Stories from Friday, December 30, 2016

Construction is progressing at different stages at three fire stations in Cape Girardeau. Penzel Construction poured the foundation Thursday and was working on footings of the new Fire Station No. 4 on Lexington Avenue. They also were working on sanitary sewer lines, utility lines and a stormwater-retention system, assistant fire chief Mark Hasheider said...

A Perryville, Missouri, man stole a tractor from a local nursery, drunkenly drove it down the highway and then drove off the west side of the road into a ditch, Perry County sheriff’s deputies said. Deputies arrested Trevor J. Hall, 17, of Perryville on Monday and then released him pending a criminal summons. ...

Cape Girardeau city government stated in a legal document filed this week it offered “multiple accomodations” for employment to then-firefighter Ryan Rascher after he suffered a seizure. Rascher, who lives in the Dexter, Missouri, area, sued the city in November in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court, alleging disabiility discrimination after the city fired him...

Editor's note: This compilation of the top 10 stories of the year is based on voting by the Southeast Missourian newsroom staff. ...

Gen. Seth McKee, a four-star general and former Cape Girardeau resident, died Monday in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the age of 100. At the time of his death, he was the highest-ranking survivor of the D-Day invasion of France during World War II. McKee died only 10 days after the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents approved a resolution honoring him. ...

Today in History Today is Friday, Dec. 30, the 365th day of 2016. There is one day left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Dec. 30, 1916, Grigory Rasputin, the so-called "Mad Monk" who wielded considerable influence with Czar Nicholas II, was killed by a group of Russian noblemen in St. Petersburg...

Almighty God, we praise your name, for you are the Creator of heaven and earth. Amen.

A new year is almost here. In just a couple days we'll say goodbye to 2016 and flip the calendar over to 2017. As the final days of this year come and go, we encourage you to take some time and think. Reflect on all that's transpired for you in the last 365 days -- whether it be good things you've been blessed with or difficulties that you've faced. There's plenty you can learn from both types of situations, and now is a good time to give them all a closer look...

Facebook is on the right path, but it is not enough. To stop the spread of Fake News, Internet, cable and satellite television companies need to come together to suppress it. Websites like InfoWars need to be taken off Internet search results. YouTube videos and blogs that spread fake news need to be shut down. And Russia's RT needs to be removed from all Cable and Satellite packages. Fake news needs to be suppressed...

Boy, is this confusing. I'm writing this column on Monday morning. I usually write on Tuesday mornings. Christmas was Sunday, but much of the secular world is observing the holiday today, on Monday. Routines and chores I normally do on Mondays have been canceled or rearranged...

BERLIN -- A German landlady's concerns about suspicious chemical odors from her tenant's apartment led police to a 28-year-old man who was trying unsuccessfully to extract gold from old cellphone and computer circuit boards. The woman went to police in Braubach, Germany, concerned she hadn't seen her tenant for some time. Police said officers found a range of chemicals. Further checks revealed he had been using the chemicals to try to extract gold...

TOLOTANGGA, Indonesia -- A magnitude-6.2 earthquake hit a region in the eastern part of Indonesia this morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The earthquake hit about 6:30 a.m. local time in the Sumbawa region, the agency said. The epicenter was about 20 miles south of the village of Tolotangga, which is 840 miles east of the nation's capital, Jakarta...

QAYARA, Iraq -- The mud was three inches deep in parts of the Madrag Camp for displaced Iraqis after the heavy overnight downpour. Water seeped into the blue-and-white tents, soaking families sleeping inside. Mahmoud Mohammed Mussa spent the morning sweeping out rainwater from the tent where he lives with his two wives and 10 children after a miserable night, unable to go back to sleep...

MOSCOW -- Flight recorders revealed no evidence of an explosion on board a Russian plane that crashed, killing all 92 on board, but investigators haven't ruled out a deliberate mechanical impact to down the plane, a military official said Thursday. Russian air force Lt. ...

BEIRUT -- A cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey went into effect in war-ravaged Syria at midnight Thursday, a potential breakthrough in the six years of fighting that have left more than a quarter-million people dead and triggered a refugee crisis across Europe...

NEW YORK -- Massive 20-ton sanitation trucks, weighted with an extra 15 tons of sand, will surround the iconic New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, officials said Thursday, describing a security measure meant to stop truck-driving attacks into crowds like those in Germany and France...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Nineteen states, including Missouri, will ring in the year with an increase in the minimum wage. Massachusetts and Washington state will have the highest new minimum wages in the country, at $11 per hour. California will raise its wage to $10.50 for businesses with 26 or more employees. New York state is taking a regional approach, with the wage rising to $11 in New York City, $10 in its downstate suburbs and $9.70 elsewhere...

