Stories from Friday, November 30, 2018

The spectacle of a rosy-cheeked, white-bearded man in a red suit can either be a sight for sore eyes or one of the most frightening childhood experiences one wishes to forget. The Scared of Santa (or not) Photo Contest sponsored by SoutheastHEALTH and the Southeast Missourian is presenting a $250 Visa gift card to one person whose photo of their child takes the cake for either the best -- or worst -- experience with Santa Claus...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri voters have approved medical marijuana, but it remains unclear whether thousands of welfare recipients will lose benefits if they opt for it. The Missouri Department of Social Services told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the question remains under review, and offered no timeline for a decision...

The Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Missouri and Cape First Church's House of Hope ministry are teaming up to provide a trial run of after-school programming and mentorship services for students in Cape Girardeau's south side. Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Missouri executive director Allen Treece said Thursday the pilot program would build on House of Hope's existing community outreach efforts...

Cape Girardeau County will have a new county collector, effective Dec. 1, after action Thursday by the county commission. County Collector Diane Diebold handed in a letter of resignation Nov. 27, effective at midnight Nov. 30, said Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy at Thursday's regular meeting...

Today is Friday, Nov. 30, the 334th day of 2018. There are 31 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Nov. 30, 1874, British statesman Sir Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace. On this date: In 1782, the United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris for ending the Revolutionary War; the Treaty of Paris was signed in Sept. 1783...

NEW YORK -- Rita Moreno's "Anita" in the classic 1961 film "West Side Story" won her an Oscar. Now, she has a different part in a remake by Steven Spielberg. She'll play Valentina, a reworked version of the character of Doc, the owner of a corner store...

KIEV, Ukraine -- The president of Ukraine is urging NATO to deploy warships to the Sea of Azov, a proposal sharply criticized by Russia as a provocation potentially worsening tensions between the two countries following a weekend confrontation in the waters off the Crimean Peninsula...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- World leaders arrived Thursday in the Argentine capital for the Group of 20 summit of the globe's largest economies as issues such as a trade war between the United States and China, the killing of a Saudi journalist in the country's Istanbul Consulate and the conflict over Ukraine threatened to overshadow the gathering...

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump spent more than a year browbeating the leaders of Canada and Mexico into agreeing to a rewrite of North American trade rules. And today, leaders of those two nations are set to sign the pact at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina...

Cape Girardeau organizations have been collecting toys for children in need for more than four decades. Over time, two major donating programs emerged: Toybox, which served children in the Cape Girardeau city limits and Toys for Tots, which served children in the county outside the city limits...

Lord God, today we celebrate with expectation and hope and know Jesus will return one day. Amen.

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, confessed in a surprise guilty plea Thursday he lied to Congress about a Moscow real-estate deal he pursued on Trump's behalf during the heat of the 2016 Republican campaign. He said he lied to be consistent with Trump's "political messaging."...

WASHINGTON -- Consumers boosted their spending in October at the fastest pace in seven months, while their incomes rose by the largest amount in nine months -- good signs for future economic growth. Consumer spending rose a sharp 0.6 percent last month, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. ...

MADISON, Wis. -- Outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday named immigration and the national debt as his two biggest regrets as he prepares to leave office after 20 years in Congress, saying he has no immediate plans to return to public office. The Republican lawmaker from Wisconsin, the 2012 vice presidential nominee, sat for an interview with The Washington Post as he prepares to step down. ...

NEW YORK -- After repeated food poisoning outbreaks linked to romaine lettuce, the produce industry is confronting the failure of its own safety measures in preventing contaminations. The E. coli outbreak announced just before Thanksgiving follows one in the spring, which sickened more than 200 people and killed five, and another last year sickening 25 and killing one. ...

Fifty-three Cape Girardeau Central High School students have turned the 53-year-old cartoon Christmas classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas" mortal, with performances through Saturday at Kinder Hall. The story is portrayed through the eyes of Charlie Brown and his classmates. Charlie struggles to look past the commercialism he believes the Christmas season has become focused on...

It's safe to say it's officially the time of year where holidays seem to come one right after the other. I'm not complaining, because celebrations now through New Year's Day usually contain an oversupply of food and beverages. To celebrate this weekend, taking the family to the Uptown Jackson Christmas Parade on Saturday is a must -- Santa will be there, too. If you're in the Chaffee, Missouri, area, be sure to check out the Chamber of Commerce Christmas parade at 2 p.m. Saturday...

ST. LOUIS -- Three St. Louis police officers were indicted Thursday for allegedly beating an undercover colleague during a 2017 protest and, along with a fourth officer, conspiring to cover up the crime. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictments of officers Dustin Boone, Randy Hays, Christopher Myers and Bailey Colletta. All four are suspended without pay, the city said. The indictment follows an FBI investigation requested last year by St. Louis police...

CLAYTON, Mo. -- A lawsuit has been filed over a police pursuit that ended in a deadly suburban St. Louis crash. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported two daughters of 49-year-old Mikel Neil filed the wrongful death lawsuit Monday in St. Louis County Circuit Court. Neil and his passenger, 59-year-old Townsal Woolfolk, died in August when their fleeing car crashed into a tree...

The largest medical group in Cape Girardeau is expanding in an effort to improve local access to primary-care physicians; Internal Medicine Group is adding two local doctors to its staff in the next several weeks, and moving three pediatricians into the former Community Counseling Center, 24 S. Mount Auburn Road; the expansion will increase the group's number of doctors from 14 to 16 by January, and to at least 17 by next summer...

Daughter to Roman Smith and Hannah Beaton of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Hospital, 10:20 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018. Name, Evelynn James. Weight, 7 pounds, 10 ounces. Fourth child, third daughter. Beaton is the daughter of Tim Beaton of Jackson and Shanna Beaton of Cape Girardeau. Smith is the son of Gaynel McGull of Tampa, Florida...

Helen VanAmburg, 94, of Jackson, passed away Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018, at Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Helen was born May 19, 1924, in Cape Girardeau County, the only child of Fred and Lena Schoen Best. Helen married Cleo C. VanAmburg on June 23, 1945, at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson. They had been married 62 years when Cleo passed away Jan. 11, 2008...

BENTON, Mo. -- Cynthia Lynn Crowden, 49, of Benton passed away peacefully Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018, at her home, with her family by her side. She was born Feb. 16, 1969, in Charleston, Missouri, to Morris Wayne and Elizabeth Ann Vinson Hale. She married Donald Ray Crowden...

The dry lake bed in Cape County Park South in Cape Girardeau won't have harvestable fish for up to three years after it's stocked, said an official with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Jason Crites, fisheries biologist with MDC, said via email the lake will be open for fishing as soon as it is stocked, but the fish need time to grow before they can be harvested...

NEW YORK -- Have you heard the one about the girl who didn't care about Christmas but found herself in a small town for the holidays surrounded by decorations, cookies and carolers, and found a new boyfriend and her Christmas spirit by Dec. 25? Hallmark Channel has, and they're airing 22 original movies this year built around plots similar to that. The premise may vary, but the themes are the same and Hallmark is very OK with that...

Do not tear down Lorimier School! So now the Jackson aldermen are considering shutting down on-street parking on Georgia Street because the roundabout has forced traffic to go around the mess it created. These are the same people who want to put another roundabout at East Main and Shawnee within 200 feet of a daycare and several apartments...

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