Stories from Monday, May 17, 2010

Southeast provided its seniors with a 10-3 victory against Austin Peay in their final game at Capaha Field

Two people from Jackson were seriously injured after their vehicle struck a tree early Monday. Veronica A. Perrey, 20, was driving a 2010 Mazda eastbound on Route Y near Jackson around 2:45 a.m. when the vehicle failed to negotiate a curve, a Missouri Highway Patrol crash report said. The Mazda then ran off the left side of the roadway and struck a tree...

Staff in the Cape Girardeau School District will be asked to do more for the same as the district works toward balancing its budget in an uncertain financial climate. The Cape Girardeau School Board will meet at 6 p.m. Monday to consider salary freezes and changes to the stipend system, which will save more than $66,000...

Nordenia will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its plant in northeast Cape Girardeau County this weekend. Plant manager Bill Burke says through the years the business has diversified and, in addition to making parts for neighboring Procter & Gamble's diapers, they also manufacture packages for other everyday items from pet food to fertilizer...

Susan McClanahan, Director of the Cape Girardeau Senior Center and Nancy Gillard, Bereavement Coordinator, Crown Hospice are working together to care for friends and families after a loved one dies. "Sunrising" is a unique program in Southeast Missouri to offer grief support for friends that find fellowship at their local Senior Center. ...

Plans are being finalized for the tenth annual Perry County Community Rodeo, which will be held Friday, June 4 and Saturday, June 5 at the East Perry Community Fairgrounds in Altenburg. The Corporate sponsors for the rodeo are Altenburg Hardwood Lumber Company and Buchheit, Your Country Superstore. ...

Cape Girardeau County officials are concerned about a new reduction in per diem to counties housing state inmates. While the move is part of the legislature's attempt to balance a $23.3 billion budget for next year, county officials are frustrated by the decision they say is unfair...

More than 30 years ago, Advance, Mo., native Dean Riley moved to Fruitland to make his trip to work at Procter & Gamble a shorter commute. In 1978, less than five years after moving into a new community, Riley found his calling and joined the Fruitland Fire Protection District as a firefighter. ...

Proud parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents filled seats at several venues Sunday to watch and celebrate as hundreds of area seniors close the doors on their high school education. A total of 118 students received their diplomas at Notre Dame Regional High School's commencement, where principal Brother David Anthony Migliorino bragged about the class of 2010's accomplishments...

Tax liens and lien discharges recorded at the office of area recorders of deeds during the month of April are filed by the Missouri Department of Revenue, except as indicated by IRS designation.

Bankruptcies filed through April for the Southeastern Division of the Eastern District of Missouri's U.S. Bankruptcy Court are listed below with their corresponding case number. The Southeast Division includes the counties of Bollinger, Butler, Carter, Dunklin, Madison, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Shannon, Stoddard and Wayne. Court is held in Cape Girardeau...

Business licenses issued in Cape Girardeau during April, compiled for the June issue of Business Today magazine.

Name: Justin Albright Age: 28 Position: Vice president/co-owner of NAB Automation, overseeing business operations Originally from: St. Louis Family: Wife, Athena Education: He has a bachelor's degree from St. Louis University...

A collection of short bits of regional business news compiled for Business Today magazine's June issue.

A collection of news about area business people compiled for Business Today magazine's June issue.

The economy may be struggling, but the market is ripe for small, agriculture-based businesses, say local farmers and agriculture experts. For vendors, the niche provides the opportunity for a farm or garden hobby to become an extra source of income. For customers, it offers fresh, organic products grown right in Southeast Missouri...

Tom O'Loughlin comes from a farm family and always loved agriculture, but says he was never very good at it. That's why he became a lawyer. He continued learning to farm through experience, though, and it's been his second career since 1964. O'Loughlin now has two successful farms: 600 acres between Jackson and Oak Ridge, where he lives with nearly 500 black angus cows, and 1,200 acres of row crops between Allenville and Whitewater. ...

