Stories from Wednesday, April 24, 2013

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Levels of the Mississippi River are slowly dropping at places north of St. Louis, slowly rising to the south. By Wednesday afternoon, a few smaller levees had been overtopped or breached, especially in Lincoln and Pike counties. But the makeshift levees in Clarksville, Mo., and Dutchtown, Mo., were holding. There were no reports of any Missouri towns in imminent danger...

BOSTON (AP) -- Lawmakers are asking tough questions about how the government tracked suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev when he traveled to Russia last year, renewing criticism from after the Sept. 11 attacks that failure to share intelligence may have contributed to last week's deadly assault...

VAN BUREN, Mo. -- A Doniphan, Mo., man on Monday pre-empted his upcoming trial by pleading guilty to a lesser murder charge in connection with a 2009 shooting death of another man. Thomas D. Cates, 31, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and the unclassified felony of armed criminal action before Presiding Circuit Judge David Evans, a court official said...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Bollinger County judge has been appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court to preside over the case of a Stoddard County man challenging the scanning of concealed-carry gun permit documents by the Missouri Department of Revenue...

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Nancy and John Simminger sample signature items at The Venue, including shrimp puffs, and shrimp and lobster bisque, while on their restaurant hop, A Taste of Cape, on Tuesday in Cape Girardeau. ...

EMINENCE, Mo. -- A Doniphan, Mo., woman on Monday was sentenced to life in prison for the 2010 murder of an elderly couple found dead inside their burned home. Presiding Circuit Judge David Evans sentenced Melissa "Lisa" Youngblood to life imprisonment, without the possibility of probation or parole, on two counts of first-degree murder and ordered the sentences to run concurrently, according to a court official...

The Scott County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday it and the county jail are included in a free smartphone app called MobilePatrol. Available for Apple and Android devices, the app provides alerts, victim notification services, a list of most wanted criminals, a form for submitting crime tips and other information...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A Sikeston man is in jail after being arrested on drug and illegal firearms charges when police found him asleep in a car outside their headquarters. Desmond L. Woods, 32, was arrested at 7:13 a.m. Friday by the Sikeston Department of Public Safety after he was found asleep at the wheel of a vehicle parked in the roadway on South Kingshighway -- in front of department headquarters, according to Capt. John Martin...

The Missouri Department of Transportation will begin restriping state routes next week in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, according to a news release from the department. Work will be from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. and is scheduled through mid May, weather permitting...

The Notre Dame girls soccer team did something Tuesday no other opponent had done against Saxony Lutheran this season: take a lead. And when the game was over, the Bulldogs did something else no team had done all year: beat the Crusaders. Annie Siebert's goal five minutes into the second half was all Notre Dame needed as the visiting Bulldogs blanked Saxony 1-0 on a windy, blustery day in a game dominated by defense...

An Arkansas man on Tuesday pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge in connection with an Oct. 28 incident in which he is accused of stealing a car and running down three joggers in Cape Girardeau. Vincent T. Anderson, 19, faces up to 15 years in prison...

A Cape Girardeau man accused of helping an Arkansas fugitive try to escape arrest on Tuesday was bound over for arraignment. Eddie Kent is accused of helping his son, Eric Kent of Jonesboro, Ark., in a February attempt to flee Cape Girardeau police officers...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- With its financing in jeopardy, Missouri has slowed work on a high-tech computer program intended to catch potential fraud or criminals by conducting a biometric analysis -- facial recognition -- of digital photographs taken for state driver's licenses and identification cards...

The League of Women Voters of Southeast Missouri and local public radio station KRCU will present a debate Thursday designed to give area voters a closer look at candidates running for the 8th Congressional District. Candidates from the Constitution, Democratic, Libertarian and Republican parties will participate, along with two independent write-in candidates. T ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri House has endorsed legislation that would remove the state Revenue Department from the process of printing licenses to carry concealed weapons. The bill given first-round approval Tuesday would give the job of creating the special photo ID cards to county sheriffs...

Cliff is a 2 year old border collie mix. He is neutered. Cliff is available for adoption at The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri 573-334-5837. See more available pets at www.semopets.org.

Cape Central Junior High School Students Ella Valleroy, center, and Elizabeth Ustinov, right, are winners in the Southeast Missouri State University's Missouri Writing Achievement Contest. Pictured at left is the students' teacher, Gifted Facilitator Emily Goode, who entered their work on their behalf. Ella's poem, "I Am From," won 2nd Place in the Poetry Division. Elizabeth's entry, a fictional story, "Plan Blitzkrieg," won 1st Place in the Fiction Division...

"We are very proud of Nick and what he was able to accomplish throughout his high school career," said CHS Head Soccer Coach Dan Martin, as Nick Barnes signed his letter of intent to play for Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis. "We wish him the best of luck at the next level. He will be a great asset to Missouri Baptist."...

