Stories from Friday, April 1, 2022

NB I-55 in Cape Girardeau County reduced for bridge maintenance Northbound Interstate 55 in Cape Girardeau County -- between mile marker 111 and mile marker 117 near Old Appleton -- will be reduced to one lane with a 12-foot width restriction as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform bridge maintenance. According to a MoDOT news release, the work will take place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday and Tuesday...

Old Town Cape's annual Downtown Commercial Property Open House is from 5 to 7 p.m. April 28 -- a week later than originally scheduled. OTC's Economic Vitality Committee will host the event, showcasing a number of vacant buildings within Cape Girardeau's OTC district...

Panelists at Wednesday's screening of "Georgia, Georgia" at Southeast Missouri State University's Rose Theater discuss the film. They are, from left, Joel Rhodes, professor in the Department of History; Roxanne Wellington, associate professor in the Dobbins Conservatory of Theatre and Dance; Samantha Washington, assistant professor in the Department of Communication Disorders; and Dana Branson, assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, Social Work and Sociology.

Count U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-8th District) among those in full support of Ukrainian resistance to Russia's invasion, now in its second month, but the congressman from Salem, Missouri, does not favor America military intervention in the Ukraine-Russia war...

Voters in Perry County, Missouri, will decide county, municipal and school board races in Tuesday's voting. In recent months, the appointed and elected boards of Perry County Memorial Hospital have been on the front line of an ongoing discussion about the future of the hospital. ...

Scott County voters will consider several school board candidates, school district bond issues and municipal issues in Tuesday's general election. In addition to Scott County Fire Protection District's tax proposal and the City of Sikeston's fireworks measure, a use-tax proposal is again on the ballot in Scott City. Voters rejected the measure in November. The use tax would apply the city's sales tax to purchases made online...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Sikeston residents will finally end the debate on whether the shooting of fireworks should be allowed in the city limits when they go to the polls Tuesday. For years and years, as the Fourth of July nears, Sikeston residents and officials begin the debate on whether or not the shooting of fireworks should be allowed in the city limits...

BLODGETT, Mo. -- Voters in the Scott County Rural Fire Protection District are being asked on the April 5 ballot to pass a tax levy increase to secure a much-needed new fire station, storm sirens for the area and equipment upgrades. The proposed increase is 50 cents per $100 of assessed valuation of personal property and real estate, but would in turn lower insurance rates for residents once the projects are completed. ...

Patrons of several Cape Girardeau County school districts and voters in Delta will have votes to cast Tuesday. n Nell Holcomb: vying for two three-year seats on the board are Rachel Rickey, Dawn Haupt and Chad Fisher. n Oak Ridge: vying for two three-year seats on the board are Ronald Tracy, Damon Lee Dillard, Dustin Michael Koerber, Andrew Martin and Timonty Urhahn...

Two challengers will face an incumbent Tuesday for a seat on Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center's Board of Trustees. Philip Taylor is a member of the board, and he will face Nancy Johnson and William Lewis. The trio answered several questions regarding the position. (Some answers have been condensed.)...

Cape Girardeau voters in wards 1, 2 and 6 will decide who represents them on the City Council. In Ward 1, incumbent Daniel Presson will face Deborah Young. Ward 1 encompasses the northeast portion of the city. In Ward 2, incumbent Shelly Moore was unable to seek reelection, and in the February primary, Tameka Randle and Steve Watkins emerged from a crowded field for the chance to face each other in Tuesday's general election...

An incumbent faces two challengers for a seat on the Cape Girardeau School Board. ...

Today is Friday, April 1, the 91st day of 2022. There are 274 days left in the year. This is April Fool's Day. Today's Highlights in History: On April 1, 1972, the first Major League Baseball players' strike began; it lasted 12 days. Twenty years later, on April 1, 1992, the National Hockey League Players' Association went on its first-ever strike, which lasted 10 days...

O Father God, thank you for sending your son as a sacrifice to cover our transgressions. Amen.

