Stories from Thursday, March 8, 2012

Cape Girardeau City Council Ward 3 candidate Trent Summers collected $1,725 in contributions, outpacing his opponent Ellen Dillon by almost double, according to finance reports filed last week. Dillon reported that she had collected $985 as of Feb. 18 in the document that was due at the Cape Girardeau County clerk's office Feb. 28. She also reported that she had about $875 cash on hand. Dillon is a speech and communication instructor at Southeast Missouri State University...

Saying it would "not bring honor to the state," House Democrats on Wednesday called on the Office of Administration to block an effort to induct conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh in the Hall of Famous Missourians. House Speaker Steve Tilley's decision has also caught the attention of Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, who announced Wednesday he wants the procedure studied...

David Loyd would rather be working. Instead, the 55-year-old spends his days in constant pain. He takes three pain medications, including Vicodin, just to make it through each day at his Sedgewickville, Mo., home. "I get up every morning, and it's a blessing ... but life's a challenge," he said...

Moms and sons, ages 2-16, are invited out to the second annual Mother/Son Game Night on March 31 at the Osage Centre. Register by March 26 for discounted rates, or up through the event date. Fun, games, and refreshments all are provided. Call Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation for more information: 573-339-6340 or 573-339-6342...

The City of Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department will offer its sixth seasonal 5K Training Course beginning on Monday, March 19. The course provides an opportunity to get in shape, gain cardiovascular endurance and improve running form while training for races. Runners of all skill levels can attend...

Join the City of Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department on March 14 at Osage Centre for a job fair regarding part-time and seasonal employment opportunities. For more information contact Parks and Recreation at 573-339-6340 or 573-339-6342. Openings are available in the following areas:...

This photo was taken on USMC base Camp Pendleton, California. I was getting ready for work and Chewbawaca decided he wanted to come come to work too! Chewbawaca is a 15 lb. Siamese and loves to lay around and get attention; that is his goal in life.....

MERRILL EMERGES AS TOP GUN AT 2012 MESQUITE SHOOTOUT Missourian Claims First LDA Tour Title Dustin Merrill captured his first LDA Tour title in dramatic fashion, prevailing at the season-opening Mesquite Shootout after an unscheduled detour through the loser's bracket...

In a move as economical as it is efficient, Cape Girardeau is now using used motor oil to heat a couple of its buildings. The Public Works Department building and the Recycling Center next door are now using waste oil for heat in the winter, saving money on energy and oil disposal fees...

From Missouri Park and Recreation Association News Release Missouri Park and Recreation Association has announced that Scott and Penny Williams from the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department have been given the Musco Give Back Award for 2012. Sponsored by the Musco Lighting Company, this award recognizes exceptional service, and was presented at the Association's annual conference last week at the Lodge of Four Seasons, Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri...

Cape Girardeau police were not yet ready Wednesday to release the name of the man who shot himself after a police chase Tuesday afternoon.

The Cape Girardeau Public Schools Board of Education honored several outstanding students for their leadership, scholarship and service to others during the February board meeting. The recipients of the Terrific Tiger Award are pictured above with School Board President Stacy Kinder and Superintendent of Schools Dr. ...

Neal Boyd will be performing the National Anthem and the St. Louis Rams Cheerleaders will be signing pictures for fans! The Cape County Enforcers (Cape County Law Enforcement) are going to be holding an event on March 24th at the Cape Central High School Football Stadium starting at 4:00pm. They will be playing a football game against The Springfield Guns (Springfield, MO Law enforcement) starting at 5:30pm. This is an event to help raise funds for Detective Travis Sikes who is battling cancer...

The Oran boys basketball team defeated Crossroads 59-54 in a Class 2 sectional Wednesday.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. companies will have to keep hiring steadily to meet their customers' rising demand. That's the message that emerged from a report Wednesday that employers are finding it harder to squeeze more output from their existing staff. It also helps explain why ADP, a payroll provider, estimated Wednesday that companies added 216,000 workers last month...

WASHINGTON -- Is the 2012 election shaping up to be all about women? President Barack Obama is working hard to woo this pivotal constituency in his re-election race. His Democratic allies are even accusing the GOP of launching a "war against women" after the Republicans reignited a new national debate over cultural issues, including birth control...

VIENNA -- Satellite images of an Iranian military facility appear to show trucks and earth-moving vehicles at the site, indicating an attempted cleanup of radioactive traces possibly left by tests of a nuclear-weapon trigger, diplomats said Wednesday...

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan -- Osama bin Laden spent his last weeks in a house divided, amid wives riven by suspicions. On the top floor, sharing his bedroom, was his youngest wife and favorite. The trouble came when his eldest wife showed up and moved into the bedroom on the floor below...

MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. (AP) -- A proposal to build a horse slaughtering and processing plant in southwest Missouri drew a large crowd of sometimes angry residents to a Mountain Grove City Council meeting. KY3-TV reports Tuesday night's meeting had to be moved because of the crowd, which booed some speakers...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Wind-blown fires have burned hundreds of acres in several southwestern and southeastern Missouri counties. Smaller isolated fires also were reported in Kansas. The southwest Missouri fire started around noon Tuesday. It covered more than 1,500 acres near Bennett Spring State Park before it was contained early Wednesday...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- The Ware, Ill., woman who was set to stand trial next week on charges linked to the death of her boyfriend's 4-year-old son had her trial date moved to May. Sacha Brown, 29, is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery and concealment of a homicidal death in connection with the Dec. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon requested a federal disaster declaration Wednesday for Missouri counties with damage from last week's tornado outbreak. Nixon's request includes declarations for Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Scott and Stoddard counties, all of which were hit by National Weather Service-confirmed tornadoes in the early morning hours of Feb. 29...

Today is Thursday, March 8, the 68th day of 2012. There are 298 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On March 8, 1862, during the Civil War, the ironclad CSS Virginia rammed and sank the USS Cumberland and heavily damaged the USS Congress, both frigates, off Newport News, Va...

The four students from local high schools previously recognized as National Merit semifinalists have advanced to the finalists level in the scholarship program. Elizabeth Kiblinger (Notre Dame Regional High School), Nathan Fridley (Jackson High School), Veronica Ely (Cape Girardeau Central High School) and Lizzie Nussbaum (Central High School) were all recently notified of the distinction. ...

My husband and I love to go down to the Mississippi River and just watch the river and the barges. This week we were downtown at the river and walked the nice walk the city has provided. There was a nice lady down there with a bag picking up trash that some uncaring person or persons had just thrown down. If you want to have a pizza party down on the riverfront, at least have enough concern for the city to pick up your trash...

Maybe I'm speaking for myself when I say I don't begrudge wealthy people who have worked hard to earn what they have. However, I believe the large majority of the middle and lower financial classes believe as I do. I can certainly say that, at the age of 62, I no longer envy people with money. ...

IN response to the so-called hypocrites and birth control comment, I don't know what Catholics you are referring to, but even though I'm not a Catholic, I know many Catholic families. And they only have one or two children, one boy and one girl. Your comment is a fallacy and an insult. ...

O Father God, thank you for the many blessings you have given us. Amen.

We have entered into the double-standard era of politics where righteous indignation is appropriate for one end of the political spectrum but clearly not the other. There's simply no other explanation. To fully implement a double standard, first and foremost you must have a compliant media. And no one can argue we lack a liberal-media bias unprecedented in our nation's history...

In recent days, key U.S. senators, including John McCain and Joe Lieberman, have called for airstrikes against the Syrian regime, as well as direct aid to opposition groups. This would replicate the tactics used to terminate the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi, an enticing prospect given the brutality of Bashar Assad, the regime's support for terrorism, and its alliances with Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah -- a rogue's gallery of anti-Americanism...

"John Carter," rated PG-13 @Cape West 14 Cine "Silent House," rated R @Cape West 14 Cine "A Thousand Words," rated PG-13 @Cape West 14 Cine SATURDAY Sunday NEXT WEEK "Mario Party 9" Wii "Silent Hill: Downpour" X360 PS3...

The new Activities Center at First Baptist Church was dedicated last Sunday; the center includes a multipurpose game room and snack area, gymnasium and track, racquetball court, roller-skating area, fitness room for weight training and aerobic workouts, whirlpool and full locker room facilities...

The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests Firefighters responded to the following calls Tuesday:...

Firefighters responded to the following calls Tuesday:...

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

NEW YORK -- One made the list on the strength of girdle sales, another powered by electric sports cars. Still others lost billions or fell off the list altogether thanks to the weak global economy and the gyrations of financial markets. Forbes magazine released its annual tally of billionaires Wednesday, reporting that a record 1,226 people around the globe have a net worth in 10 digits. That's up 1 percent from last year's total...

WASHINGTON -- The largest solar storm in five years is racing toward Earth, threatening to unleash a torrent of charged particles that could disrupt power grids, GPS and airplane flights. The sun erupted Tuesday evening, and the effects should start smacking Earth between 12 and 4 a.m. Thursday, according to forecasters at the federal government's Space Weather Prediction Center. They say the storm, which started with a massive solar flare, is growing as it speeds outward from the sun...

