Stories from Saturday, August 22, 2009

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Central's defense set the tone from the beginning Friday, swarming to the ball and wrapping up on its tackles. The Tigers' first-team defense only allowed Poplar Bluff to gain 4 yards on eight plays to open the jamboree. It even recovered a fumble before the Mules scored against Central's second-team defense...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Former Missouri governor Warren Hearnes was remembered for his dedication to education and the mentally ill during a funeral Friday morning.

Ex-felons in Cape Girardeau will continue to have at least one program designed to help them successfully reenter society. This August, the Cape Girardeau Community Caring Council received federal grant funds for the second time to help ex-felons in the area find jobs and reenter society, said Cheri Heeren of the Pettis County Community Partnership, who applied for the one-year grant...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Three Rivers Community College trustees have authorized the college president and the board chairman to express the desire to become an equal collaborator in offering two-year degrees with Southeast Missouri State University, Mineral Area College and the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center...

Thursday was the third time this summer that Richard A. Moore was charged with pretending to be a federal agent.

Highway 177 to be down to one lane Highway 177 in Cape Girardeau County will be reduced next week to one lane with a 14-foot width restriction while crews from the Missouri Department of Transportation trim trees. This section of roadway is from County Road 643 to Bertling Street. Weather permitting, the work will take place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The work zone will be marked with signs...

Cape Girardeau's truancy officer Margo Block has a plan for this school year. On Wednesday, Block sent out a letter to Cape Girardeau public schools requesting she be informed the fifth time a child misses school without an excuse. At that time, Block said, she would also ask for a copy of the child's demographic information and attendance record...

VAN BUREN, Mo. -- Rep. Jo Ann Emerson told community members Wednesday no changes should be made in management of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The Ozark National Scenic Riverways is in the process of constructing a new general management plan that will be used to guide the park for the next 15 to 20 years...

The Cape River Heritage Museum hosted a summber camp day for the Salvation Army summer camp kids and along with Kohls and the Habitat for Humanity Restory helped the kids create Petroglyphs- rock painting. created on quarry tiles with a marker pen. Inspiration was drawn from photo graphs of indian petroglphs and from arrowheads from the museum collection. Over 100 tiles were created and packed to the homes of the children to serve as hotplates or decorative uses...

"Congratulations" to Ralph and Ilanda Bollinger from Jackson, MO on their "60th" Anniversary... [1949 - 2009]... WHAT A MILESTONE!!! They are such a beautiful and inspiring couple, and I wish them many more happy and blessed years together! May God continue to bless you both!!! [[[WE LOVE YOU]]]...

It was a great night for orchestra music as the American Wind Symphony Orchestra gave its final performance Tuesday night in Cape Girardeau, marking the end of a 52-year run. The music was outstanding, but so was the weather and the venue: along the Mississippi River. A crowd estimated at more than 2,500 brought lawn chairs. Even the weather cooperated, with just a slight breeze...

With the death of former governor Warren E. Hearnes, the state has lost a great leader, and the mental health community has lost a true champion. Countless individuals and families in Missouri have received help over the years for mental illness, developmental disability or substance abuse because Hearnes saw the suffering and the need and he addressed it...

Awesome musical; Better learning; Program comparison; Missing soap; Livable city; Children in church; Earning your keep; Wasting tax money; Confusing lanes; Wealth of talent; Highway gratitude

Who is our strength in our time of need? We look to you, O God. Amen.

If you want a good solution to our health insurance/care reform, read the article by James Pethokoukis, a Reuters writer, on his Purple Plan. It was discussed this week on the Bill Bennett Show.

ST. LOUIS -- Missourians have tried coating their license plate tabs with clear nail polish or extra glue to protect the stickers from thieves, who strip them off and resell them so other cars appear properly registered even when they're not. Gov. ...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Thursday: Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday: Jackson Firefighters responded to the following call Friday:...

Cape Girardeau: Arrests; Summons; DWIs

Mary Ann Brant Racher, 80, of Cape Girardeau was baptized into the hope of Christ's resurrection Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009. Beloved wife of Pete Racher; dear mother and mother-in-law of Joseph (Barb) Racher Jr., Jacenta (Michael) O'Halloran, Rose Marie Donnelly, and the late Stephen G. ...

Blechle; Riehl; Ritter; Marshall; Jones; Conner; Proctor; Clark; Lehman; Cox; Floyd; Buchheit; Pepple; Roberts; Matty; Graham

John M. Short, 74, of Jackson died Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Cracraft-Miller Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

25 years ago: Aug. 22, 1984 The Jackson School Board last night entered into an agreement with the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Jackson, in which the company agreed to purchase two scoreboards for the district; in return, the company was given exclusive rights to sell soft drinks for all regular accounts for the next five years...

Due to an editing error, Southeast Missouri State University's new residence hall was incorrectly named in Friday's story about tudents moving in. The dormitory, which was completed in July, is New Hall. Before Vandiver Hall received its name in 2007, it was called New Hall. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error...

