Stories from Tuesday, June 28, 2011

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A proposed ballot measure would make it more difficult for state lawmakers to overhaul initiatives that win approval from Missouri voters. The proposed constitutional amendment would require a three-quarters majority vote in the Legislature to amend or repeal voter-approved laws unless the changes are referred to voters or the initial ballot measure specially allowed lawmakers to make changes by majority vote. ...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has extended the deadline to register for state and federal disaster assistance to July 29. Renters, homeowners and businesses in the following 25 Missouri counties are eligible to apply: Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Dunklin, Howell, Jasper, Lawrence, McDonald, Mississippi, New Madrid, Newton, Pemiscot, Pettis, Phelps, Pulaski, Reynolds, Ripley, St. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- After years of discussion and budget planning, the city of Sikeston and Department of Public Safety broke ground Monday for a brand-new facility, to be built at South Kingshighway and Trotter Street. "I think this is a great day for the city as well as DPS," Chief Drew Juden, director of the department, said after Monday morning's ceremony...

The bones of Mississippi County are calling, and the dead unearthed in the floods of 2011 appear to be from Southeast Missouri's ancient tribal communities. Several weeks after bone fragments were first discovered near the north end of the blown Birds Point-New Madrid levee, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and state archaeologists have taken the lead in uncovering who the remains belong to. ...

BENTON, Mo. -- Two Scott City parents were charged Monday with child endangerment on allegations they locked their two children out of their home for several hours per day without adequate food and water.

A Mississippi company and St. Louis company are teaming up to coordinate construction of Isle of Capri's $125 million Cape Girardeau casino. Isle confirmed the selection of Roy Anderson Corp. of Gulfport, Miss., and S.M. Wilson & Co. of St. Louis, as the general contractors in a news release Monday.

Former Southeast Missouri State track and field standout Miles Smith reached his greatest athletic accomplishment at the 2005 World Championships. Smith will have an opportunity to duplicate that later this summer. Smith has been selected to represent Team USA as a member of the 1,600-meter relay pool at the World Championships from Aug. 27 through Sept. 4 in Daegu, South Korea...

An overnight visitor to our airport, this Douglas DC-4 spray plane is headed for Port Charlotte, Florida, where it will be based as a first assault on future oil spills in the Gulf. Built as a cargo plane in 1943 for the U.S. Air Force, it is a veteran of the Berlin Air Lift, and has been featured on the series, "Ice Pilots"...

Commander Premier has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to at least temporarily block attempts by Cape Girardeau officials to evict the struggling airplane manufacturer from its airport facility and to stave off creditors who are owed at least $3.5 million...

Griffin King, 11 years old, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, won the Voyageur of the week award this past week at Camp Lewallen in Silva, MO. The Voyageur program is for first year scouts. Griffin is a Scout with Troop 2 sponsored by Grace United Methodist Church. Charlie Herbst is the Scoutmaster...

Fruitland residents who sent a petition in December to the city of Jackson requesting annexation are still waiting for an answer. Tim Sutterer said that when residents sent the petition, they did not anticipate Jackson would study annexation of the area but instead answer that the city was not interested -- just as Cape Girardeau did less than a month after receiving the same petition. ...

Downtown Cape Girardeau has been keeping time by the clock at Main and Themis streets for 25 years now. It was designed to be a focal point for downtown and a throwback to the area's French-inspired 19th-century architecture. It was one of the first projects funded by the city's Special Business District...

Contact: Robert Stehlin FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Founder and President RASCALS Foundation 636-464-6704 stl.rascals@yahoo.org RASCALS Foundation Now Accepting Applications for Scholarship Awards ST. LOUIS, June 30, 2011 -- The Robert A. Stehlin Campaign for ALS (RASCALS) is currently accepting applications and essays for the organization's new RASCALS Higher Education Scholarship Program. The awards were made possible by the RASCALS Foundation, along with a special matching gift from Walgreen's...

A great day on Kentucky lake!

Home of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Adams of 1733 Anna Street in Cape Girardeau featuring an American Flag made from red white and blue license plates from over 40 + US States.

