Stories from Tuesday, July 12, 2011

VAN BUREN, Mo. -- Locals believe the beauty of drifting down the nation's first federally protected scenic river on a tube is unmatched and now voters of AAA's Best of the Midwest poll agree. The clear, spring-fed waters of the Current River were chosen Best Weekend Float over the Black River at Lesterville, Mo., Cache River in Southern Illinois and the Kaw River in Kansas...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has signed legislation requiring drug screens for some individuals receiving or applying for certain welfare benefits. The legislation, signed Tuesday, applies to the program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A Sikeston woman remained in custody Tuesday morning on charges of leaving the scene of a motor accident with injuries after police say she hit a toddler in a gas station parking lot Sunday. Alethea Sue Sutton, 49, is in the Scott County Jail under $10,000 bond after hitting a 2-year-old girl at a Sikeston business Sunday afternoon...

Post 63 prepared for its district tourney with a 13-3 victory against Charleston

Cape Girardeau sweated out one of the hottest days of the year Monday, and little relief is expected for Tuesday. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory Sunday and then raised it to an excessive heat warning Monday afternoon. The warning is effective until 9 p.m. Tuesday...

MEXICO, Mo. -- On a hot summer day when most farmers would be moving hay up to the loft, Gov. Jay Nixon signed a comprehensive package of agriculture provisions into law. Toward the end of session, lawmakers attached a number of measures all related to agriculture. The act contains sales tax exemptions for farmers, establishes an animal protection fund and places tougher restrictions on grain dealers...

WASHINGTON -- Imploring both political parties to give ground, President Barack Obama declared Monday he would reject any stopgap extension of the nation's borrowing limit, adding fresh urgency for Republicans and fellow Democrats to resolve intense tax and spending disputes and head off economic calamity.

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle testified at his divorce proceedings Monday that he was involved in a romantic relationship with a victim in a 2009 embezzlement case several weeks before taking himself off the case...

Happy 90th Birthday to Anna Mae Rigdon and Happy Birthday to her daughter Cynthia Rigdon. Both pose from St. Francis Hospital Room where Anna Mae is a patient. Mrs. Rigdon's daughter Cynthia was born on her birthday. When asked the day Cynthia was born about being happy that she had a child born on her birthday, Mrs. ...

This is a firelily.

This was surprisingly looking out my back yard.

I believe this bird is nearly louder than any I've ever heard. And it is no bigger than someones pinky finger.

Photo submission for Sunday edition of newspaper for pets. Biscuit is his name. Gene and Jane Peacock owners. His favorite thing: entertaining guests

Patrick Vining isn't necessarily opposed to the proposed changes to side-street parking near Southeast Missouri State University. But he is resolutely against city officials making those changes without consulting with the students. So Vining, the new president of Southeast Student Government, was disappointed Monday to learn that new student input will not be sought, even as city government leaders work to implement parking restrictions to certain heavily-used public streets near campus before the fall semester starts next month.. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A Saturday night incident led to the ramming of a Sikeston Department of Public Safety Patrol vehicle. At 7:40 p.m., officers were called to the 800 block of East Kathleen Street in reference to a disturbance. Apparently, an argument began between two people, one of whom pulled a knife, and eventually the disturbance involved four to five people...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center has announced plans to relocate the future home of its new 250-bed hospital, which was approved by the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee in May, Located in the Eight Points development district, the new site selected by hospital officials is positioned on the south side of Oak Grove Road, according to a news release issued by the hospital Friday afternoon...

OZARK, Mo. -- Authorities in Christian County have added more charges against a Jackson man accused of kidnapping his children from a domestic violence shelter in southwest Missouri. The original charges against Scott A. Pikey of Jackson -- two counts of kidnapping and one count of violating a protection order -- were dismissed and refiled along with new charges, Christian County assistant prosecuting attorney Chris Lebeck said...

After nearly three years leading the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, executive director Brian Gerau will step down from his position with the organization July 29 and take on a new position with SoutheastHEALTH as a senior development officer. Gerau, who previously served as director of Sylvan Learning Center in Cape Girardeau and territory sales manager with the Altria Group, was responsible in part for helping increase the chamber's membership and finding creative ways for the organization to be effective. ...

Americans can be so gullible. When and by whom did this notion that working people owe great gratitude to business owners and employers for providing jobs? The American worker owes nothing other than mutual respect and an honest day's work. Mutual respect begins with the employer because the employer reaches out for help with his business...

I have a comment about the person who called in about welfare children trying to do better for themselves. That is not true. There are generations of families that stay on welfare because they believe that they are entitled to it. Their parents got it, their grandparents got it, they're going to get it and their children are going to get it. They believe they are entitled to the free money, the free housing, the free food, the free everything they get, and they're not entitled to it...

Thank you, O Lord Jesus, for grace that is greater than all our transgressions. Amen.

