Stories from Tuesday, April 20, 2010

PHOENIX -- Matt Holliday went 3 for 5 with his fourth home run of the season, Brad Penny had his third strong outing and the St. Louis Cardinals opened a six-game road trip by handing the Arizona Diamondbacks their fifth loss in a row, 4-2 Monday night...

DEXTER, Mo. -- The search that began Monday for a missing Dexter man continues today, the Daily Statesman newspaper reported. According to Stoddard County Sheriff Carl Hefner, 76-year-old Ralph Hall was last seen driving east after leaving the McDonald's restaurant on Business 60 Monday afternoon at about 1:30. Hall had reportedly met with friends for coffee, which was part of his daily routine...

DEXTER, Mo. -- At the Monday night meeting of the Dexter Board of Aldermen, the board 4-1 passed an ordinance requiring a prescription for the purchase of pseudoephedrine, the Daily Statesman newspaper reported. The measure has been before the board over the past two months, and after much debate, the city followed suit with a number of surrounding towns...

Officials at Trail of Tears State Park have issued a precautionary boil water notice for the park's campground. This warning was issued Monday as a result of a slow leak discovered in a cracked storage tank. The tank is scheduled to be repaired later this week. Chlorine tests were reported good throughout the camp by local health officials...

Under the sweeping, low branches of a weeping willow tree in Cape Girardeau County Park Tuesday, a group of people gathered to lay flowers -- each rose, daisy or lily laid in memory of a victim of a crime. The flower ceremony, held each year since 2007, is a reminder to crime victims and their families that their suffering is not forgotten...

Relocation to a new building in Jackson was a contributing factor to an increase in total circulation and active cardholders at Riverside Regional Library's six branches in 2009, director Nancy Howland said today. "This was a watershed year for our library in Jackson," Howland told the Cape Girardeau County commission during a presentation of the library system's annual report at its meeting. "All of us who work there are still amazed every day we walk in."...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Seventeen teens were taken into custody for charges of underage drinking over the weekend, the Sikeston Standard Democrat reported. Just after 11 p.m. Saturday, officers with the Sikeston Department of Public Safety arrived at 310 County Line Road in response to a call regarding a disturbance at the private residence. Upon arrival, officers found approximately 30 young people hiding beer, officials said. The home owners were not present, according to reports...

The following information was released Monday by the federal prosecutor's office for defendants appearing in federal court before U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey. PLEADED GUILTY Name: Lance W. Kinder Age: 25 Residence: Oran, Mo. Charge: One felony count of delaying, destroying mail...

The Cape Girardeau City Council on Monday night took the first step to make sure that city taxes, fees and utility bills are paid before it issues a business or liquor license. In a unanimous vote, the council gave first-round approval to an ordinance requiring anyone applying for a new or renewed license to submit far more information than is currently required about their business interests and associations...

Megan Landau enjoyed the change of season last Fall.

Check out the Scherrman Home on May 8 during the Downtown Historic Home & Garden Tour. This home has been completely rehabilitated since originally built in the late 1890's. This house is also listed on The National Register of Historic Places.

Modern Woodman of America Youth bashed trash on Saturday, April 17.

Members of First Presbyterian Church lend a had in "bashin' trash".

Alpha Phi Omega picking up trash on Cape LaCroix Creek. Seventy-one people picked up 61 bags of trash during the 4th Annual Bashin' Trash event.

Check out the Everett Home on May 8 during the Downtown Historic Home & Garden Tour. The Everetts describe their interior style as retro pizzazz, meets shabby chic, with a sprinkle of art deco, and an oriental fan on top. Their Georgian style home was built in 1865...

Cape Girardeau voters should decide again whether the city wants a riverboat, not just seek to put a casino here because voters agreed to the idea 17 years ago, the Cape Girardeau City Council was told tonight. Doug Austin, a retiree who has served on several city committees including Vision 2020, former councilman Melvin Gateley and retired pastor Paul Kabo urged the council to send the issue to voters again before making a commitment to a casino developer...

