Stories from Tuesday, August 7, 2012

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri Republicans will have a self-described conservative as their challenger to Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill. Exactly who that will be remains to be decided. The leading candidates in Tuesday's Republican Senate primary --suburban St. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Three Republicans who touted their conservative credentials are in a close Missouri primary for the right to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill. Congressman Todd Akin, former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman and businessman John Brunner all were receiving a good share of support from Republicans...

ROLLA, Mo. -- A wildfire fueled by debris from a 2010 tornado has been contained in the Mark Twain National Forest in south-central Missouri. Crews fought the fire for more than a week before declaring it contained Monday at slightly more than 1,100 acres...

Polo shirt? A majority passed. Shorts of "appropriate length" and shoes that cover the foot? Not so many did as well. Orientation sessions held at Cape Girardeau Central High School on Monday were a trial run of sorts for student compliance with the new dress code that will take effect on the first day of school. ...

Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Boyd on Monday confirmed that two of his assistant prosecutors have resigned their positions, though he declined to offer many other specifics. In a brief email exchange with the Southeast Missourian, Boyd confirmed there have been two resignations and that one is a female and the other is a male. The Scott County website that is dedicated to his office shows that there are three employed there -- Andrew Lawson, Amanda Oesch and Austin Crowe...

Fullback is sometimes a forgotten position in football these days. Not at Southeast Missouri State. Not with a sledgehammer like sophomore Ron Coleman around. Coleman, more athletic and nimble than his 250 pounds might suggest, put together one of the best statistical campaigns by a true Southeast fullback in years last season despite being a redshirt freshman...

Come October, Southeast Missouri State University officials will look at several scenarios when they consider future expansion of the university's visual and performing arts campus. An architectural firm, the Lawrence Group, is developing multiple plans for the addition of a 150-bed residence hall and academic space near the River Campus, which it will present to the university's board of regents at an October meeting. ...

If the urban deer hunting proposal makes its way to a municipal ballot anytime soon, it won't be the Cape Girardeau City Council that puts it there. But the leader of the group that has criticized it as unsafe and unkind to animals says they still fully intend to do so...

This is from the wreck in Jackson. 08/06/12

08/06/12- wreck in Jackson

Wreck in Jackson 08/06/12

Dr. Jane Kester-Koppenaal was honored Tuesday, July 31, in Columbia at the University of Missouri Reynold's Alumni Center for outstanding research. A 2011 graduate of the University of Missouri Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis doctoral program, Kester-Koppenaal's thesis "The Impact of School Exclusion on Student Achievement" was chosen as a finalist for the Dan H. ...

The Heartland Pops Chorus is now open to new singers who would like to join the Pops in their 2012 Christmas Show which will be held Sunday, Dec. 2 at 3:00P.M. at Jackson H.S. Rehearsals are Monday evenings at 7:30P.M. in the Immaculate Conception Church multi-purpose room in Jackson beginning Sept. 10. For more information, call Jerry Ganiel at 579-6127 or visit their website at www.heartlandpops.com...

Sharpen your pencil and put on your thinking cap! It's time to head back to the classroom and take a just-for-fun dairy quiz. See how much you know about dairy foods and their role in a healthy diet. Question: Why do health experts recommend eating more dairy foods for calcium?...

One person was hospitalized with burns after a pickup struck multiple vehicles in downtown Jackson early Monday afternoon. The unidentified driver of a red pickup was southbound on U.S. 61 about 12:45 p.m., when his vehicle struck the back of a Hyundai sport utility vehicle, said Clark Parrot, a public information officer with the Missouri State Highway Patrol...

The winners of this year's Cape Girardeau Public Library Children's Summer Reading Club are (Left to Right) Lucy Bechtold, Wiley Edmundson, Maris Woodruff and Oliver Laiben. Also pictured UCT Council 534 representatives Milbert and Jobyna Daume. The bikes were donated by the UCT Council 534 and the Cape Girardeau Public Library Friends Foundation...

