Stories from Monday, April 11, 2022

An apparent overdose death has led to investigators pursuing felony murder charges against two suspects. Early on Sunday, Butler County deputy Damion Smith responded to a residence on County Road 526 in reference to an unresponsive male. "Upon arrival, [it] was apparent the individual had overdosed," Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs said...

Jim Gaffigan, 55, has been making a living doing standup comedy for 30 years. The Indiana native's observational comedic style often returns Gaffigan to childhood. The following is excerpted from his "Idiot Abroad" special on Netflix. "When I was growing up, they're like, 'Learn the metric system, everyone learn it, a big switch is coming up.' Ten years later, they're like, 'Never mind. It's too hard. It's based on tens.'"...

Spectrum Record Lounge, a combination bar and record store, is expected to open this summer at 113 Broadway in Cape Girardeau, a site formerly known as Pour House sports bar. Travis Tyson and Parker Bond are part-owners and co-proprietors of the coming establishment...

History takes up a lot of space. Many thousands of pages in hundreds of books have been written to cover Missouri’s history. The Mississippi River Tales Mural on the Cape Girardeau flood wall covers nearly 18,000 square feet. The Cape Girardeau County Archive Center has 4,500 cubic feet of historical records going back to before the Civil War...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — A Poplar Bluff couple sits in the Butler County Jail after police officers visited their residence Wednesday and allegedly found them and their five children living in dangerously unsanitary conditions. Aaron and Teyrsa Medley of the 800 block of Butler Street are each charged with five counts of felony first-degree endangering the welfare of a child creating substantial risk...

A Jackson puppy who became internationally famous because of a tail growing from its forehead is becoming even more famous thanks to being featured in a calendar. Narwhal the Little Magical Furry Unicorn became well known after Rochelle Steffen, founder of Mac's Mission in Jackson, posted a photo of the dog to social media in late 2019...

SIKESTON, Mo. — The concert lineup for the 70th annual Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo was announced Friday as the Sikeston Jaycees aim to incorporate old traditions with new ones while celebrating this year's milestone event. The announcement was made during the Sikeston Regional Chamber and Area Economic Development Corporation meeting at the Jaycees' Sponsors Barn on the rodeo grounds...

Today is Monday, April 11, the 101st day of 2022. There are 264 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which included the Fair Housing Act, a week after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr...

Lord Jesus, we rejoice and trust in your abundant and constant love for us. Amen.

History has a way of repeating itself. Or maybe it's that people cling to defunct beliefs, stubbornly refusing to learn from experience. Such stubbornness is on display when pundits, legislators and President Joe Biden blame inflation on corporate "greed." The fix, they claim, is price controls. But such controls would only bring further economic calamity...

Southeast Missouri State University president Carlos Vargas recently presented at the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee about a study showing the economic impact the university makes on the state. According to the study, conducted by international labor market analytics firm Emsi, SEMO added nearly $1 billion to the state's economy and supported more than 13,000 jobs in the 2019-2020 fiscal year...

n Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon-cutting for Madi's Kitchen at noon today at the establishment's location, 20 N. Pacific St. n A meet-and-greet Business After Hours featuring new Cape Chamber president and CEO Rob Gilligan will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. April 19 at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus...

Amanda Jenkins last month accepted the role of director of Enterprise Project Management with Saint Francis Healthcare System. Jenkins received her undergraduate degree from Columbia Southern University. Jenkins joins the hospital system from St. Louis's Mercy Health Ministry...

Tonika Smith, BSN, RNC-NIC, was promoted last month to Patient Care Manager of Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) by Saint Francis Healthcare System. Smith began her career at Saint Francis more than two years ago, starting as a bedside nurse in NICU in March 2020 and moving to transport nurse and transport lead within the same department...

Claire Kneer, RN, BSN, MHA, returned to Saint Francis Healthcare System last month as director of Home Health, Hospice and Palliative Care, She was in the role previously beginning in 2015 and began her service to the system as a case manager in 2011...

Ashraf Alqaqa, MD, FACC, has joined Cape Cardiology Group, a Saint Francis Medical Partner, as an interventional cardiologist. He comes to Cape Girardeau from Community Health Systems/West Tennessee Healthcare in Franklin, Tennessee, where he served as a cardiovascular specialist and director of the chest pain unit...

