Stories from Tuesday, December 6, 2016

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The November election put Republicans in full control of a record number of state legislatures around the country, a level of power that gives the party an unprecedented opportunity: Change the U.S. Constitution. Republicans already control Congress, the White House and more governors' offices than they have in nearly a century. But it's the state legislatures that hold perhaps the greatest promise for lasting change...

Traffic moves through the new roundabout Monday at Independence Street and East Rodney Drive in Cape Girardeau. The intersection had been closed to traffic since early October. Federal grant money is paying 80 percent of the $741,000 project, with the remainder covered by the city's sales-tax-funded Transportation Trust Fund. Some paving work remains on the East Rodney approach...

Cape Girardeau city staff will review a proposal that would allow residents to keep up to six hens on their property. The City Council asked the city staff to review the request made by resident Andrew Bard. Bard and about 40 supporters of his request showed up at Monday night's council study session to urge the council to lift its ban on keeping chickens in the city limits...

Jason Claunch of Catalyst Commercial Inc. told the Jackson Board of Aldermen during a presentation Monday night the results of his company's retail market analysis of the city are better than expected. The assessment, which Catalyst has been conducting since summer, examined existing businesses and organizations; Jackson demographics, shopping habits and traffic patterns; and available properties to identify opportunities to grow the area's retail environment...

Today in History Today is Tuesday, Dec. 6, the 341st day of 2016. There are 25 days left in the year. Today's Highlights in History: On Dec. 6, 1889, Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans. The Mark Twain novel "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" was first published in England under the title "A Yankee at the Court of King Arthur" (it was published in the U.S. under its more familiar name four days later)...

Father God, we worship you, for the joy of the Lord is our strength. Amen.

We never get enough of these stories of people reaching out to others during the holidays. Today, we highlight the Progressive Jackson 4-H Club. The organization assembled at Emanuel United Church of Christ and baked more than 100 pies for the Salvation Army's Thanksgiving dinner...

The City of Jackson has about 400 licensed merchants of retail-type businesses. These businesses are of all shapes and sizes; some have bricks and mortar, and some operate out of the owner's home. The city has issued 15 new licenses since July for new businesses...

World Soil Day is Dec. 5, set by the United Nations in recognition for the soils’ contributions to world peace and human prosperity. I returned this November from an ACDI/VOCA F2F Liberian project in West Africa. I worked with 50 Lofa County Community College interns using hand tools to solve a problem on the college farm. ...

I am writing this letter on the morning of Nov. 25. At this point in time Hillary Clinton has received 48 percent of the popular vote and Donald Trump has received 46.6 percent of it. This means that Ms. Clinton has received 1,815,322 more votes than President-elect Trump. It also means that two of the last three individuals elected to the Presidency received fewer popular votes than their opponents...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The firm that helped the University of Missouri system find a new president also will lead the search for a permanent chancellor on the Columbia campus, the university announced Monday. The system plans to conduct a national search for the permanent chancellor, led by the Boston-based search firm of Isaacson, Miller, which worked with the Missouri Board of Curators to hire Mun Choi as new system president...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The founder of a ramshackle Oakland artists' colony where dozens of people burned to death saw himself as a kind of guru and loved to surround himself with followers but showed chilling disregard for their well-being, according to relatives, neighbors and other acquaintances...

Authorities are offering a $1,000 reward in a case of bus vandalism serious enough to close Jackson schools yesterday. Damage to bus tires, 104 of which were slashed, is estimated at $18,000. Between 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and 6:30 a.m. Thursday, vandals entered the school district's new bus transportation center on Orchard Drive and slashed tires on 24 of the 25 school buses parked there...

James W. Hahn II, 65, of Cape Girardeau passed away Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. He was born March 5, 1951, in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, to Jim and Mary (Heady) Hahn. He was a graduate of Indiana University and Washington University School of Law. He is survived by his parents, Jim and Mary Hahn of Cape Girardeau; two brothers, John (Jane) Hahn of McLean, Virginia and Bruce (Judy) Hahn of Eureka, Missouri; one sister, Chris Sirimaturos of Cape Girardeau; several nieces and nephews; and special friends Kathleen and Tookie.. ...

