Stories from Friday, December 9, 2016

Alex Laws, a senior at Perryville High School, has earned the first chair clarinet in the 2016-2017 Missouri All-State Band. Alex is the son of Mike and Betty Laws of Perryville. On Dec. 3, over 1,400 students from across Missouri met at Hickman High School in Columbia to audition for the honor of participating in the top honor band in the state...

For 25 years the Shop with a Hero program at Cape Walmart has been providing a special shopping experience to selected children. Each year a child is matched up with a local hero who may be a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or first responder. ...

WASHINGTON — John Glenn, whose 1962 flight as the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth made him an all-American hero and propelled him to a long career in the U.S. Senate, died Thursday. The last survivor of the original Mercury 7 astronauts was 95...

This summer, the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson hired Catalyst Commercial Inc. to conduct a yearlong initiative to attract business to the area. That project is moving from the initial research phase to one of active recruitment. Catalyst owner Jason Claunch presented his company's findings to the Jackson Board of Aldermen during a progress report Monday, most of which was good news...

State Sen. Wayne Wallingford has filed legislation to prevent future steep rate increases for customers of small water and sewer utility systems. The Cape Girardeau Republican said he filed Senate Bill 145 recently in response to the Missouri Public Service Commission’s decision earlier this year to grant a steep rate increase for a small, private utility system in Cape Girardeau County. ...

Dialysis patients would benefit from expanded insurance options under federal legislation President Barack Obama has said he will sign into law. U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, who represents the 8th Congressional District of Southeast and South Central Missouri, introduced the legislation...

For about 10 years, Joe Brashears walked with his left leg locked. Putting his left foot in front of his body meant he would fall. Since October 2015, Brashears has used a hydraulic brace from the Hanger Clinic in Cape Girardeau that naturally bends with his gait...

Three Cape Girardeau Central High School students were taken into custody Wednesday on suspicion of making a violent threat at the school, police said in a news release. An investigation into a possible threat of violence began late Tuesday, including law enforcement and the Cape Girardeau Central school resource officer, according to school communications officer Dana Saverino. ...

Today in History Today is Friday, Dec. 9, the 344th day of 2016. There are 22 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Dec. 9, 1916, actor, author, producer and director Kirk Douglas, known for such movies as "The Bad and the Beautiful," ''Lust for Life," ''Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" and "Spartacus," to name only a few, was born Issur Danielovitch in Amsterdam, New York...

O Lord Jesus, precious Savior, our hope is in your unfailing love. Amen.

Since the election of Donald J. Trump as our 45th president, the liberal television prognosticators, major newspaper editors, and America’s far-left elitists, have been overwhelmed with anxiety and panic attacks, declaring the inevitable end of our democracy...

The sound of drums and other percussion instruments will ring throughout the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus on Saturday. The Department of Music will present the Percussion Ensemble's Family Holiday Concert on Saturday, with performances at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m...

Now, in addition to deer, elk, mountain lions and black bears, our fair city is about to be populated by chickens. That's fine. I think we probably have enough mental counselors to deal with the fragile children of our town who will be traumatized by the ritual wringing of the Old Red Hen's neck on Sunday mornings in time to be placed on a platter for the midday meal after giving thanks to Almighty God for our bounty...

MEUREUDU, Indonesia -- Humanitarian organizations descended on Indonesia's Aceh province Thursday as the local disaster agency called for urgent food supplies and officials raced to assess the full extent of damage from an earthquake that killed more than 100 people...

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Dylann Roof's mother suffered a heart attack not long after prosecutors described how her son planned a calculated killing of nine black church members in a racially motivated attack, the white man's lawyer said in court documents Thursday...

