Stories from Thursday, January 12, 2017

Two men were shot about 5:50 p.m. Wednesday in the 1000 block of Jefferson Avenue in Cape Girardeau, police said. One of the victims was taken by a civilian vehicle to a hospital, and second victim was taken to a hospital by Cape County Private Ambulance, Sgt. Adam Glueck, a public information officer Cape Girardeau Police, said at the shooting scene...

A new Cape Girardeau city hall could be on the drawing board within the next several years. The proposed $11.25 million project, which could include a safe room that would double as City Council chambers, is listed on the latest draft of the city's five-year plan of capital improvement projects,...

The Jackson School Board approved language for a bond issue that, if passed by voters, would allow the school district to borrow $22 million to fund its facilities-improvement plan. Jackson superintendent John Link said the measure, dubbed "Proposition J," will go before voters on the April ballot and would not entail a tax-rate increase...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Not waiting for President-elect Donald Trump to act first, some Missouri Republican lawmakers are pressing for a health-care overhaul that could convert the state's Medicaid program into a block grant from the federal government...

Today in History Today is Thursday, Jan. 12, the 12th day of 2017. There are 353 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Jan. 12, 1910, at a White House dinner hosted by President William Howard Taft, Baroness Rosen, wife of the Russian ambassador, caused a stir by requesting and smoking a cigarette -- it was, apparently, the first time a woman had smoked openly during a public function in the executive mansion. ...

O God, may we use the gifts you have given us to serve others and glorify you. Amen.

It is probably impossible for the average person to keep up with daily events of importance around the world. Still there are things happening which portend a heightened danger of war in Eastern Europe. NATO military exercises were reported on the website of the British newspaper, "The Daily Telegraph" in August 2015. ...

Today's (Monday's) paper mentioned that health insurance companies could not afford to accept customers with preexisting conditions. This is a blatant lie. How many people actually have no preexisting conditions? We live in an imperfect world and accumulate maladies as life progresses, on top of those we inherit from our parents...

We all learn a bit differently. For the special education classes at Cape Girardeau Central High School, part of the curriculum since last March is the Tiger Brew. "Tiger Brew is a student-led business and gives my special-needs students the real-life, money and time-management skills they need and work experience they need to transition out of high school and into the real world," functional special service teacher Candice Schnurbusch told the Southeast Missourian's Andrew Whitaker...

ST. LOUIS -- Law-enforcement officials said the overall crime total in St. Louis County and in the city of St. Louis decreased in 2016. Crime in the county is down 2 percent, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis police chief Sam Dotson said reported overall crime in the city has dropped 4.1 percent, while property crimes decreased by about 6.6 percent...

MOUND CITY, Mo. -- Despite strong opposition from some area residents and a U.S. congressman, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday it is changing the name of the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Missouri because the term "squaw" is considered offensive...

The congregation of Good Shepherd Lutheran Chapel observes its 25th anniversary during the 10 a.m. worship service; a reception for members and friends follows; the first church service was on New Year's Day in 1967, in a dwelling at Bel Air and Cape Rock drives...

Margaret "Maggie" Cullen Kruse, 91, of Jackson died Monday, Dec. 12, 2016, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 22, 1925, in Higginsville, Missouri, to Alfred and Hazel George Schultze. She married C.R. Gillilan in 1947 in Higginsville, and that marriage resulted in two children, Kim and Randy. C.R. passed away in 1963 and Randy in 2014. She later married John Kenneth Kruse on June 28, 1969, at Hutchinson, Kansas...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Lillie Mae Fleming, 99, a longtime resident of Cairo, died Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, at Life Care Nursing Home in La Center, Kentucky. Visitation will be from noon to 1 p.m. today at Crain Funeral Home in Cairo. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. today at the funeral home. Interment will be at Green Lawn Memorial Gardens in Villa Ridge, Illinois...

Janet Ruth Edmondson, 68, of Jackson died Monday, Jan. 9, 2017, at the home of her daughter. She was born Jan. 4, 1949, in Cape Girardeau to Clyde and Kathleen Jeanette Branham Mason. Janet graduated from Cape Girardeau Central High School. She worked at Healing Rooms in Cape Girardeau and led Bible studies for the elderly at Jackson Manor Nursing Home in Jackson...

