Stories from Monday, April 10, 2017

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump has scrapped the tax plan he campaigned on and is going back to the drawing board in a search for Republican consensus behind legislation to overhaul the U.S. tax system. The administration's first attempt to write legislation is in its early stages, and the White House has kept much of it under wraps...

The newly built assisted-living facility at 670 Broadridge Drive may strike Jackson residents as familiar, as much of the aesthetic inspiration for the building's interior was taken from the Jackson Civic Center a few miles away. Social-services director Donna Longman said using similar stonework and layout was a conscious decision by the designers and builders...

About 100 people turned out for Spring Into Dance 2017's Sunday performance at Bedell Performance Hall on Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus. The showcase ran from Thursday to Sunday's 2 p.m. performance, and included student and alumni performers, as well as special guest artist Cesar G. Salinas...

The Missouri Department of Transportation has agreed to developer Scott Rhodes' plan to add right-turn-in and right-turn-out access to the Hobby Lobby shopping area from William Street. Rhodes said the entrance/exit will line up with the traffic lane which runs in front of the Hobby Lobby store in Cape Girardeau...

Today in History Today is Monday, April 10, the 100th day of 2017. There are 265 days left in the year. The Jewish holiday Passover begins at sunset. Today's Highlight in History: On April 10, 1912, the British liner RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage...

The school year is winding down, which means prom season is upon is. It's an occasion many students look forward to throughout their high school years -- to get all dolled and gussied up, celebrate the night with dates or friends and make memories that last a lifetime...

OLMSTED, Ill. -- William Carl "Bill" Richter, 84, of Olmsted passed away at 1:19 a.m. Sunday, April 9, 2017, at his residence. Bill was born Oct. 26, 1932, in Olmsted, son of the late Willie Arthur Richter and Carrie Jane (Miller) Richter. Bill was a United States Army veteran, serving in the Korean War, and was a member of St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Olmsted. He was a 30-year schoolteacher at Century School District 100 in Ullin, Illinois...

CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n Lance D. Sterling, 31, of Jackson was arrested at U.S. 61 and Highway 177 on a Scott County warrant for failure to appear for child neglect...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Volunteers in Kansas City are going through intense training to become certified members of the city's Community Emergency Response Team, a nationwide program for which thousands are signing up. The volunteers self-deploy from their homes in the event of an emergency, carrying a backpack of government-issued tools...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- A man who was fined for allowing his pet snake to slither freely in a South Dakota park said an animal-control officer suggested he use a leash to restrain the reptile. Jerry Kimball said he initially thought the recommendation was a joke because it was April Fool's Day when he was fined $190 and ticketed for "animals running at large," reported the Argus Leader newspaper...

NEW ORLEANS -- Judging by the current empty lots, it's hard to imagine the Lower 9th Ward before Hurricane Katrina -- a bustling neighborhood where African-American residents knew their neighbors, built their homes with their own hands and shopped at black-owned stores along St. Claude Avenue...

Unless additional funding is secured, services of the Southeast Missouri Regional Crime Lab will have to be cut and its future left in jeopardy, warns lab director Bob Briner. The lab serves a 20-county region and is on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University...

WASHINGTON -- Criticized for his low-profile diplomacy, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is emerging from the shadows with a leading public role in shaping and explaining the Trump administration's missile strikes in Syria. And, he's set for an even higher-profile mission, heading to Moscow under the twin clouds of Russia's U.S. election meddling and its possible support for a Syrian chemical-weapons attack...

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's national security adviser on Sunday left open the possibility of additional U.S. military action against Syria after last week's missile strike but indicated the United States was not seeking to act unilaterally to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad...

HONOLULU -- Sean Smith and his husband paid more than $20,000 for a fertility procedure when they decided to have a child using a surrogate mother. They did not know at the time if they were a heterosexual couple, they might have saved that money. Now, Smith and other members of Hawaii's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are lobbying for equal access to the financial help married, heterosexual couples enjoy under state law...

STOCKHOLM -- Swedes questioned their country's welcoming immigration policies with pride and pain Sunday after learning an asylum-seeker from Uzbekistan allegedly was behind the truck rampage that killed four people, Stockholm's deadliest extremist attack in years...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- A 17-year-old asylum-seeker from Russia was arrested Sunday in connection with an explosive device found near a busy subway station in Norway's capital that police defused before it detonated, authorities said. The youth was detained on suspicion of handling explosives, but investigators do not know whether he planned to carry out an attack with the homemade device, Signe Aaling, chief prosecutor for Norway's PST security service, said...

