Stories from Monday, December 9, 2013

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) -- Joe Torre, Tony La Russa and Bobby Cox spent decades trying to beat each other, no holds barred. On this day, however, they were a mutual admiration society. And why not? They were going to the Hall of Fame together. With a combined eight World Series titles and more than 7,500 wins, the managerial trio made it to Cooperstown in results announced Monday. Each was unanimously selected when the 16 voters on the expansion era committee met a day earlier...

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Some needy children in the Farmington area of eastern Missouri are getting new shoes, thanks to the generosity of a little boy. The Daily Journal newspaper in Park Hills, Mo., reported that Braxton Krause had a unique idea for his recent ninth birthday party. Rather than have guests bring gifts for him, Braxton wanted them bring a pair of shoes for donation...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- It's a sunny fall day for boating on the Missouri River and a great day for catching fish. Fish biologist Jeff Finley is on the bank, ready to demonstrate fishing techniques for MU students taking the fisheries management and conservation class he helped start 10 years ago...

Public schools in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Scott City and Oak Ridge will be closed today because of continued wintry weather conditions, according to school officials, news releases and websites. However, as of late Sunday afternoon, classes were still on for today at Southeast Missouri State University, News Bureau director Ann Hayes said...

The Jackson boys basketball team has yet to play a game this season, but it's still been tabbed by coaches as the favorite to win the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament. The Indians were given the top seed in the 16-team tournament, which will take place Dec. 26, 27, 28 and 30 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. All coaches of teams participating in the tournament voted on the seeds at a meeting Sunday evening at the Show Me Center...

If the combination of snowy, freezing weather this weekend had you reaching for the phone instead of the oven mitts, you weren't alone. Chances are, you were dialing up one of the local pizza joints or other places that bring goodies to your door. Both Cape Girardeau Domino's pizza stores raked in the dough this weekend, despite only being available for pickup Friday. Deliveries started about 5 p.m. that day...

A night of food and music is planned for several downtown venues that are taking part Thursday in the annual Happy Slapowitz Toy Bash. The event, now in its 12th year, will feature nine bands at eight venues in an effort to provide new Christmas toys for children through the Marine Corps League's Toys For Tots program...

For educators, there's nothing quite as valuable as time spent teaching students in the classroom, but sometimes disruptive students make that difficult. In recent years, local school districts have adopted a program called Positive Behavior Intervention Support to help add those minutes back into the day -- and it works, officials say...

A technology tool used by the Cape Girardeau Police Department has taken about 18,000 pictures of license plates per month over a year of use. This has resulted in 50 warrant arrests and the recovery of stolen vehicles and license plates and has helped police investigate some major crimes...

Snow covered road

Horses in snow

Snow covered bridge

Snow coverd Pine

Snow really sets off my wagon wheels.

My 12 yr. old Foxy, who is 1/2 Alaskan Malamute & half Chow Chow, loves the snow!! She buries her face in it and then rolls back & forth. She then just lays there and looks at me. I have to practically drag her into the door to get her to come back inside!! She always makes me laugh!!...

Bella & Murphy having fun playing in the snow.

PRESS RELEASE CAPE COUNTY TEA PARTY ChrisTTTTmas ParTTTTy Instead of our regular monthly Third Tuesday Tea Time (TTTT) meeting at the Cape Public Library, the members of the Cape County Tea Party, Friends, and EVERYONE else are invited to join in fellowship and fun to celebrate Christmas and be thankful for all the gifts we continue to enjoy!...

Jackson High School Athletics and Southeast SportsCare teamed up for Champions Agianst Cancer this fall. The boy's soccer, tennis, softball, boy's swimming, and volleyball teams at JHS chose a cancer to raise awareness and hosted a game with fundraisers for the event. The teams raised over $5,000 this year! Proceeds from the event were split between Jackson Athletics and the SoutheastHEALTH Cancer Center patient experience fund...

My husband and friend Tracy having a good ole fashioned snowball fight in our back yard. i stayed out of the way and took pictures instead, safer that way!

Granddaughter Alyssa's first sled ride

This is a picture i captured off a county road in Bollinger county sunday. the ice cicles are hanging over a creek, just gorgeous.

Granddaughter Alyssa's first sled ride

Today is Monday, Dec. 9, the 343rd day of 2013. There are 22 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Dec. 9, 1987, the first Palestinian intefadeh, or uprising, began as riots broke out in Gaza and spread to the West Bank, triggering a strong Israeli response...

Robert "Bob" Drury was a visionary and business leader. His influence, though strong in Southeast Missouri, extended well beyond throughout the United States. On Thursday, Drury died at the age of 81. Those who have lived in this area for the past two decades remember west Cape Girardeau before its development. ...

What does the county plan to do with the money they charge to put up light displays? If they are short on cash, why not have county commissioners drive their own cars to work instead of supplying them with one? There are still good people in the world, and we are especially to the good man in our neighborhood who took the time to look for us after finding our dog. ...

On Thursday, the Missourian online edition carried a story about the death of Nelson Mandela. That story prompted a flurry of comments from the lowest racists in our community. It was sad. Very promptly, the Missourian moved that online story to an area where it could be accessed but further comments could not be made. Trampling on the First amendment rights of racists? I think not...

The Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at Southeast Missouri State University has been suspended indefinitely following an investigation into a female student's complaint she was sexually abused at the fraternity house on campus Nov. 10. After a lapse of nearly 20 years, there is once again a brightly lit "community Christmas tree" in Courthouse Park; the Douglas fir, located near the bandstand in the park, was presented as a gift to the city in 1970 by the Cape Girardeau Business and Professional Women's Club; it has been deemed large enough to decorate.. ...