MINNIE, Ky. -- Donna Dye saw the coal truck come barreling over the horizon. Her head started spinning with that familiar, desperate urge to end it all. She thought of the disconnect notices, the engagement ring she pawned to keep the lights on, the house she loved and probably would lose. Life insurance was the only bill up to date; this way, she thought, it might look like an accident...

ATLANTA -- When President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, Republicans will have the opportunity to pull off something they have wanted to do for years: overhaul Medicaid, the program that provides health care to tens of millions of lower-income and disabled Americans...

HONOLULU -- The United States struck back Thursday at Russia for hacking the U.S. presidential campaign with a sweeping set of punishments targeting Russia's spy agencies and diplomats. The U.S. said Russia must bear costs for its actions, but Moscow called the Obama administration "losers" and threatened retaliation...

An old Haarig landmark, the Orpheum Theater building at 615 Good Hope St., has fallen victim to the ravages of time and soon will be demolished; it was decided to take down the 74-year-old building after authorities discovered the roof of the old theater had partially collapsed, which caused the upper west wall of the building to bulge...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Bernice "Rose" Tucker, 99, of Perryville died Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016, at Delmar Gardens in Fenton, Missouri. Visitation will be from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday and from 6:30 to 9:15 a.m. Monday at Young and Sons Funeral Home in Perryville...

Mattie LaNora Shrum, 87, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016, at Chateau Girardeau. She was born March 8, 1929, in Culpepper Mountain, Arkansas, to Jessie Olen and Maude L. Hunter. She and Cecil Shrum were married March 28, 1948, in Steele, Missouri...

Dorris "Red" A. Huey, 88, of Cape Girardeau passed away Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016, at Southeast Hospital. He was born Nov. 22, 1928, in Blodgett, Missouri, son of Simon P. and Elsie Jennings Huey. He married his best friend, Mavis Carter, on March 6, 1948, in Chaffee, Missouri. She passed away Feb. 1, 2006...

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls Wednesday: n Medical assists were made at 12:34 p.m. on Perryville Road; 1:20 p.m. on South Spring Avenue; 4:53 p.m. on Whitener Street; 6:56 p.m. on Themis Street; and 10:29 p.m. on Independence 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 driving while intoxicated, no insurance and failure to drive on the right half of the roadway...

Daughter to George Riley and Sarah Ann Welborn of Chester, Illinois, Saint Francis Medical Center, 7:34 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016. Name, Evelyn Jade. Weight, 9 pounds, 4 ounces. Fourth child, second daughter. Mrs. Welborn is the former Sarah Sullivan, daughter of Steve and Bonnie Sullivan of Anna, Illinois. She is a substitute teacher with the Chester School District. Welborn is the son of George and Nancy Welborn of Anna. He is employed by Menard Correctional Center...

Princess Leia was our first girl movie heroine, and we made our moms braid brunette yarn so we'd have earmuff buns for Halloween. Carol Brady of "The Brady Bunch" was the ideal mother we probably didn't have, because our moms had to work and left us latchkey kids home alone, with TV and processed food our only companions...

An exhibit titled "Blooms, Wild & Tame In My Backyard, On Nature Trails, and Along the Roadside" will be displayed throughout January in the lobby at the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center, 2289 County Park Drive in Cape Girardeau. The exhibit is a collection of nature photography taken by Linda Hutson...

Just get through the next two days, friends. This 2016 business is almost over. Maybe you're raising a glass for Prince and Princess Leia. Or maybe you're Simone Biles and this was actually a pretty good year for you. Whatever the reason, there are plenty of options this weekend to ring out the old or ring in the new Saturday night...

ST. LOUIS -- A new study by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis has found safety standards to protect welders from harmful fumes may be inadequate. Dr. Brad A. Racette, senior author of the study, said the research showed the more exposure one had to airborne manganese, the greater the progression of parkinsonism, a neurological condition that causes tremors, muscle stiffness and other movement abnormalities...

A MyTEAM TRIUMPH Resolution 5K, 10K and 1 mile will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday at Arena Park, 410 Kiwanis Drive in Cape Girardeau. There will be a Run for God devotion at 9 a.m. preceding the race. The event costs $30 per person and will support the not-for-profit MyTEAM TRIUMPH, which provides fitness experiences for local individuals with disabilities. ...