Stories from Monday, January 25, 2016

Dr. Fez (chinchilla) just hanging out with Anna Mae Zembsch.

GRACES Grants are available for up to $1,000 from GRACES, the Women’s Leadership Council of United Way of Southeast Missouri. The grants are open to any group with a project or service that supports United Way’s mission of building a stronger, healthier community and falls within the organization’s focus areas of education, income and health. The grant deadline is Friday, Feb. 5, at 5 p.m...

Madison loves to help out with her new baby brother Lucas.

Scott City Mayor Tim Porch faces a challenge from councilman Ron Cummins in the April municipal election. The contest is just one of a number of races on the ballot in towns in Southeast Missouri. Cummins has one year left on his council term. He will continue to serve on the council if he loses the mayor's race, city officials said...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- After four days of testimony, a jury convicted a former Stoddard County, Missouri, pastor of attempted murder, arson, armed criminal action and financial exploitation of the elderly.

When a team of marketing professionals, students and others at Southeast Missouri State University started filming a video in the fall, they had no idea it would become an Internet sensation. But by mid-afternoon Friday, the video had notched 1,048 social-media shares and reached 133,000 people around the world. Those numbers were expected to climb...

Jackson Mayor Dwain Hahs cut the ribbon Sunday afternoon to mark the opening of the Jackson Civic Center. "I'd like to welcome you to your civic center," he told several hundred residents who packed into the glassy conference space. The St. Paul Lutheran School's fourth- and fifth-grade choir sang patriotic songs to set the tone for the event, sneaking the line, "Jackson, Missouri, is the best" into the song, "Fifty Nifty United States." Commitment to the community was evident throughout the new facility, from the giant murals depicting the city's past to the "Homes," "Parks, "Schools" "Churches" engraved onto the interior pillars.. ...

The Redhawks led by as many as 19 before defeating the Skyhawks 68-60 in overtime on Sunday night.

Local business leaders and the Jackson community came together Jan. 15 for the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce and the Jackson Industrial Development Company's annual banquet. A total of 525 people attended. David Reiminger was awarded the R.A. Fulenwider Award, a lifetime achievement award given to a person who has "dedicated their life to the advancement of Jackson and the area," according to a Jackson Chamber of Commerce promotional video...

Today in History Today is Monday, Jan. 25, the 25th day of 2016. There are 341 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Jan. 25, 1915, America's first official transcontinental telephone call took place as Alexander Graham Bell, who was in New York, spoke to his former assistant, Thomas Watson, who was in San Francisco, over a line set up by American Telephone & Telegraph...

I think I know the reason Cape Girardeau's city council apparently came in under budget on a new police station. Our local leaders are visionaries and realize the station will not cost nearly as much as the skeptics are saying and that budgeting $11 million is more than enough for construction of the facility. ...

Efforts to repeal the death penalty in Missouri have gained momentum, and college conservatives are speaking out on the issue. Daniel Blassi, president of Students for Life at Southeast Missouri State University is among those lending a voice to the issue...

We praise you, O Lord Jesus, for you are our healer. Amen.

SALCEDO, Mo. -- Rickey James Tropf, 54, of Salcedo, passed away Jan. 23, 2016, at his home. He was born Sept. 6, 1961, in Cape Girardeau to Leamond and Mildred Hogg Tropf. He had been a truck driver. Survivors include his parents, Leamond and Mildred Tropf of Bell City, Missouri; three sons, Rickey Jr., Ryan and Tyler Tropf; three daughters, Macey, Briana and Destiny Tropf; two brothers, Doug and Steve Tropf; a sister, Connie Hughes; and a grandchild...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Robert "Bob" Mayo, 80, of Advance peacefully went to be with the Lord in the early morning hours of Jan. 24, 2016, at Saint Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Bob was born to Clinton and Georgia Mayo of Aquilla, Missouri, on Oct. 10, 1935...