NEW YORK -- Harley-Davidson Inc. is considering sites in four states for a possible relocation of its main motorcycle plant in Pennsylvania, a company spokesman said Friday. Company and union officials toured locations in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Shelbyville, Ind., Shelbyville, Ky., and Kansas City, Mo., over the last week as the company assesses a possible move, Bob Klein said. No other locations are being considered, he added...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- He toiled in California's farm fields alongside his Mexican migrant worker parents and didn't learn English until he was 12. Now Jose Hernandez, NASA astronaut, is about to rocket into orbit. His parents will be in Florida next week for space shuttle Discovery's launch, as will his two older brothers and sister, who also worked the cucumber, sugar beet and tomato fields back in the 1960s and 1970s...

KABUL -- Both main candidates for Afghan president claimed to be ahead Friday after an election marred by violence, spotty turnout and fraud allegations -- threatening U.S. hopes for Afghans to come together to combat the challenges of Taliban insurgency, corruption and poverty...

LONDON -- The release of the only man convicted of blowing up a Pan Am flight in 1988 has brought high drama and controversy: the jeering mob outside a Scottish prison, the cheering crowd at a Tripoli airport, the furious families of the 270 people who died in the Lockerbie bombing...

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chile said Friday that tests show swine flu has jumped to birds. Top flu and animal-health experts with the United Nations in Rome and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were monitoring the situation closely, but said the infected turkeys have suffered only mild effects, easing concern about a potentially dangerous development...

People who fish, if they do it with regularity, can become philosophers of sorts. Even theologians. The sport is called fishing for a reason. Fishing entails long stretches of waiting interrupted, one always hopes, by a few isolated moments of catching. ...

Throughout any given day we each experience some level of stress, from the easy to manage to the type that causes you to pull out a brown paper sack and start breathing into it. The source of stress is sometimes easy to identify. Other times it is more elusive. Good life-changing events can cause as much stress as the negative. Stress is a part of life that bears a direct effect on body, mind and spirit...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Peter and Gina Fochtman sat stone-faced at the courtroom table. Across from them was the man who could determine their family's future: an attorney for the bank trying to foreclose on their home. Since they fell behind on payments several months ago, the couple had made dozens of fruitless phone calls and confronted seemingly endless paperwork problems...

JACKSON, Wyo. -- Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday offered his most optimistic outlook since the financial crisis struck, saying the economy is on the verge of growing again. Speaking at an annual Fed conference, Bernanke acknowledged no missteps by the central bank in managing the worst crisis since the Great Depression. But he conceded that consumers and businesses are still having trouble getting loans, even though the financial system is gradually stabilizing...

Just 41 years after Lewis Lorimier established a trading post/settlement that later became Cape Girardeau, nine people established the First Baptist Church on Lorimier Street. In the ensuing 175 years, the First Baptist Church of Cape Girardeau has moved three times and now has hundreds of members. The last move was in 2006 to a site at Cape Rock Drive and Lexington Avenue...

SUNRIVER, Ore. -- Brad Bryant had a one-stroke lead over defending champion Fred Funk after the first two rounds of the Jeld-Wen Tradition at Crosswater Golf Club. Bryant was steady Friday with an even-par 72 that gave him a 10-under 134 in the fourth of five majors on the Champions Tour this year...

ST. LOUIS -- Atlanta Falcons starters were flawless. St. Louis Rams starters had no answer, even against the second-stringers. Michael Turner accounted for all but 12 yards on the opening 77-yard drive and Matt Ryan was 7 for 8 for 81 yards with a touchdown pass in two series before he, too, called it a day in a 20-13 preseason victory Friday night...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- A Chaffee High School football program that struggled for years has come to life under native son Charlie Vickery. What Vickery saw Friday night during a jamboree did nothing to diminish his optimism for another solid season. "There's no reason we can't have a good ballclub," Vickery said after Chaffee hosted Charleston, Malden and Fredericktown for preseason scrimmages. "Our kids have worked hard and they believe now. They think they can win."...

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Farmington's high-powered offensive attack exposed some weaknesses in Jackson's new defense. The Black Knights scored a pair of touchdowns through the air against the Indians during the last session of Friday's jamboree. "We've got a little bit of a new defense this year, and we wanted to see how it held up against their fast offense," senior linebacker Cole Rodgers said. ...

The Southeast Missouri State football team will conclude its two-week fall camp tonight with its second and final live scrimmage. Action at Houck Stadium is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend. Southeast, which begins classes Monday, opens the season Sept. 3 at home against Division II Quincy...

The Southeast Missouri State women's soccer team is off on the right foot as it tries to bounce back from a disappointing season. Southeast opened the 2009 campaign with Friday night's 1-0, double-overtime victory over Indiana State at Houck Stadium...