Stories from Tuesday, January 2, 2018

A Jackson woman was killed in a one-vehicle crash Sunday, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Bonita Fuller, 67, was pronounced dead at the scene by Cape Girardeau County deputy coroner David Taylor, the patrol said. The crash occurred at 12:10 p.m. on U.S. 61 in Fruitland...

January is the month for Jackson's and Cape Girardeau's annual chambers of commerce banquet and installation events. The Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce holds its event the second Friday in January, this year on Jan. 12, chamber executive director Brian Gerau said...

Walking into The Audio Video Guys store on Old Cape Road in Jackson, expectations should be checked at the door. Instead of TVs, the walls of the company’s headquarters are lined with vintage audio equipment. Business owner Brett Smith said the business, which deals in custom installation of entertainment systems, came about five years ago, and with it, his massive collection of used technology...

More funding for roads and bridges and regulating tax credits top the 2018 legislative agenda, area lawmakers said. The Legislature could ask voters to raise the gas tax to fund roads and bridges. But area lawmakers said the Legislature might be reluctant to promote a tax increase in the 2018 session because it is an election year...

In response to a growing problem, Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America has a solution. After months of overcrowding at other Adult and Teen Challenge facilities in areas such as St. Louis; Hot Springs, Arkansas; and Cleveland, executive director James Bolin said it was time to create more space...

Firefighters from four departments battled a house fire Monday amid subfreezing temperatures that hampered efforts to put out the blaze, a Jackson fire official said. The fire at 720 Forest St. in Jackson severely injured the homeowner. He was airlifted to a hospital in St. Louis where he was in critical condition, Jackson fire Capt. Robert Greif said. No one else was home at the time of the fire, he said. ...

Today is Tuesday, Jan. 2, the second day of 2018. There are 363 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Jan. 2, 1893, the U.S. Postal Service issued its first-ever set of commemorative stamps to honor the upcoming World's Columbian Expedition in Chicago as well as the quadricentennial of Christopher Columbus' voyage...

O Lord Jesus, may others come to know you this new year. Amen.

Per Jon Rust's column, Dec. 20, 2017, I just arrived home from a round trip to Chicago from Cape Girardeau. I absolutely love this flight. It takes less than an hour and one half to get there (and only 45 minutes by auto from the airport to my daughter's home). I flew back in with a daughter of a friend who was also on her first flight from Chicago. She smiled with delight at the "coziness" of our airport. Don't you just love Cape Girardeau?...

The SportsPlex seems to be doing its job, so far. Heather Davis, the facility supervisor, said in its first five months, the facility has generated $170,000, and is on track for $475,000 in its first fiscal year. The facility isn’t yet covering its expenses (it will probably cover about 80 percent this fiscal year), and probably won’t do so for a few more years, but officials are pleased it is drawing in visitors from all over the Midwest, including some as far away as Michigan and Texas. ...

LONDON -- A Beatle and a Bee Gee are among the celebrated citizens who have been selected for knighthood and other awards given in the name of Britain's monarch. Britain's Cabinet Office publishes a list of the people receiving honors for merit, service or bravery twice a year: just before New Year's Eve, and on the Saturday in June when Queen Elizabeth II's birthday is officially observed...

BARTOW, Fla. — A Florida judge said a sheriff’s office must retain custody of a horse whose owner was charged with drunken driving while riding the animal. In a report by The Ledger, Polk County Judge Sharon Franklin said 53-year-old Donna Byrne was unfit to care for the horse. Franklin also said Byrne must complete treatment for alcohol addiction. Byrne was arrested Nov. 2 after riding her horse down a highway. Police said her blood-alcohol level twice Florida’s legal limit...

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- Costa Rican investigators are looking into what caused a charter aircraft to crash in woods in the country's northwest soon after takeoff, killing two crewmembers and 10 U.S. citizens, including families from New York and Florida...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Mickey Mouse. Nick Saban. Any Other Republican. Those were some of names that got write-in votes in the Alabama Senate election as voters suggested their own alternatives to Sen.-elect Doug Jones and Republican Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race...

WASHINGTON -- The glamour of his holiday break behind him, President Donald Trump returned to the White House on Monday night to face a hefty legislative to-do list, critical midterm elections and perilous threats abroad. Trump started his second year in Washington after a lengthy sojourn at his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, capped by a New Year's Eve bash. ...

