Stories from Tuesday, October 17, 2017

The first person buried in Old Lorimier Cemetery was Cape Girardeau founding father Louis Lorimier's wife, Charlotte, in 1808. Nobody quite knows how many thousands have been buried there since, city cemetery sexton Jim Crites said. "There's truly no way to know," he said. "During fires or floods, records have been lost."...

Cape Girardeau has experienced a dramatic increase in homicides in the past six years, most of it tied to illegal drugs, police chief Wes Blair said Monday. From 2012 through 2016, the community experienced 19 homicides, which include murder and manslaughter, according to crime statistics presented to the City Council. For the previous five years ending in 2011, the city recorded seven homicides, records show...

A Cape Girardeau developer has petitioned the circuit court to set up a tax-funded transportation development district to help pay for a new entrance to a shopping area and other public improvements. If approved, it would be the second such transportation district established in Cape Girardeau...

Today is Tuesday, Oct. 17, the 290th day of 2017. There are 75 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Oct. 17, 1931, mobster Al Capone was convicted in Chicago of income tax evasion. (Sentenced to 11 years in prison, Capone was released in 1939.)...

Now that the Bloomfield Road improvements are finished, will there be a parking lot somewhere along the roadway so the public can enjoy the walking trails created by their tax dollars? The removal of college algebra from SEMO's required curriculum is a metaphor for a much larger movement taking place as you, perhaps with a cup of coffee, peruse the much maligned Speak Out forum. ...

We're doing it again. Last year was the inaugural Freedom Fest at Christ Church of the Heartland in Cape Girardeau, an event to honor our first responders and to serve our community. No doubt, some of you attended. You ate. You laughed. You won prizes. ...

O Lord God, thank you that it is by your grace which we are saved. Amen.

There is still a long way to go before the Cape Girardeau City Council comes to the public with a parks and stormwater sales tax. The city is in the midst of its public input stage, seeking comments from residents about what they think the city's needs are. We've always been a big proponent of the public input process. Ultimately, whatever the city decides to put on a ballot will come to a vote, and the public will decide if it's the best course for the city...

WASHINGTON -- It was a faint signal, but it told of one of the most violent acts in the universe, and it soon would reveal secrets of the cosmos, including how gold was created. Astronomers around the world reacted to the signal quickly, focusing telescopes located on every continent and even in orbit to a distant spot in the sky...

NEWPORT, R.I. -- The owner of a tall ship that crashed into four other boats after a seafood festival is blaming the incident on a dock line that became entangled on its two propellers. The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry crashed Sunday in Newport Harbor. No one was injured...

NEW YORK -- A New Jersey man was convicted Monday of planting two pressure-cooker bombs on New York City streets, including one that injured 30 people with a rain of shrapnel when it detonated in a bustling neighborhood on a weekend night last summer...

WACO, Texas -- Steel barriers and sheriff's deputies surrounded the courthouse in Waco in a show of heightened security as the trial began for an alleged leader of the Bandidos biker gang in connection to the deadliest shootout between biker groups in U.S. history...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured and held by the Taliban for five years after walking away from his post in Afghanistan, pleaded guilty Monday to desertion and endangering his comrades -- charges that could put him behind bars for the rest of his life...

KENNER, La. -- Authorities searched by air and water Monday for a Texas man who disappeared when an oil and gas platform exploded on a lake near New Orleans. Seven people were injured in the blast and fire Sunday night, including three who were in critical condition, authorities said...

SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- The winds eased, some of the smoke began to clear and the forecast Monday offered a tantalizing chance of rain to thousands of firefighters trying to corral the wildfires that have laid waste to the nation's most celebrated wine-making region...

KAMPALA, Uganda -- As the toll rises above 300 from one of the world's deadliest attacks in years, the al-Shabab extremist group has sent a signal that the international focus on extremism can't afford to overlook the African continent. Saturday's truck bombing on a crowded Mogadishu street showed that al-Shabab, targeted for years by U.S. airstrikes and tens of thousands of African Union forces, has again made a deadly comeback...

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico -- Raw sewage is pouring into the rivers and reservoirs of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. People without running water bathe and wash their clothes in contaminated streams, and some islanders have been drinking water from condemned wells...

WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell reaffirmed their alliance of necessity Monday in a raucous Rose Garden news conference that also underscored their sharp differences. The garrulous president claimed they were longtime friends, now closer than ever; the reserved Senate Republican leader allowed they share goals and speak often...

NEW YORK -- The Weinstein Co., besieged by sexual harassment allegations against its namesake and co-founder, may be putting itself up for sale. The company said Monday it will receive an immediate cash infusion from Colony Capital and is in negotiations for the potential sale of all or a significant portion of the company responsible for producing films such as "Django Unchained," "The Hateful Eight" and "Lion."...

WASHINGTON -- For U.S. presidents, meeting the families of military personnel killed in war is about as wrenching as the presidency gets. President Donald Trump's suggestion Monday his predecessors fell short in that duty brought a visceral reaction from those who witnessed those grieving encounters...

KIRKUK, Iraq -- Two weeks after fighting together against the Islamic State, Iraqi forces on Monday pushed their Kurdish allies out of the disputed city of Kirkuk, seizing oil fields and other facilities amid soaring tensions over last month's Kurdish vote for independence...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Rosetta M. (McCrite) Verble, 92, passed away Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Rosetta was the beloved wife of the late Sam Verble and the loving mother of Sam (Fran) Verble, Danny (Renee) Verble, Jerry (Kathy) Verble, Garry (Donna) Verble, Terry Verble and the late Jane Verble. She was the cherished grandmother of seven and devoted great-grandmother of 10...