The recession has affected local farms, small and large, but some agriculture gurus say this industry has fared better than other areas of the economy. "Anytime there's a general downturn, people spend less money. When there's less money going around, it affects input costs and prices go up, from tractors to supplies like chemical fertilizers," explains Gerald Bryan, agronomy specialist at the University of Missouri Extension Center in Jackson. ...

Dr. Jonah Sacha was born and raised in Cape Girardeau, but he's spent the last seven years researching HIV at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In October 2009, he received a $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for further exploration. His goal? To create a vaccine that would stop the spread of this deadly pandemic...

For Charles Bertrand, owning the Spanish Street Mercantile in Cape Girardeau was always part of his retirement plan. While working as a principal and history teacher in Jacksonville, Texas, he always knew he was going to return to his hometown and pursue his love of antiques...

A collection of short bits of area health news from Business Today magazine's June issue.

Many -- probably too many -- Americans take their local, state and federal governments for granted. Yes, they complain when they feel government's pinch, but they often fail to get involved in ways that can influence change. Voting, one of the most basic rights, isn't a priority for too many of us...

REGARDING delays on County Road 635 because of repairs: There were plenty of signs warning people of the work being done. Thanks to the road crew for such a great job. REMEMBER the Cuban boat lift? We opened our borders. We got all those people, and Cuba sent all its criminals and convicts. We had no place to put them, so we put them in tent city. Crime skyrocketed. South Florida is still paying for it today. You go, Arizona...

Empower us, O God, to use our skills and talents to the best of our abilities. Amen.

It comes back to supply and demand. Researching what items people purchase within the community -- and what items they leave the community to purchase -- is one of the first things Richard Proffer, a business development specialist with the University of Missouri Extension office in Jackson, does to help small business owners prepare to launch...

The question: "I didn't get any response to my last ad. Why should I try again?"

I wrote in Friday's paper about former Southeast Missouri State standout offensive lineman and current NFL player Dan Connolly doing the necessary work to finish up his college degree six years after he left school. Connolly, who is with the New England Patriots and has been in the NFL since 2005, took part in Southeast's commencement at the Show Me Center on Saturday...

HAMMOND, La. -- In a significant step toward containing a massive Gulf of Mexico oil leak, BP said a mile-long tube was funneling crude Sunday from a blown well to a tanker ship after three days of wrestling to get the stopgap measure into place on the seafloor...

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican today will make its most detailed argument yet for why it is not liable for bishops who allowed priests to molest children in the U.S., in a motion that could affect other efforts to sue the Holy See in American courts, The Associated Press has learned...

WASHINGTON -- Abortion opponents fought passage of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul to the end, and now that it's the law, they're using it to limit coverage by private insurers. An obscure part of the law allows states to restrict abortion coverage by private plans operating in new insurance markets. Capitalizing on that language, abortion foes have succeeded in passing bans that, in some cases, go beyond federal statutes...

CINCINNATI -- Moments after Jay Bruce caught a routine fly for the final out, the public address announcer called everyone's attention to the standings board behind the right-field seats, the one that was about to reflect a seismic shift in the NL Central...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The search continues for a 16-year-old boy who was shackled when he jumped from a bridge into the Missouri River. On Sunday, the Missouri State Water Patrol entered its third day of looking for Robert Nichols. He leapt from the Jefferson City bridge about noon Friday after escaping from a vehicle taking him to the Montgomery City Youth Center...

The Missouri Society for Respiratory Care recently named Lisa Newcomer as the organization's president. Newcomer, who is the director of the Sleep Disorders Center and Durable Medical Equipment at Saint Francis Medical Center, will serve the MSRC as president for two years beginning in July. ...

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

Marjorie Ann Sneed, 86, of Scott City died Sunday, May 16, 2010, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 11, 1923, in Fornfelt, Mo., to the late Charles and Minnie Altenthal Will. She and Thomas Jefferson Sneed were married Feb. 4, 1944, in Cape Girardeau. He preceded her in death April 24, 1976...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Esther C. (Sims) Read, 92, of Tamms passed away Sunday, May 16, 2010, at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Joyce and Melvin Hazelwood in Fordyce, Ark. Mrs. Read was born at Elco, Ill., daughter of the late John Albert Sims and Lucy Pearl (Sharp) Sims...

