Stories from Thursday, June 6, 2013

Southeast Missouri State sophomore track & field athlete Kevin Farley continued his late-season surge in the best possible venue. Farley turned in his third straight career-best performance Wednesday night, finishing seventh in the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore...

WASHINGTON -- Jason Smith, a 32-year-old Missouri state lawmaker, livestock farm owner and attorney, has taken the oath to become the newest member of the House. Smith on Tuesday easily won a special election in the 8th Congressional District, a Republican stronghold in Southeast Missouri that has been represented by the Emerson family since 1980. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Paul Goldschmidt hit his second grand slam in five days, Wade Miley bounced back from his two worst outings of the season and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-3 on Wednesday night. Arizona has won four of five. St. Louis, with the best record in the majors, dropped back-to-back games for the first time since April 28-29...

Several area golfers took advantage of a rare windless day and comfortable playing conditions to post qualifying scores at Wednesday's Missouri Golf Association State Amateur Qualifier held at Dalhousie Golf Club. Ben Crancer of Kirkwood, Mo., who just finished his freshman year at Texas A&M, scorched the par-72 layout with a 6-under 66 to place first in the event, which sends the top 13 finishers on to the Missouri Amateur Championship June 18-23 at Blue Hills CC in Kansas City...

BENTON, Mo. -- Scott County officials say the Missouri Disaster Recovery Jobs Program offered through the Workforce Investment Board has been helpful for the county. "This has been a very, very beneficial program for Scott County's road infrastructure," said Jamie Burger, presiding commissioner. ...

The Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce First Friday Coffee will feature a legislative update. State Rep. Kathryn Swan, R-Cape Girardeau, will be the featured speaker. The event will be at 7 a.m. Friday at the Show Me Center with a continental breakfast. The program will begin at 7:30 p.m., 10 minutes earlier than normal, because of the amount of information to be shared with members. This month's First Friday Coffee is sponsored by Elite Travel and William Woods University...

The Scott City Police Department has planned a sobriety checkpoint in July to crack down on drunken driving. According to a news release issued by the department, Scott City police will join other Missouri law-enforcement agencies in holding a sobriety checkpoint in July to enforce DWI laws and keep impaired drivers off the road. ...

The city of Jackson's annual Concrete Street and Sidewalk Repair Project is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. Monday. According to a news release issued by Erica Bogenpohl, staff engineer for the city of Jackson, roadway improvements will include more than 3,500 square yards of concrete along the following Jackson routes: East Main Street, Old Cape Road, Lexington Drive, Sappington Drive, Cathy Drive, Carolyn Drive, Odus Drive, Wedgewood Drive, Palmer Drive, Watson Drive, St. ...

Visitation and funeral services for Jacque Waller will be Saturday in Park Hills, Mo., a family member said. Waller's sister, Cheryl Brenneke, said visitation will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at Esther Baptist Church, 412 Seventh St. in Park Hills. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, Waller's family is requesting donations to either the Jacque ...

Badly needed economic development or a potential environmental nightmare? The debate about hydraulic fracturing continues in Illinois. Senate Bill 1715, regulating the process, was approved by a vote of 108-9 on May 30 in the Illinois House, and Friday in the state Senate, 52-3, with four members not voting. Gov. Pat Quinn said he will sign the bill into law...

The 29th annual Kelso Klassic men's fastpitch softball tournament that begins Friday will take on a celebratory vibe. Steve Schott, who grew up in Kelso and still lives there, established himself as one of the sport's legendary players during a lengthy career that saw him compete at a high level for some of the world's premier teams...

The special election Tuesday to decide who would replace former U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson in Congress was marked by low voter turnout. According to information released by Secretary of State Jason Kander, the unofficial voter turnout for the special election in the 8th Congressional District was 12.94 percent. In raw numbers, about 62,760 out of nearly 495,000 registered voters in the district went to the polls on Tuesday...

ROCKVIEW, Mo. -- Plans to replace an overpass in Scott County destroyed in a train crash could be ready for contractors to review before bidding in less than two weeks. The Missouri Department of Transportation is moving quickly to build a new Route M overpass in Scott County. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed legislation Wednesday that would have cut Missouri's income tax rate for the first time in more than 90 years, denouncing it as an "ill-conceived, fiscally irresponsible experiment." The tax cut was one of the top priorities of Missouri's Republican-led Legislature and would have been one of the state's most aggressive volleys in an ongoing battle to attract businesses against its tax-cutting neighbors to the west...

First visitor to my butterfly garden last summer.

Deer Creek Christian Academy has been one of Cape Girardeau's unintentional secrets for more than a decade. What began in someone's home grew into a K-8 private, nonprofit school in its own welcoming blue building on Route W. This year turned out to be the beloved school's last, as its founder, Jackie Brandtner, finally begins her well deserved retirement...

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans members vote in favor of extending common bond to Christians Record number of members vote; Changes will be gradual MINNEAPOLIS (June 6, 2013) -- Thrivent Financial for Lutherans announced today that its membership approved an extension of its common bond, which will allow the 111-year fraternal benefit society to serve more Christians. ...