Cape Girardeau -- The 23rd Annual Charles L. Hutson Auction will take place on Friday, April 30th at 6:30 p.m. in the Riverview Room of Buckner Brewing Company. The event will follow a fiesta theme with live music and food catered by Buckner Brewing Company...

Denim Day is a day to take a stand against rape. On April 22 many men and women will take a stand against rape by wearing jeans and pledging to support local rape-awareness programs. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, one in six American women and one in 33 men are victims of sexual assault each year...

Messy Morning is celebrating its 5th annivarsary this Saturday at the Show Me Center from 10-2 pm. The event is to celebrate children in honor of The Week of the Young Child and will provide many hands on activities such as fishing with your toes, shaving cream art, creations with pasta just to mention a few! A Mighty Mud Run will take place toward the end of the event- this activity allows the children to slide through shaving cream! Messy Morning is a FREE event. ...

Semissourian.com user Pat Williams submitted this photo sent to her by her niece, Rachel Ervin of St. Louis, MO. They decided to barbecue last weekend and when they opened the top on the grill they found the robin nest with 4 eggs inside.

At the District Solo/Ensemble Festival hosted by Cape Central High School in March, several students earned "Superior" or "Excellent" ratings. Students earning a Superior rating qualified to compete at the upcoming State Music Festival in Columbia on May 3...

A section of Bloomfield Road at Etherton Drive will close at 9 a.m. today through Friday to install a storm drain, according to a news release from the city of Cape Girardeau. The intersection, just east of the Silver Springs and Bloomfield roads intersection, will be completely closed to traffic from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily for four days or until the work is completed. Bloomfield will re-open daily at 4 p.m. until the next day's work begins at 9 a.m. Detour signs will be posted, and drivers are urged to use alternate routes when the road is closed.

CHICAGO -- A nurse may soon be your doctor. With a looming shortage of primary care doctors, 28 states, including Missouri, are considering expanding the authority of nurse practitioners. These nurses with advanced degrees want the right to practice without a doctor's watchful eye and to prescribe narcotics...

Bug Zero Pest Services celebrates April as National Pest Management Month, an observance that has been taking place for more than 30 years. In honor of National Pest Management Month this year, Bug Zero is raising public awareness about the risks posed by household pests and encouraging homeowners to take proactive steps to prevent pest infestations in their homes and properties...

OKLAHOMA CITY -- U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told survivors and victims' relatives gathered Monday for a somber ceremony to mark the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing that the city's spirit in the wake of the tragedy served as an example to the nation...

LONDON -- Europe began to emerge from a volcanic cloud Monday, allowing limited air traffic to resume and giving hope to millions of travelers stranded around the world when ash choked the jet age to a halt. Even then, however, the eruption from the Icelandic volcano that caused the five days of aviation chaos was said to be strengthening and sending more ash toward Britain, which could make it unlikely that London airports would reopen today...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri House members have rejected legislation that would have overhauled a state fund for injured workers. Supporters say the bill would have helped to bolster the financially troubled Second Injury Fund that takes employers off the hook for claims from workers with previous injuries or conditions who are hurt on the job. House members on Monday voted 77-77 to reject the legislation. It takes 82 votes to approve legislation...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court seemed to split sharply Monday on whether a law school can deny recognition to a Christian student group that won't let gays join, a case that could determine whether nondiscrimination policies trump the rights of private organizations to determine who can -- and cannot -- belong...

WASHINGTON -- His tenure on the Supreme Court touched four decades, following service in a war that defined his generation and a childhood in a prominent family. He celebrated his 90th birthday among court colleagues at least a dozen years younger...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Summonses Assault Thefts Burglary Miscellaneous...

Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Saturday: Firefighters responded to the following calls Sunday: ...