Tuesday is Election Day in Missouri, featuring races for many municipal and school board positions. In Southeast Missouri, there's no shortage of races to be determined with the contest for Cape Girardeau mayor leading the way. On the ballot are incumbent Mayor Bob Fox and City Councilwoman Stacy Kinder. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Police Department responded to the following calls. Arrest does not imply guilt. Assault n A sex offense was reported. Thefts n Second-degree burglary and second-degree property damage was reported on Old Sprigg Street Road...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls. March 30 n Medical assists were made at 8:04 a.m., on Bloomfield Road; 8:54 a.m. on Brenda Kay Court; 9:54 a.m. on Walnut Street; 2:48 p.m. on Fairview Drive; 5:26 p.m. on Green Acres Drive; 5:40 p.m. at Independence and North Pacific streets; 6:39 p.m. on Cougar Run; 9:02 p.m. on Whitener Street; 9:34 p.m. on South Lorimier Street; 10:53 p.m. on North Street...

A brain disorder that leads to problems with speaking, reading and writing has sidelined actor Bruce Willis and drawn attention to a little-known condition that has many possible causes. A stroke, tumor, head injury or other damage to the language centers of the brain can cause aphasia. A brain infection or Alzheimer's disease can trigger it...

DANIA BEACH, Fla. -- As departing jetliners roared overhead, an aging vervet monkey moped on a mangrove branch one recent afternoon in the woods he inhabits near a South Florida airport, his ego bruised. Mikey, as he is called by his human observers, has long been the laid-back alpha male of a troop of monkeys ruling this tract of land, tucked off a busy runway at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. ...

WASHINGTON -- Got a dime you can spare? Coins are in short supply -- again. Retailers, laundromats and other businesses that rely on coins want Americans to empty their piggy banks and look under couch cushions for extra change and "get coin moving."...

Scientists say they have finally assembled the full genetic blueprint for human life, adding the missing pieces to a puzzle nearly completed two decades ago. An international team described the first-ever sequencing of a complete human genome - the set of instructions to build and sustain a human being - in research published Thursday in the journal Science. ...

WASHINGTON -- When the end of the COVID-19 pandemic comes, it could create major disruptions for a cumbersome U.S. health care system made more generous, flexible and up-to-date technologically through a raft of temporary emergency measures. Winding down those policies could begin as early as the summer. ...

WASHINGTON -- Military bases with a high risk for sexual assault, harassment and other harmful behaviors often have leaders who don't understand violence prevention, don't make it a priority and focus more on their mission than on their people, a Pentagon review has concluded...

WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation's strategic petroleum reserve for six months, a bid to control energy prices that have spiked after the United States and allies imposed steep sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine...

KYIV, Ukraine -- Russian troops handed control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant back to the Ukrainians and left the heavily contaminated site early today, more than a month after taking it over, Ukrainian authorities said, as fighting raged on the outskirts of Kyiv and other fronts...

A line of severe storms packing isolated tornadoes and high winds ripped across the Deep South overnight Wednesday into Thursday -- killing at least two in the Florida Panhandle, toppling trees and power lines and leaving homes and businesses damaged as the vast weather front raced across several states...

The Republican-led Missouri House is set to pass legislation to defund Planned Parenthood, criminalize mail-order abortion medications, and allow wrongful death lawsuits in rare cases when infants are born alive after an abortion attempt and the infant then dies or is injured...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri House on Thursday overwhelmingly defeated a congressional redistricting plan passed by the state Senate, intensifying a standoff that could eventually force the courts to intervene to draw new voting districts. Although Missouri has large Republican majorities in both legislative chambers, a conservative coalition has split with GOP leaders over how aggressively to gerrymander district lines to their favor. ...

Cape Girardeau voters say yes to a plan for new school buildings and improvements in facilities and programs throughout the district; voters approved the sale of $14 million in bonds; voters also approved a waiver of the Proposition C rollback; the bond issue passes with a surprising 65% of the vote, and the rollback waiver passes with nearly 64% of the vote...

For release immediately, with photo April 1, 2022 DARBY RECEIVES LIFE APPLICATIONS LEADER AWARD Kelly Darby of Jackson, a financial representative with Modern Woodmen of America, was Life Application Leader in the Missouri East Region in March...