The Kearns cousins eating dessert on a hot day at Grammy and Papa's house. Back row: Alex, Aiden, Grace, Elizabeth Front row: Marissa, Anthony, Maddie

Two Federal Emergency Management Agency Disaster Recovery Centers will open in Southern Illinois to answer questions about FEMA and other federal, state and volunteer agencies. Both centers are open from 9 to 7 a.m. The locations are: For more information on locations, days and hours of operation, services offered and driving directions go online to www.fema.gov or call 800-621-3362. For assistance any time call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362...

The Cape Girardeau County judge presiding over a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the mother of Aaron Hemingway, a man who shot two Ameren workers near Center Junction in 2009, set a new court date Monday after attorneys updated him on the status of the case filed Feb. 24...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Fire officials haven't established the cause of a fatal June 22 house fire, Assistant Missouri State Fire Marshal Greg Carrell said Monday. Investigators have classified the fire at 121 Black Ave., as undetermined as the investigation is still ongoing. They're conducting interviews in connection to the blaze that killed 21-year-old Andrew Biler and his toddler nephews...

LAS VEGAS -- The Las Vegas Strip is teeming with Spider-Men, Elmos and Elvis Presleys of all waistlines. Nevada's economy has inspired dozens of jobless and underemployed men and women to dress up like celebrities, movie characters and cartoon heroes in pursuit of a buck. ...

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the downtown clock on Main and Themis streets in Cape Girardeau. This prominent fixture in historic downtown Cape Girardeau -- paid for by private businesses and not the government -- is a symbol of what can happen when businesses join together in a collaborative effort to enhance the area in which they conduct commerce...

NEW YORK -- This may come as no surprise to residents of New York City: Living there can be bad for your mental health. Now researchers have found a possible reason why. Imaging scans show that in city dwellers or people who grew up in urban areas, certain areas of the brain react more vigorously to stress. That may help explain how city life can boost the risks of schizophrenia and other mental disorders, researchers said...

MR. Rediger, I cannot believe you have proved to be so out of touch with what is going on in Cape Girardeau. You blame the cigarette butts on kids. I hate to tell you, but I see more adults smoking than kids. Kids can't get a job today in this town and can't afford the cigarettes to begin with probably. If you're going to make statements like this, it would really help your credibility if you could back it up with some sort of proof...

LOS ANGELES -- Blame the potato chip. It's the biggest demon behind that pound-a-year weight creep that plagues many of us, a major diet study found. Bigger than soda, candy and ice cream. And the reason is partly that old advertising cliche: You can't eat just one...

O Lord Jesus, we praise you, for you perform wondrous miracles too numerous to count. Amen.

KELSO, Mo. -- Russell Alan Limbaugh, 42, of Kelso died Monday, June 27, 2011, at the Southeast Hospital emergency room in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 19, 1969, in Cape Girardeau, to Jon R. and Pearl Pratt Limbaugh. He was married to Wendi Matthews Dec. 30, 1992...

Emily Bush Hughes, 74, passed away Sunday, June 19, 2011, in Oak Ridge, Tenn. She was born Sept. 2, 1936, to the late Charles M. and Mary Hunt Plummer Bush in Bogalusa, La. A reporter for the Mississippi Press in the early 1960s, Emily later moved to Cape Girardeau where she was a columnist (occasionally syndicated) and women's editor of the Southeast Missourian newspaper until 1969...

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- Marvin Dowdy, 74, of East Cape Girardeau died Saturday, June 25, 2011, at his home. He was born May 4, 1937, in Miller City, Ill., son of Otis and Frieda Willis Dowdy. Marvin was a retired entrepreneur. He owned and operated motels in Olive Branch, Ill., and Brownsville, Texas, and was formerly a welder. He was a literary connoisseur and always enjoyed a good laugh...

Jean Ann Hellwege, 73, of Sikeston, Mo., formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, June 25, 2011, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born May 3, 1938, in Cape Girardeau, to Paul and Linda Loos Peetz. She and Wilford Hellwege were married Sept. 28, 1963...

Anna L. Givens, 65, of Allenville died Monday, June 27, 2011, at the family home. She was born June 10, 1946, in Blomeyer, to Ullitt and Martha Stafford Robins. She married James Leon Givens Sr. July 17, 1965. Survivors include her husband; two sons, James L. (Melissa) Givens Jr. of Princeton, Ill., Mitchell Givens Sr. of Chaffee, Mo.; a daughter, Tammy Malone of Allenville; a sister, Judy Lackey of Kankakee, Ill.; and nine grandchildren...

