Stories from Friday, August 23, 2013

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- Army Maj. Nidal Hasan was convicted Friday in the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, a shocking assault against American troops at home by one of their own who said he opened fire on fellow soldiers to protect Muslim insurgents abroad...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The stakes just got a little higher in the fight over Missouri income tax cuts. The leader of a conservative group said Friday that it may recruit primary challengers to run against any Republican lawmaker who votes "no" on an attempt to override Democratic Gov. ...

The possibility of Cape Girardeau hosting the filming of 20th Century Fox's feature film "Gone Girl" has created quite a buzz in the community. During the last several weeks, various homeowners have had their properties inspected and photographed by location scouts for potential use in the movie, and on Saturday about 1,400 people looking to be chosen as background extras attended a casting call at Rose Theatre...

About 4 p.m. Thursday, the Cape Girardeau Fire Department was dispatched to assist a pontoon boat stuck on a sandbar in the Mississippi River near Cape Rock. According to a news release from the department, the first boat firefighters launched was unable to reach the pontoon boat because the water level was below 2 feet. They launched an inflatable boat, which was able to reach the sandbar...

The first wave of students moved in at the Southeast Missouri State University campus Thursday. Broadway and North Sprigg Street were packed throughout the morning and early afternoon as freshman students and their families made their way to the Show Me Center for check-in and registration before unloading vehicles in front of their residence halls...

BENTON, Mo. -- A man with two attorneys told a Scott County judge he plans to represent himself on three recent felony charges because he has no money to pay a lawyer. "I can't afford an attorney," Keith Monia told Scott County Circuit Judge David Dolan at his arraignment Thursday on three counts of financial exploitation of the elderly...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Next week, the nation's first black president, a living symbol of the racial progress Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed about, will stand near the spot where King stood 50 years ago and say where he believes this nation should be headed...

Centenary Church held a Community Family Fun Fair on Sunday, August 11, 2013. Approximately 200 people from the community attended this event hosted by Centenary. Folks were able to enjoy games, basketball contests, hamburgers and hotdogs, root beer floats, cotton candy, snow cones and a bouncy house. Centenary, located at 300 North Ellis in Cape Girardeau, will host another event on Sunday, October 6. Visit Centenary Church's Facebook page for more information...

Shawnee Proctors CBCS Exam with 100% Pass Rate Shawnee Community College has been a proctoring site for the National Healthcareer Association's (NHA) Billing and Coding Specialist Certification Exam (CBCS) for 3 years. SCC has proctored the exam again for this year with exam results of a 100% pass rate. In the 3 years that SCC proctored the exam, 2 out of 3 times students passed with a 100% pass rate for our medical coding specialists who wish to obtain these credentials from the NHA...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- The bar is perennially high for the Southeast Missouri gymnastics team in the classroom, yet the Redhawks are constantly up to the task. For the fifth time in seven years, Southeast posted the highest cumulative grade-point average among all NCAA programs as announced by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W). The Redhawks' 3.8146 mark edged out Western Michigan's 3.8086 GPA...

MALDEN, Mo. -- Rice farmers got down to the basics of their trade Thursday at the Missouri Rice Farm Field Day, as rice experts discussed how to deal with obstacles that come with growing the grain and recent developments in its research. The 21st annual Rice Research Farm Field Day was presented by the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council with assistance from Southeast Missouri State University. ...

One of our rescued mutts, Sophie, on a very hot August afternoon. Yes, it's her sofa.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones plans to allow the public to vote on whom to induct into the Hall of Famous Missourians. The hall is a collection of bronze busts in the Capitol and has traditionally honored people chosen by the House speaker...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry waded into Missouri's political battle over taxes Thursday, endorsing an uphill effort by Republican legislators to override Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of an income-tax cut. Perry's backing of the proposed tax cut came on the same day a Texas marketing group began running a radio ad in Missouri criticizing Nixon's veto and encouraging Missouri businesses to consider moving to Texas...

The Cape Girardeau County Commission heard nothing but opposition to a ballot issue that would allow the county to indefinitely collect tax on out-of-state vehicle purchases at a Friday public hearing. The commission hosted the hearing to get input on placing a so-called "use tax" on the ballot...