Donovan DaPrince Dockery-Geralds, infant son of Steven Geralds and Na'Keshia Dockery of Cape Girardeau, is with his heavenly father. Donovan was stillborn Wednesday, April 14, 2010, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Donovan is survived by brothers, Da'Zon Harris and Cameron Geralds; a sister, Shanice Geralds; maternal grandparents, the Rev. Clarence and Paula Dockery Jr.; paternal grandparents, Elizabeth Harrington and Hugh Little; and maternal great-grandmother, Genevieve Dockery...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Mary Agnes Yant, 79, died Saturday, April 17, 2010, at Sikeston Convalescent Center. She was born May 23, 1930, in Caledonia, Miss., to Finus and Jewell Woods Hamlett. She and John Wesley Yant were married Feb. 13, 1954, at Morley, Mo. He preceded her in death Sept. 3, 1994...

CASEYVILLE, Ill. -- Mary L. Norris Jacobs, 76, of Caseyville died Monday, April 19, 2010, at St. Paul's Home in Belleville, Ill. She was born Dec. 25, 1933, in Thebes, Ill. Mary shared her life with her husband, Arthur E. "Bucky" Jacobs 52 years before he passed away March 11, 2005...

Harold M. Schmitt, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, April 18, 2010, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Good Shepherd Lutheran Chapel, with the Rev. Barry Pfanstiel officiating. Burial will be in Cape County Memorial Park...

Stanley A. Grimm, outgoing chairman of the Southeast Missouri Hospital Board, handed over the gavel to his successor, Howard C. Tooke, Thursday night at the annual Southeast Missouri Hospital Association dinner held at the Arena Building. B.I. Howard, who founded the Howard and Swan Store in Cape Girardeau, now known as Howard's, on Aug. 1, 1945, dies at age 86...

Jackson The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Property damage Miscellaneous...

SARAH Palin, keep your mouth shut about my president. I voted for President Obama, and I'd vote for him again tomorrow. I love his insurance plan. Pay your fair share. Politicians who want to require picture IDs for voters want to put a hardship on a lot of handicapped, disabled and older people...

Floyd Strop of Cape Girardeau considers himself a lucky man, and he has city workers trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to thank for his good fortune. City maintenance workers were trimming trees recently and saw Strop fall down while mowing his lawn. The city workers quickly went to Strop's aid. Two of the workers, Scott Kirchhoff and Eugene Robinson, performed CPR on Strop until paramedics arrived...

Son to Trent Thomas and Kara Summers of Cape Girardeau, Saint Francis Medical Center, 4:27 a.m. Wednesday, April 7, 2010. Name, Clark Thomas. Weight, 9 pounds, 3 ounces. First child. Mrs. Summers is the former Kara Clark, daughter of Bob and Jane Clark of Cape Girardeau. She is Cape Girardeau County clerk. Summers is the son of Bob and Kathy Summers of Jackson. He is director of government affairs with Missouri Chamber of Commerce...

*** Margaret Hamm Margaret Hamm, 63, of Scott City died Monday, April 19, 2010, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City.

In The Bottom Line column in Monday's paper, David Patrick should have been identified as the former owner of Slumberland Furniture. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

Highway 34 in Bollinger County will be reduced to one lane while MoDOT crews perform shoulder repairs. This section of roadway is from Highway 51 to Route ZZ. Weather permitting, the work will be performed from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. today.

North and southbound traffic on Interstate 55 in Scott County will be reduced to one lane while MoDOT crews perform pavement repairs. The section of roadway is from U.S. 61 at Scott City to Highway 77 at Benton, Mo. Work began Monday and will end at 5 p.m. Friday, weather permitting...

An Interstate 55 ramp in Scott County will be reduced to one lane while Missouri Departmt of Transportation crews perform pavement repairs. The ramp is from I-55 south to the westbound U.S. 60. Weather permitting, work will begin at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday and end at 3:30 p.m. Friday...

The following information was released Monday by the federal prosecutor's office for defendants appearing in federal court before U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey. PLEADED GUILTY Name: Robert Q. Woods Age: 24 Residence: Cape Girardeau Charge: One felony count of distributing cocaine, one felony count of distribution of five grams or more of cocaine and one felony count of manufacturing cocaine...