Lester Lee Niswonger, 86, of Jackson died Monday, June 27, 2011, at Jackson Manor. A private service will be held at a later date. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Alice H. Kasten, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, June 27, 2011, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

Son to Andrea Marie Welker and Justin Ryan Savat of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Hospital, 7:24 a.m. Tuesday, June 14, 2011. Name, Roman Tate. Weight, 8 pounds, 1 ounce. Second son. Ms. Welker is the former Andrea Niswonger, daughter of Marty and Nancy Niswonger of Cape Girardeau. She is employed at Ruby Tuesday. Savat is employed at HAVCO Wood Products...

Mid-America Sod Farm of Sikeston and Bell City, Mo., has established an operation in Cape Girardeau and plans to eventually consolidate all of its sod farms here; the new sod farm is on the George Heuer farm, about a half-mile north of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Golf Course...

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama plunged into deadlocked negotiations to cut government deficits and raise the nation's debt limit Monday, and the White House expressed confidence a "significant" deal with Republicans could be reached. But both sides only seemed to harden their positions as the day wore on, the administration insisting on higher taxes as part of the package but Republican leaders flatly rejecting the idea...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday refused to let California clamp down on the sale or rental of violent video games to children, saying governments lack authority to "restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed" despite complaints that the popular and fast-changing technology allows the young to simulate acts of brutality...

LOS ANGELES -- Whew, that was close. An asteroid the size of a tour bus streaked harmlessly past Earth on Monday, passing within 7,600 miles. Discovered only last week, the relatively small space rock made a hairpin turn around the planet at about 8 a.m. Central Standard Time, sailing high over the southern Atlantic Ocean...

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran on Monday unveiled underground silos that can carry missiles capable of hitting Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf as it kicked off 10 days of war games, the country's latest show of military force amid a standoff with the West over its disputed nuclear program...

The Jackson Police Department released the following information. Arrests do not imply guilt. Property damage Firefighters responded to the following calls Mon-day:...

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

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Missouri faces several more weeks of potential flooding along the Missouri River and its tributaries as high water pushes its way south and east across the state, and recent heavy rain has only compounded the problem, Gov. Jay Nixon said Monday...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Southbound Highway 25 from U.S. 60 at Dexter, Mo., to Route E at Bloomfield, Mo., will continue to be reduced to one lane this week while the Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform pavement repairs. Weather permitting, the work will be done from 7 a.m. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Work to replace the Route P bridge over Whitewater River in Scott County is expected to begin July 18, weather permitting. The road will be closed from Route W in Scott County to Route O in Stoddard County as construction is underway. ...

CHICAGO -- Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted Monday of a wide range of corruption charges, including the allegation that he tried to sell or trade President Barack Obama's Senate seat.

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals have activated third baseman David Freese and utilityman Nick Punto from the 15-day disabled list. Freese played only four games for Class AAA Memphis during a rehab assignment from a broken left hand that has sidelined him since May 1. Punto played in seven games with Class AA Springfield while rehabbing from a right forearm strain...

The Southeast Missouri State football program completed its revamped coaching staff Monday when Joel Beard was announced as wide receivers coach. Beard spent the last year as coach at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He was named to that position after serving as the Dragons offensive coordinator for three seasons and interim coach for the final five games of the 2009 campaign...

The team of Jason Stilley, Leann Stilley, Stacia Smith and Kim Birch won the Dalhousie Cup by two strokes. The foursome shot a 125 in the two-best ball format that featured three female amateurs and a club professional on each team. Jack Connell, Deanna Estes, Mary Jane Eftink and Carol Largent finished second at 127. Steve Spray, Ginny Orthwein, Ann Scott and Carl Ann Jones placed third at 131...

Geri Buchheit sits in her hospital room eagerly waiting for a visitor to arrive. After a knock, the door opens and in steps Jasmine. Buchheit's face lights up as Jasmine sits down beside her. After a few moments, Jasmine begins enthusiastically licking Buchheit's hand, letting her know how happy she is to see her...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency says tests on receding floodwaters in Southeast Missouri's Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway showed contamination below levels that would raise health concerns. The EPA's regional office in Kansas City, Kan., said Tuesday that the nine samples of water collected from the floodway area showed contamination levels "typically found" in the Mississippi River...