NewsDecember 30, 2022
Year end 2022: Mixed bag of major stories in SE Missouri
Voters elected new leaders. Aging infrastructure collided with Mother Nature. Some partners parted ways, while others reached out. Those were just some of the local news stories tracked in a busy 2022. Among them ... Cape Girardeau Regional Airport got several boosts during the year...
Southeast Missourian
Voters elected new leaders. Aging infrastructure collided with Mother Nature. Some partners parted ways, while others reached out.
Those were just some of the local news stories tracked in a busy 2022.
Among them ...
Airport projects
Cape Girardeau Regional Airport got several boosts during the year.
KCI Construction Co. has been chosen to construct a new 20,000-square-foot terminal. The $12 million project -- funded by a mix of federal and municipal funds -- will begin construction next year and should be complete by 2024.
At a cost of nearly $5 million, Emery Sapp & Sons of Columbia, Missouri, will reconstruct Taxiway B.
And in October, the maiden flight of the airport's new commercial carrier, Contour Airlines, took a group of elected officials and business leaders to the airport's new daily destination, Nashville, Tennessee. Contour replaced SkyWest, which focused its daily flights from Cape Girardeau to Chicago.
Cape College Center
One partnership dissolved and another began for Cape College Center.
For several years, the center -- which serves as a conduit for secondary and post-secondary students to receive general education courses and technical training and is part of Cape Girardeau Public Schools -- had featured an agreement among the district, Southeast Missouri State University and Three Rivers College to provide programming. The district ended the agreement, setting off a contentious period of competition between SEMO and Mineral Area College to provide the academic courses.
Ultimately, state officials approved MAC's courses, and in August, the center reopened with MAC branding and a SEMO presence.
At a ribbon-cutting, Joseph Gilgour, MAC president, touted the entity as a local economy driver.
"We're honored to be chosen to provide ... quality, affordable education, and in addition to general education we are offering, we will soon be expanding into more technical programs to help do training for workforce development, help students in this region get certificates, get hired. They can stay local and not go to tech colleges outside of this region," he said.
Neil Glass, Cape Girardeau schools superintendent, contended the center will serve a wide audience of students from varying socioeconomic situations.
"Today marks the addition of another great educational institution, as a valuable resource that can lead students of all walks to a brighter tomorrow," he said, pointing to affordability as a key element to any higher education in the area.
While SEMO will not offer courses or concurrent credit at the center, the university will have an office there to assist students who wish to enroll. Carlos Vargas, SEMO president, said the university's presence at the center will ease transfers from MAC to the university and provide more "opportunities" for students.
Cape water system
Ongoing drought conditions resulted in several notable failures in Cape Girardeau's aging water system.
The worst, in early October in the Big Bend Road area, left the system hobbled for several days -- an "unprecedented" situation, according to officials. A boil-water advisory lasted four days.
"We like to not think about where their water comes from, and it's a good day when people can trust that their water is safe to drink and they don't think about where it comes from," Erica Bogenpohl, water manager, said at the time. "Yesterday and today were not good days."
Bogenpohl said an ongoing drought created a "double-edged sword" causing the pipe to break.
"So, not only is the ground dry, which is causing movement, but additionally it's putting significant strain on the water system itself," Bogenpohl said. "So, we've been putting out high pressures and high volumes of water."
Other significant breaks occurred near Perry Avenue, William Street and on the SEMO campus.
Aging infrastructure specifically in the downtown area of Cape Girardeau is supposed to be addressed by upcoming Capital Improvement Sales Tax projects.
Through October, water main breaks had increased about 25%.
District 147
In December 2021, Gov. Mike Parson tapped Wayne Wallingford to head the state Department of Revenue, forcing Wallingford to step down from his state House District 147 post.
The legislative district blankets Cape Girardeau.
John Voss, a former Cape Girardeau City Council member, emerged from a hotly contested Republican primary, winning 40% of the vote against Elaine Edgar (30%) and Nathan Thomas (29%).
In the November general election, Voss easily carried the district with 64% of the vote. Democrat Andy Leighton earned 31% of ballots, and Libertarian Greg Tlapek received 4%.
