Sheriff's Department.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol found Jackson at 10:30 a.m. in Centertown, Mo., which is about 10 miles east of the jail in California.

Jackson was in jail on a fugitive warrant.

An investigation is pending into the walkout.

-- From staff, wire reports