If the Mississippi River crests today at the level forecast, it will be the eighth-highest on record. The rising river at Cape Girardeau reached 43.9 feet by Wednesday afternoon and is expected to crest near 45 feet today. The National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., expects the waters to fall just above 42 feet by Monday, still in the major flood stage. Flood stage on the Cape Girardeau gauge is 32 feet...

Southeast Missouri State baseball player Clayton Evans has earned a major honor following his impressive freshman season. Evans on Wednesday was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. The team, selected by Collegiate Baseball newspaper, features six Ohio Valley Conference players...

NEW YORK -- One by one, for three weeks already, players accompanied by their lawyers have been summoned to interviews as part of baseball's latest investigation into performance-enhancing drugs -- and the process is a long way from finished...

Today is Thursday, June 6, the 157th day of 2013. There are 208 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On June 6, 1944, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, on "D-Day," beginning the liberation of German-occupied western Europe during World War II...

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- The American soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, many of them women and children who were asleep in their villages, pleaded guilty to murder Wednesday and acknowledged to a judge that there was "not a good reason in this world" for his actions...

In suburban Atlanta, northern Idaho and a number of other places, churches have moved swiftly to sever ties with the Boy Scouts of America in protest over the vote last month to let openly gay boys participate in Scouting. To date, it's far from the mass defection that some conservatives had predicted before the vote by the BSA's National Council. But the exodus could soon swell, depending on the outcome of the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting next week in Houston...

When you think about people who make a difference in the community, Majors Ben and Beth Stillwell belong in the conversation. The couple has served in the Salvation Army for 28 years, the last six in Cape Girardeau. Later this month they will embark on a new challenge when they transfer to Marshalltown, Iowa...

Daughter to James Errol Ebanks Jr. and Amy Jean Doyle of Diehlstadt, Mo., Saint Francis Medical Center, 8:49 p.m. Wednesday, May 29, 2013. Name, Aubrie Sky. Weight, 6 pounds, 14 ounces. Ms. Doyle is the daughter of Sally Doyle of Charleston, Mo., and William Doyle of Jackson. She is loan administrator at Focus Bank. Ebanks is the son of Rose McBride of Doniphan, Mo., and James Ebanks Sr. of Grand Cayman Island. He is an operator with James Excavating...

By Glen Cope Any farmer will tell you, in production agriculture things don't always go as planned. In fact, I often hear farmers refer to farming as a gamble. Farmers never know from the beginning of each growing season if their efforts will pay off...

During the early 1980s, one of President Ronald Reagan's national security team was complaining to a more seasoned diplomat about the western Europeans, bemoaning their low levels of military spending, risk-averse approach to the USSR, and reluctance to support bold U.S. moves...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Ameren Missouri is recommending federal regulators allow 215 non-conforming decks, patios, gazebos and boathouses to remain at the Lake of the Ozarks. The St. Louis-based power company announced the proposal Wednesday and called it a final step toward addressing encroachments at the central Missouri lake formed by the Bagnell Dam and Osage hydroelectric project. ...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- An 84-year-old Florida widow who bought her Powerball ticket after another customer let her get ahead in line came forward Wednesday to claim the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in history: $590 million. Gloria C. MacKenzie, a retiree from Maine and a mother of four who lives in a tin-roof house in Zephyrhills, Fla., where the lone winning ticket in the May 18 drawing was sold, took her prize in a lump sum of just over $370 million. ...

WASHINGTON -- Defying Republican critics, President Barack Obama named outspoken diplomat Susan Rice as his national security adviser Wednesday. The move gives her a larger voice in U.S. foreign policy despite accusations that she misled the nation in the aftermath of the deadly attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya...

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- St. Joseph police say a couple was arrested after officers found dozens of flowers and grave decorations stolen from cemeteries at their home. Police say the couple was arrested Tuesday after a woman saw a man steal flowers off graves last week. She confronted the man, who gave her back flowers that had been taken from her son's grave...

ST. LOUIS -- Nestle Purina PetCare Co. has agreed to buy Petfinder, the online pet adoption website, from Discovery Communications LLC, St. Louis-based Nestle Purina said Wednesday. The deal is expected to be completed in July. Terms were not disclosed...

A team from Mascoutah, Ill., will look for an unprecedented Kelso Klassic three-peat this weekend. Pete's Blues is the two-time defending champion entering the 29th annual men's fastpitch softball tournament that begins Friday. Only one other team has won two straight titles -- the Pinckneysville (Ill.) Celtics in 1966 and 1967 -- and no squad has ever captured three consecutive crowns...

PHILADELPHIA -- Searchers combing through the debris of a collapsed building and the remains of a damaged Salvation Army thrift store pulled a woman from the rubble late Wednesday, a glimmer of hope after officials said at least six people had been killed and 13 others injured...