A Sedgewickville, Mo., motorcyclist was injured in a collision Monday afternoon on Highway 72 in Cape Girardeau County. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Bradley W. Peel, 46, was westbound on Highway 72 near County Road 348 when his Harley-Davidson struck a Pontiac Grand Prix that was slowing down because of a brush fire. Peel was taken to Saint Francis Medical Center with moderate injuries. The driver of the Pontiac was not injured...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- A Cape Girardeau man received serious injuries in a Sunday night crash in Perry County. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Waldenmar O. Martinez, 27, was injured when the 1998 Chevrolet Malibu he was riding in crossed the centerline and hit a 2010 Dodge Ram truck driven by Wayne M. Dailey, 61, of Tilden, Ill., on Highway 51, just north of County Road 920, near Perryville...

Cape Splash will reduce park open hours later this month, according to a Cape Girardeau city government blog post. Beginning Aug. 16, the water park will be open Tuesday and Friday from 4 to 7 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. Cape Splash closes for the season Sept. 3...

The Salvation Army recently picked up 12 used air conditioners from Hartle management in Jackson that will be given out to senior citizens with a doctor's referral. The units will be given out starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Recipients must be Cape Girardeau and Jackson residents and not have received an air conditioner in the past from the Salvation Army, Pepsi or Fred's. Those interested must have a picture ID and proof of residency...

OAK CREEK, Wis. -- Before he strode into a Sikh temple with a 9 mm handgun and magazines of ammunition, Wade Michael Page played in white supremacist heavy metal bands with names such as Definite Hate and End Apathy. The bald, heavily tattooed bassist was a 40-year-old Army veteran who trained in psychological warfare before he was demoted and discharged more than a decade ago...

Area voters turned out in steady numbers Tuesday morning, drawn by several hotly contested legislative and county level races and a Missouri Constitution measure that establishes protections for people to pray in public. By noon, Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers reported said that the county's 29 precincts were reporting that they were "very busy" and Summers was still hopeful that her prediction of 35 percent voter turnout would come to bear. ...

Today is Tuesday, Aug. 7, the 220th day of 2012. There are 146 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Aug. 7, 1942, U.S. and other allied forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II. (Japanese forces abandoned the island the following February.)...

NEW YORK -- "The Campaign" is a broad comedy made from broad intentions: Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis simply wanted to make a movie together. In the film, which opens Friday, they play two North Carolina politicians competing in an increasingly nasty congressional race. Galifianakis' character shoots Ferrell's point blank and his poll numbers go up...

We often associate sex trafficking with other countries. But unfortunately this despicable practice is taking place in the U.S., including here in Missouri. A story that appeared in the recent edition of Flourish, a Southeast Missourian special publication for women, addressed this issue. ...

We praise you, O Lord God, for you are the giver of every perfect gift. Amen.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks edged higher on a day marked by uncharacteristic quiet following a turbulent week. In the absence of major economic news, stocks were riding a tail wind of optimism from the most recent U.S. job numbers released last week and hope for more action by European authorities to address that region's debt crisis...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City health officials said they have confirmed a fourth heat-related death this year. The Kansas City Health Department said Monday a man born in 1951 died of heat-related causes. The department said that another six deaths in the Kansas City area are being investigated as possibly heat-related. ...

Son to Paul and Rebecca Craig of Balclutha, New Zealand, Queen Mary Hospital, 8:55 p.m. Tuesday, July 10, 2012. Name, Wyatt Geoffrey. Weight, 9 pounds, 8 ounces. First child. Mrs. Craig is the former Rebecca McNulty, daughter of LaDonna McNulty of Jackson and Robert McNulty Sr. of New Jersey. Craig is the son of Russell and Dianne Craig of Balclutha. He is employed by Cranleigh Haulage...