"I'm honored to have the trust and confidence of the citizens of Cape Girardeau," Voss said after results came in.
Health care partnerships
Health care organizations took steps to join with larger providers in an uncertain time for the industry.
SoutheastHEALTH announced "Project Forward Vision" in May.
President and chief executive officer Ken Bateman said, while the system is in good financial shape, the future for the industry requires change.
"I see what's coming in terms of the economy. I see what is happening with labor, and now, I see what's happening with Mercy coming into our competitive landscape," he explained. "When you put the three of them together, I have to make sure I have us positioned for 10 years, 20 years from now. If we do nothing, those forces will start to diminish who we are and the value we bring to this community."
Bateman stressed the project will not result in a "sale" of SoutheastHEALTH.
"We are not distressed. We are not being sold, and we could walk away, but I do think that what is coming the way of health care is going to require scale," he said. "This isn't a defensive move. ... I want to take Southeast to the next level and that is going to be through a partnership."
Bateman said Southeast has contracted with Morgan Stanley to vet potential partners, noting Southeast's leaders would consider only health care systems with at least $5 billion in assets. Choosing a potential partner and negotiating a contract could take until late next year, Bateman noted.
Another potential merger involves Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville, Missouri.
Officials with the hospital began considering potential partners in 2021, with Mercy and SoutheastHEALTH emerging as the final two contenders. A series of well-attended public forums in the spring gave officials with Mercy, SoutheastHEALTH and Perry County Memorial the opportunity to make their case for a partnership.
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In the midst of the forums, Perry County Memorial hired a consulting firm, Newpoint Healthcare Advisors, to negotiate the partnership.
Hospital officials ultimately chose to pursue an agreement with Mercy.
Perry County Memorial chief executive officer Chris Wibbenmeyer said the hospital's process was thorough and inclusive.
"We have conducted extensive research in determining if there is a potential affiliation partner for our organization. We have solicited input from every stakeholder, including some of the most important ones -- Perry County residents. We have listened and appreciate the input from our community," he said in March.
Eric Ammons, president of Mercy Hospital Jefferson, said in an emailed statement a partnership with Perry County Memorial would improve health care throughout the region.
"Mercy and PCMH have long histories of serving residents across east-central and Southeast Missouri as separate health care providers. A collaboration between the two organizations could support the creation of a rural health delivery effort that would strengthen regional health services for years to come," he said. "Mercy is grateful for this opportunity to continue exceptional care for the Perry County community and to be a part of this next step in the PCMH process."
Houck rebuild
In September, SEMO officials broke ground on a project to replace Houck Stadium with Houck Multiuse Complex.
SEMO director of athletics Brady Barke said Phase I of the project will rebuild the southside stands to house 4,000 seats, new concessions and restrooms. A new playing surface and goal posts will be installed before the start of the 2023 football season, Barke said.
"I think it sends a message about the importance of athletics to this university and to this community," Barke said at the ceremony.
Phase 1 will cost about $16 million.
"You don't get the kind of athletic department, game days, excitement, ESPN and the spotlight on this area unless you're willing to do the hard work to create that," head football coach Tom Matukewicz said at the event.
The rebuild became time sensitive days before the 2021 football season began, when university officials received a report indicating the south side of the stadium was not safe for use.
Jackson School District lawsuit
A long-running lawsuit involving Jackson School District ended in November as an appellate court panel sided with the district.
The suit stemmed from a construction project that had problems from the beginning.
Weather damage to the roof of an events center led to lawsuit involving the project's general contractor, Penzel Construction of Jackson. The district ended up paying about $1.2 million.
Then, another suit involved the project's electrical contractor, Total Electric of Farmington, Missouri. That suit hinged on change order payments the contractor, Danny Miller, said the district owed. The district lost that suit, too, but challenged the ruling through local and appellate courts, with the case ultimately going before the state Supreme Court.
As the years passed, interest on the judgment began to pile up, and Miller contended because the district had not paid the judgment, interest was compounding. The district disagreed.
