Stories from Monday, August 10, 2015

FERGUSON, Mo. -- St. Louis County Police say an officer who came under heavy gunfire returned shots amid a protest in Ferguson. The department confirmed the shooting in a statement Sunday night, less than an hour after shots rang out as hundreds had gathered to mark the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown. The police department tweeted at least two unmarked cars were hit by gunfire...

HOUSTON -- A family of six children and two parents were fatally shot in the head at a Houston home by a man with a violent criminal history who had been in a contentious relationship with the mother, authorities said Sunday. David Conley, 48, was charged with capital murder in the deaths. Most of the victims had been handcuffed and some had been shot several times, said Sgt. Craig Clopton, the lead investigator for the Harris County Sheriff's Office...

FERGUSON, Mo. -- The anniversary of 18-year-old Michael Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri, began with a solemn march in his honor and ended in a rowdy protest. One year after the killing that cast greater scrutiny on how police interact with black communities, Brown's father led a march through town Sunday after a crowd of hundreds observed 4 1/2 minutes of silence...

Federal funds have been allocated to repair a problematic railroad crossing at U.S. 61 and Highway 25 in Jackson sometime early next year. The crossing is one of Jackson's most-maligned intersections, and Mayor Dwain Hahs said the project should please residents...

For the first time in more than 10 years, Cape Girardeau will have an active Tax Increment Financing Commission. The Cape Girardeau City Council sent a notice in July to local taxing entities to submit nominations for the 11-member commission, which will have its first meeting at noon Thursday at the Osage Centre...

Our grandson, Tristan Leggett, was able to drive an antique tractor in the Kelso Antique Tractor Parade on Aug. 4, 2015. There were 71 tractors in the parade.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The work is slow, and the payout is peanuts. But the Deane family still is excited about their latest venture. Triple D Farms of Sikeston, a multigenerational family farm operation, has 250 acres of peanuts planted on ground just west of the railroad tracks north of Sikeston...

Today is Monday, August 10, the 222nd day of 2015. There are 143 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 10, 1945, a day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Imperial Japan conveyed its willingness to surrender provided the status of Emperor Hirohito remained unchanged. (The Allies responded the next day, saying they would determine the Emperor's future status.)...

Let's give these officers the respect they deserve, for who knows, you might be the next one that they lay their life down for. This is in regard to Mike Jensen's article on "phony urban legend." That is so truthful. We tend to blame and blame the police officers. ...

School starts Thursday, and Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School will kick it off with a new program to help students excel. Principal Carla Fee has announced that a 25-minute advisory period has been added to the daily schedule, an addition staff members have embraced. "It's pretty exciting for me to say my staff is totally on board," Fee said...

FERGUSON, Mo. -- With a scuffle and the crackle of gunfire, this once-anonymous suburb was scarred permanently a year ago. The fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, last August sparked clashes between protesters and police, unfolding on live television. Questions raised here about law-enforcement attitudes toward minorities and the militarization of police since have reverberated across the country...

NEW YORK -- As a campaign to raise the minimum wage as high as $15 has achieved victories in such places as Seattle, Los Angeles and New York, it has bumped up against a harsh reality: Plenty of scofflaw businesses don't pay the legal minimum now and probably won't pay the new, higher wages, either...

Greg Hellwege recently joined MRV Banks as senior residential lender. Hellwege will serve the bank's Cape Girardeau, Ste. Genevieve and Sikeston locations in Southeast Missouri, according to a news release. Hellwege served in leading roles with Wells Fargo, including as a sales development consultant, a home mortgage consultant and a branch manager for the company's locations in Sikeston and Cape Girardeau. ...

WASHINGTON -- A new era of higher rates on home and car loans and steeper borrowing costs for businesses and the government -- maybe a bit more return for savers -- is about to arrive. That, at least, is the word from most economists. After another solid U.S. jobs report Friday, they say the Federal Reserve seems all but sure to raise its short-term interest rate next month after keeping it pinned near zero for nearly seven years...

OMAHA, Neb. -- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reported a 37 percent drop in its second-quarter profit as the paper value of its investments fell and its insurance companies reported an underwriting loss. Berkshire Hathaway's net income fell to $4.01 billion, or $2,442 per Class A share. That's down from last year's $6.4 billion, or $3,889 per share. Those results were helped by a $1.1 billion paper gain on a stock exchange deal...

Dale Lee Smith, 67, of Jackson was received into heaven Friday, Aug. 7, 2015. He passed away at his home after valiantly fighting lung cancer for over two years. He was born July 26, 1948, at the family home in Jackson, the sixth of nine children of George and Nellie Schreiner Smith...

ORAN, Mo. -- Jerry Lynn Tindall, 69, of Excelsior Springs, Missouri, died Saturday, July 25, 2015. He was born and raised in Oran, Missouri. He graduated from Oran High School and Southeast Missouri State University. Jerry worked in the social service field most of his life, serving people with disabilities. He was a good husband, father and papa, and a good friend to many...