Ste. Genevieve is one of 11 cities and counties in Missouri that is running a local option issue to allow riverboat gambling on the Nov. 3 ballot; if they pass, the local options will take effect only if voters statewide approve Proposition A, which would allow gambling on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers...

Xandra L. Gibson of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Cairo, Illinois, died Monday, Oct. 16, at her home. Arrangements are incomplete at Crain Funeral Home in Cairo.

Sam Kranawetter, 23, of Jackson died Monday, Oct. 16, 2017, in a vehicle accident in Fredericktown, Missouri. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson.

Troy L. Davenport, 56, of Gordonville died Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017. A memorial service will be held at a later date with family. Hutchings Funeral Chapel in Marble Hill, Missouri, is assisting the family.

BREWER, Mo. -- Edward A. Wengert Jr., 92, of Brewer died Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, at Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville, Missouri. Visitation will be held at Christ the Savior Catholic Church in Brewer from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and from 6:30 a.m. Thursday until the time of the funeral Mass at the church at 11 a.m. Officiating will be the Rev. Milton Ryan, C.M. A rosary will be prayed at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the church...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police records show there has been an unprecedented spike in gun thefts in Kansas City, Missouri. The number of annual firearms thefts sharply increased between 2015 and 2016, according to police data obtained by the Kansas City Star...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri House Ethics Committee is reviewing a complaint against a lawmaker who called for the vandal of a Confederate monument to be hanged. Members agreed Monday to hold a preliminary hearing later on the complaint against Republican Rep. Warren Love. They did not announce a date...

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- A suburban St. Louis Veterans of Foreign Wars post has stopped showing NFL games because members feel players are disrespecting the flag. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Post 2866 in St. Charles made the decision during a meeting last week. Post commander Paul Schmidt said in a news release NFL games won't be shown anymore in the post's Club Room until the league and its players "show proper respect to our flag."...

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- Authorities are searching for two inmates who escaped Sunday from the Pemiscot County jail. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Monday that 27-year-old William J. Carter is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his estranged wife and a man...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Authorities said three teenagers have been killed and another injured in a Southeast Missouri crash. The Missouri State Highway Patrol identified those killed as 14-year-old Cody Logan, 16-year-old Camille McCain and 16-year-old Linda Schulz. The crash happened Saturday night when the car Schulz was driving crossed the center of a Butler County road, went off the left side and struck a tree north of Poplar Bluff...

Carl Talley, who served as Jackson's city administrator from 1972 to 1994, died Saturday. He was 81. Talley began his career with the city of Jackson as an employee in the street department in 1956. He worked at the power plant, and was assistant utility superintendent, then utility superintendent...

The Arrow student newspaper's special report on sexual-assault cases at Southeast Missouri State University is one of four projects named as a Pinnacle Award national finalist, according to a university news release. "Accounting for Assault" was published in April by the Arrow...

Police are investigating after armed men Sunday night robbed a Food Giant in Chaffee, Missouri. Scott County sheriff's Capt. Ryan Dennis said Chaffee police received a 911 call at 10:02 p.m. from the grocery store. Two suspects wearing gray-hooded sweatshirts and dark-colored pants stole an undisclosed amount of cash and several checks from the store's office, Dennis said...

A Jackson man is dead after a single-vehicle accident Monday morning in Madison County, Missouri. Samuel R. Kranawetter, 23, was driving a 2000 Peterbilt tractor-trailer west on Highway 72 in front of Fredericktown High School shortly after 8 a.m. when the vehicle made an abrupt stop for an unspecified reason, according to a crash report filed by Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. M.R. Renshaw...

Property facing East Jackson Boulevard was rezoned commercial at Monday's Board of Aldermen meeting in Jackson. At the public hearing, neighbors Stan and Debbie Wicks expressed concern they would lose some privacy at their property near 2421 and 2505 E. Jackson Blvd. and 2615 Hilltop Drive...

Southeast Missouri State University's Alumni Association honored three people and a local manufacturer Saturday with Distinguished Service Awards at the All Alumni Breakfast, according to a university news release. Vicki Boren, president of the Alumni Association board of directors from 2013 to 2017, was honored. A retired vocal music teacher, Boren received a bachelor of music education degree in 1971 and a master of music education degree in 1989, both from Southeast, according to the release...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- The owner of Missouri's dinosaur bones has given an ultimatum if the Bollinger County Museum of Natural History wants to keep his fossil collection and displays there...

GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- A horse had the opportunity to watch television for the first time at a pet-friendly Kentucky motel. Lindsey Partridge of Ontario, Canada, said she stopped to check in Oct. 4 at the Super 8 in Georgetown on her way to compete in the Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU TThe Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Arrests does not imply guilt. DWI n Michelle Green, 48, was arrested at North and Sprigg streets on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Arrests n A subject was in custody pending formal charges of rape in the 00 block of Hanover Street...

Daughter to David Regan and Chassidy Nicole Franklin Jr. of Scott City, Saint Francis Medical Center, 12:37 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017. Name, Harper Regan. Weight, 7 pounds, 13 ounces. First child. Mrs. Franklin is the former Chassidy Hill, daughter of Sandy and Rick Beppler of East Prairie, Missouri. ...

As both a citizen and a veteran of the Vietnam War who served in a squad which counting its killed and wounded had a causality rate of 70 percent, I have been following the discussion concerning the athletes who do not stand for the national anthem. I find this situation interesting since one of the arguments opposing the player's action is that it displays a lack of respect for veterans...