FERGUSON, Mo. -- The lead monitor overseeing efforts to eradicate racial bias in Ferguson's police and court system told residents Monday the "eyes of the whole nation" are on the St. Louis suburb. Clark Ervin spoke to about 100 people at a town-hall meeting in the town forever changed after the Aug. 9, 2014, police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown...

BENTON, Mo. -- Barbara Mae Garrett, 69, of Benton died Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 31, 1947, in Illmo, Missouri, to Eugene and Bessie Irene Stone Burton. She married Lester Lee Garrett on Feb. 11, 1966...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The cost of funding Missouri's state employee pensions will increase nearly $50 million in the next fiscal year as investment losses and lower earnings expectations push taxpayer contributions to the highest share of state payroll in the program's history...

CLAYTON, Mo. -- A Missouri man is jailed on $500,000 cash bond after being accused of telling co-workers he was affiliated with the Islamic State group and could have their auto-detailing job site blown up by making a phone call. St. Louis County prosecutors charged Mustafa Barimac, 26, with making a terrorist threat, a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison...

DURHAM, N.C. -- North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory conceded the governor's race Monday, clearing the way for Democrat Roy Cooper to be declared the winner nearly four weeks after Election Day. The win by Cooper, the state's outgoing attorney general, gives Democrats an important consolation prize after a disappointing election across the country...

ALEPPO, Syria -- Rebel shelling killed two Russian nurses and eight civilians Monday in Aleppo, and a Russian fighter jet crashed as it was returning to an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean after a sortie over Syria, but the pilot ejected safely, Moscow officials said...

NEW YORK -- Donald Trump chose retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson on Monday to be secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, raising fresh concerns about the lack of experience some of Trump's Cabinet picks have with agencies they're being chosen to lead...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Another crisis looms in an already shaken European Union. Italian voters rocked Europe's boat more than Austrian voters could steady it last weekend. With its shaky banks and massive economy, Italy is in the throes of energized populists who are no friends of EU leaders in Brussels...

WASHINGTON -- After eight years as a wartime president, Barack Obama is handing his successor an expansive interpretation of the commander in chief's authority to wage war around the globe. That reading has continued to grow even as Obama prepares to pass control to Donald Trump...

CANNON BALL, N.D. -- Industry leaders are urging President-elect Donald Trump to make approval of the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline a "top priority" when he takes office next month, while opponents who have protested the project for months vow to stay put on their North Dakota encampment despite harsh winter weather and a tribal leader's call to leave...

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar -- Anyone who finds a piece of debris from a Malaysia Airlines plane believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean in 2014 could receive a financial reward, relatives of those who were on the plane said Monday in Madagascar...

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- A South Carolina judge declared a mistrial Monday after a jury deadlocked in the murder trial of a white former police officer charged in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist. A panel of one black and 11 white jurors -- who had seemed close to a verdict to convict Friday, with apparently one holdout -- said Monday they were unable to reach a unanimous decision after deliberating more than 22 hours over four days...

A sinkhole opened Sunday in San Antonio after a sewer line ruptured during heavy rain. Officials said Bexar County, Texas, sheriff's deputy Dora Linda Nishihara, who was off-duty, died and others were injured when their vehicles plunged into the water-filled sinkhole...

WASHINGTON -- The bizarre rumors began with a leaked email referencing Hillary Clinton and sinister interpretations of references to pizza parties. It morphed into fake online news stories about a child sex-trafficking ring run by prominent Democrats operating out of a Washington pizza joint...

MARIETTA, Ga. -- A judge on Monday sentenced a Georgia man to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole after a jury found he intentionally left his toddler son in a hot SUV to die. Jurors last month convicted Justin Ross Harris, 36, of malice murder and other charges in the June 2014 death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper...