SALISBURY, N.C. -- The man accused of firing an assault rifle inside a Washington restaurant said he regrets how he handled the situation but wouldn't completely dismiss false online claims involving a child-sex ring that brought him there. "I just wanted to do some good and went about it the wrong way," Edgar Maddison Welch, who's been jailed since his Sunday arrest, told The New York Times in a Wednesday videoconference...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In the midst of his Cabinet deliberations, President-elect Donald Trump flew to Ohio on Thursday to meet with victims and families after the latest U.S. outbreak of violence, a somber duty that became all too familiar to his predecessor...

WINSLOW, Maine -- A horse and a camel at a Maine petting zoo have formed an unlikely friendship. The 5-year-old camel, Caesar, at the Pony X-Press Zoo in Winslow has become a guide for Dolly the horse, who is blind. The zoo's Ed Papsis told WGME-TV that Dolly's probably the only horse with "a seeing-eye camel." Dolly relies on the camel and follows him around. She whinnys for him if he's not nearby, and he bellows back for her...

A second Georgia police officer died Thursday, a day after being shot alongside a fellow officer who was a lifelong friend, and the hunt for the suspected gunman ended when a SWAT team found the fugitive dead -- apparently by his own hand -- inside a home where he was hiding...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The illegally occupied Oakland warehouse where dozens of partygoers perished in a blaze does not appear in a database fire inspectors use to schedule inspections and may never have been checked for fire hazards, a firefighter with knowledge of the situation said Thursday...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Halfway through his first season hosting "A Prairie Home Companion," mandolin maestro Chris Thile still feels "like a kid in a candy store" taking over the long-running popular public radio show created by Garrison Keillor -- but he knows he has to do one big thing...

Cape First Church will host Christian musicians Derek Minor and Th'isl at 7 p.m. today at Cape First Church, 254 Silver Springs Road in Cape Girardeau. Westminster Presbyterian Church will host "Go Sing It On The Mountain," perfomed by the combined choirs of Westminster Presbyterian and Centenary United Methodist Church, at 10:45 a.m. Sunday at the church, 1820 Perryville Road in Cape Girardeau...

Messy hair? Wear a hat. Messy life? Wear a hat while you pray for serenity. Trust me on that. #momish #semoselfie #veteransday

Dee Kesterson-Booker held steadfastly to the belief her adaptation of an old Irish/Welsh legend needed artwork. She believed that about 10 or 11 years ago when she put in writing the traditionally oral story of a robin aiding Jesus at the Nativity, only through the narrative she created between a grandmother and a granddaughter putting up a Christmas tree...

In some ways, Mike Zito's show next week at The Rude Dog Pub will be a homecoming. Although Zito grew up around St. Louis, he used to be a Cape Girardean himself. But that was a long time ago -- more than a decade -- and the chart-topping bluesman said he was a different person then...

A mural design featuring a historic scene has been selected by the Cape Girardeau Bicentennial Committee as the "Bicentennial Mural;" Tim Blattner, a spokesman for the River Heritage Mural Association, announced a mural designed by Cape Girardeau artist Jake Wells will grace a wall on a building at Broadway and Fountain Street...

Donna Winter, 58, of Whitewater, formerly of Piedmont, Missouri, died Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, at Woodland Hills Nursing Home in Marble Hill, Missouri. Visitation will be at 9:30 a.m. today at Ruegg Funeral Home in Piedmont. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. today at the Piedmont Chapel. Burial will be at Murphy Cemetery...

Lois Virginia Noce, 95, formerly of St. Louis and Festus, Missouri, passed away Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 10, 1921, in Drew County, Arkansas, the daughter of the late Bettie Phillips and Hozie Brown...

WAPPAPELLO, Mo. -- Billy Martin Jackson, 75, of Wappapello passed away Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, at John J. Pershing VA Hospital in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Billy was born Sept. 4, 1941, at Anniston, Missouri, the son of John Franklin and Mamie Evelyn Carroll...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Harold "Hank" Golightly, 89, of Chaffee passed away Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016, at Chaffee Nursing Center. He was born Nov. 11, 1927, in Chaffee to the late Otto and Maude Doughty Golightly. He married Eva Grooms on Oct. 23, 1946, and she survives of the home...