I am Larry Tidd, vice chairman of the Cape County Board for Developmental Disabilities. First, I want to point out that the following is my opinion, not necessarily that of the other members of the board. This board is a nonpaid, all-volunteer board appointed by the county commissioners per Missouri statute...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Verna Prost Esselman, 88, of Perryville died Friday, July 8, 2011, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. Visitation is from 8:30 a.m. to service time Saturday at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church in Sereno, Mo. Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the church, with the Rev. Bill Rhinehart officiating. Burial will be in St. Mary Cemetery...

Severe thunderstorms packing high winds and heavy lightning lash the Cape Girardeau area for the third day in a row, but there are no reports of major damage. Hahs Office Equipment has moved to 1115 Broadway; Greg Nations, who operates the business with Tom Nations, says the location feels like home because it housed the business seven years before it moved to William Street...

Son to Neal and Melissa Essner of Dubuque, Iowa, born at home, 12:01 p.m. Monday, June 13, 2011. Name, Dylan Francis. Weight, 6 pounds, 1 ounce. First child. Mrs. Essner is the former Melissa Enderle, daughter of David and LaDeva Enderle of Cape Girardeau. Essner is the son of Jerome and Beverly Essner of Kelso, Mo. He is a design engineer with John Deere Dubuque Works...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Daisy Pauline Moxley, 85, of Brownsburg, Ind., formerly of Marble Hill, died Saturday, July 9, 2011. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to service time Wednesday at Hurricane Fork General Baptist Church near Marble Hill. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Hurricane Fork Church, with the Rev. Jeff Garland officiating. Burial will be in Hurricane Fork Cemetery. Liley Funeral Homes in Marble Hill is in charge of arrangements...

Roger Neil Allmon, 60, of Jackson passed away Saturday, July 9, 2011, to be with his Lord our God. He was born April 3, 1951, in St. Louis, son of Glenn E. and Avis E. Mabrey Allmon. He married his love, Linda L. Brown, June 12, 1971, at Whitewater Methodist Church in Whitewater. They celebrated 40 wonderful years in June...

BREESE, Ill. -- Jason Brandmeyer, 36, of Breese died Saturday, July 9, 2011, at St. Joseph Hospital in Breese. He was born Oct. 25, 1974, in Breese, to Anita Ratermann Brandmeyer and the late Charles Brandmeyer. Survivors include his mother; wife Megan Keilbach, whom he married Sept. 8, 2007; two daughters, Lilly and Lydia Brandmeyer; a brother, Jeffrey Brandmeyer of Germantown, Ill.; two sisters, Julie Brandmeyer of Jackson and Jeana Brandmeyer of Germantown...

Cornelius C. Thomas, 93, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, July 9, 2011, at Saint Francis Medical Center. He was born July 8, 1918, to Reuben and Annie Brandon Thomas. He and Lucretia E. Gaden were married Feb. 6, 1946, in Blytheville, Ark. She passed away April 23, 2003...

Dora Ella Miget, 82, of Jackson went to be with her Lord Saturday, July 9, 2011, at her home. She was born March 23, 1929, in Hickman, Ky., a daughter to Isaac Joseph and Anna Nora Higgerson Tisher. She and Vincent J. Miget Jr. were married June 16, 1949, in New Madrid, Mo. He died May 13, 1992...

KELSO, Mo. -- Charles E. Compas, 86, of Kelso died Sunday, July 10, 2011, at Barathaven in O'Fallon, Mo. He was born Dec. 7, 1924, in Kelso, to Ben and Sophia Scherer Compas. Compas was a high lift operator with Crown Cork and Seal in St. Louis. He was a member of St. Augustine Catholic Church in Kelso...

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

SALT LAKE CITY -- A former street preacher sentenced to life in prison for the 2002 kidnapping and rape of Elizabeth Smart will not appeal his conviction, concluding a case that riveted the nation and focused attention on child abduction. Lawyers for Brian David Mitchell, 57, could not elaborate on his decision, Robert Steele, Mitchell's federal public defender, told The Associated Press on Monday, the deadline for filing an appeal...

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- While thousands of Minnesota employees go without paychecks because the state government is shut down, many lawmakers are still being paid. And the list of workers whose services are deemed "essential" includes the governor's housekeeper and his personal chef...

LONGVIEW, Texas -- A Texas mom expected a big baby, but nothing like this: 16 pounds, 1 ounces. Janet Johnson on Monday remained in an East Texas hospital after giving birth to what her doctors called one of the biggest newborns they've ever seen...

RENO, Nev. -- Sheryl Crow, hailed as a champion of wild horses that roam the range in the West, has been criticized by a national animal rights group that is calling her a hypocrite for performing at a Wyoming rodeo. The "All I Wanna Do" singer planned to donate a portion of the proceeds from her July 22 concert at the Cheyenne Frontier Days to a wild-horse protection group that's suing the government to try to halt a big mustang roundup in Nevada. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missourians who have earned a GED certificate will have an easier time proving it. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has automated the process of verifying transcripts for people holding the high school equivalency credential...

