Stories from Monday, August 24, 2020

MALDEN, Mo. — A Malden man is being sought for his connection with a murder that occurred Saturday night. A no-bond arrest warrant has been issued for Steven Michael Kirkwood of Malden. Kirkwood has been formally charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to a news release...

A new equipment rental business has opened in Cape Girardeau. Fabick Rents, a division of Fabick CAT, opened a branch facility earlier this month at 2050 Southern Expressway. Fabick has 36 locations and 1,200 employees in four states. The heavy-equipment dealer has had a new- and used-equipment sales and service location at 2022 Nash Road for several years, which is unaffected by the addition of the rental business...

Economists continue to read tea leaves, looking for hints as to where the nation's economy is headed in the weeks, months and even years ahead. Jim Limbaugh at Montgomery Bank periodically shares insights with me from a weekly newsletter he subscribes to. A recent issue of the newsletter expressed both optimism and caution about the nation's economic outlook...

Megan Frank studied forensic science at Southeast Missouri State University and graduated 10 years ago with a degree in chemistry, which eventually led her to a career in human resources. Wait. What? "It took a lot of finding out what I liked and what I was good at to get to where I'm at today," said Frank, the chief operations officer at OnBoard, a human-resources consulting firm in Cape Girardeau...

Seventy-five years ago, a now-defunct Cape Girardeau company played a quiet but vital role in helping the Allies win World War II. “Southeast Missouri did not get many big (government) contracts for the war effort,” recalled Frank Nickell of the Kellerman Foundation and former longtime educator at Southeast Missouri State University...

Today in History Today is Monday, Aug. 24, the 237th day of 2020. There are 129 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 24 in A.D. 79, long-dormant Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic ash; an estimated 20,000 people died...

O Heavenly Father, be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. Amen.

I urge those who still indulge the fiction that former President Barack Obama is a uniter and great statesman to read the transcript of his Democratic convention speech with an open mind and discerning eye. Obama proudly violated the long-practiced rule that former presidents shouldn’t attack sitting ones. But he’s Obama, exempt from the rules, and he was attacking President Donald Trump, whom the left considers fair game for any smear anytime anywhere, no matter how deceitful and malicious...

The number of Republicans speaking at the Democratic National Convention had progressives on edge. They shouldn’t have fretted. Even if a handful of estranged Republicans are along for the ride, the left is steadily moving the Democratic Party in its direction. Would progressives prefer winning the optics at a virtual convention, or the substance over the longer term?...

Overpaid white male Fox News anchor calls Mrs. Obama “hard” and “angry.” Better than calling her “nasty,” I suppose. A different perspective would be strong, educated, articulate and classy. All attributes that most 45 fans don’t appreciate ...

The PulsePoint app was launched recently as a joint effort between the Cape Girardeau Fire Department and Saint Francis Medical Center. It’s a tool to help community members perform hands-only compressions, otherwise known as “sidewalk CPR,” for 7 to 8 minutes...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tourists are flocking to Nashville to see a new mural of Dolly Parton that celebrates her position on Black Lives Matter. Mural artist Kim Radford had already decided to paint the mural of the country music icon on the side of a local music club called The 5 Spot, which was made famous for being one of the many filming locations for the TV show "Nashville."...

BOSTON -- Apologizing publicly for the first time for crimes their lawyers insisted for months they didn't commit, "Full House" star Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were sentenced to prison Friday for using their wealth and privilege to cheat their daughters' way into the college of their choice...

BERLIN -- Alexei Navalny's wife and a top aide visited him Sunday in a Berlin hospital where the comatose Russian dissident is being treated by German doctors after a suspected poisoning. Navalny was flown to Germany on Saturday from Siberia after doctors determined he was stable enough to be brought to the capital's Charite hospital for treatment...

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. -- Three massive wildfires chewed through parched Northern California landscape Sunday as firefighters raced to dig breaks and make other preparations ahead of a frightening weather system. That system was packing high winds and more of the lightning that sparked the huge blazes and scores of other fires around the state, putting nearly a quarter-million people under evacuation orders and warnings...

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump on Sunday announced emergency authorization to treat COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma -- a move he called "a breakthrough," one of his top health officials called "promising" and other health experts said needs more study before it's celebrated...

NEW ORLEANS -- The Gulf Coast braced Sunday for a potentially devastating hit from twin hurricanes as two dangerous storms swirled toward the U.S. from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Officials feared a history-making onslaught of life-threatening winds and flooding along the coast, stretching from Texas to Alabama...

WASHINGTON -- Help for the U.S. Postal Service landed in stalemate Sunday as the White House dismissed an emergency funding bill aimed at shoring up the agency before the November elections as "going nowhere" and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged senators to act quickly...

Jimmie D. Smith, 77, of Jackson passed away Friday, Aug. 21, 2020, at his home. He was born Aug. 23, 1942, in Senath, Missouri, to William “Bill” and Gladys Dye Smith. He and Sandra Jean Mungle were married Nov. 27, 1982, in Jackson. Jimmie served honorably in the U.S. Army from 1960 to 1963, during the Cuban Missile Crisis...

Evelyn Gertrude Nations, 93, of Nashville, Tennessee, formerly of Perryville, Missouri, died Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, at her daughter's home in Allen, Michigan. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to noon today at Whitewater Christian Church in Perry County, Missouri...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- With Missourians under a stay-at-home order this spring as a coronavirus precaution, the Associated Industries of Missouri began surveying businesses to gauge how they were affected and gather suggestions for reopening the economy...

After a day at Cape Splash Family Aquatic Center, 16-year-old Jacob Yount of Marquand, Missouri, throws rocks into the Mississippi River with his 12-year-old sister Jaden, above right, and Nevaya Whitener on Sunday at Riverfront Park in Cape Girardeau. ...

At a news conference yesterday at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, Gov. Mel Carnahan announced the creation of the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Violent Crime Support Unit; Carnahan said the unit will "put more advanced crime-fighting technologies and expertise at the fingertips of local law enforcement officers" during investigations of major crimes...

United Way of Southeast Missouri (UWSEMO) has raised $143,000 to support families and individuals financially affected by the novel Coronavirus. About 42% of this COVID-19 fund has been distributed since April. According to Executive Director, Elizabeth Shelton, these funds are going to nonprofits in the UWSEMO network that provide emergency assistance with utilities, shelter, and food, including The Salvation Army, several regional food pantries, Hope for One More Children’s Home, Habitat for Humanity, Community Partnership, and Safe House for Women. ...