Montgomery Bank, based in Sikeston, Missouri, is acquiring family-owned Meramec Valley Bank of St. Louis County, adding MVB's two branches to the 10 already owned by Montgomery in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Dexter, Bridgeton, Chesterfield, Des Peres, St. Louis, Webster Groves and Sikeston...

Biden administration officials held a virtual meeting Wednesday with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and General Motors CEO Mary Barra with White House officials, later declaring in a statement, "there was broad consensus that charging stations and electric vehicles need to be interoperable and provide a seamless user experience, no matter where you drive or where you charge your EV."...

U.S. Postal Service officials filed notice Wednesday with the Postal Rate Commission to raise the price of first-class stamps from 58 cents to 60 cents. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, speaking at the White House, said the USPS needs to cut more red ink out of its budget...

Social Security Administration, for the first time in more than two years, has opened SSA offices to the public. The offices, which had been closed nationwide since March 17, 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, reopened Thursday. "Given that many of the people we serve have health vulnerabilities, and consistent with our union agreements, we are continuing to require certain safety measures," said acting SSA commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi...

Bon Bon's, 125 N. Water St. in Cape Girardeau, plans to open Le Lounge above its bakery and cafe May 18. Stairs to access the lounge, which will feature a full bar, live music and homemade gelato and sorbet, were installed last week. Keeping with the French theme, a charcuterie (appetizer) board will also be featured in the second-floor operation, according to Bon Bon's owner Stephanie Gardner...

LOS ANGELES -- The motion picture academy on Friday banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for 10 years following his slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards. The move comes after a meeting of the academy's Board of Governors to discuss a response to Smith's actions...

"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" sped to the top of the charts in its opening weekend, earning an impressive $71 million according to studio estimates Sunday. Paramount's PG-rated sequel easily bested the weekend's other major newcomer, Michael Bay's "Ambulance," which faltered in theaters...

PARIS -- Incumbent Emmanuel Macron will face far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen in a winner-takes-all runoff for the French presidency, after they both advanced Sunday in the first round of voting in the country's election to set up another head-to-head clash of their sharply opposing visions for France...

LONDON -- For many in the U.K., the pandemic may as well be over. Mask requirements have been dropped. Free mass testing is a thing of the past. And for the first time since spring 2020, people can go abroad for holidays without ordering tests or filling out lengthy forms...

RICHMOND, Va. -- A shopping spree in Beverly Hills, a luxury vacation in Mexico, a bank account that jumped from $299.77 to $1.4 million overnight. From the outside, it looked like Moe and Kateryna Abourched had won the lottery. But this big payday didn't come from lucky numbers. ...

PHOENIX -- Karla Finocchio's slide into homelessness began when she split with her partner of 18 years and temporarily moved in with a cousin. The 55-year-old planned to use her $800-a-month disability check to get an apartment after back surgery. But she soon was sleeping in her old pickup protected by her German Shepherd mix Scrappy, unable to afford housing in Phoenix, where median monthly rents soared 33% during the coronavirus pandemic to over $1,220 for a one-bedroom, according to ApartmentList.com.. ...

KYIV, Ukraine -- As Ukrainian forces dug in Sunday, Russia lined up more firepower and tapped a decorated general to take centralized control of the war ahead of a potentially decisive showdown in eastern Ukraine that could start within days. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Sunday in his nightly address to the nation the coming week would be as crucial as any in the war, saying "Russian troops will move to even larger operations in the east of our state."...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. — Catherine Laneva Hamlett, 78, of Perryville died Thursday, April 7, 2022, at Mercy Jefferson in Festus, Missouri. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday at Ford and Young Funeral Home in Perryville. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home, with the Rev. David Hewkin officiating. Burial will be at Home Cemetery in Perryville.

Ricky Leonard Abney, 69, of Cape Girardeau passed away Friday, April 8, 2022, at Jackson Manor Nursing Home in Jackson. Ricky was born June 12, 1952, to Harvey "Dick" and Verla Miner Abney in St. Louis. Ricky was a 1970 graduate of Meadow Heights High School. He was an electrician, working many years in construction...

Four Cape Girardeau educators have been named 1997 Chamber of Commerce Educators of the Year: Dr. Barbara Capshaw Kohlfeld, administration; Catherine L. Kapfer, elementary education; Kathy Wright, secondary education; and Dr. Keith Russell, Southeast Missouri State University...