Stories from Wednesday, December 6, 2017

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri school administrator salaries are rising at a faster rate than teacher salaries, and the disparity is particularly pronounced for charter schools, according to a new audit that adds fuel to Republican Gov. Eric Greitens' complaints about the state's education system...

The city of Cape Girardeau wants an appeals court to overturn a judge's decision in a Bloomfield Road condemnation case that centers on whether property owners are entitled to higher compensation for "heritage value." The city is contesting a judge's ruling the city must pay an additional $45,000 to the owners of the historic Elmwood property along Bloomfield Road...

HILLSBORO, Mo. -- Sikeston police chief Mike Williams on Tuesday reaffirmed his interviews and reports made in 2000 about David Robinson. Williams is the final witness in Robinson's latest court battle that aims to overturn his murder conviction at the Missouri Supreme Court...

Today is Wednesday, Dec. 6, the 340th day of 2017. There are 25 days left in the year. Today's Highlights in History: On Dec. 6, 1917, some 2,000 people were killed when an explosives-laden French cargo ship, the Mont Blanc, collided with the Norwegian vessel Imo at the harbor in Halifax, Nova Scotia, setting off a blast that devastated the Canadian city. Finland declared its independence from Russia...

O Father God, we pray that your hand of protection would cover those traveling. Amen.

Thursday marks the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought America into the Second World War. Few living today and fewer still reading this column can remember that fateful Sunday morning when 353 Imperial Japanese aircraft attacked military bases in Hawaii and killed 2,403 American military personnel...

Our nation is at a crossroads as Congress debates the path forward on historic tax reform. At stake in that debate is whether Washington, D.C. will continue to keep our country stuck behind the rest of the world in a tax code traffic jam, or will it finally kick our economy into high gear by merging into a globally competitive lane...

Several vacant seats on Cape Girardeau County’s 16 boards will need to be filled in 2018 in an unusual turn of events, Commissioner Charlie Herbst said. The Industrial Development Authority Board will have an opening, as will the Board For The Developmentally Disabled...

Skating pair Matt Buttrey and Sarah Booth recently won first place at the Midwestern Sectional Championships and will next advance to national competition; they will compete in the 1993 U.S. Figure Skating Championships from Jan. 17 to 24 in Phoenix...

FARRAR, Mo. -- Gilbert E. Roth, 85, of Steeleville, Illinois, formerly of Farrar, died Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday and from 6:30 to 8:15 a.m. Friday at Young and Sons Funeral Home...

BENTON, Mo. -- William Dale Rogers, 61, of Benton died Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, at Portageville Health Care Center in Portageville, Missouri. He was born Sept. 7, 1956, in East St. Louis, Illinois, to Dale and Lula Belle O'Guin Rogers. He was owner/operator of B & J Trucking. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army...

Judith A. Propst, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017, at The Lutheran Home. She was born Feb. 18, 1933, in Cape Girardeau to Roscoe Russell and Georgia Lillian Davis Huckstep. She started her working career on the farm, then later earned her CNA degree from Cape Girardeau Vo-Tech and worked for Saint Francis Medical Center. ...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Donn S. Miller, 75, of Tamms, formerly of Cairo, Illinois, died Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017, at Asperion Care in Cairo. Graveside services will be at 10 a.m. Dec. 13 at Green Lawn Memorial Gardens in Villa Ridge, Illinois. Crain Funeral Home in Tamms is in charge of arrangements...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Walter Wayne Gordon, 95, of Chaffee passed away Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017, at his home, surrounded by his loving family. He was born April 16, 1922, in Rolla, Missouri, to the late George Walter and Minnie Bell Sharp Gordon. He married Jewell Kelley on Aug. 18, 1948, and she preceded him in death May 9, 2011...

The Jackson Police Department released the following items. Arrests do not imply guilt. DWI n Daniel Patwitz, 17, of Jackson was arrested on suspicion of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, being a minor in possession of alcohol by consumption, speeding, failure to provide proof of insurance and a seat-belt violation...

Daughter to Joseph Michael and Alexandria June Estes of Jackson, Southeast Hospital, 12:50 a.m. Friday, Nov. 24, 2017. Name, Amelia June. Weight, 8 pounds, 2 ounces. First child. Mrs. Estes is the former Alexandria Sykes, daughter of Curt and Cindy Sykes of Arnold, Missouri. Estes is the son of Trent and Karen Estes of Fenton, Missouri. He is employed by the National Guard at Cape Girardeau...

ST. LOUIS -- An investigation requested by relatives of a black man killed in a police shooting found the former Missouri attorney general's office withheld DNA evidence that could have been useful in a wrongful-death lawsuit, and the family's lawyer said Tuesday he might sue again if the city won't renegotiate the settlement terms in the wake of the evidence issue...

Route OO in Cape Girardeau County from Route Z to Highway 34 will be reduced to one lane with a 10-foot width restriction as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform brush/tree trimming, according to a MoDOT news release. Work will be performed from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. today through Friday...

Fun and dynamic lessons are being taught every day in our region, and we were pleased to bring you one such example recently from Perryville, Missouri, where teacher Valerie Stueve's former students won a national book-writing contest. As was reported by Jeff Breer, Stueve's class learned in May they were among the winners of the book challenge put on by Studentreasures Publishing, seeing their effort reach print among the 800,000 entrants...

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- It was the opening day of deer hunting season, and Ronald Hansen said he loaded his rifle the same way he had countless times before, aimed at a target and fired a shot. This time, the gun barrel exploded, knocking the farmer from Hampton, Iowa, backward, severely damaging his right hand and ear and burning his face...

WASHINGTON -- The special counsel investigation into possible coordination between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential election has cost more than $6.7 million so far, according to a financial report released Tuesday...