KAWERGOSK CAMP, Iraq -- For the millions of Syrian refugees scattered across camps and illegal settlements, the chemical attack on a town in northern Syria and subsequent U.S. strike was a rare moment when the world turned its attention to Syria before turning away again...

TANTA, Egypt -- Suicide bombers struck hours apart at two Coptic churches in northern Egypt, killing 44 people and turning Palm Sunday services into scenes of horror and outrage at the government that led the president to call for a three-month state of emergency...

LOS ANGELES -- The Smurfs are feeling blue this weekend. The third installment in Sony's animated series, "Smurfs: The Lost Village," made its box-office debut in third place, with $14 million -- far behind family-friendly holdovers "The Boss Baby" and "Beauty and the Beast," according to studio estimates Sunday...

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Its brands are some of the best known in the U.S.: names such as Coty, Jimmy Choo, Krispy Kreme, Keurig Green Mountain and now Panera Bread. But the same can't be said of Luxembourg-based JAB Holdings Co. and the low-profile, wealthy family behind it...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. employers cut back sharply on hiring in March, yet Friday's jobs report still had much to be encouraged about, including a drop in the unemployment rate to 4.5 percent, the lowest in a decade. Employers added just 98,000 jobs, the Labor Department said. It was barely half the previous month's gain...

Snow White's wishing well, dwarves, single slippers and a carriage fit for a princess (or 60) decorated the lawn Sunday of the Oliver House Museum in Jackson for the second annual Dolly and Me Princess Tea Party. The event was hosted by the Jackson Heritage Association and attended by at least 65 people...

KENNETT, Mo. -- Not every college student would give up her spring break to spend time at a think tank, but one Southeast Missouri State student did, spending five days at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. Caitlin Woods is a junior at the regional campus in Kennett and was one of 30 Southeast students who participated in the seminar, discussing global issues in foreign policy, food security, global health and challenges in civil society...

Jackson schools are joining with Riverside Regional Library for the inaugural Jackson Reads event, set for 5:30 to 7 p.m. today on Jackson's courthouse lawn at 101 Court St. Amanda Bourner, library media specialist with the Jackson school district, said, "It is a city-wide event, with all Jackson area schools including Immaculate Conception, St. Paul, Saxony High School, Jackson R-2 schools and Riverside Regional Library representative."...

Tracy Curtis and Jared Ritter were elected to the Cape Girardeau School Board on Tuesday. Curtis previously worked with the Alma Schrader parent-teacher organization for six years, serving most recently as president of that body. Ritter previously taught English at Central Academy...

ST. LOUIS -- Family, friends and fans paid their final respects to rock 'n' roll legend Chuck Berry on Sunday, celebrating the life and career of a man who inspired countless guitarists and bands. The celebration began with a public viewing at The Pageant, a music club in Berry's hometown of St. Louis where he played. Hundreds of fans filed past Berry, whose beloved cherry-red Gibson guitar was bolted to the inside of his coffin's lid...

COLP, Ill. -- The next village president in a Southern Illinois community will be decided by a coin toss. Tammy O'Daniell-Howell and Bryan Riekena each received 11 votes Tuesday in Colp. Williamson County Clerk Amanda Barnes said the tie will be broken April 20. Illinois law calls for such ties to be settled by a coin flip. Only 29 of 250 registered voters in Colp participated in the election...

PARIS -- More than 20,000 people, most of them Canadians, attended a solemn ceremony Sunday to commemorate a World War I battle in northern France that remains indelibly etched on Canada's national identity 100 years after it happened. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of the British royal family were among the dignitaries who gathered at Vimy Ridge for the centenary of the day that outnumbered Canadian troops succeeded in taking the strategic position from the Germans...

JACKSON The Jackson Fire Department responded to the following calls. Saturday n Emergency medical service on Morgan Street. n Emergency medical service on Hope Street. n Emergency medical service on Hope Street. n An illegal burn on Main Street. n Emergency medical service on Hope Street...

Father God, we worship you, for you are the potter and we are the clay. Amen.

My opinion and comment to school sports. I believe Dr. Welker and the school board made the appropriate decision on not allowing parochial-schools to participate in junior high sports. Yes you may pay taxes but you chose to send your child to a private school evidently because you feel public schools are not good enough for your child. ...