BRANSON, Mo. -- The trip to Table Rock Lake in southwest Missouri should be faster and safer in a couple of years. Work crews have begun widening Missouri 13 between Branson West and Table Rock Lake at Kimberling City. The Springfield News-Leader reported that when the 5.5-mile, $20 million project is done, the northern half will have four lanes and the southern half will have three lanes...

LOS ANGELES -- If a proposed law passes, California teens younger than 18 will need a fake ID to "fake and bake" themselves to a golden brown. Citing skin cancer risks, legislators have joined lawmakers in at least 21 other states who have debated bills this year to ban or restrict tanning bed use by minors...

An antipasti platter doesn't have to be a selection of cheese and fatty cured meats. You can make one from the many colors of the vegetable garden. Marinating the vegetables brings out a host of flavors. Serve the vegetables with some rustic bread for sopping up the flavorful marinade...

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Move over, pole-dancing, kettlebells and Zumba. Drumstick-smashing is the latest rage to hit the Hollywood exercise circuit, offering a workout similar to Pilates or boot camp, but without the serenity of a yoga studio or the bark of a drill instructor. The high-volume group fitness class, called Pound, was devised by Cristina Peerenboom, 25, and Kirsten Potenza, 26, who tout it as a fun and energetic alternative to the usual sweat-inducing routines...

FATEHPUR, India -- Railway workers began clearing the mangled wreckage of a derailed passenger train in northern India after ending a rescue operation that found 68 bodies. Throughout Monday, anxious relatives searching for missing family members thronged to the site of Sunday's crash as bodies wrapped in white shrouds lay in rows on the ground next to the train...

Brady Dixon shot a 69 to win the boys ages 16 to 19 tour division Monday at the Gateway Junior Series golf event at Kimbeland Country Club. Dixon finished one shot ahead of Hunter Pyland and four shots in front of third-place finisher Gunnar Knudtson...

The Class 4 long jump champion signed with Southeast

Former Southeast Missouri State running back Henry Harris has had a big impact with the U.S. National Team at the International Federation of American Football Senior World Championship in Austria. Harris rushed for a game-high 99 yards on 10 carries and scored two second-half touchdowns in Friday's 61-0 rout of Australia. He then ran for 18 yards on three carries in Sunday's 48-7 romp past Germany...

ST. LOUIS -- Lance Berkman was a big question mark when the St. Louis Cardinals signed him to a one-year free agent deal last winter. Look whose gamble paid off. Shrugging aside a perceived career decline, the 35-year-old Berkman may be the top contender for Comeback Player of the Year. Way, way off the radar at the start of the year, he's a National League starting outfielder for tonight's All-Star Game, where he is making his first appearance since 2008...

Post 114 tagged Jackson with a 14-8 loss

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Southbound Highway 25 in Stoddard County continues to be reduced to one lane while Missouri Department of Transportation crews make pavement repairs. The section of road is from U.S. 60 at Dexter, Mo., to Route E at Bloomfield, Mo. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Route Z in Stoddard County will be reduced to one lane today and Wednesday while Missouri Department of Transportation crews make bridge repairs. The first bridge is between County Road 779 and Highway 153. The second bridge is between County Road 717 and County Road 721. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Pavement repairs to Interstate 57 in Mississippi County began Monday and will continue through July 26. Southbound I-57 from the Illinois state line to two miles south of Highway 105, exit 10 at Charleston, Mo., is reduced to one lane with a 16-foot width restriction. ...

LONDON -- Rupert Murdoch's media empire was besieged Monday by accusations that two more of his British newspapers engaged in privacy violations that included accessing former prime minister Gordon Brown's bank account information and stealing the medical records of his seriously ill baby son...

BEIRUT -- Hundreds of Syrian government supporters attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus Monday, smashing windows and spray-painting walls with obscenities and graffiti that called the American ambassador a "dog." Guards at the French Embassy fired in the air to ward off another group of protesters...

Born with cerebral palsy, Jennifer McPhail relies on a home health aide to help her get dressed for work and ready for bed at night. Her motorized wheelchair keeps her active, working as an organizer with a disability rights group in Austin, Texas, and volunteering to help people find housing and to staff hurricane shelters. She now fears deep cuts in the state's Medicaid spending will prevent her from living independently...

Route W between Perryville Road and South Street in Cape Girardeau will be reduced to one lane today while Missouri Department of Transportation crews take care of drainage problems along the roadway.

We are anxiously awaiting, as I write this article, the arrival of our 3-year-old grandson Cameron from Dallas. Our daughter Michelle and Cameron will be spending a week with us in Cape Girardeau as his dad goes on to a class reunion in Illinois. Our first thoughts were of what we could do to keep an active and very knowledgeable 3-year-old from cosmopolitan Dallas busy and satisfied for a complete week in Cape Girardeau. ...