Stories from Thursday, March 3, 2011

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A four-hour filibuster in the Senate over proposed changes to workers compensation laws ended Wednesday night when senators choose to delay a vote while a compromise is sought. In a debate pitting Republicans against members of their own party, Sen. ...

William Street between Sprigg and Frederick streets reopened Thursday at 1:30 p.m., after the city of Cape Girardeau's sewer division completed sewer repairs. The street had been shut down since Tuesday.

Perhaps it's true what they say: Great minds do think alike. Case in point, identical twin sisters Tayla and Logan Meyr. On Wednesday, the seventh-graders at St. Paul Lutheran School in Jackson were putting the finishing touches on their science experiment titled "Do Identical Twins Have the Same Opinions?"...

Recent Ameren Missouri rate increases could be repealed as early as next week, returning rates to 2007 levels. Lewis Mills of the Office of the Public Counsel, which represents Missouri's residential utility customers, filed a motion last month asking the Missouri Public Service Commission to undo a $161.7 million rate increase it granted to Ameren in 2009 and a $226.3 million increase approved last year...

Rep. Wayne Wallingford of Cape Girardeau said despite representing a city that requested peripheral zoning late last year, he feels the state statute allowing the measure needs to be repealed. Wallingford's HB 498 moved one step closer to that end Wednesday with a public hearing, although no one spoke in support or opposition of the legislation...

Daffodils reach for the sky.

Four FBLA members qualified and will be advancing to FBLA state competition April 17-19 in Columbia, MO. To qualify for state, a member must place 1st in a performance event or 1st or 2nd in a written event; except in Jacob Light's situation, the 2nd place competitor stepped down, so the achievement gets passed on to the next placed competitor. ...

Hoover Center participants model Mardi Gras masks. Southeast Missouri State University Communications Disorders Class entertain Hoover Center Participants twice a week with fun activities. On March 3, they hosted a Mardi Gras celebration with the participants making and modeling their Mardi Gras Masks along with Gerontology Practicuum Students observing. Pictured in the celebration picture above are:...

Following a successful Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival last year, organizers will take this year off with plans to host the event again in 2012. Difficulty booking the performers event planners wanted is the main reason there will be no air show in Cape Girardeau this summer, said airport manager Bruce Loy...

Red Cross Asks People to Join During Red Cross Month Organization Helping Those in Need for 130 Years Cape Girardeau, MO -- March is Red Cross Month, and the American Red Cross is asking people to join them in helping those in need by volunteering their time, making a donation, taking a class, or giving blood. ...

As the protests over the collective bargaining priveledges of union workers continue, Wisconsin's State Senate approved a measure ordering the arrest and return of the 14 Democratic Senators who have gone AWOL in lieu of the potential, and likely, passing of the measure. However, the Republicans, numbering 19 in the Senate, have failed to see the breadth of the situation...

Ten outstanding students were honored for their service to others, leadership and scholarship at the Cape Girardeau Public Schools February board meeting. The recipients of the Terrific Tiger Award are pictured above with Board President Paul Nenninger and Superintendent of Schools Dr. ...

Colonel John T. Coffee Camp #1934 Missouri Sons of Confederate Veterans Osceola, Mo. For Immediate Release Contact: Clint E. Lacy Email: clintlacy2@yahoo.com ELEVENTH ANNUAL CONFEDERATE HERITAGE DINNER Featuring Guest Speaker Paul R. Pertersen...

Two years after burying her son, a Perryville, Mo., woman is hoping a Cape Girardeau County jury will review the circumstances of her son's death, which in a lawsuit filed Feb. 24 she alleges was due to negligence on the part of three Jackson police officers...

Carter had a great first birthday and even shared a cup cake with his sister Bailey.

Fresh from hosting a championship football season, Houck Stadium is about to get a facelift -- or at least a tummy tuck. Southeast Missouri State University's $59 million-plus campuswide renovation plan includes an estimated $2 million in renovations to the stadium complex, with more than a half-million dollars of the improvement budget marked for artificial turf replacement...