Isle Casino Cape Girardeau has been issued a $10,000 fine by the Missouri Gaming Commission because security officers were improperly issuing vendor and visitor badges. The commission made the decision to issue the penalty during its Wednesday meeting at its central office in Jefferson City, Mo...

Today is Friday, Aug. 23, the 235th day of 2013. There are 130 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 23, 1973, a bank robbery-turned-hostage-taking began in Stockholm, Sweden; the four hostages ended up empathizing with their captors, a psychological condition now referred to as "Stockholm Syndrome."...

Few parties would be better without a griller. Someone who has mastered the art of searing meat and balancing it with a savory rub. This weekend there will be many at Arena Park in Cape Girardeau hoping to come away with the top prize at the Cape BBQ Fest...

What follows is a true story. Last week I took my wife's car for an oil change. The car is eight years old. It has just over 11,000 miles on the odometer. Neither of us can remember the last time the oil was changed. The reminder sticker on the windshield said the next oil change was due when the odometer rolled round to 12,000 miles or in February -- of last year. So we were either a thousand miles early or 18 months late for the oil change...

Public comments about the 66 Corridor project, a proposed connection between Interstate 55 and Paducah, Ky., must be submitted at 66corridor.org or given to the Illinois Department of Transportation District 9 Office by the end of the day today...

CAIRO -- Egypt's ousted leader Hosni Mubarak, wearing a white shirt and loafers while flashing a smile, was released from prison Thursday and transported to a military hospital in a Cairo suburb where he will be held under house arrest. Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi had ordered Mubarak be put under house arrest as part of the emergency measures imposed this month after a wave of violence sparked by the ouster of Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi, who had succeeded Mubarak as Egypt's first freely elected president.. ...

This weekend, one event invites spectators to watch some highflying action at the Sky High MX Park in Old Appleton. The park is hosting the Mid-South MX Championship Series. For those unaware, MX means motocross, so dirt bikes will be racing on outdoor courses. Saturday is practice day, with gates opening at 7 a.m. and sign-up at 8. Rides start after the 9 a.m. practice on Sunday. For more information go to skyhighmx.com...

BENTON, Mo. -- A Cape Girardeau man accused of "inappropriate" behavior at a Chaffee, Mo., nursing home pleaded guilty to deviate sexual assault in Scott County on Thursday. David Barberis was arrested Feb. 21 after the Chaffee Nursing Center contacted the Scott County Sheriff's Department, Sheriff Rick Walter said at the time...

NEW YORK -- TiVo Inc. wants to give television viewers more control over what they watch on traditional channels and over the Internet as the pioneer of digital video recorders unveils its fifth-generation devices. The new devices face more competition than TiVos did when it debuted in 1999. ...

The Southeast Missouri State University Choral Union will begin fall rehearsals Sept. 3 in preparation for a Dec. 3 concert performance in conjunction with the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra. Rehearsals are from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays in Room 155 of the Cultural Arts Center at the River Campus. ...

Kenneth W. Dobbins, president of Southeast Missouri State University, has been appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon as a commissioner for the Midwestern Higher Education Compact. "I am pleased to be appointed by Gov. Nixon to MHEC," Dobbins said, "and I look forward to working with the other commissioners."...

A gas leak caused the evacuation of a Cape Girardeau business early Thursday. According to assistant fire chief Mark Hasheider, at about 1 a.m. firefighters responded to a call about a gas smell at the Pour House Pub, 113 Broadway. The business had been evacuated before firefighters arrived. ...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- Police in New Madrid were searching Thursday for a missing 83-year-old woman. The New Madrid County Sheriff's Department issued an Endangered Silver Advisory after a report of a missing woman about 4 p.m. Tuesday at 802 Maple St. in New Madrid, according to a news release from the Missouri State Highway Patrol...

ADAM VOGLER ~ avogler@semissourian.com Contemporary Christian singer Kerrie Roberts performs during a private concert Thursday, Aug. 22. at the Walden Park clubhouse in Cape Girardeau. Roberts released her latest album, "Time for the Show," in April...

Yesterday while driving to work I got my laugh of the day. I was behind a "Smart" car and below the back window it has the name brand of the car, which was "SMART" car. And right above the name on the back window was an Obama/Biden sticker. How funny is that?...

The Jackson Fire Department responded to the following calls Tuesday:...

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

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests The Cape Girardeau Sheriff's Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI The Southeast Missouri State University Department of Public Safety released the following item...