Valerie Davis, 58, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 16, 1958, in Dayton, Ohio, to Lee Joseph and Leola Mack Twiggs. She and Sammy Davis Sr. were married March 15, 1980, at Cape Girardeau...

Whitley Keith Dabbs, 28, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016, in Jackson. He was born May 26, 1988, in Cape Girardeau to David Keith Dabbs and Tamara Lynn Welker. Whitley enjoyed cooking, both at home and work. He loved music, especially playing guitar. Throughout the years, he was a member of many bands, most recently playing in the band Beef. Besides his love of music, he also enjoyed travel, exploring and his dog...

Barbara Lynn Cox, 59, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, at Monticello House in Jackson. She was born Sept. 5, 1957, in Advance, Missouri, to Comelous Green and Mildred Mae Eakins Cox. She is survived by two sisters, Janet (Wayne) Womack of St. Charles, Missouri, and Kay (Matthew) Palmer of Indianapolis; and a brother, Gerald (Cheryl) Cox of Cape Girardeau...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Lois Boston, 84, formerly of Cape Girardeau, passed away Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. She was born July 6, 1932, in Piedmont, the daughter of the late Lawrence and Verbie Stephens Hixson...

The Jackson Fire Department responded to the following calls: Tuesday n Emergency medical service on South Shawnee Boulevard. n Emergency medical service on Emma Street. Wednesday n A citizen assist on Diana Drive. n Emergency medical service on Corinne Street...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI n A suspect was in custody pending formal charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, visibly intoxicated minor, driving while revoked and driving while intoxicated...

Son to Kristy Nicole Moit of Cape Girardeau, Saint Francis Medical Center, 8:04 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016. Name, Kristian Tyler B. Weight, 7 pounds, 13 ounces. First child. Moit is the former Kristy Flory, the daughter of Lisa Moit and George Moit of Benton, Missouri. She is in sales...

ST. LOUIS -- Two St. Louis men have pleaded guilty to the $2 million robbery of an armored car, an inside job believed to have been one of the biggest cash heists ever in the city, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Charles Johnson, 34, pleaded guilty Thursday, and Shayne Kier Jones, 30, pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal conspiracy charges. Both men will be sentenced in March...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The University of Missouri is urging students to obtain a mumps booster shot to protect against an outbreak that has grown to 193 confirmed and probable cases. The school says all the students sickened since the beginning of the fall semester had received the required two doses of a vaccine that protects against mumps, as well as measles and rubella. University health officials said Wednesday a third shot may offer more protection...

MARSHALL, Mo. -- Sixty animals ranging from dogs to miniature horses have been removed from a property in western Missouri after the owner determined he was unable to care for them. The Humane Society of Missouri took control of the animals Thursday at the request of the owner of the property near Marshall in Saline County. ...

ROBERTSVILLE, Mo. -- An eastern Missouri man is in custody after a package-service driver noticed a message scrawled on a package he had just picked up: "Contact 911." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported 33-year-old James Jordan of Robertsville is charged with domestic assault, sodomy, felonious restraint, unlawful use of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Supreme Court struck down a state law Thursday that denies bail to criminal defendants who cannot prove they are present in the U.S. legally. The unanimous decision came in the case of a man who has been jailed since Sept. 3 on a felony charge of possessing a forged Social Security card, but it could apply to anyone living in the U.S. illegally who faces charges in a Missouri court...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Republican Gov.-elect Eric Greitens spent more on his campaign than what's been spent total on any other gubernatorial race in state history and continued to rake in six-figure checks after his election, campaign-finance records released Thursday show...

Breakfast with Santa will be from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Osage Centre, 1625 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau. Families will be able to eat doughnuts, Danishes, muffins, bagels, biscuits and gravy, milk and juice with Santa. The cost is $5 per child and adult, $8 for two children or $11 for three children if pre-registered. Tickets will cost $8 per person the day of the event. To pre-register, call (573) 339-6340...