Their coach calls them "small and mighty." That's as apt a description as any to describe the six-member Scott County Central High School varsity cheerleading squad. It's one of the smallest squads in the school's history. But coach Stacey Russell said these cheerleaders know how to compete and how to keep a crowd pumped up. ...

Jackson building and planning superintendent Janet Sanders said the city needs more input from uptown merchants for the city's DREAM Initiative project. While about 15 people attended Tuesday's first public meeting, held at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, she said there was no representation from the area's business owners...

The Central boys basketball team lost to McCluer North 63-51 in a Class 5 sectional.

Three men in their mid-20s were injured Wednesday morning when they fell from a scaffold and construction materials landed on them. The men were constructing a pole barn on Angelica Lane in northern Cape Girardeau County near New Wells.

What's happening this weekend

The weather has been acting a little funny lately and tricking students who are anticipating spring. Just as the weather begins to warm up a little bit, students are busting out the shorts and T-shirts, but then a cold snap comes and brings a return of jeans and sweatshirts...

In response to the Southeast Missourian's Feb. 23 editorial titled "Domestic violence": I read this editorial online. I applaud the attempt to better protect those being domestically abused. What I missed were links to the proposals themselves to better educate myself. Not having read them, my only concern is that once codified, enforcers may feel constrained without the ability to take into account individual circumstances...

While data released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau confirmed that Missouri would lose a congressional seat, for Southeast Missouri there are some positives to take away from the results. Seeing population gains in Southeast Missouri were Cape Girardeau County, Bollinger County and Perry County. The city of Cape Girardeau saw a 7 percent increase while Jackson's population increased 15 percent...

March 3, 2011 Dear Leslie, Our family had a Boston bull terrier named Butch. One day my mother took a roast out of the oven and set it on the table to cool before we left the house on an errand. When we returned the roast was gone and Butch was lying on his back on the floor, motionless, his belly protruding. He looked pregnant with roast beef...

IN 1955 when I was hired for my first job, I asked my employer what the Social Security deduction on my paycheck was for. I was told that it was for when I retired at 65, that there would be money for me to retire on. So for the next 50 years, money was deducted from my check as well as my husband's for retirement. Now all I hear is "let's stop paying Social Security to these old people." I paid for it. I deserve it...

Almighty God, we love you, for you have heard our cry. Amen.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The International Space Station got a sorely needed storage room Tuesday, a 21-foot-long supply closet packed with goods and a humanoid robot that will remain boxed up for another two months. The space station and space shuttle crews teamed up to attach the newest module, using a hefty robot arm to anchor it down. It became the 13th room at the sprawling outpost, and the only one devoted entirely to storage...

Southeast Missouri State University's Department of Communication Studies will host a regional high school speech, debate and theater tournament Friday and Saturday. The event is a state-qualifying competition in accordance with Missouri State High School Activities Association guidelines. The top regional winners will move on to the statewide competition in April in Columbia, Mo...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Members of the Stoddard County Commission came out in opposition to joining a proposed regional 911 district at the commission's Monday meeting. Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis said he attended a meeting in Sikeston, Mo., at the request of the Sikeston City Council. ...

KENNETT, Mo. -- A fire ripped through the Cotton Boll Sheltered Workshop in Kennett on Monday, destroying the building and shutting down a section of a major road to traffic. A section of the South Bypass was temporarily shut down as the Kennett Fire Department responded to the fire...

Did you know if the Earth was the size of a basketball, all of its water would fit into a pingpong ball? Only 1 percent of this water is readily accessible and most of it has to be filtered in order to drink. Using a few ingredients from around the house, you can create your own water filtering system...

Honors, achievements Three Cape Girardeau Central High School students have joined the rare ranks of National Merit Scholars. Lessley Dennington, Blake Kidd and Noor Wadi recently were selected as scholars by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The students were selected as National Merit Semifinalists last fall...

WASHINGTON -- Republicans won an early round Wednesday in their fight to shrink the government, pushing $4 billion in spending cuts through Congress in a bill that puts off the possibility of a government shutdown for two weeks. Largely a spectator so far, President Barack Obama dispatched his vice president to initiate negotiations on a broader, longer-term spending bill and find "common ground" with GOP leaders determined to cut tens of billions of dollars more and undo much of his agenda.. ...

