Stories from Tuesday, July 13, 2010

A Cape Girardeau woman accused of making more than $13,000 in unauthorized charges to a not-for-profit arts group's credit card pleaded guilty Monday to felony fraudulent use of a credit device before Circuit Court Judge Benjamin F. Lewis.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is trying to block the state from becoming involved in a lawsuit over the federal health care overhaul. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder filed a lawsuit last week in federal court challenging the federal health care law. Kinder, a Republican, sued in his personal and official capacities and is raising private funds to pay for the lawsuit...

Sales tax revenue was up in Cape Girardeau County and the city of Cape Girardeau but declined slightly in Jackson during the first six months of this year. Cape Girardeau County is faring better than the rest of the state, which is still lagging behind the nation in average retail sales, according to Bruce Domazlicky, director of the Small Business and Research Center at Southeast Missouri State University...

Smoothie King has opened a new location at 97 N. Kingshighway. The new Smoothie King is owned by Shea, Inc., comprised of David and Sandy Donley, Chris and Bridgett Wheeler and Tammy Silvey. Cape Girardeau is the largest market between St. Louis and Memphis, making it an ideal location for Smoothie King. The store, complete with a drive-thru, is located at one of the busiest intersections in Cape Girardeau; in a strip center that is owned by the Donleys...

Not to say that he likes it......but he puts up with his BFF, Aurelia, pushing him around in her stroller! What a cat!

Congressman 'Bailout' Blunt's DC Doublespeak on the $700 Billion Bailout Just Doesn't Add Up Once Applauded as a 'Chief Negotiator' of the $700 billion Wall Street Bailout, Congressman Blunt Buckles Under Political Pressure, Tries to Deflect From His Record...

U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt heard an unusual request Monday as he stopped at a farm near Jackson during his campaign for U.S. Senate. Roger Schwab, a farmer who grows crops on 1,600 acres, said it was time to cut spending at the U.S. Department of Agriculture...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- With a tight new cap freshly installed on its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, BP planned gradual tests starting Tuesday to see if the device can stop oil from pouring into the sea for the first time in nearly three months. The cap would be just a temporary solution, but it offers the best hope yet for cutting off the crude that has fouled the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon rig leased by BP exploded April 20, killing 11 workers...

Questions are being raised about a controversial trial lawyer fundraiser in Canada that benefited Robin "Rubberstamp" Carnahan's campaign. The special interest fundraiser in Canada has called into question the hypocrisy of Carnahan's claim that she wants to "crack down" on special interests...

The Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority board says if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers doesn't dredge its harbor this year, it can't afford to pay the estimated $250,000 cost itself.

The Jackson RedDogs are Champions of the 2010 July Jamboree held on July 9-11 in Jackson, TN. They defeated the Bulls from Cincinnati, Ohio to clench the championship, finishing the tournament with a 4-1 record.

Leonidas just hangin' out on the couch with the rest of his family. He just brightens our days, especially the days he kinda thinks he is a dog or a human! (He has 4 dog buddies in the house with him and 4 human buddies!)

Two search warrants executed in Scott County on Sunday resulted in the seizure of two methamphetamine laboratories and the arrest of three people from Benton and two from Scott City, according to a news release from the Scott County Sheriff's Department.

When then-governor Matt Blunt announced in 2006 a statewide program to help Missouri communities revitalize their downtown areas, there were some forward-thinking individuals who saw the potential for positive improvements. Some of those individuals were in Cape Girardeau, and the city was one of the first cities to be designated a DREAM (Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri) Initiative community...

Albert Zimmer's assertion in a recent letter that the majority of the Founders of our nation were Christian is accurate, although several of them called themselves Deists or Unitarians privately. But the writers of our nation's Constitution expressly refused to restrict citizens to "the fear of God and adherence to his law as prescribed in Holy Scripture," as Mr. ...

REGARDING the recent "Press is no more" comment: My question is not only why the press is not talking about this issue, but why is city counsel not discussing the issue? Responsible people look at these sort of things before making a decision to move to a city. ...

For all who are near and dear to us, we pray to you, O God. Amen.

LOS ANGELES -- Mel Gibson is heard allegedly acknowledging that the actor hit the mother of his 8-month daughter in a recording released by a celebrity news website. The eight-minute recording posted Monday by RadarOnline.com is purportedly a phone argument between Gibson and then-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. ...

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

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Summons Thefts Property damage Miscellaneous...