ANNA, Ill. -- Clarence Albert Magee, 58, of Anna, Ill., died Saturday, May 15, 2010, in Anna. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Rendleman and Hileman Funeral Home in Anna. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Clifford Heil officiating. Burial will be in Dogwood Cemetery near Sikeston, Mo...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Despite a nearly 12 percent decline in state revenue, Missouri lawmakers ended the legislative session without approving many of the money-saving ideas they had proposed. Lawmakers considered budget fixes that stretched from revamping the state's pension system to closing prisons. Some of the proposals were even added to the state's $23.3 billion budget...

While Cape Girardeau's proposed $17.48 million city budget is some $3 million smaller than the 1984-1985 budget, the cost of city operations is up; the decrease in the total budget is the result of a substantial drop in the capital improvements budget from $8.4 million to $3.27 million...

The Bank of Missouri has created a "Bank of MO on the GO" mobile banking application to help customers manage their accounts from their iPhone and iPod Touch devices. The GO application allows customers to view account balances and transaction history, perform account transfers and pay bills...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Hog processing giant Premium Standard Farms LLC spent $40 million over the last decade developing technology after a court ordered it to sharply reduce odors at its Missouri farms, but a looming deadline is threatening another costly lawsuit...

ANNA, Ill. — Dr. Dusan Skofic, 92, of Anna died Saturday, May 15, 2010, at Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion, Ill. A graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Anna cemetery.

n Logan Ressel's name was misspelled in a story on Thursday's neXt page. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

Brett Wengert carded his first career hole in one last week at Perryville Country Club. Wengert used a 7-iron to ace No. 8, a par 3 playing 169 yards. Wengert is a junior at St. Vincent High School and is competing today and Tuesday at the Class 1 state golf tournament at Rivercut Golf Course in Springfield, Mo...

Brandon Wendel, 28, of Jackson passed away Saturday, May 15, 2010, at his home. He was born Jan. 7, 1982, in Cape Girardeau, son of Gary and Emilie Propst Wendel. He was married to Nicole Blechle. Brandon was a 2000 graduate of Jackson High School. In 2005, he graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He was formerly employed with CitiStreet Financial Corp. in Boston, and was most recently employed with Imo's Pizza in Cape Girardeau...

Elmer Theon Compas, 85, of Cape Girardeau passed away Friday, May 14, 2010, at the Missouri Veterans Home. He was born July 26, 1924, in Oran, Mo., to Leo and Clara Diebold Compas, but spent most of his formative years growing up in Cape Girardeau. He was married to Bonnie E. Spinney on May 27, 1978, in Anaheim, Calif., for 32 years...

Christopher Larry Ruch, 45, of Jackson, died Saturday, May 15, 2010, at his home west of Jackson. He was born Aug. 1, 1964, a son to Larry Flavian and Patricia Ann Franklin Ruch. He married Tami L. Moss on May 12, 2006. Chris graduated from Jackson High School in 1982. He was a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Jackson and Westview Masonic Lodge 103 of Millersville. He was 1st Mate in charge of the deck crew with AEP River Operations of Paducah, Ky., formerly of Cape Girardeau...

The Three Rivers Community College Foundation will continue to operate independently from the higher learning institution to enhance the quality and extend the range of services provided there. "We have been conservative stewards of the gifts from our generous donors, and have been able to facilitate many college improvements that otherwise would not have been possible," board chair John Stanard said in a prepared statement. ...

The Three Rivers Endowment Trust, a new not-for-profit organization, has been established to channel charitable donations in the form of funds and property, both large and small, to Three Rivers Community College. Incorporated in December, college trustees added the Endowment Trust to Three Rivers' current insurance policy in April, and an identification number from the Internal Revenue Service is anticipated to be received next month...