Stories from Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Charleston senior Dontarius Sharp finished with a game-high 20 points, including three 3-pointers during a third-quarter run that propelled the host Bluejays to a 75-60 win over Cape Central on senior night.

Cape Central girls basketball coach Garrett Pannier has focused on improvement and encouraging signs with his young squad all year, but Wednesday night will be one his team will just want to forget. Visiting Sikeston opened the game on a 9-0 run -- with all points coming off turnovers -- and never trailed, bullying the Tigers in a 68-24 result at Central High School...

Jackson coach Steve Wachter was exuberant after his team qualified eight wrestlers for the Missouri Wrestling Championships at last week's Class 4 District 1 meet. Among the most unlikely qualifiers was 220-pound junior Bryce Dickerson. It's not that Dickerson, who wrestled his freshman and sophomore seasons, was short on talent...

Police say a man tampered with evidence when by eating a bag of methamphetamine and Xanax. Travis J. Moore, 43, of Cape Girardeau was arrested Sunday by Cape Girardeau police and charged with possession of a controlled substance and tampering with physical evidence, both felonies...

Black conservative KCarl Smith grew up a Democrat in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Today, he is the founder and president of the Frederick Douglass Republicans in Birmingham, Alabama, named after the famous black abolitionist. His message: The words “conservative” and “Republican Party” are political attack words in the black community and slam the door on efforts to win over minority voters to their cause...

She's back. Although it's been nearly a year since Lorelai Clubb walked the halls at Central Junior High in Cape Girardeau, Tuesday was her first day at school after months of battling leukemia. Compared to dreary hospital rooms and the rigors of chemotherapy, school practically is paradise to the 12-year-old seventh-grader...

The weather this winter has been erratic and, on many days, unseasonably warm. Gas and oil prices have gone down considerably in the past two years. Many conclusions can be drawn from these facts, but one seems certain and relatively palatable: Americans are spending less to heat their homes this year...

Today in History Today is Wednesday, Feb. 17, the 48th day of 2016. There are 318 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Feb. 17, 1996, world chess champion Garry Kasparov beat IBM supercomputer "Deep Blue," winning a six-game match in Philadelphia (however, Kasparov lost to Deep Blue in a rematch in 1997)...

Were it not for the massive failures and utter ruin of Barack Obama, Donald Trump would not exist. Trump took to the Republican debate stage Saturday night and by any normal measure, his remarks and demeanor should have been the final straw for his boorish campaign behavior and outlandish comments...

Can you name the capital of every state? Do you know what countries border Germany? What is the chief export of Albania? Most of us are familiar with spelling bees, but the National Geographic Bee is designed to test students' knowledge of the world's places...

LOS ANGELES -- Now sought-after for her edgy, androgynous style, actress Ruby Rose initially struggled to find her niche. "When I first started in the industry back home in Australia at 18, there was a lot of push and shove as to how I should dress, if I was allowed to cut my hair short, if I had too many tattoos," Rose, 29, said in an interview. "If I didn't get a campaign or if I didn't get a role, they would always come back to, 'Well, she dresses like a boy.'"...

NEW YORK -- With accolades for her People magazine cover and the upcoming launch of her first clothing line, things are next-level for Tess Holliday. The plus-size model and social media phenom who regularly shakes off haters has been reveling in the mainstream since May, when she donned a designer friend's black lace bodysuit to pose for People's 2015 body issue...

NEW YORK -- Other than a blast or two of David Bowie from Lady Gaga, the Grammys felt more glam routine on the fashion front than the wild and wacky of years past for music's big night. Pharrell lost his towering hat Monday but sported torn jeans, green sneakers and a Chanel jacket that matched his blond hair...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Medical marijuana advocates are pushing to get the issue on the November ballot in Missouri, with two competing proposals being pursued. Republican Rep. Dave Hinson of St. Clair has introduced a bill that would regulate cultivation and dispensation, The Joplin Globe reported...

NEW YORK -- Six weeks after her arrival at Rikers Island, an argument over who should clean a jailhouse shower sent Candie Hailey to solitary confinement -- known as "the bing." It was the first time, but it would not be the last. A month later, records show, she cursed and spit at a guard and resisted when she was put in a hold. Ninety-five days in the bing...

A crew from the ABC television show "America's Funniest People" tapes more than 60 candidates for the show at West Park Mall Center Court; winners on the show go on to compete for $10,000 in prize money given away weekly. Shell's Furniture and Collectibles has opened at 221A Independence St. in downtown Cape Girardeau; manager of the new operation is Jack Shell...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Gloria A. Whitfield, 60, of Cairo died Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, at her home. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at Massie Funeral Home in Mounds, Illinois. A graveside service will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Green Lawn Memorial Garden in Villa Ridge, Illinois, with the Rev. Phillip Matthews officiating...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Lee Vertis Wesson, 81, of Cairo died Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, at Daystar Nursing & Rehab Center in Cairo. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday at Massie Funeral Home in Mounds, Illinois. There will be no other services. Interment will be private at a later date...