Pictured signing her letter of intent to attend Mineral Area College on a basketball scholarship is Cape Central High School Senior Alayah Cooper-Johnson. Seated at left is her mother, Tiesha Johnson, and at right, CHS Head Girls' Coach Sherri Shirrell. Standing at left is AAU Travel Team Coach Chuck Williams, and at right is Mineral Area College Head Women's Coach Gary Koch...

Farmers in Southeast Missouri are watching the water -- in the Mississippi River, in the St. Johns Bayou Basin and in the labyrinth of ditches that drain their fields. As the forecast threatens flooding, crops that recently have been planted and that need to be seeded are at risk...

NEW YORK -- Hackers compromised Twitter accounts of The Associated Press on Tuesday, sending a false tweet about an attack at the White House. The tweet said there had been two explosions at the White House and that President Barack Obama was injured. ..

BOSTON -- The Boston area held funerals for two more of its dead Friday -- including an 8-year-old boy -- as more details emerged from U.S. officials and family members about how the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects may have been swayed by a radical, anti-American strain of Islam...

Today is Wednesday, April 24, the 114th day of 2013. There are 251 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 24, 1913, the 792-foot Woolworth Building, at that time the tallest skyscraper in the world, officially opened in Manhattan as President Woodrow Wilson pressed a button at the White House to signal the lighting of the towering structure...

Son to Tyler Jacob and Jana Lee Wachter of Cape Girardeau, Saint Francis Medical Center, 8:05 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Name, Landon Cole. Weight, 9 pounds, 6 ounces. First child. Mrs. Wachter is the former Jana Barnett, daughter of Karen and Brad Abt of Cape Girardeau and Chad Unterreiner. Wachter is the son of Jeff Wachter and Christy Wachter of Cape Girardeau. He is a jailer with the Cape Girardeau Police Department...

THEBES, Ill. — Dick Schlamer, 86, of Thebes died Tuesday, April 23, 2013, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms, Ill.

Cletus L. Jansen, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, April 22, 2013, at Chateau Girardeau. He was born July 3, 1927, in Leopold, Mo., to Jacob L. and Mary Holweg Jansen. In 1949, he married Bonnie Limbaugh who preceded him in death in 1969. She was the mother of his six children, all who survive. In 1971, he married Edna Niemeier who preceded him in death in 2007...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Mary Elizabeth Grimes, 95, of Sikeston died Saturday, April 20, 2013, at Clearview Nursing Center in Sikeston. She was born Jan. 11, 1918, in Benton, Mo., to W.F. and Bessie Worley Kirby. She and Joe Smith were married in 1933. He preceded her in death in 1972. She later married Aquilla "Jack" Grimes, who also preceded her in death...

DIGGINS, Mo. -- William Scott Cauble, 67, of Diggins departed this life Thursday, April 18, 2013, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Mo. The son of Charles W. and Louise A. Bierschwal Cauble was born Dec. 22, 1945, in Cape Girardeau. Scott and Sherry Clemons Shehorn were married June 21, 2003. The couple lovingly raised their families...

Ruby Aufdenberg, 95, of Jackson died Tuesday, April 23, 2013, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson.

PHILADELPHIA -- A Philadelphia judge tossed three of eight murder charges Tuesday in the high-profile trial of a Philadelphia abortion provider accused of killing babies allegedly born alive at his clinic, dubbed by prosecutors "a house of horrors."...

NEW YORK -- Apple is opening the doors to its bank vault, saying it will distribute $100 billion in cash to its shareholders by the end of 2015. At the same time, the company said revenue for the current quarter could fall from the year before, which would be the first decline in many years...

PARIS -- France legalized gay marriage Tuesday after a wrenching national debate that exposed deep conservatism in the nation's heartland and triggered huge protests that tapped into deep discontent with the socialist government. Legions of officers with water cannons braced outside the National Assembly for violence that had not come by late evening. The protests against the measure included thousands but were peaceful...

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans and Democrats gridlocked Tuesday over competing proposals to ease the impact of across-the-board spending cuts blamed for furloughs of air traffic controllers and flight delays for millions of travelers. With Republicans blaming the administration for the inconvenience, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid proposed immediate passage of legislation to scrap the spending cuts and make up the money by canceling funds ticketed for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan...

WASHINGTON -- Sweeping immigration legislation would improve U.S. security by helping authorities to know who is in the country, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday, as supporters of an immigration overhaul marshaled arguments against opponents trying to slow it down in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings...

Cape Girardeau is blessed with many parks, providing great facilities for competitive sports, walking and even Frisbee golf. This Saturday the Friends of the Park Day will be held to help keep these facilities looking nice. The annual event, which in past years has drawn several hundred volunteers, is an important opportunity to spruce up the facilities, plant flowers, spread mulch and paint and stain items like park benches...

We are now to understand we have a "new normal." If you haven't heard the term, you will. Whether it's the uncertain economy, the cultural shift to the left, the growing dependence on government or now the resurgence of terrorism at home, we have entered an age of this new normal...