WASHINGTON -- Top Republicans delayed a planned House vote on a short-term budget bill Tuesday to give themselves time to quell party divisions and avert a partial government shutdown by the weekend. With conservatives insisting on commitments to curb spending, a House vote on the temporary measure planned for today instead will occur Thursday, said a GOP leadership aide...

NEW YORK -- Suspended ABC News reporter Brian Ross no will longer cover stories involving President Donald Trump after his erroneous report Friday on former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The network Tuesday confirmed the order by ABC News president James Goldston, who expressed anger over the error during an internal phone call that was leaked to CNN. ABC declined to make Goldston available for an interview Tuesday...

VENTURA, Calif. -- For the second time in two months, wind-driven fires tore through California communities in the middle of the night, leaving rows of homes and a psychiatric hospital in ruins Tuesday and sending tens of thousands of people fleeing for their lives...

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump forged ahead Tuesday with plans to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital despite Arab, Muslim and European opposition to a move that would upend decades of U.S. policy and risk potentially violent protests. Trump also told the leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Jordan in phone calls he intends to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Monsanto asked a judge Tuesday to prevent Arkansas from enforcing a proposal going before lawmakers next week that would ban the use of a weed killer farmers in several states have said drifts onto their crops and causes widespread damage...

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown has produced a spike in detentions by deportation officers across the country during his first months in office. At the same time, arrests along the Mexican border have fallen sharply, apparently as fewer people have tried to sneak into the U.S...

WASHINGTON -- They don't do tax reform like they used to. The legislation that House and Senate Republicans have embraced has revived memories of Congress' most recent major tax overhaul three decades ago. But the similarities tend to end there. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 was everything this year's version isn't. ...

WASHINGTON -- When it comes to filling jobs dealing with complex science, environment and health issues, the Trump administration is nominating people with fewer science academic credentials than their Obama predecessors. And it's moving slower as well...

WASHINGTON -- His vote likely to decide the outcome, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy voiced competing concerns Tuesday about respecting the religious beliefs of a Colorado baker who wouldn't make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, and the gay couple's dignity...

DETROIT -- Besieged by allegations of sexual harassment, Democratic Rep. John Conyers resigned from Congress on Tuesday, bringing an abrupt end to the civil-rights leader's nearly 53-year career on Capitol Hill. The 88-year-old liberal from Detroit becomes the highest-ranking member of Congress to be brought down by the sexual-misconduct allegations that have toppled powerful men in Hollywood, the media and politics in recent weeks...

NEW YORK -- Netflix said Tuesday it has written actor Danny Masterson out of the comedy "The Ranch" with Los Angeles police investigating sexual-assault claims against him that date to the 2000s. Masterson responded he was disappointed with the decision, saying in the current climate, people are presumed guilty when they are accused...

NEW YORK -- What do a former U.S. president, LeBron James and a guy who really likes chicken nuggets have in common? They made the biggest splash on Twitter this year. Twitter on Tuesday released its top trending people and topics for 2017, ranging from sports to politics to Korean boy bands. It was a year in which almost every sector of society was mashed together or clashing on social media, with the "Tweeter in Chief," President Donald Trump, leading the way...

NEW YORK -- The top editor for the National Enquirer, Us Weekly and other major gossip publications openly described his sexual partners in the newsroom, discussed female employees' sex lives and forced women to watch or listen to pornographic material, former employees told The Associated Press...

KUWAIT CITY -- A planned two-day summit of Gulf Arab countries fell apart within hours of starting Tuesday over the ongoing boycott of Qatar, underscoring the difficulty of ending the crisis and suggesting unifying the bloc of U.S. allies is slipping further from reach...

A group of sixth grade Explore students from CMS (Central Middle School) are attempting to inform the community of Cape Girardeau about composting for the Lexus Eco Challenge competition. If you are wondering what composting is, it's when you use food scraps to add nutrients to soil which can be quite helpful for growing plants.The group then realised that they needed to spread the word so they decided to make a brochure that was then printed and dispersed throughout our community of Cape Girardeau in various public buildings. ...

Delta High School had its annual Toys for Tots Spirit Week from Nov. 27 - Dec. 1. Students dressed up as their favorite toy, wore Santa hats, ugly sweaters and their pajamas and raised money by selling donuts and hot chocolate. More than $200 was raised and students from the high school and elementary brought in toys and we will once again be able to make a big donation to the Toys for Tots program...

On any night of the week you can feel the streets of St. Louis come alive with shopping, food, and most recently a new music venue right in the heart of the Delmar Loop. Anyone in the region who keeps tabs of local and regional shows has more than likely already heard of Delmar Hall. The comfortable room comes alive with light and sounds as most recently the bands Chapel, Sleep On It, As It Is, and Waterparks take the stage...

"Sound Attraction", the performing group of the Immaculate Conception Church Choristers, is holding auditions for girls between grades two thru nine from any school, or town to join. Sound Attraction performs at various venues throughout the area as well as Branson. ...

On Friday, December 1st, 2017, the 4th and 5th grade students at Meadow Heights Elementary in Patton, MO, went on a field trip to the St. Louis Science Center. The students were encouraged to get creative, and built structures such as bridges and arches, and created their own wagons, cars, etc. with the variety of materials provided...

Cape Girardeau police officers late Tuesday apprehended a man accused of a stabbing earlier that afternoon. Chad T. Bard of Cape Girardeau has been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action, both felonies. Bond was set at $100,000 cash.

Dressed for the season Raven Ritch, Megan Briley, Haleigh Jennings, Danielle and Madison Beard enjoy the Scott City Christmas Parade on December 2, 2017.