OLMSTED, Ill. -- Jerry Lane Williamson, 84, of Olmsted passed away Wednesday, June 5, 2013, at Jonesboro Rehab & Healthcare Center. He was born April 29, 1929, in Cambria, Ill., son of Samuel and Thelma Johns Williamson. He and Maxine Varnum Hankla were married Jan. 3, 1981, in Saco, Maine...

Addie Lee Vancil, 89, of St. Louis died Saturday, May 11, 2013, in St. Louis. She was born Feb. 19, 1924, in Marble Hill, Mo., daughter of Henry Nelson and Stella May Cartwright Haynes. She was preceded in death by a brother, James M. Haynes, and a sister, Jean Ann Gerhardt, both of Cape Girardeau; a son, Stephen M. Vancil of St. Louis; and ex-husband, Ellsworth Vancil of Corpus Christi, Texas...

Annalea Burkett "Ann" Teeters, 89, of Sands Township, Mich., entered eternal life Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012, at the home of a daughter, Cheryl Teeters, with whom she made her home. A golf outing and gathering, celebrating the life of Ann, will be from noon to 5 p.m. June 22 at Jaycee Golf Course in Cape Girardeau...

A service for Vera Seabaugh of Sedgewickville, Mo., and her grandson, Stacey Wayne Stone of Bruceton Mills, W.Va., will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson. The Rev. Donny Ford will officiate. Burial will be in Pulliam Cemetery in Mayfield, Mo...

ULLIN, Ill. -- Vivian Imogene "Jean" Sowers Price, 92, of Ullin, formerly of Mounds, Ill., died Wednesday, June 5, 2013, at the home of a daughter and son-in-law. Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Jones Funeral Home in Villa Ridge, Ill...

Patricia Patton, 88, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Miller City, Ill., passed away peacefully in her sleep Tuesday, June 4, 2013, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. She was born Oct. 20, 1924, in Cairo, Ill., to Frank and Sarah Dean Hurst. She married Malcolm B. Patton...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Joseph Donald "Don" McNew, 94, of Perryville died Monday, June 3, 2013, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call from 9 a.m. until time of service Saturday at Immanuel Lutheran Church. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the church, with the Rev. Matthew Marks officiating. Burial will be in Home Cemetery...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Terrell D. Lane, 37, of Mounds died Wednesday, May 29, 2013, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call from noon until time of service Saturday at Meridian High School in Mounds. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the school, with Pastor Devid Terry officiating. Interment will be in Green Lawn Memorial Garden in Villa Ridge, Ill...

The Cape Girardeau City Council and the Jackson Board of Aldermen, in separate meetings, approve conflicting annexation plans; officials of both cities have indicated the actions will lead to a court battle. The Cape Girardeau health department would be eliminated if the City Council approves budget cuts suggested by the city staff; under the plan, the city health officer position would be eliminated and the city would contract with the Cape Girardeau County Health Department to handle sanitarian duties.. ...

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

1 Barton Square, Jackson 9 a.m. today Open session Pertinent address: 1 Barton Square, Jackson, Mo...

NEW YORK -- Jon Stewart is starting a summer-long break from anchoring "The Daily Show," but it will be no holiday. He'll be in the Middle East making his first movie. While he's away, Stewart said he'll miss hosting the Comedy Central fake newscast...

Did you think turkey basters could only be used on Thanksgiving Day to flavor the turkey? Think again. Materials Instructions STEP 1: Remove the plastic piece of the turkey baster from the rubber piece. STEP 2: Place a Ping-Pong ball into the open part of the rubber piece of the turkey baster, squeeze and observe...

Saxony Lutheran High School valedictorians Clayton Fritsche, Zach Vogel and Rachael Gruenwald will miss the support and closeness of their school, but they're excited to move on. Fritsche will attend the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla to study engineering in the fall...

TODAY NEW MOVIES EVENTS FRIDAY EVENTS SATURDAY EVENTS SUNDAY EVENTS NEXT WEEK NEW MOVIES GAMES DVDs CDs...

Claire Herbst of Cape Girardeau earned the John T. Belcher Scholarship. She will attend Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Herbst is a 2013 graduate of Cape Girardeau Central High School and the daughter of Charlie and Dr. Sydney Herbst. Nicole Hemmann of Jackson was named to Concordia University's honors list for the second semester of the 2012-2013 academic year. ...

Route WW in Stoddard County, from County Road 420 to County Road 412, will be closed today as Missouri Department of Transportation crews replace a pipe beneath the roadway. The work will take place from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. All work is weather permitting. Work zones will be marked with signs. Motorists are urged to use caution while traveling near those areas. For more information, contact MoDOT's Customer Service Center at 888-275-6636, or visit modot.org/southeast...

PHILADELPHIA -- A dying 10-year-old girl can move up the adult waiting list for a lung transplant after a federal judge intervened in her case Wednesday, a move questioned by a prominent medical ethicist. U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson suspended an age factor in the nation's transplant rules for 10 days for Sarah Murnaghan because of the severity of her condition...

O Lord Jesus, thank you for loving us and carrying our burdens. Amen.