BROWNWOOD, Mo. -- Mary Willa Kynion, 91, of Brownwood passed away Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 9, 1924, at Brownwood, the daughter of Quincy and Pearl Davis Ashcraft. Mary and Linus Kynion were united in marriage April 1, 1942, at Jackson, and he preceded her in death April 28, 1995...

Ellen Joyce James, 77, of Jackson died Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016, at her home. She was born Dec. 15, 1938, in Pascola, Missouri, to Frank A. and Mildred Bowns Rettig. She and David Franklin James were married Saturday, Nov. 10, 1956, at Columbus, Georgia. He passed away Nov. 18, 1992...

Leita B. Hensley, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, at her home. A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Centenary United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau, with the Rev. David Conley officiating. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements...

PADUCAH, Ky. -- Albert Timothy Daniels, 75, of Paducah passed away, Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, at Lourdes Hospital. Born on Dec. 29th, 1940, in Covington, Tennessee , he was the son of William Albert "W.A." Daniels and Avis Blanche Smith Sloan. For 32 years he was married to Judy Ann James Daniels (born Aug. 28, 1947), who passed away Aug. 18, 2002...

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls: Sunday n Medical assists were made at 7:10 a.m. on Themis Street; 8:47 a.m. on South West End Boulevard; 8:57 a.m. on Lakeshore Drive; 9:04 a.m. on North Fountain Street; 5:51 p.m. on Cousin Street; 6:38 p.m. on Pacific Street; and 8:11 p.m. on Franks Lane...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Gary L. Alberson, 33, 45 S. West End Blvd., was arrested at 777 N. Main St. on a Cape Girardeau warrant for failure to return to confinement...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's public defenders say they need almost twice as many lawyers to handle their caseload, and Gov. Jay Nixon's proposal to increase their budget by $1 million won't solve that problem. State Public Defender director Michael Barrett told a Senate panel Tuesday his office is short-staffed by more than 250 lawyers. The Public Defender Commission has requested $23 million to hire more lawyers, contract for more cases and open a new appellate office...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The University of Missouri assistant professor who was suspended over a videotaped confrontation with student journalists in November is apologizing again after a new video from October in which she yells at police surfaced. Assistant communications professor Melissa Click said in a statement from Status Labs, the Texas company that's working to restore her reputation, that she's "sorry" she cursed at police, The Kansas City Star reported...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A state lawmaker says Missouri's abortion laws need stronger steps to ensure the person giving parental consent for a teenage girl is actually her legal guardian. A House panel heard testimony Tuesday on legislation from Rep. Sonya Anderson that would require parents or legal guardians to provide written proof of their relationship to the minor seeking an abortion. ...

PARIS -- California rock band Eagles of Death Metal performed Tuesday at a highly charged Paris concert filled with fans who survived a massacre and siege at their last Paris show -- and filled with memories of those who didn't. "Bonsoir Paris, we're ready for this!" frontman Jesse Hughes told the crowd at the Olympia concert hall before heading into the first song...

NEW YORK -- Now appointed America's top dog: CJ, the German shorthaired pointer. CJ won best in show at the 140th Westminster Kennel Club on Tuesday night, beating a couple of top favorites at a nearly packed Madison Square Garden. The 3-year-old CJ bested 2,751 other entries in 199 breeds and varieties to win the nation's most prestigious dog competition...

LOS ANGELES -- A white college student goes out to party costumed as black rapper Lil Wayne, angering African-Americans who see it as evidence of insidious campus racism. The incident may sound familiar, but it's fictional, part of a five-episode arc in the upcoming season of "Switched at Birth," the Freeform (formerly ABC Family) channel drama...

CHICAGO -- A coalition of civil-rights attorneys and others filed a court petition Tuesday seeking to force Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez to hand over the prosecution and further investigation involving the fatal police shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald to a special prosecutor...

JUNEAU, Alaska -- Alaska lawmakers gather each week in the state capital ready to rumble, but it's not to continue their tense and rocky negotiations over the $3.5 billion budget deficit or some other partisan issue. Republicans and Democrats assemble inside a bowling alley to talk strikes, spares and gutter balls. There's even room for lobbyists, legislative staff and, for the first time in 30 years, a seated governor...

WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is leaving open the possibility of holding a hearing for President Barack Obama's choice to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, amid signs of uncertainty about how Republicans would treat a nominee to replace the late Antonin Scalia...

WASHINGTON -- Did you ever buy porn, sniff glue, have sex in junior high? Exactly how many times? White House lawyers are scouring a life's worth of information about President Barack Obama's potential picks for the Supreme Court, from the mundane to the personal...