Ultimately, the appellate court decided Miller was entitled to simple interest only.
The district paid Total Electric about $4.5 million, and as of mid-2022, the district had paid about $2 million in legal expenses during the span of the suits.
Jackson superintendent Scott Smith welcomed the court's ruling.
"The District is pleased with the decision and what it means for our students and their education," he said. "This litigation spanned more than a decade, through different administrations and different boards of education. While there have been multiple efforts to negotiate a resolution to this case over the years, those efforts did not result in a reasonable resolution that made sense for the Jackson R-2 School District and its mission to educate children and support our community. ... We are grateful to move beyond this litigation and return the attention to the continued good work and successes of our students. This decision is a win for them."
Marijuana
Approved for medical use in Missouri in 2018, marijuana is now a legal recreational drug in the state, as 53% of voters approved Proposition 3 in November.
The measure failed in Cape Girardeau County, with 56% of voters opposing the measure.
Proposition 3 also allows those who have been convicted of marijuana-related crimes to have their record expunged. The mechanics of those expungements are unclear at the time being, as no money has been allocated to pay for staffing the work.
Cape Girardeau County commissioners agreed in December to hold a public hearing on a potential county marijuana sales tax.
The state measure allows county and municipal governments to impose a tax of up to 3% on marijuana sales.
While recreational marijuana is not yet available for commercial sale, medical marijuana is big business.
As of May, the State of Missouri had approved about 195,000 "patient use" applications -- including 2,743 in Cape Girardeau County, 1,296 in Scott County, 534 in Perry County and 302 in Bollinger County -- allowing cardholders to purchase and use physician-prescribed marijuana products from state-licensed dispensaries.
One company banking on the industry is Organic Remedies-Missouri (ORMO), a state-licensed marijuana cultivation and production facility in Chaffee, Missouri.
ORMO is a partnership between a Missouri investor group and a sister company in Missouri and was formed shortly after Missouri voters approved Amendment 2 in 2018, legalizing the medical use of marijuana for qualifying Missouri patients. The company sought and received licenses from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to cultivate and manufacture cannabis products inside what was once the Columbia Sportswear plant near Chaffee's northern city limits.
So, how are law enforcement agencies dealing with the changes?
"Our primary focus has always been on serious crimes. The casual marijuana user has never taken precedent over that," explained Cpl. Ryan Droege, Cape Girardeau Police Department public information officer. "There will be no impact to our policing strategy/philosophy with passage of legalization."
Droege estimated around 3% of the department's arrests in the last year were marijuana-related incidents.
Spike in murders
It doesn't take a big number to cause a spike when the baseline had been zero, but 2022 did see something of a spike in murders throughout the region.
From July 2020 to July 2021, Cape Girardeau County did not log a single murder.
The same was not true this year.
A man was shot and killed while in a pickup near the intersection of College and South Frederick streets in February. In May, a man was shot and killed, and another man shot, at The District at Cape apartment complex. In September, a St. Louis man died after being shot in the 900 block of William Street. A Cape Girardeau man was killed in October near the intersection of Bellevue and Fountain streets, and another murder was also reported in October in the city.
Cape Girardeau wasn't the only Southeast Missouri locale visited by violence.
Murders were also reported in Sikeston, Charleston and Marble Hill.
First female mayor
Though she downplays the fact, Stacy Kinder is the first woman to become mayor of the City of Cape Girardeau.
She won the office in April, narrowly beating Bob Fox, who was seeking another term, by 23 votes.
Kinder had served as a member of the City Council before running for mayor. She represented Ward 6.
After the election, Kinder said her focus for the first 100 days as mayor would be to continue discussions with representatives at the local and state level, along with business owners and representatives of not-for-profit organizations. She said she believes there needs to be some assessments of common goals and partnerships among the groups.
"A burning question we need to answer is, 'What do our young people want and need in a city like Cape Girardeau in order to put roots down here at an early age?' There are trends here we know the Gen Z group is looking for in work and life, and those are important to consider as the city and other groups look into economic, workforce development as well as education and training opportunities for this area."
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