The wardens and vestry of Christ Episcopal Church have announced the Rev. Charles F. Brumbaugh of Cincinnati, Ohio, has been selected as rector. The Rev. Billy Richardson, pastor of Olive Crest United Methodist Church in Omaha, Neb., and the Rev. Jimmie Dace, local Wesley Foundation campus ministry, lead a worship service at Old McKendree Chapel at Jackson; following the service, Richardson begins a walking journey to St. ...

Kudos to Joe Sullivan on his River City Journal. He always relates my feelings. Yes, the people have passed bond issue after bond issue, even voting for tax increase after tax increase for county roads and the sheriff's department. And when the money-eating machines produce more cash, the city fathers have to think of additional ways to spend rather than pay off what is already owed, such as the sewer bonds...

The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt...

Firefighters responded to the following calls Monday:...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. The Southeast Missouri State University Department of Public Safety released the following item. Theft...

*** JACKSON Firefighters responded to the following call Tuesday: * A vehicle fire on East Jackson Boulevard.

WASHINGTON -- The richest Americans got richer during the first two years of the economic recovery while average net worth declined for the other 93 percent of U.S. households, says a report released Tuesday. The upper 7 percent of households owned 63 percent of the nation's total household wealth in 2011, up from 56 percent in 2009, said the report from the Pew Research Center, which analyzed new Census Bureau data released last month....

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Through four innings, Tuesday's baseball game between Sikeston and Notre Dame had all the makings of a typical classic between the two rivals. But Notre Dame was not interested in posterity. With Sikeston nursing a 1-0 lead, Notre Dame erupted for 10 runs over the fifth and sixth innings to dispel any notion of a thriller, defeating Sikeston 10-1 at VFW Stadium...

The conditions were ugly but the result pretty for the Central girls soccer team Tuesday night at Whiteley Park in Poplar Bluff. Dealing with gusty winds the whole game and periods of misty rain over the last 20 minutes of the second half and into overtime, the Tigers broke thorough with 2 minutes, 47 seconds to play in overtime as sophomore Abby Shupert scored for a 1-0 win...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southeast Missouri State baseball team wanted to make amends after recently tying a school record for runs allowed during a 25-3 home loss to SIU Carbondale. Southeast did -- to an extent. The Redhawks didn't suffer anything nearly like that April 9 performance, but they did suffer another loss to the Salukis...

WASHINGTON -- Adam Wainwright extended his sterling start to the season -- and Washington's mediocre one -- by coming within two outs of his second shutout, leading the St. Louis Cardinals past the Nationals 2-0 on Tuesday night. The right-hander (4-1) lowered his ERA to 1.93 by going 8 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing only five hits...

ST. LOUIS -- Chris Stewart reached career milestones of 100 goals and 100 assists and the St. Louis Blues clinched a playoff berth with two games to spare, beating the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Tuesday night. Brian Elliott had to make just 17 saves two nights after getting yanked in a 5-3 loss at Colorado that squandered the Blues' first chance at clinching. ...

TUPELO, Miss. -- The Mississippi man charged with sending poisoned letters to President Barack Obama and others was released from jail Tuesday on bond, while FBI agents returned to another man's house where they'd previously searched in connection with the case...

Lord Jesus, thank you for grace and the gift of eternal life through you. Amen.

Southeast Missouri State center fielder Cole Bieser's strong junior season has ended prematurely. It was announced Tuesday morning that Bieser will miss the rest of the year with a wrist injury that will require surgery. "That's a big loss for us," said Southeast coach Steve Bieser, who is Cole's father. "He's a leader on the team. He has a lot of energy. He always brings a fire and we feed off that."...

NEW YORK -- The other night at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, Cuba Gooding Jr. came bounding onto the stage. He already had put in two solid hours performing in "The Trip to Bountiful," but heard a group of people had stayed after the show to speak to some of the creators...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Long-awaited renovations at St. Louis Union Station are about to begin. A company called Lodging Hospitality Management is the new owner of the former train station, which now houses a hotel, restaurants and shops. Chairman Bob O'Loughlin told KMOX Radio (http://cbsloc.al/15BKA9J ) that renovation work will begin by the end of this month...

Mother Nature huffed and puffed Tuesday afternoon during the SEMO Conference Tournament at Dalhousie Golf Club. She was able to help inflate 31 scores to 100 and beyond on the par-72 layout. She was able to blow over Travis Simmons' golf bag as it sat in the fairway on the 15th hole as he putted nearby...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri senators trying to target budget cuts at the agency that issues driver's licenses instead might have blocked funding for the registration of boats and mobile homes. Other Senate cuts could cancel funding for police training and the collection of child support, the state budget director said Tuesday...

Litzelfelner continued his strong freshman season by claiming the medalist honor at the Jackson Invitational last week at Kimbeland Country Club.

Kathy Morris was medalist at the recent Women's Golf Association event at Cape Girardeau Country Club. Sheryl Bollinger and Shirley Moore tied for low putts. The nine-hole winners were Shirley Talley and Judy Holcomb. Lachelle Cook and Randy Senciboy won the 14-team SEMO Horseshoe Association event Sunday at the Jackson Knights of Columbus...