CHAFFEE, Mo. — James "Jim" Poinsett, 66, died Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013, in the emergency room of Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at the Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee.

Ronald Penrod, 60, of Millersville passed away Friday, Dec. 6, 2013, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He was born Feb. 6, 1953, in Columbia, Mo., to Erlis J. and Virginia L. Macke Penrod. He and Betty A. Brink Grootens were married July 10, 1982, at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Clyde Milton McCloud, 89, of Perryville, formerly of Cahokia, Ill., died Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013, at Perry Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Perryville. The family will receive friends from 11 a.m. until the time of service Saturday at the First Assembly of God Church in Perryville...

FROHNA, Mo. -- Hugo Alan Haertling, 53, of Frohna died Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013, at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until time of service Wednesday at Young & Sons East Perry Chapel in Altenburg, Mo., with the Rev. Paul Winningham officiating...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Charles E. Courtois Sr., 94, of Perryville died Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013, at Perry Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation in Perryville. He was born May 5, 1919, in Perryville, son of Albert and Gertrude Elder Courtois. He and Shirley Agne were married April 29, 1943. She survives in Perryville...

WASHINGTON -- The "Piano Man" who became one of the world's best-selling artists of all time with such hits as "Just the Way You Are," "Uptown Girl" and "Allentown" was awarded the nation's highest honor Sunday for influencing American culture through the arts...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Activist investor Carl Icahn is seeking the support of Apple shareholders as he tries to pressure the iPhone maker into spending more of its cash to buy back the company's stock. Icahn fired the latest volley in his two-month-old crusade with a Wednesday disclosure that he has submitted a proposal to Apple Inc. ...

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Needed to keep a school building running these days: Water, electricity -- and broadband. Interactive digital learning on laptops and tablets is replacing traditional textbooks in many cases. Students are taking computer-based tests instead of fill-in-the bubble exams. Teachers are accessing far-off resources for lessons...

ALTENBURG, Mo. -- Bellman's Hardware Store has sat in its spot at 8515 Main St. in Altenburg for decades, and in recent years has switched owners and businesses. The store has been given a revamped look and new life by Nicole Moore and Sandy Oberndorfer as they begin to operate their two businesses under the same roof...

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that any agreement to emerge from newly restarted talks with the Palestinians will likely initially result in a "cold peace," and therefore Israel must insist on "ironclad security arrangements" to protect itself in case the accord collapses...

KIEV, Ukraine -- Hundreds of thousands of protesters poured into the streets of Ukraine's capital on Sunday, toppling a statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin and blockading key government buildings in an escalating standoff with the president over the future of the country...

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- In death, Nelson Mandela unified South Africans of all races and backgrounds Sunday on a day of prayer for the global statesman -- from a vaulted cathedral with hymns and incense to a rural, hilltop church with goatskin drums and barefoot dancing...

MIAMI -- When insurance agent Kelly Fristoe recently spent 30 minutes helping a client pick a midlevel health plan and the federal marketplace website froze, he called the government's hotline and tried to finish the application. But the operator refused to credit Fristoe as an agent on the application, meaning he wouldn't get the commission or be listed as the follow-up contact if his client needed help again later...

WASHINGTON -- Fresh from shackling the traditional blocking ability of the Senate's minority party, Democrats are ready to muscle through President Barack Obama's nominees for pivotal judgeships and other top jobs. Despite last month's Democratic power play, Senate Republicans retain the power to slow, though not derail, Obama's appointments...

CINCINNATI -- From Twitter and Facebook to Amazon and Google, the biggest names of the Internet are blasting a federal judge's decision allowing an Arizona-based gossip website to be sued for defamation by a former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader convicted of having sex with a teenager...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The startup is housed in a garage-like space in San Francisco's tech-heavy South of Market neighborhood, but it isn't like most of its neighbors that develop software, websites and mobile-phone apps. Its mission is to find plant replacements for eggs...

CAPE GIRARDEAU

Missouri and Oklahoma State came so close to conference titles and being in the Bowl Championship Series. The No. 9 Tigers and No. 13 Cowboys, who in the past have been in two leagues together, will instead play each other Jan. 3 in the Cotton Bowl, a pretty nice consolation a day after both missed shots at conference championships...

PHILADELPHIA -- A powerful storm that crept across the country dropped snow, freezing rain and sleet on the Mid-Atlantic region and headed northeast Sunday, turning NFL playing fields in Pennsylvania into winter wonderlands, dumping a foot of snow in Delaware and threatening a messy commute today in the northeast corridor...

The SEMO Conference boys basketball tournament tentatively is scheduled to begin tonight at Sikeston High School despite the cancellation of classes for many of the participating schools due to icy road conditions. Jackson athletic director John Martin said he anticipated a decision on whether to play the games to be made by noon today...

~ Arizona qB Carson Palmer completed all but five of his pass attempts against St. Louis GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Carson Palmer didn't throw a pass in practice all last week, then completed practically every one he tried Sunday...

Dr. Ross Bennett, co-owner and managing partner of Bennett Family Dentistry, 1200 N. Cape Rock Drive in Cape Girardeau, was inducted as a fellow of the International College of Dentists at its 84th annual convocation in New Orleans. Bennett is one of the youngest dentists awarded the honor from the organization that recognizes outstanding and meritorious service to the professional community. ...

O Lord Jesus, may we share your hope and never-ending love with others. Amen.

Saint Francis Medical Center celebrated the completion of its expanded Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit on Dec. 6 with an open house. The NICU will open Tuesday. The NICU features three rooms equipped for twins, two rooms for triplets and a family room with activities and videos for parents and siblings, according to a news release from the hospital...