MILWAUKEE -- Harley-Davidson is placing a renewed emphasis on teaching people to ride as part of its efforts to attract more customers. The Milwaukee-based company's decision to expand the number of dealerships with a Harley "Riding Academy" comes as the industry grapples with years of declining sales and an aging customer base...

OAKLAND, Calif. -- It wasn't exactly reefer madness Monday as California launched the first legal sales of recreational marijuana, but those who could find the drug celebrated the historic day, lining up early for ribbon cuttings, freebies and offerings ranging from cookies to gummy bears to weed with names like "Heaven Mountain."...

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Alarmed by the proliferation of false content online, state lawmakers around the country are pushing schools to put more emphasis on teaching students how to tell fact from fiction. Lawmakers in several states have introduced or passed bills calling on public-school systems to do more to teach media literacy skills they say are critical to democracy. ...

TEHRAN, Iran -- Protests across Iran saw their most violent night as "armed protesters" tried to overrun military bases and police stations before security forces repelled them, killing 10 people, Iranian state television said Monday. The demonstrations, the largest to strike Iran since its disputed 2009 presidential election, have seen five days of unrest across the country and a death toll of at least 13 with the slaying of a police officer announced late Monday...

PITTSBURGH -- The pain clinic tucked into the corner of a low-slung suburban strip mall was an open secret. Patients would travel hundreds of miles to see Dr. Andrzej Zielke, eager for what authorities described as a steady flow of prescriptions for the kinds of powerful painkillers that ushered the nation into its worst drug crisis in history...

DENVER -- A man who shot and killed a Colorado deputy and wounded four others along with two civilians was a lawyer and an Iraq War veteran who had posted videos online in recent months criticizing professors and law-enforcement officials, authorities said Monday...

MILWAUKEE -- Bone-chilling cold gripped much of the central U.S. as 2018 began Monday, breaking century-old records, icing over some New Year's celebrations and leading to at least two deaths attributed to exposure to the elements. The National Weather Service issued wind-chill advisories covering a vast area from south Texas to Canada and from Montana and Wyoming through New England. ...

Mid-America Teen Challenge hopes to raise $250,000 to build a chapel and multi-use facility; the organization will kick off its first-ever capital campaign Tuesday, says Jack Smart, executive director of Teen Challenge. John D. Crites, a member of Boy Scout Troop 5, has earned the rank of Eagle Scout; Crites' service project was done at Trail of Tears State Park under the supervision of park naturalist Greg Henson; he cleared a designated area at the park entrance...

ORAN, Mo. -- Doris Jean Walter, 82, of Oran passed away Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017, at her family home, surrounded by her loving family. She was born June 14, 1935, in New Hamburg, Missouri, to the late Daley and Catherine "Katie" Heuring Klipfel. She married Philip Aloysius Walter on Sept. 10, 1951, and he preceded her in death April 10, 1977...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. — Tom Smothers, 74, of Olive Branch died at 10:07 p.m. Friday, Dec. 29, 2017, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept. 3, 1943, in Cairo, Illinois, the son of Thomas Sherman and Thelma Minton Smothers. He married Gwendolyn Ellet on Nov. 21, 1967...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Louvena Lynn, 88, of Chaffee died Friday, Dec. 29, 2017, at Chaffee Nursing Center. Friends may call after 4 p.m. Thursday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee. A memorial service will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at the funeral chapel...

Margaret Mary "Margie" Joyce, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Dec. 29, 2017, at Estates of Perryville in Perryville, Missouri. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

CAIRO, Ill. -- John Albert Fischer Jr., 84, of Cairo passed away at 2:48 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Johnnie was born Oct. 6, 1933, in Cairo, son of the late John Albert Fischer Sr. and Mary Zetra Pierceall Fischer...

Mary Frances Crites, 91, of Cape Girardeau passed away Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017, at the home of her caregiver in Jackson. She was born July 26, 1926, in Cape Girardeau to Lester B. and Tommie Craig Marlin. She and Kergious Crites were married Jan. 25, 1943, in Cape Girardeau. Two children were born to their union. They had been married 71 years when Kergious passed away March 27, 2014...

