Stories from Monday, April 14, 2014

Laura Saupe, medical quality analyst at SoutheastHEALTH in Cape Girardeau, received her Professional in Healthcare Quality certification. The certification is issued by the National Association for Healthcare Quality, signifying professional and academic achievement by individuals in the health-care quality management field...

A Cape Girardeau man was injured in a one-vehicle accident Sunday on Route P in Perkins, Mo., according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash log report. The accident occurred at 1:30 p.m. in Scott County when Michael G. McCrate, 90, driving a 2010 Dodge Ram, fell asleep, ran off the road and struck a tree and a telephone junction box, the report said. McCrate was taken by emergency medical service to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau...

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Singers call it the "angel's voice." The phenomenon occurs when a group of singers reach an identical chord, voices blended together as one, the harmonics justly tuned and balanced, creating a new frequency of sound that can "literally raise up the hair on the arm," Don Snow said...

ST. LOUIS -- Disposable diaper shortages among needy families are harming infants and their parents, according to health-care providers and advocates for the poor. Local food pantries receive countless requests for diapers but are unable to meet the demand, the St. ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A Columbia advisory panel researching a proposed ordinance that would decriminalize cultivation of small amounts of marijuana has agreed to work with the city's board of health on the issue before making a recommendation to the city council this summer...

ST. LOUIS -- Residents who live near a St. Louis Superfund site are upset about what they see as a lack of effort to bring in minority-owned firms to help with the cleanup. Asbestos removal is expected to begin within weeks on the Carter Carburetor site in north St. ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Members of three religious denominations say they are setting aside their differences to work together in Springfield and across the state. About 250 people from 37 Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Bahá'í congregations met Thursday to discuss issues they plan to address with the Missouri Legislature, such as early voting, Medicaid expansion, poverty and living wages. Gov. Jay Nixon attended and received a standing ovation from the crowd...

The Soles4Souls initiative as of Sunday has collected 7,070 pairs of shoes, including 1,216 dropped off Saturday. Soles4Souls is a not-for-profit institution that, according to its website, fights the effect of poverty through shoe and clothing distribution...

ULLIN, Ill. -- A Tamms, Ill., man died in an accident early Sunday morning near Ullin, according to an obituary from Crain Funeral Home. Pulaski County Coroner Brian Curry said the single-vehicle accident occurred about 1:45 a.m. Sunday on Shawnee College Road on the outskirts of Ullin. J.D. Lewis, 68, of Tamms, died in the crash, the obituary said...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- In legislative lingo, it's called "taking a walk." A lawmaker walks out of the chamber -- sometimes to a nearby office, sometimes to get out of town -- and avoids taking a vote on a politically sticky issue. During eight years in office, Missouri Rep. Rick Stream said he never walked out on a vote -- until this past week, when it came time for the state House to vote on a measure that could limit union fees...

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Daffodils struggle to stay upright as a stiff wind blows Sunday, April 13, 2014 near Dennis Scivally Park on West Cape Rock Drive in Cape Girardeau...

The Southeast Missourian has welcomed a new employee to its newsroom staff. Lindsay Jones, who hails from western Tennessee, is the publication's new managing editor. Though most of their belongings still are in Memphis and the two have been roughing it a bit, Jones and her son, Oliver, are enjoying the "different vibe" Cape Girardeau gives...

Students at Southeast Missouri State's River Campus got the chance to perform in front of New York-based director Dennis Courtney during a master class Sunday. Courtney brought more than 30 years of experience in show business and worked one-on-one with students and explained the dynamics of professional theater...

Tuesday's date typically is known as the deadline to file income taxes, but for local Charter Communications customers it's also the day the all-digital conversion takes place. The United States' fourth-largest cable operator announced in February that the switch would be coming to Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Sikeston, Mo., and surrounding areas. ...

Ferguson, Tellor lead Redhawks to 19-7 victory over Austin Peay

Legislation last week was introduced to establish a federal voluntary labeling standard for foods made with genetically modified organisms, according to a news release from the American Soybean Association, which approves of the legislation. According to the release, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act would direct the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:...

About 1,300 Cathedral of St. Mary of the Annunciation parishioners got their first look at the transformation of the cathedral during the weekend's Palm Sunday Masses. Palm Sunday celebrates Christ's entrance into Jerusalem to complete the Paschal Mystery of his death and resurrection, the Rev. Tom Kiefer of St. Mary said in an email to the Southeast Missourian. It also ties in with the Last Supper; the passion; Easter vigil, which is Saturday; and Easter Sunday, he said...

Madison shows off ALL the eggs she collected at the Bethany Baptist Egg Hunt at Dennis Scivally Park

Madison smells our first tulip of spring!

PRESS RELEASE CAPE COUNTY TEA PARTY MONTHLY MEETING On April 15th, 2014 at 6:30pm, the Cape County Tea Party (CCTP) will hold its open monthly meeting at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. The meeting is called the Third Tuesday Tea Time and is held on the Third Tuesday of each month to continue the work to complete our Mission as stated below...

Within the week, area farmers will pack up their produce and make their way to West Park Mall for the opening day of Cape Girardeau's farmers market season. Beginning Thursday, the Cape Farmers Market will set up shop from noon to about 5 p.m. each Thursday until Thanksgiving at its new location in the back parking lot of West Park Mall...

Today is Monday, April 14, the 104th day of 2014. There are 261 days left in the year. The Jewish holiday Passover begins at sunset. Today's Highlight in History: On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth while watching a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater in Washington...