The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Property damage n Property damage was reported in the area of North High and West Independence streets. n Property damage was reported in the 400 block of East Lane. Miscellaneous n Domestic disturbance was reported in the 900 block of East Main Street...

WASHINGTON -- Black lawmakers said Wednesday that Sen. Jeff Sessions at times has shown hostility toward civil rights, making him unfit to be attorney general, as a 1986 letter from the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. surfaced expressing opposition to the Alabama senator...

NEW YORK -- President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he will continue to profit from his global business empire after he enters the White House this month -- a precedent-breaking decision the director of the Office of Government Ethics condemned as unpatriotic...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Aaron M. Meystedt, 32, 2967 County Road 214, was arrested on suspicion of domestic assault. n Michael J. Jessup, 54, 1810 E. Plaza Way, was arrested on Cape Girardeau warrants for BOCA combustible/flammable fire-code violations...

Daughter to Kelly C. and Whitney J. Vines of Cape Girardeau, Saint Francis Medical Center, 8:03 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. Name, Natalie Loraine. Weight, 6 pounds, 11 ounces. Third child, second daughter. Mrs. Vines is the former Whitney Brown, daughter of Curt and Kara Brown of Jackson and Patrick and Mary Ogilvie of Santa Monica, California. ...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A gay teacher sued a Roman Catholic school Wednesday for firing him after he announced his wedding to a man, the latest in a series of legal fights over anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people. The lawsuit argues Charlotte Catholic High School violated federal employment law by firing Lonnie Billard from a substitute teaching role in 2014 after a Facebook post about his wedding. ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The family of a Kansas lawmaker's 10-year-old son killed last summer on what was billed as the world's tallest water slide reached a settlement Wednesday with the park's owner and the raft's manufacturer. Terms of the deal filed in Kansas' Johnson County District Court involving Caleb Schwab's family were not released...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- It turns out the moon is older than many scientists suspected: a ripe 4.51 billion years old. That's the newest estimate, thanks to rocks and soil collected by the Apollo 14 moonwalkers in 1971. A research team reported Wednesday the moon formed within 60 million years of the birth of the solar system. Previous estimates ranged within 100 million years, all the way to 200 million years after the solar system's creation, not quite 4.6 billion years ago...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Police leading a massive manhunt for the suspected killer of an Orlando officer Wednesday collected hundreds of tips and announced the arrests of two people who allegedly aided the fugitive, promising to reward anyone who turns him in and punish anyone who helps him hide...

WASHINGTON -- Six high-level Volkswagen employees from Germany were indicted in the U.S. on Wednesday in the VW emissions-cheating scandal, and the company itself agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $4.3 billion -- by far the biggest fine levied by the government against an automaker...

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- One by one, family members of nine slain black parishioners confronted Dylann Roof for the last time Wednesday, shouting at him, offering forgiveness and even offering to visit him in prison as he awaits execution for the slaughter...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A Roman Catholic priest filed suit Wednesday against his former diocese, saying the bishop pushed him aside and lied about him because he called law enforcement and cooperated with the investigation after another priest showed child pornography to a teenage boy...

HOLLISTER, Calif. -- Rescue workers used boats and firetrucks to evacuate dozens of Northern California residents from their flooded homes Wednesday as a drought-busting series of storms began to move out of the region after days of heavy rain and snow that toppled trees and created havoc as far north as Portland, Oregon...

LOS ANGELES -- The force, it seems, was with Los Angeles. And San Francisco was left on the dark side. "Star Wars" creator George Lucas and his team were on the side of the City of Angels over the City by the Bay on Tuesday, choosing LA as the home of a museum that will showcase his life's work along with a huge collection of exhibits on film history and art...

ATLANTA -- The so-called "Ferguson effect" -- officers backing off of policing out of fear their actions will be questioned after the fact -- has been talked about but never quantified. A new study suggests the effect is a reality, with three-quarters of officers surveyed saying they are hesitant to use force, even when appropriate, and are less willing to stop and question suspicious people...