A dilapidated 1935 water tower in Scott City, which hadn't been used since 1988, was pulled down yesterday by Pittsburgh Tank and Tower Co. of Lexington, Kentucky; residents living near the 75,000-gallon tower at the corner of Warner Street and Broadway had asked city officials for its removal; they had worried it wouldn't withstand an earthquake...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Only a week remains before the Iowa caucuses, the first contest in a tumultuous presidential campaign that has challenged long-held political assumptions. The Republican race in Iowa is Donald Trump's or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's to lose on the night of Feb. ...

WASHINGTON -- Four of America's wealthiest businessmen laid the foundation for Ted Cruz's surging Republican presidential campaign and have redefined the role of political donors. With just over a week until voters get their first say, the 45-year-old Texas senator known as a conservative warrior has been ascendant...

MUSCATINE, Iowa -- On the second-to-last Sunday before the Iowa caucuses, Donald Trump settled into a fifth-row pew of an Iowa church for a lesson in humility. "I don't know if that was aimed at me ... perhaps," Trump said after the hourlong service at the First Presbyterian Church...

Cape Girardeau County Commission 1 Barton Square, Jackson 9 a.m. today Approval of minutes n Minutes of the Jan. 21 meeting Communications/reports -- other elected officials n None at this time Public comments n Items listed on the agenda Routine business...

PARIS -- New video released by the Islamic State group Sunday shows the extremists who carried out the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris committing atrocities in IS-controlled territory while plotting the slaughter in the French capital that left 130 people dead and hundreds injured. The group also threatened to attack Britain...

JERUSALEM -- Israel's former president, Shimon Peres, was rushed to a hospital after experiencing chest pains a week after suffering a mild heart attack, his spokeswoman said Sunday night. The 92-year-old statesman had been discharged from a hospital Tuesday...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A magnitude-7.1 earthquake knocked items off shelves and walls in Alaska early Sunday, jolting the nerves of residents in this quake-prone region. But there were no reports of injuries. Alaska's state seismologist, Michael West, called it the strongest earthquake in the state's south-central region in decades. Alaska often has larger or more powerful earthquakes, such as a 7.9 last year in the remote Aleutian Islands...

NEW YORK -- After a weekend of sledding, snowboarding and staying put, the blizzard-blanketed Eastern U.S. will confront a commute today slowed by slick roads, damaged transit lines and endless mounds of snow. Authorities cautioned against unnecessary driving, airline schedules were in disarray, and commuter trains will be delayed or cancelled for many as the work week begins after a storm that dumped near-record snows on the densely populated Washington, D.C. -to-New York City corridor...

NEW YORK -- Wall Street is drowning in oil. Stocks are having their worst start to a year in part because of a rapid plunge in the price of oil. The price of crude is down 28 percent this year, which has dragged down energy company shares in the Standard & Poor's 500 index by 13 percent, which has helped pull the overall index down 9 percent...

NEW YORK -- The biggest months for adding and dropping credit cards are December and January, so now's the time to make sure that $95 annual fee is worth it. Chances are, it's not. "Generally, for the average credit-card holder, it is not likely they are going to use a card with a high annual fee enough to justify it," said Matt Schulz, a credit-card expert with Creditcards.com, which is owned by Bankrate.com...

NEW YORK -- A National Labor Relations Board judge has ruled Wal-Mart Stores Inc. unlawfully disciplined workers who staged protests in May and June 2013 and ordered the retailer to reinstate 16 former employees, as well as give them back pay. Judge Geoffrey Carter ruled the employee actions were protected under the National Labor Relations Act, and Wal-Mart violated labor laws by "disciplining or discharging several associates because they were absent from work while on strike."...

NEW YORK -- A disappointing holiday shopping season has small and independent retailers thinking about how to get customers interested in shopping in 2016. After holiday sales fell 25 percent compared to a year earlier at Standout Style Boutique, a women's clothing store in Chicago, owner Tamika Maria Price is making plans for a brighter year...

Efforts to repeal the death penalty in Missouri have gained momentum, and college conservatives are speaking out on the issue. Daniel Blassi, president of Students for Life at Southeast Missouri State University is among those lending a voice to the issue...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The odds are favorable Sikeston residents have seen Angie Spencer running through town or on a treadmill at the local YMCA. They just may not have known who she was. "I do run every morning, and I feel like I've explored most of Sikeston's streets on foot, and I also run on the treadmill and take yoga classes at the YMCA," said Spencer, an avid marathon runner...

UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. -- The death of a 70-year-old man in University City marks the third time since 2013 a victim has been stabbed fatally inside a home in the St. Louis suburb. Police are investigating to determine whether there is a connection. August Lombardo was killed inside his two-family home. A co-worker found his body about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday...

Associate Circuit Court Judge William H. Winchester sent a letter to Gov. Jay Nixon on Jan. 6, announcing his retirement effective Oct. 26. Winchester said he feels he is fit to continue as the probate judge for the 33rd District, but it is a constitutionally mandated rule he must leave the bench when he reaches age 70...

CHICAGO -- Following a pair of listless losses, the Chicago Blackhawks and Corey Crawford slammed the door defensively and returned to their winning ways. Crawford stopped 25 shots for his league-leading seventh shutout, rookie Artemi Panarin and Andrew Shaw scored and the Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues 2-0 on Sunday night to end a two-game losing streak...

The Southeast Missouri State gymnastics team entered the final rotation of its quad meet at Texas Woman's University trailing the host by just two-tenths of a point. The Redhawks posted a season-high total in the vault to close out the meet and take the top spot with a total score of 191.900...

We praise you, O Lord Jesus, for you are our healer. Amen.

Fewer cells I think I know the reason Cape Girardeau's city council apparently came in under budget on a new police station. Our local leaders are visionaries and realize the station will not cost nearly as much as the skeptics are saying and that budgeting $11 million is more than enough for construction of the facility. ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Attorneys for a southwest Missouri man charged in the death of a 10-year-old girl want copies of evidence they say could help the defendant. Craig Wood is charged with murder, kidnapping, rape, sodomy and armed criminal action in the 2014 death of Hailey Owens. ...

Stephen D. Rothert, MD, has been appointed as medical director of emergency services at Saint Francis Medical Center. Rothert joined Saint Francis in 2004. He earned his medical degree from Southern Illinois University in Springfield, Illinois, and holds a law degree from Southern Illinois University...

CAIRO -- King Tut hasn't been around for a few thousand years, but his power remains: After a botched repair job of the famed pharaoh's beard left scratches on his burial mask, Egyptian prosecutors have ordered eight museum workers to a disciplinary court for "gross negligence."...

NEW YORK -- A cow captured by police after fleeing from a New York City slaughterhouse has been taken in by an animal sanctuary and renamed for rock legend Freddie Mercury. Online video showed the brown-and-white cow trotting past shops and restaurants Thursday afternoon. Mike Stura, founder of the Skylands Animal Sanctuary in Wantage, New Jersey, picked up the cow Friday in New York. Stura said Freddie will enjoy "a life of leisure," being cared for with "cow friends" at a farm...

JACKSON The Jackson Fire Department responded to the following calls. n A citizen assist on North Bast Street. n A fire alarm on East Jackson Boulevard. n A motor-vehicle crash cleanup on Shady Lane. n A citizen assist on Orchard Drive. n An EMS call on Main Street...

CAPE GIRARDEAU The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n A suspect was in custody pending formal charges of possession of controlled substance, unlawful use of drug paraphernalia and displaying the plates of another person at Good Hope and Ellis streets...

Ora Barton Eaton, 87, of Jackson died Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, at Southeast Hospital. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson.

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Joyce Ann Barnhart, 69, died Thursday at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to noon Tuesday at Crain Funeral Home in Anna, Illinois. The funeral will be at noon Tuesday, with Bro. Bob Richardson officiating. Burial will be in Ebenezer Hall Cemetery...

CAPE GIRARDEAU The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls Wednesday. n Medical assists were made at 4:29 a.m. on Village Lane; 12:01 p.m. on Broadway; 12:25 p.m. on Lawanda Drive; 12:56 p.m. on Whitener Street; 1:39 p.m. on William Street; 2:21 p.m. on Village Lane; 6:35 p.m. on North Kingshighway; and 7:21 p.m. on William Street...