Nearly 700 students from 28 junior and senior high schools around the region, including Illinois, assembled last week for the Math Field Day at the Show Me Center. In its 37th year, the turnout was higher this year than the last couple of years. Educators hope the event provides a way for the students to have fun in a competitive environment and measure where their math programs stack up with others in the region...

I am writing in regard to the community center that was to be built in Jackson. I refer to an article that appeared in the Southeast Missourian on Thursday, April 13, 2006. It states both of the city's libraries would merge and be part of the community center. Also that a longtime Jackson couple, Shelby and Mildred Brown, who are now deceased, left their estate to provide funding to create and support the facility for historical purposes...

It's not the large number of people who signed up under the Affordable Care Act that counts. It's the better access to health care, affordability and preventive measures it provides that make it such a breakthrough piece of legislation, as was well articulated in a recently column in the Southeast Missourian by Donna Brazile...

LOS ANGELES -- Jennifer Lopez has added a couple of more trophies to her block. The pop star and "American Idol" judge was honored Saturday night at the 25th annual GLAAD Media Awards with the Vanguard Award, which lauds efforts to increase visibility and understanding of the gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender community. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Representatives of 20 cities in six of 11 states that would be along the route of a proposed new, east-west interstate highway expressed enthusiastic support for the project yesterday; after hearing a presentation by the Cape Girardeau Regional Commerce and Growth Association on the need for the 3,000-mile highway, plans were approved to use a not-for-profit corporation to promote the Interstate 66 project...

The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrest Assault Miscellaneous...

WASHINGTON -- It's the silent enemy in our retirement accounts: High fees. And now a new study finds the typical 401(k) fees -- adding up to a modest-sounding 1 percent a year -- would erase $70,000 from an average worker's account over a four-decade career compared with lower-cost options. To compensate for the higher fees, someone would have to work an extra three years before retiring...

NEW YORK -- Dollar stores are feeling the pinch from mounting financial pressures on low-income shoppers. Family Dollar said Thursday it will cut jobs and close about 370 underperforming stores as it tries to reverse sagging sales and earnings. The discount store operator will also permanently lower prices on about 1,000 basic items...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Two clear front-runners emerged in Afghanistan's presidential election as partial results released Sunday showed a tight race that increasingly appears destined for a runoff vote. Both candidates promise a fresh start with the West, vowing to sign a security pact with the United States that has been rejected by President Hamid Karzai, but their fierce rivalry has raised the possibility of divisive campaigning in what so far has been a relatively peaceful vote...

SLOVYANSK, Ukraine -- Ukraine is deploying troops in a "large-scale anti-terrorist operation" to resist attacks by armed pro-Russian forces, Ukraine's President Oleksandr Turchynov said Sunday in a televised address. The previous president, who fled to Russia after being ousted earlier this year, accused the CIA of being behind the decision...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA is pressing ahead with today's planned launch of a supply ship despite a critical computer outage at the International Space Station, promising the situation is safe. Mission managers decided Sunday to proceed with the countdown for the SpaceX capsule, Dragon, already a month late in delivering more than 2 tons of cargo...

NEW YORK -- Hospitals have staff conferences to examine why patients died. Airline pilots have a system for voluntarily submitting information on safety concerns. Yet the life-or-death world of criminal justice often operates without a similar mechanism for probing its most feared failures: wrongful convictions...

PLEASANT GROVE, Utah -- A Utah woman accused of killing seven babies she gave birth to over 10 years was arrested Sunday after police discovered the tiny bodies stuffed in separate cardboard boxes in the garage of her former home. Megan Huntsman, 39, who lived in the Pleasant Grove home until three years ago, had the infants between 1996 and 2006, investigators said...

WASHINGTON -- As millions of Americans race to meet Tuesday's tax deadline, their chances of getting audited are lower than they have been in years. Budget cuts and new responsibilities are straining the Internal Revenue Service's ability to police tax returns. This year, the IRS will have fewer agents auditing returns than at any time since at least the 1980s...

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- A gunman opened fire outside of a Jewish community center Sunday, killing a doctor and his teenage grandson before heading to a Jewish retirement community a few blocks away and killing someone else, authorities said. Police arrested the suspected assailant in an elementary school parking lot shortly after the attacks in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park...

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- One of golf's most exciting players squeezed most of the drama out of the Masters on Sunday. That's just fine with Bubba Watson. All he cared about was slipping into that green jacket. Instead of hitting a 40-yard hook out of a forest of Georgia pines -- the signature shot in his playoff victory two years ago -- the final act Sunday at Augusta National took place on the 18th green. Watson had a three-shot lead and consulted with his caddie on a 15-foot birdie putt...

St. Louis closed the regular season with a 3-0 loss to Red Wings

The Southeast Missouri State women's tennis team closed its season Sunday with its eighth consecutive loss. The Redhawks sustained a 5-2 loss to visiting Austin Peay at the Redhawks Tennis Complex. Southeast finished its season 9-13 overall and 3-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Redhawks beat their first three OVC opponents but went 0-7 over their final seven conference matches...

~ The unbeaten pitcher has had all three of his starts delayed by weather, including Sunday's 6-4 win ST. LOUIS -- Michael Wacha doesn't mind a little bad weather. Wacha had to wait out yet another lengthy rain delay, Matt Carpenter drove in three runs and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 6-4 on Sunday...

O Lord Jesus, we look to you for healing for you are the Great Physician. Amen.