Getting too hot can make you sick. You can become ill from the heat if your body can't compensate for it and properly cool you off. Heat exposure can even kill you: it caused 8,015 deaths in the United States from 1979 to 2003. These are the main things affecting your body's ability to cool itself during extremely hot weather:...

ATLANTA -- It sounds like an unfolding epidemic: A decade ago, virtually no one in the U.S. seemed to have a problem eating gluten in bread and other foods. Now, millions do. Gluten-free products are flying off grocery shelves, and restaurants are boasting of meals with no gluten. Celebrities on TV talk shows chat about the digestive discomfort they blame on the wheat protein they now shun. Some churches even offer gluten-free Communion wafers...

In the city of Jackson, when the Homecomers week of celebration is over, we all get in the back-to-school mode. I hope the weather cooperates and gives us some nice crisp fall weather. As an old teacher, I always get excited about the start of school. It was always fun meeting new students and getting to visit again with co-workers you haven't seen for a few months...

The cities of Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City are being asked to finance an effort to secure power contracts as the first step in a plan to provide low-cost hydroelectric power to the area; the joint venture would construct a line to Sikeston, Mo....

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Kenyan authorities Monday charged the first secretary of Venezuela's embassy with the murder of that country's acting ambassador to Kenya in what police believe was a killing motivated by a battle over embassy leadership. Dwight Sagaray was charged in court with the murder of acting Venezuelan ambassador Olga Fonseca. He pleaded not guilty...

BEIRUT -- Syria's prime minister began planning his break from the regime two months ago when Bashar Assad offered him the post and an ultimatum: Take the job or die. The full scope of Riad Hijab's carefully executed flight to the rebel side -- described by an aide who escaped with him to Jordan -- reverberated Monday through Syria's leadership. ...

EL-ARISH, Egypt -- Egypt vowed Monday to take on Islamist militants who have turned the Sinai peninsula into a lawless haven and are suspected of killing 16 Egyptian troops as the fighters were en route to a failed assault on neighboring Israel...

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Can President Barack Obama raise the money he needs to hold onto the White House? Money wasn't supposed to be a worry for the president's campaign, which smashed fundraising records in 2008. But Mitt Romney's team has hauled in more than Obama and his allies for a third straight month, raising the question...

MANNFORD, Okla. -- The fields around Connie Laxton's home in Oklahoma were black with ash Monday after a roaring wildfire tore across her property and ran right up to her gray brick ranch home -- where it suddenly stopped. The fire line is marked in the grass a foot from the house, and the smell of smoke permeates the inside. One side of the three 40-foot pear trees in the yard is charred gray and black, the other is leafy and green...

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA celebrated the precision landing of a rover on Mars and marveled over the mission's first photographs Monday -- grainy, black-and-white images of Martian gravel, a mountain at sunset and, most exciting of all, the spacecraft's white-knuckle plunge through the red planet's atmosphere...

Last week's announcement that longtime Southeast Missouri State baseball coach Mark Hogan was retiring took me by surprise. But upon further reflection, maybe it shouldn't have. Hogan, after all, will turn 60 in December and he has been a head coach for 31 years, including the last 18 at Southeast...

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Beneath the coats of off-white paint and under the drywall inside Larry and Amy Jump's new home in Joplin are the scrawled names of people who before the storm were strangers. Youth group members from Missouri, Texas and Washington. Mission workers from Indiana and Canada. Volunteers from a Lee's Summit Methodist church...

HANNIBAL, Mo. -- A cat in the northeast Missouri town of Hannibal is recovering after surviving an arrow through the stomach. The incident happened last week. Owner Mike Moore told KHQA-TV that his son found Junior the cat with an arrow in the stomach. Fortunately, the arrow missed Junior's lungs. Moore said the cat seems to be holding his own, but his recovery remains uncertain...

JOPLIN, Mo. -- A mosque in southwest Missouri burned to the ground early Monday in the second fire to hit the Islamic center in little more than a month, and investigators spent the day combing through the wreckage searching for evidence of arson...