BEAUFORT, S.C. -- Ted Cruz is getting hammered by Republican rivals over what they call a pattern of unethical campaign tactics and inaccurate statements by the Texas senator who has shaped his White House bid around trust. Cruz has had some trouble getting all his facts straight in debates, has used campaign tactics some find suspicious and had an ad by an outside group temporarily pulled for questions about its accuracy...

WASHINGTON -- A U.S. magistrate ordered Apple Inc. on Tuesday to help the Obama administration hack into an encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the shooters in the December attack in San Bernardino, California. It was the first-of-its-kind ruling that pits digital privacy against national-security interests...

BEIRUT -- Faced with a cash shortage in its so-called caliphate, the Islamic State group has slashed salaries across the region, asked Raqqa residents to pay utility bills in black-market American dollars and is releasing detainees for a price of $500 a person...

MORELIA, Mexico -- Pope Francis urged Mexico's young people to resist the lure of easy money from drug dealers and instead value themselves as the wealth of their country during a visit Tuesday to the heartland of Mexico's narcotics trade. Francis brought a message of hope to Mexico's next generation during a youth pep rally in Morelia, capital of Michoacan state, a major methamphetamine production hub and drug-trafficking route. ...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Oil powerhouses Russia and Saudi Arabia joined Qatar and Venezuela in pledging Tuesday to cap their crude output if other producers do the same, aiming to halt a slide that has pushed oil prices to their lowest point in more than a decade...

The dog that saved a woman from further sexual assault in Oran, Missouri, was a 4-year-old retriever mix, according to a probable-cause report from Scott County Sheriff’s Department. The dog bit Richie M. Dock, 55, of Oran in the leg after she was called by the victim, according to the report. Dock had placed his genitals against the victim, groped her and threatened her with a taped stick similar to a broom handle, when the dog intervened, the report stated...

Perry County sheriff’s deputies noticed a woman with a bleeding wound on the back of her head when they went Saturday to the 16000 block of Route T in Perryville, Missouri, during a domestic-assault report. Kevin A. Timpe, 55, of Perryville was arrested by deputies and has been charged with second-degree domestic assault...

After months of waiting and a weekslong countdown outside the building, Dunkin’ Donuts officially opened its doors in Cape Girardeau at 5 a.m. Tuesday. The rain, sleet and snow did not keep the crowds away. “The weather, I think, really helped,” Michael T. Crouch, co-owner of the Cape Girardeau Dunkin’ Donuts, said. “When people think of snow, they think of coffee and doughnuts.”...

Ameren Missouri reported about 2,500 customers lost power in the Cape Girardeau area beginning at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday. The outage area extended from Egypt Mills in the east to Allenville in the west. A total of 2,556 customers were without power — about 10 percent of the Ameren customers in the area...

Preston Wuebker sank 20 points, 12 of which came from behind the arc, as state-ranked host Advance downed Oran 69-51 in both teams' season finale in what could be a potential preview of the Class 1 District 2 Tournament championship. Dawson Mayo netted 13 points and Armani Vermillion chipped in 11 points to lead Advance (21-5). The Hornets trailed by one point at halftime but used a strong third quarter and outscored the Eagles by 19 points in the second half to get the victory...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- For Missouri coach Kim Anderson, Tuesday night's 72-67 victory over South Carolina marked not one, but two milestones. It surpasses his win total from a year ago, when the Tigers finished 9-23, including a 13-game losing streak. It also gives Anderson his first back-to-back Southeastern Conference victories...

ATLANTA -- Three former Georgia prison inmates say state corrections officials didn't adequately protect them against sexual assault by a former high-ranking correctional officer and failed to investigate inmate complaints against the officer. Former Department of Corrections Capt. ...

BALTIMORE -- A drug kingpin who inspired characters on HBO's "The Wire" has died while serving a term in federal prison in North Carolina. Baltimore Health Department spokesman Sean Naron confirmed Tuesday 54-year-old Nathan Barksdale died in a medical prison in Butner. ...

FREMONT, Calif. -- Firefighters rappelled down a steep ravine to rescue a days-old horse that was trapped for two days with a broken pelvis. The horse is less than a week old and is recovering. The colt, dubbed Valentine because it was rescued on the holiday, was stranded in a pool of water. Animal-control officers and firefighters fished him out Sunday. Valentine will be taken to the University California at Davis for surgery. The Tri-City Animal Shelter is taking donations to cover the cost...

O Lord Jesus, may we look for ways to show kindness to others. Amen.

LADUE, Mo. — The St. Louis suburb of Ladue soon could become the latest town to allow hunting to curb a growing deer population. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the Ladue City Council on Tuesday directed staff to develop recommendations on legislation that would allow bow hunting. The council also wants to hear a presentation on deer-control measures next month from an urban wildlife biologist from the Missouri Department of Conservation...