Retiring Brig. Gen. Charles F. Blattner of Cape Girardeau receives the Legion of Merit medal during a ceremony at Jefferson Barracks, in which command of the Missouri National Guard's 35th Engineer Brigade passes to Brig. Gen. Waylen E. Jobe of Springfield, Mo...

POLICE Jackson The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrest Miscellaneous...

6 p.m. today 614 E. Adams St. Action items...

VANDUSER, Mo. -- As mayor of the Village of Vanduser, Harold Graviett said one of his top priorities is to ensure there is quality fire protection for the town's approximately 300 residents. That's why, although the town's fire department, known as a "fire club," is not under his jurisdiction, he has stepped in to help the club, which is experiencing financial woes due to a cut in funding, the Sikeston Standard Democrat reported in its weekend edition...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- For weeks, the towers have sprouted above the flat landscape where the new Pioneer Hi-Bred New Madrid Soybean Production Plant is being constructed. The towers are driving several thousand piers into the ground, explained Brian Catlett, senior product agronomist with Pioneer. ...

Tanner Werner of Jackson shot a 1-over-par 73 and was tied for the lead Monday after the first round of the Missouri Big "I" Championship at Dalhousie Golf Club. Werner, who will be a senior at Jackson High School, shared the lead with Bryce Dolan of Washington, Mo. The pair was one stroke ahead of Cy Moritz of Owensville, Mo., and two shots in front of Chance Holden of Dexter, Mo., and Ryan Haxel of Creve Couer, Mo...

Football n Central Junior High camp: A free football camp for boys entering grades 7 and 8 will be conducted at the Central Junior High School. The camp will be from 9 to 11 a.m. July 26 to 29. Info: 334-2923. Golf Soccer Softball Swimming...

The Cape Girardeau County Commission appointed a new member to the Cape County Board for Developmentally Disabled at Monday's meeting. Jeff Baer was appointed to the seat vacated by Robert Landgraf's resignation earlier this year. Baer's appointment will begin immediately and is scheduled to end June 30, 2012...

Myrtle May Howard, 66, of Scott City died Sunday, July 11, 2010, at her home. She was born Nov. 29, 1943, in Sikeston, Mo., to William Harvey and Anna Jane Lincoln Hoover. She married Jack Howard, who preceded her in death. Survivors include a son, Jack Howard II of Scott City; three daughters, Anna Voyles of Spearfish, S.D., Carolyn Starkweather of Dow City, Iowa, Cheryl Howard of Scott City; a brother, Norman Hoover of McClure, Ill.; 10 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Jeanette Phillips, 77, of Olive Branch died Sunday, July 11, 2010, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 17, 1933, in Pulaski County, Ill., to Elmer and Lora Leatherland Welch Sr. She married Eugene Phillips on June 15, 1950...

COMMERCE, Mo. -- J.D. Hanners, 88, of Commerce, formerly of Barlow, Ky., died Sunday, July 11, 2010, at his home. He was a U.S. Army Veteran of the Korean conflict. Visitation will be from 1 p.m. to service time Wednesday at Milner & Orr Funeral Home of Arlington, Ky...

Richard Lee McLain, 86, of Jackson died Monday, July 12, 2010, at Monticello House. McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson is in charge of arrangements.

Route F from Route Z to one-half mile north of Route Z in Cape Girardeau County will be reduced to one lane while Missouri Department Of Transportation crews perform drainage repairs. The work will be performed today from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Work to replace the drainage ditch bridge on Highway 114 in Stoddard County, was originally expected to be completed in July. However, the opening of the bridge has been delayed. "An error in the consultant's design of this bridge has been identified," said Missouri Department of Transportation field engineer Andy Meyer. ...

Oda Albert Friese, 84, of Oak Ridge died Sunday, July 11, 2010, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept. 10, 1925, in Sedgewickville, Mo., son of Albert and Dona Hobeck Friese. He and Bernice Hellman were married March 20, 1948, at Sedgewickville Lutheran Church...

BERTRAND, Mo. -- Joyce A. Daniel, 72, of Bertrand died Sunday, July 11, 2010, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 18, 1938, in Concordia, Kan., daughter of Orval Allen and Leilah Myrhl McMorris Simpson. She and Quentin E. Daniel Jr. were married Feb. 17, 1959, in Wichita, Kan...

QULIN, MO. -- David Oakes, 52, of Qulin died Sunday, July 11, 2010, at his home. He was born Sept. 21, 1957, in Advance, Mo. He had lived in Qulin the past 15 years. He served in the Army from 1982 to 1985. Oakes worked at Muscle Relocation in Poplar Bluff, Mo...