Approval of minutes n Minutes of the Jan. 9 meeting Communications/reports -- other elected officials n None at this time Public comments n Items listed on agenda Routine business...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A partner at a global management consulting firm was announced Wednesday as the person to fill the state's new chief operating officer position Republican Gov. Eric Greitens created through an executive order. Greitens chose Drew Erdmann from major consulting firm McKinsey and Company, which has done work for the Pentagon...

NEW YORK -- In a combative and freewheeling news conference, President-elect Donald Trump said for the first time Wednesday he accepts Russia was behind the election year hacking of Democrats that roiled the White House race. Looking ahead, he urged Congress to move quickly to replace President Barack Obama's signature health-care law and insisted anew Mexico will pay the cost of a border wall...

WASHINGTON -- Barraged by questions about Russia, Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state promised a far more muscular approach toward the Kremlin on Wednesday, abandoning much of the president-elect's emphasis on improving ties between the Cold War foes...

The St. Louis division of the FBI is warning the public about a telephone scam claiming recipients have failed to report to jury duty, according to a new release. The caller impersonates a law enforcement officer or an officer of the court, and says that the recipient failed to report to jury duty and may threaten criminal prosecution or jail time, according to the release. ...

Several items were stolen from the Medicine Shop Pharmacy at 800 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau after a break-in Monday, police said. An employee contacted Cape Girardeau Police about 8:30 a.m. when she noticed the door of the pharmacy had been tampered with before she entered, public information officer Richard McCall wrote in an email...

This weekend, the region will see a winter storm event, with reports indicating significant freezing rain and ice. Weather models from the National Weather Service in Paducah, Kentucky, indicate areas northwest of Perry County likely will see the most significant ice, but accumulation is possible in the entire region...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pathfinder boat floats down the Mississippi River during a foggy Wednesday morning in Cape Girardeau.

SoutheastHEALTH Foundation has raised about $100,000 in ticket sales for its Journey Gala event to benefit the Southeast Cancer Center, and it looks to raise thousands more through a raffle, auctions, drink sales and donations. The event Jan. 21 at Isle Casino Cape Girardeau is sold out, with 328 attendees at 41 tables. The gala has 15 sponsors, with medical vendor AUL OneAmerica serving as presentation sponsor with a contribution of $15,000...

Eight-year-old Finley Watkins of Bernie, Missouri, is making a name for himself as an Elvis Presley impersonator. He has been performing and competing regionally and beyond since he was 5. Now he’s showing off his talents on TV. On an episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” scheduled to air locally at 4 p.m. Thursday on WSIL-TV 3, he’ll be interviewed by the talk-show host and perform the song “Blue Suede Shoes.” ...

Perry County sheriff's deputies arrested an Old Appleton man and his girlfriend Wednesday after he accidentally shot himself in the shoulder in a Delta church parking lot Tuesday, deputies said. The Perry County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Eric S. Lindsay, 25, with first-degree burglary, stealing a weapon, second-degree burglary, misdemeanor first-degree trespassing and misdemeanor theft of less than $150...

CYPRESS, Texas -- A man said sheriff's deputies conducted faulty field tests on cat litter found in his vehicle they believed was methamphetamine. Ross Lebeau was charged with possession of a controlled substance, but court documents show the case was dismissed because the material was not an illicit substance. Lebeau said his father placed the cat litter in the sock to absorb moisture and keep the car's windows from fogging...

Aaron Bollinger of Jackson was named to the fall 2016 dean's list at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Alex Mehner, Anna Unterreiner and Evan Unterreiner of Cape Girardeau and Chloe Kasten of Jackson were named to the fall 2016 dean's list at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee...

n 15 identical rectangular blocks n STEP 1: Arrange the blocks according to the picture. n STEP 2: Carefully remove the bottom block on the right side and observe. What are the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of the blocks? Adding blocks to your structure allows the center of gravity of your structure to shift from right to left. Once you remove the bottom block, your structure perfectly balances over the bottom left block...

After finishing an exercise, teacher Jennie Pehle gave precise instructions to her class. "Now close Kahoot!" Pehle told her 23 students. "Now, if you have QR codes at your table, you can start working at your table." The students, all equipped with iPads, went to work...