Kenneth G. Mehrle, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, March 1, 2011, at Missouri Veterans Home. He was born Aug. 19, 1925, in Cape Girardeau, to Arthur J. and Anita Schwab Mehrle Sr. He and Bettie Fulbright were married Aug. 30, 1946, in Kansas City, Kan...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Ollie M. Streiler, 84, of Perryville died Tuesday, March 1, 2011, at Perry Oaks Nursing and Rehab Center. She was born Sept. 15, 1926, in Perry County, daughter of Prince Edward and Mary Marcella Richardet Wood. She and Harry Streiler were married May 3, 1947, at Perryville. He preceded her in death June 12, 2002...

George T. "Mr. Jiggs" Reeves, 82, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Feb. 28, 2011. He was born Dec. 6, 1928. Survivors include Mattie Mae Walker Reeves; two sons, Willard (Nancy) Smith and John (Amy) Ireland; two daughters, Georgia Jo Reeves and Stephanie Guthrie; two grandsons, four granddaughters, two great-grandsons and two great-granddaughters...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Billy Hugh Blackburn, 81, of Cairo died Wednesday, March 2, 2011, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was a Korean War veteran of the U.S. Navy. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to service time Tuesday at First Southern Baptist Church in Cairo...

ANNA, Ill. -- Virginia Rose Darnell, 89, of Anna died Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Graveside service will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Anna City Cemetery, with the Rev. Clifford Heil officiating. Rendleman and Hileman Funeral Home in Anna is in charge of arrangements...

The Pilot House at Perryville and Oriole roads, has been purchased by Jim and Jean Byrd from Bill Parker, who operated the establishment three years. It was announced yesterday that the Southeast Missouri State University Indians will host this weekend's NCAA Division II South Central men's basketball tournament at Houck Field House; meanwhile, Southeast's women basketball players will have to pack warm clothes, as the Otahkians play in the postseason tournament at the University of Alaska at Anchorage.. ...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Marcella T. Wills, 80, of Perryville died Tuesday, March 1, 2011, at Perry Oaks Nursing and Rehab Center. Visitation is from 5 to 9 p.m. today, and from 6:30 to 9:50 a.m. Friday at Miller Family Funeral Home. Funeral Mass is at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Perryville. Burial will be in St. Boniface Cemetery...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Alta Mae Price, 86, of Truxton, Mo., formerly of Perryville, died Tuesday, March 1, 2011, at St. Joseph Hospital West in Lake St. Louis, Mo. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Young and Sons Funeral Home in Perryville. Burial will be in Brazeau Presbyterian Church Cemetery...

Firefighters responded to the following calls Tuesday:...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrest...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff businessman and community leader Jeff Shawan stood in front of the Butler County Courthouse Tuesday morning to announce his candidacy for the senator of the 25th District. Shortly after his declaration, Shawan, a Republican, hopped in a car to begin an ambitious tour that would see him make a similar announcement in each of the seven counties covered by the district...

MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin's budget stalemate over union bargaining rights shows no sign of resolution -- and it could be a long wait. The governor isn't budging. AWOL Democrats aren't planning to come back. And, despite talk of deadlines and threats of mass layoffs, the state doesn't really have to pass a budget to pay its bills until at least May. Even then, there may be other options that could extend the standoff for months...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Saying that texting while driving constitutes a bigger public safety threat on Missouri roads than drinking and driving, supporters of a statewide texting-while-driving ban came out Wednesday to testify before the House committee hearing three bills on the matter...

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration on Wednesday tried to rein in "loose talk" about military options in Libya, including a "no-fly zone" that the Pentagon chief said would first require attacking Moammar Gadhafi's government. At the same time, U.S. officials said the North African country risked descending into chaos...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a grieving father's pain over mocking protests at his Marine son's funeral must yield to First Amendment protections for free speech. All but one justice sided with a fundamentalist church that has stirred outrage with raucous demonstrations contending God is punishing the military for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality...