Dorothy M. Scheper, 82, of Jackson, a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and Jackson businesswoman, died suddenly Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 23, 1931, in Whitewater to Clarence Edgar and Nancy Earline Snider Gloth. She and Frederick William "Fred" Scheper Jr. were married March 14, 1953, at Whitewater Methodist Church. They had been married nearly 58 years when Fred passed away Feb. 21, 2011...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Jerry Houston Sanders, 69, of Marble Hill died Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 26, 1943, in Parma, Mo., to John Franklin and Alice Lucille Nordin Sanders. He married Dorothy Jo Foulk on July 3, 1966...

CAIRO, Ill. — Jewel Morgan, 93, of Cairo died Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013, at her home. Arrangements are incomplete at Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo.

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Glenda LaFern Manche, 73, of Charleston died Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. She was born Dec. 14, 1939, in Winfield, Ala., to the late Willie H. "Bill" and Lucille E. Jones McDonald. ...

McCLURE, Ill. — Jonathan Brown, 39, of McClure, formerly of the Chaffee, Mo., area, died Monday, Aug. 19, 2013, in McClure. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee is in charge of arrangements.

ORAN, Mo. -- Sherma Brashear, 97, of Oran passed away Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 28, 1916, in Morley, Mo., to John Edward Braxton and Minnie Bell Stanley Nation. Sherma was a member of First Baptist Church in Oran...

Junior college All-American Jarekious Bradley signed with the men's squad

The former football standout remains at Southeast as a student coach

ST. LOUIS -- Joe Kelly had to fight all night long. He had just enough to lead St. Louis to another big win. Kelly pitched six effective innings, Matt Holliday broke out of a slump with two doubles, and the Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2 on Thursday...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Homeland Security employee is the operator of a racist website predicting and advocating a race war, a department official said Thursday. Ayo Kimathi, who is an acquisitions officer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, operates the site, War on the Horizon, which includes descriptions of an "unavoidable, inevitable clash with the white race." Kimathi is black...

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) -- Bradley Manning wants to live as a woman named Chelsea and begin hormone treatment as soon as possible, the soldier said a day after being sentenced to 35 years in prison for giving government secrets to WikiLeaks. Manning announced the decision Thursday in a statement provided to NBC's "Today" show...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange resumed Thursday after a three-hour halt caused by a technical glitch. Other exchanges were operating normally Thursday, and stocks rose slightly. Nasdaq trading resumed at 3:25 p.m. EDT. The exchange had halted it shortly after noon...

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- The Army psychiatrist on trial for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood passed on his final chance to address jurors before they started deliberating Thursday, even after prosecutors insisted they hand down a verdict that would allow the death penalty...

O Father God, thank you for loving us and being our generous provider. Amen.

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syria's deputy prime minister said foreign fighters and their international backers are to blame for a purported chemical weapons attack near Damascus the opposition says killed at least 100 people, the deadliest such attack in Syria's civil war...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Authorities are trying to determine the origins and identities of a skull, a partial skull and an incomplete headstone found along a creek bed in southern Callaway County. A person walking along Old Highway 94 on Sunday found the bones and partial headstone on a private farm, Dennis Crane said Wednesday. The sheriff doesn't believe the remains are from a recent murder or missing person's case, The Jefferson City News-Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/185AwSI )...

A ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the opening of the new foot bridge in Shawnee Park; during the ceremony, Cape Area Youth Soccer Association president Barry Zerbe presents a check in the amount of $9,000 to the city for the association's participation in the bridge construction...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The Perryville Police Department is investigating an unusual case after a local pet store was burglarized. A variety of animals and cash was stolen from Jungle Gems Pets in Perryville sometime between the time the store closed Aug. 10 and opened Aug. 13, according to Perryville police chief Direk Hunt...

The Cape Girardeau County Commission will decide today whether a use tax on vehicles and other purchases from across state lines will be on the ballot in November or at a later date. "The public meeting on Friday will let us see where we're at," said Clint Tracy, presiding commissioner...

ST. LOUIS -- A wingsuit flier who has gained YouTube fame for spectacular stunts will soar over downtown St. Louis this evening in full view of 40,000-plus Cardinals fans, but he promises to stay away from the city's most inviting and off-limits stunt site -- the Gateway Arch...