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- A federal judge agreed Monday to let a white man accused of fatally shooting nine black parishioners rehire his attorneys until a verdict is reached but to remain his own lawyer if he is found guilty and the trial moves into a penalty phase...

Cape Girardeau police arrested a man Monday morning suspected of firing shots during two incidents Nov. 13. The Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Christopher Don'ta Hawkins, 18, of Cape Girardeau with conspiracy to commit robbery, first-degree attempted robbery and two counts of armed criminal action...

Jackson County, Illinois, Judge Ralph Bloodworth sentenced Brandon L. Banks, 31, of Cape Girardeau to 103 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the murder of Marsha Brown. Banks will receive credit for time served, which was 967 days since he was arrested in St. Louis two days after the shooting, but he will be mandated to serve a total of 97 years in prison...

The Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center is doing a lot of things right. A strategic planning survey issued by the CTC and completed by 255 students, parents, community members, advisory committee members, employees and government partners revealed 90 percent of those surveyed have an above-average or outstanding perception of the CTC...

NEW YORK -- The Oscars finally have a host: Jimmy Kimmel will emcee the 89th Academy Awards. The late-night host will be presiding over the ceremony for the first time. Kimmel has been a regular awards host, having hosted the Emmy Awards (including its broadcast in September) twice and ESPN's ESPY Awards once...

LONDON -- An 89-year-old army veteran who made headlines in Britain with a newspaper ad seeking work has begun his new job. The Cantina Kitchen & Bar in the town of Paignton in southwest England announced on its Facebook page Joe Bartley began work Sunday. The widower, whose wife died two years ago, placed the ad because he was "dying of boredom." He said his building has a community area, but "not a soul comes in," and when he returns home, there's "nobody to talk to."...

JACKSON The Jackson Fire Department responded to the following calls. Sunday n A motor-vehicle accident on East Jackson Boulevard. n A citizen assist on East Main Street. Monday n An EMS call on South Hope Street. n At illegal burn on Old Cape Road.

CAPE GIRARDEAU The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls Sunday. n Medical assists were made at 12:12 p.m. on Linden Street; 12:37 p.m. on Linden Street; 4:34 p.m. on South Pacific Street; 5:52 p.m. on South West End Boulevard; 8:03 p.m. on North Kingshighway; and 11:11 p.m. on Big Bend Road...

CAPE GIRARDEAU The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrest does not imply guilt. Arrest n A suspect was in custody pending formal charges of possession of a controlled substance. Summonses n Paul A. Weaver, 48, of Cape Girardeau was issued a summons for animal at large...

Geraldean "Gerri" Forehand, 84, formerly of Thebes, Illinois, died Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, at SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Fenton, Missouri. Visitation will be 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau...

John J. Kelly III, 61, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Scott City, died Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. No services at this time. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City is in charge of arrangements...

JACKSON The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Theft n Theft was reported in the 200 block of South Union Avenue. Property damage n Property damage was reported in the 2000 block of Providence Drive. Miscellaneous n Found property was reported in the 500 block of North Hope Street...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Florence Christine Watson, 78, of Cairo died Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, at her home. Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday at Massie Funeral Home in Mounds, Illinois. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home, with Pastor Turk officiating. Burial will be in Green Lawn Memorial garden in Villa Ridge, Illinois...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Robert Ellsworth Robins, 65, of Marble Hill, died at his home on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. Visitation will be from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Hutchings Funeral Chapel in Marble Hill. Memorial service will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the chapel...

BENTON, Mo. -- Dennis Richard Lambert, 68, of Benton died Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Benton.

There is a saying in the sports world, specifically for those we call "haters": "Don't hate the player; hate the game." The player is just doing what he's supposed to do -- trying to win by following the rules given him. Politics, too, is a sport -- a bloodsport -- and comes with a set of rules also. Since Donald Trump became President-elect Trump, some have dismissed the rules, as if their newly adopted guidelines delegitimize his victory...