JUPITER, Fla. -- New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey wasn't sure how he would react to having a spot secured in the rotation entering spring training. He found out Wednesday in his first Grapefruit League outing. "There was no sense of entitlement, no different from what I felt in the past, which is good," Dickey said. "I really didn't know how the security or having a spot in the rotation would affect me. When I got out there, I was very competitive."...

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Cardinals expect Chris Carpenter to miss at least one spring start even though the right-hander's strained left hamstring is feeling better. "It's better than it was [Tuesday]," Carpenter said. "It's still there a little bit. They will treat it and see what happens."...

The Leopold boys basketball team lost to South Iron 46-39 in the Class 1 District 3 title game.

Two days of rest proved plenty for right-hander Brad LaBruyere. The senior allowed two runs over five innings to pick up the win in Southeast Missouri State's 10-3 nonconference victory over Central Arkansas on Wednesday at Capaha Field. It was the Redhawks' third consecutive victory...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Teachers would no longer have tenure and student test scores would play a larger role in teacher evaluations under legislation considered Wednesday by a House committee. The bill would require half of a teacher's evaluation to be based on students' scores on state tests. ...

In loving memory of Ermadell Powers Dickey, 85, better known as "Erma" in Cape Girardeau. She passed away Tuesday, March 1, 2011, at Chateau Girar- deau Health Center. She was born April 2, 1925, in Greene County, Ark., and raised as a dirt farmer's daughter. Erma's mother and father were Vadie and Allen Powers. Erma's late husband, James Dickey, preceded her in death in 1979...

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Two U.S. airmen were killed and two others were wounded at Frankfurt airport Wednesday when a man opened fire on them at close range with a handgun, the first such attack on American forces in Germany in a quarter century...

BREGA, Libya (AP) -- Rebel forces routed troops loyal to Moammar Gadhafi in a fierce battle over an oil port Wednesday, scrambling over the dunes of a Mediterranean beach through shelling and an airstrike to corner their attackers. While they thwarted the regime's first counteroffensive in eastern Libya, opposition leaders still pleaded for outside airstrikes to help them oust the longtime leader...

ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Militants gunned down the only Christian in Pakistan's government outside his widowed mother's home Wednesday, the second assassination in two months of a high-profile opponent of laws that impose the death penalty for insulting Islam...

MANTECA, Calif. -- The woman desperately gripped a windshield wiper blade, her body splayed across the hood of the minivan as it raced down a Northern California freeway in the middle of the night, reaching 100 mph, witnesses said. With the temperature hovering in the low 30s, Christopher Michael Carroll drove 35 miles from Manteca to nearby Pleasanton on Saturday with his wife clinging to the hood, prompting 911 calls from at least two alarmed witnesses, police said...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A ramp on southbound Interstate 55 in Pemiscot County will be reduced to one lane with a 12-foot width restriction while Missouri Department of Transportation crews make pavement repairs. The ramp is from southbound I-55 to Highway 164, exit 8. Weather permitting, work will begin at 8 a.m. March 21 and will reopen at 3 p.m. March 25. The work zone will be marked with signs. ...

North- and southbound Interstate 55 in Scott County will be reduced to one lane with a 16-foot restriction later this month while Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform routine bridge maintenance. Traffic will be reduced to one lane from Highway 62 at Sikeston, Mo., to Highway 77 at Benton, Mo. Weather permitting, the work will begin at 8 a.m. March 14 and will end at 5 p.m. March 25. The work zone will be marked with signs...

Route UU between county roads 336 and 354 in Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties will be closed today while Missouri Department of Transportation crews replace a pipe under the road. Weather permitting, the work will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The work zone will be marked with signs. For more information, contact the Missouri Department of Transportation's Customer Service Center at 888-275-6636...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Route C from County Road 614 to Route V in Bollinger County will be closed today while Missouri Department of Transportation crews replace a pipe beneath the road. Weather permitting, work will be done from 9 a.m. to noon. The work zone will be marked with signs...

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team clobbered Eastern Kentucky 65-49 in an Ohio Valley Conference tournament opener.