WAPPAPELLO LAKE, Mo. -- A permanent road to replace a damaged section of Route T at Wappapello Dam should be in place by the end of the year, according to officials. The $1.7 million project is expected to be the single most costly repair for the Missouri Department of Transportation following spring 2011 flooding in Southeast Missouri...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Gladys C. Vaughn, 88, of Perryville died Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at Perry Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Graveside service will be at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Cemetery at Silver Lake, Mo. Miller Family Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements...

CAIRO, Ill. -- George Ann Pruitt, 77, of Cairo died Thursday, March 1, 2012, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the True Church of Christ Divine in Cairo. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Christ Temple Church of God in Christ in Cairo. Bennie Pruitt will officiate...

Three men were arrested near the intersection of Good Hope and Lorimier streets Wednesday afternoon after allegedly engaging in a fight. Around 3 p.m., Larry Beard was driving down Lorimier Street to see a friend when he noticed the three men, who have not been identified, fighting in the street. Beard said he honked his horn at the men, but they continued to fight...

CHAFFEE, Mo. — Kiley Parr-Allison, 33, of Chaffee, formerly of Oran, Mo., died Monday, March 5, 2012, at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Oran.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. — David G. Overbey, 45, of Perryville died Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Service will be private. Miller Family Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Larry Wayne Knupp Jr., 36, of Olive Branch passed away Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at his home. He was born Feb. 21, 1976, in Cape Girardeau, son of Larry Wayne and Teresa Parrish Knupp Sr. Larry was employed by 1st Tire and Wheel in Cape Girardeau...

Lawrence Calvin Heise, 90, of Oak Ridge died Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at the chapel of McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson. The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Burial will be in St. John's Cemetery in Fruitland...

Virginia E. Fenimore, 91, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at Ratliff Care Center. She was born March 11, 1920, in Allenville, to Fritz Frederick and Myrtle E. Withers Bohnsack. Virginia and Robert R. Fenimore were married Sept. 2, 1939, in Cape Girardeau. He preceded her in death Aug. 31, 1985...

Two people were arrested Monday in Perry County after allegedly delivering marijuana to undercover authorities. Demetrius W. Martin, 34, and Ebony R. Chadwick, 20, both of Chester, Ill., were arrested after delivering 4 ounces of marijuana to an undercover team, according to a news release from the Perry County Sheriff's Department...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Sandra Kay Benne, 63, of Marble Hill died Saturday, March 3, 2012, at her home. She was born Sept. 12, 1948, in Nueces County, Texas, to E.T. and Mary Elizabeth Huckstep McLain. Sandra was a graduate of Central High School. She had worked as a surgical scrub tech at Saint Francis Medical Center and Southeast Hospital, and had also worked for Dr. Joseph Tygett. She previously worked at Jackson Hosiery Mill. She was a member of Heartland Lace Guild...

What happens when you place a tennis ball directly above a basketball and then drop both of them at the same time? A transfer of energy occurs that will create an out-of-control bouncing ball. STEP 2: Drop both the balls at the same time and observe...

The Meadow Heights girls basketball team lost to New Haven 49-48 in a Class 2 sectional Wednesday.

VIERA, Fla. -- Shelby Miller isn't likely to break camp with the St. Louis Cardinals this spring, but the 21-year-old pitching prospect gave a good indication Wednesday that he's not that far away from being able to make an impact in the big leagues...

Scholarships The following area high school students were awarded the Regent's Scholarship to attend Southeast Missouri State University: -- From staff reports...

The Scott City boys basketball team lost to Crystal City 71-52 in a Class 3 sectional Wednesday.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich (shwyk) has set up a political committee to test the waters for a U.S. Senate campaign. The IRS has approved the creation of a "Schweich for US Senate" committee, following an application by Schweich's campaign treasurer. The committee allows Schweich to raise and spend money while considering whether to launch a formal challenge to Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Sen. Claire McCaskill was so disturbed by Rush Limbaugh's description of a law school student as a "slut" and "prostitute" that she decided to repeat his rhetoric, featuring it in a fundraising appeal sent to thousands of supporters around the country. The tactic has paid off nicely for the Democrat's re-election campaign...

Some area students at the 56th annual Regional Science Fair spent weeks readying their projects for competition. Others admittedly spent only a few days, but what they presented at the fair Tuesday in the Show Me Center at Southeast Missouri State University was a representation of many students' interests and, sometimes, their sense of humor...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple gave the new iPad a bunch of new features but no new name. When it goes on sale next week in the U.S. and several other countries, it will be "the iPad" or perhaps "the new iPad" -- not "iPad 3" or "iPad HD," as some had speculated...

Organizers of a PTO fundraising event at one local school hope their success helping the organization fund classroom needs and field trips will spread to others. On Wednesday, the gym of Alma Schrader Elementary was completely full of volunteers and students working one-on-one to answer 100 questions the students practiced for months to answer...