Cape Girardeau County Commission 1 Barton Square, Jackson 9 a.m. today Approval of minutes n Minutes of the Aug. 3 meeting Communications/reports -- other elected officials n None at this time Public comments n Items listed on agenda Routine business...

The Cape Girardeau bus station is again on the move; the station, currently at the Fill-Up Mart at 1101 William St., will be moved to another, as yet unknown, location; the agents operating the station have given notice it will be shut down at that location within 30 days...

NORTH WILDWOOD, N.J. -- Snorting smoke and wearing an "I love Wildwood" T-shirt, King Kong again clings to a 60-foot lighthouse towering over the shore town's boardwalk. Eight vintage planes circle the gorilla, bringing riders 26 feet in air. For most of the 1970s, the giant ape ride graced Morey's Pier, only to be removed in 1980...

Here's a look at how area members of Congress voted over the previous week. Besides roll call votes, the Senate also took action on legislation by voice vote. The Senate also passed the Drinking Water Protection Act (H.R. 212), to monitor and prevent the risk of algal toxins in drinking water supplies; passed a bill (S. ...

DENVER -- Beneath the western United States lie thousands of old mining tunnels filled with the same toxic stew that spilled into a Colorado river last week, turning it into a yellow concoction and stoking alarm about contamination of drinking water...

NEW HAVEN, Vt. -- Hidden on hillsides in a remote part of western Vermont, a small number of venomous timber rattlesnakes slither among the rocks, but their isolation can't protect them from a mysterious fungus spreading across the eastern half of the country that threatens to wipe them out...

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's prime minister unveiled a plan Sunday to abolish three vice presidential posts and the offices of three deputy premiers, hoping to cut spending amid mass protests against his government as the Islamic State group still holds a third of his nation...

JERUSALEM -- Israel intensified its crackdown on Jewish extremists Sunday, imprisoning two high-profile ultranationalist Israelis for six months without charge and arresting additional suspects in West Bank settlement outposts, security authorities said...

WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon, so his rivals are scrambling to figure out how best to handle the blowback from every new bout of bluster drowning out their campaigns. Lead the charge, if you're the sole woman in the Republicans' White House race and trying to crack the top tier for the next debate, by questioning Trump's ability to withstand the pressure of the presidency...

FERGUSON, Mo. -- St. Louis County police are investigating a drive-by shooting that happened just blocks from a march that marked a year since Michael Brown's death in Ferguson. The shooting happened about 1:40 p.m. Sunday, near the site where several hundred people were marching from Canfield Drive to a church. ...

BRANCHBURG, N.J. -- Authorities say a man planning a burglary inadvertently dialed 911, allowing dispatchers to listen in on his conversation. Prosecutors say Branchburg police received the errant call July 27 but were unsure of the caller's location. They learned the phone number recently had been assigned to 42-year-old Scott Esser. Esser was arrested Wednesday, after he allegedly entered a Stafford Township, New Jersey, home. He's charged with that burglary and others...

MARIETTA, Ga. -- Down past the Big Chicken, the 56-foot-high, steel-beaked beacon of extra crispy that may be this town's most prized landmark, the wedge of dirt hard by Interstate 75 is notable only for its lack of notability. Stopping here, Rabbi Steven Lebow leaves the engine running and car door open...

Travis Mitchell and Tyler Stalker shot a second-round 61 on Sunday to win the Four-Ball Championship at Dalhousie Golf Club. The pair ended with a 128 total to finish two shots ahead of the team of Carr Vernon and Jimmy Vernon, who entered the day tied for first with Brevin Giebler and Travis Simmons after shooting a 64 in Saturday's first round. The Vernons shot a 66 in the second round...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Lela B. Hotop, 93, of Perryville died Aug. 8, 2015, at Estates of Perryville. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday at Young and Sons Funeral Home, with a Catholic wake at 6 p.m., and from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home...

Arrests n A suspect is in custody pending formal charges of violation of an order of protection at 701 Broadway St. n Breanne M. Reeves, 20, of Scott City was arrested on suspicion of stealing at Wal-Mart, 3439 William St. n Matthew H Jones, 33, of Jackson and Eric W. Ramos, 23, 1739 Cecilia St., were arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace at 28 S. Spanish St...

n A citizen assist on Court Street. n An EMS call on Henderson Street. The Jackson Fire Department responded to the following call Sunday: n An EMS call on South Farmington Road.

Theft n Theft was reported in the 700 block of North Farmington Road. Miscellaneous n Peace disturbances were reported in the 3500 block of Nicole Lane and the 2000 block of Walton Drive.

O God, we praise you, for all your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. Amen.

Because of the amount of power Missouri and the 8th Congressional District derive from coal-fired power plants, even an additional 2 percent limit to emissions is concerning lawmakers who believe a newly announced plan will hurt businesses. Among the opponents to the plan President Barack Obama unveiled last week to reduce U.S. ...