Older women at higher risk for breast cancer now have two good drug options for preventing the disease, but they will have to weigh the trade-offs, a major study shows. Tamoxifen, the longtime gold standard, is more effective and longer lasting, the results show. But a newer drug -- raloxifene, sold as Evista -- is safer...

ST. LOUIS -- Top politicians from Missouri and Illinois joined the nation's transportation chief in ceremoniously breaking ground Monday on the first new Mississippi River bridge at congestion-plagued St. Louis in some four decades. Monday's event largely was anticlimactic: Construction on the main span of the $670 million project got underway weeks ago after a ground-breaking ceremony first planned in February was foiled because dignitaries from Washington were snowed in and couldn't make it to St. ...

WASHINGTON -- A fraud lawsuit against Goldman Sachs became a political weapon for Democrats on Monday as they fought for Republican support for a sweeping financial regulatory bill. Republicans remained unswayed in opposition. Democrats argued that the legislation, aimed at avoiding a recurrence of the 2008 financial crisis, would help prevent financial firms from misleading investors -- the charge made Friday by the Securities and Exchange commission in a lawsuit against Goldman...

A story about the Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Walk should have said there were 344 people currently living with the disease in Southeast Missouri. There are 582 people with MS in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- For much of Monday's baseball game, it appeared doubtful that Perryville would even get a hit. Yet the host Pirates wound up rallying for a somewhat improbable 3-2, eight-inning win over crosstown rival St. Vincent. "I was kind of worried," said Perryville coach Don O'Keefe, whose Pirates improved to 3-6 while dropping the Indians to 4-6...

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt tried hard to sign Tyler Stone last year when Stone was in high school. Nutt thought he had a shot at getting one of the recruits he targeted shortly after being hired at Southeast, but Stone instead accepted a scholarship from the University of Missouri, which got into the recruiting process late...

Bell City and Woodland both posted five-inning routs as the Stoddard County Conference baseball tournament got underway Monday. Bell City ripped Richland 15-1 and Woodland downed Puxico 12-2. Josh Overbey and Jeff Long both had three-run homers for Bell City (5-5). Overbey went 2 for 2. Leonard Schaefer was the winning pitcher...

For the laughter of babies and the whimsy of children, we give thanks, O God. Amen.

When the next phases of Pioneer Orchard subdivision in Jackson are begun, it may look somewhat different than what the developer had proposed. John Lichtenegger, who co-owns Missouri LLC that is developing the subdivision, had wanted to build duplexes on 14 lots in the four-phase expansion. Established six years ago, the development already has 109 lots on the subdivision off Pioneer Orchard Road...

ST. LOUIS -- A lineup anchored by Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday generates the buzz with the St. Louis Cardinals. Since the start of the season, though, the rotation has generated plenty of wins. Adam Wainwright's four-hitter against the New York Mets on Sunday night was the latest in a string of standout efforts, finishing a fourth series win of the year...

When responding to criminal activity, Cape Girardeau canine police officers Jeff Bourbon and Roy Rahn give the suspect two warnings before releasing their dog to apprehend the subject. "Stop. Police canine," the officer will yell. "Come out, lay on the ground or I'm going to send the dog and the dog will bite."...

MARYVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- The campus of Northwest Missouri State University will become completely smoke-free Aug. 1. However, the ban does not include any penalties for lighting up. The St. Joseph News-Press reports that smoking in campus buildings is already banned, and the new prohibition applies to all other areas of the campus...

The world's population is growing at a rate of 216,000 people per day. By 2050, the population will grow to about 9.2 billion people compared to about 7 billion today. Karen Meacham, the director of educational outreach at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, used these statistics to give perspective to the biggest challenges facing the world in 2025 and beyond...

With one its most outspoken board members at the helm, the Cape Girardeau School district started approving contracts related to the recently approved $40 million bond proposal. During a special organization meeting Monday, re-elected board member Paul Nenninger was elected president of the school board. He beat the board's former vice president, Stacy Kinder, in a split vote. Luther Bonds, a second-year member, was elected vice president...