Thelma Louise Bell, 92, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017, at Fountainbleau Lodge. Visitation and funeral services will be private. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

CENTRALIA, Ill. — Margaret Elizabeth Bauer, 97, of Centralia, formerly of Cairo, Illinois, passed away Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Centralia. She was born March 26, 1920, to Charles and Mary Elsie Kendall Denton. She married Harry “Jack” Bauer on Dec. 24, 1942, in Blytheville, Arkansas, and they enjoyed 74 years of love and companionship. He preceded her in death Dec. 22, 2016...

ADVANCE, Mo. — Mary Elima Armstrong, 85, of Advance passed away Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017, at the Advance Nursing Center. She was born Sept. 25, 1932, in Advance, the daughter of Clarence Dewitt and Edna Gertrude Davis Robins. Mary had worked as a housekeeper at the Advance Nursing Center for 15 years. She had retired from Paramount Hat Factory in Advance. She loved crossword puzzles and jigsaw puzzles. She also enjoyed watching her soap operas. She loved her family very much...

The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Miscellaneous n Peace disturbance was reported in the 300 block of North Hope Street. n Domestic disturbance was reported in the 600 block of North High Street.

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls: Thursday n Medical assists were made at 1:25 a.m. on Boxwood Drive; 7:34 a.m. on North Pacific Street; 1:31 p.m. on North Silver Springs Road; 2:45 p.m. on Hackberry Street; and 5:24 p.m. on Aspen Drive...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI n Zackery McCarty, 29, of Cape Girardeau was arrested at 117 N. Ellis St. on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana...

FORDLAND, Mo. -- A 6-year-old taekwondo student in south-central Missouri is fighting for an injured teammate he's never met. Lucas "The Tiger" Glover outranks most of his classmates at G+G Martial Arts in Fordland. He leads the gym in prayer, and makes sure to include one for 16-year-old Julia Shipp...

LEMAY TOWNSHIP, Mo. -- A high school in the St. Louis area has named its gymnasium after a 77-year-old man it considers its No. 1 fan. Notre Dame High School's gym is named after Charles Tabor. The decision came from James and Beth Lundy, a student's parents who were top bidders this and last year for auctioning the gym's naming rights, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Volunteers are carefully transcribing thousands of letters World War II soldiers sent home for the State Historical Society of Missouri's digital collection. The effort to compile the letters began in 1945 with W. Francis English, the then-head of the history department at the University of Missouri, the Columbia Missourian reported...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Corrections will ban smoking in prisons this year. All of the department's facilities will be tobacco-free starting April 1, the News Tribune reported. Staff, offenders, visitors and contractors won't be allowed to possess or use tobacco products inside the department's facilities. Staff and visitors will be able to smoke in a designated area outside the prisons...

The decision to install bright lights on Broadway is yet another laudable victory for the Speak Out lobby. ...

Daughter to John Joseph and Kyndra Lynn Oliver of Cape Girardeau, Saint Francis Medical Center, 10:09 a.m. Monday, Dec. 11, 2017. Name, Beckett Kay. Weight, 7 pounds, 1 ounce. First child. Mrs. Oliver is the former Kyndra Williams, daughter of Tom Williams and Donna Williams of Jackson. She is a teacher at Chaffee Elementary School. Oliver is the son of Mark Oliver and Jo Ellen Hawn of Cape Girardeau. He is membership director at Dalhousie Golf Club...

First State Bank and Trust Co. Inc. recently promoted Matthew Drake to president and chief executive officer, according to a company news release. Drake takes over leading the organization's five branches from previous president Gordon Waller. In addition to his duties as president, Drake also will serve on the First State Bank and Trust Co. Inc. Board of Directors...

Imo’s Pizza and Rhodes has proudly raised over $13,000 for local schools and organizations since March 2017. The money was generated through Imo’s Pizza fundraising days and frozen pizza and baked pizza voucher sales. Participating Imo’s Pizza restaurants included the Cape Girardeau, Perryville, Scott City and Sikeston franchises owned by PAJCO, Inc., also known as Rhodes Convenience Stores...

Once again, the popular 3-day bluegrass festival will be returning to the Bavarian Halle by Drury Inn in Fruitland, January 25-27, 2018. This year’s lineup is another great one and folks have learned that this is a great event to put on the calendar each year for the last weekend in January. ...