The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Theft...

Firefighters responded to the following calls Sunday:...

Emma D. Wade, 58, of St. Louis, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, July 28, 2012, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Friends may call from 11 a.m. until service time Wednesday at New Horizon Missionary Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. The funeral will be at noon Wednesday at the church, with Howard McGee Jr. officiating. Burial will be in Russell Heights Cemetery in Jackson...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Larry Gene Sprenger, 68, of Chaffee passed away Monday Aug. 6, 2012, at his home. He was born July 24, 1944, at Dutchtown, to the late Robert and Gladys Lucille Sprenger Lincoln. He and Evelyn Horn were married Oct. 30, 1971. Larry served in the U.S. Army...

Rosemary Blanton Barr Quatmann, 92, of Cape Girardeau passed away peacefully Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012, at Chateau Girardeau. She was predeceased by her parents, Harry C. and Maureen Blanton; a sister, Maureen Klein Graham; first husband, Harry K. Barr, who died March 21, 1979; second husband, Joseph H. Quatmann, who she married May 19, 1990, and who died Jan. 15, 2000; a son, Michael Blanton Barr; and a stepdaughter, Sister Vicki Quatmann...

FARRAR, Mo. -- Leonard J. Kassel, 90, of Farrar died Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, at Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville, Mo. He was born July 20, 1922, in Farrar, son of Henry C. and Erna Koenig Kassel. He and Violet J. Miesner were married Sept. 29, 1946. She preceded him in death Oct. 27, 2007...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Gloria H. Hudson, 85, of Mound City died Monday, Aug. 6, 2012, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 16, 1927, in Villa Ridge, Ill., daughter of Fred and Blanche Leidigh Hayden. She attended Valley Recluse Elementary School and Mound City High School, where she was valedictorian, and her future husband of 65 years was salutatorian...

Henry F. Davis, 93, of Jackson, formerly of Oak Ridge, died Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call from 9:30 a.m. until time of service Thursday at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Cape County Memorial Park with full military honors...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Aubrey Dean "Arb" Cox, 76, of Owensville, Mo., formerly of Sikeston, died Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, at Phelps County Regional Medical Center in Rolla, Mo. He was born Oct. 4, 1936, in Sikeston, to Alton Greenville and Mary Alice Williams Cox. He and Loretta "Sue" Pace were married May 20, 1956, in Hernando, Miss...

The Southeast Missouri State football team has one player from the immediate area who is well established as a collegiate star. Several others are trying to make their mark with the Redhawks as walk-ons. People who follow area football likely know all about Blake Peiffer, the Jackson High School graduate who ranks among the top linebackers in program history...

Southeast Missouri State junior forward Tyler Stone currently is in Brazil playing exhibition basketball with Sports Reach Sports Ministry. Stone had an impressive opening game with his team Saturday. He scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds during a 100-70 victory...

St. Louis beat San Francisco 8-2 in the opener of a four-game series

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Route W in Scott County, from Highway 77 to Caroline Drive, will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews make pavement repairs. Weather permitting, the work will be done from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. The work zone will be marked with signs. Motorists are urged to use caution while traveling near the area. For additional information, contact MoDOT's Customer Service Center at 888-275-6636 or visit www.modot.org/southeast...

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

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri voters cast ballots Tuesday in several races, including a GOP Senate primary contest and a ballot measure that would, among other things, allow students to refuse school assignments that violate their religious beliefs. Registered voters can choose a ballot for any political party or ask for a ballot that merely poses questions about issues, such as the proposed state constitutional amendment related to prayer.

Incumbent sheriff Rick Walter has won the Democratic primary in Scott County, gaining re-election to the post he's held for two terms. Walter took 2,047 votes to 526 for challenger Paul A. Johnson, police chief of Morley. Another incumbent sheriff, Leo McElrath, faces a challenge from two -- Darrin Shell and Denny Cato -- in the Republican primary in Bollinger County...