Stories from Monday, March 15, 2021

Bronson Morris, 5, tries Rally's French fries during the Rally's Fry Love Express stop Saturday at Rhodes 101 on South Mount Auburn Road in Cape Girardeau. ...

BENTON, Mo. -- Scott County has a new coroner. David Scott Branam was appointed to the coroner position Thursday by the Scott County Commission. Branam will fill the term of long-time coroner Scott Amick, who resigned Feb. 4 after 35 years of service...

"American Pickers" is returning to Missouri in May. Episodes of History Channel's hit television series are planned to be filmed throughout Southeast Missouri, according to Maggie Kissinger, associate producer for Cineflix Productions, which produces the series...

I observed a couple of "one year" milestones in recent weeks; one of them was a cause for celebration, while the other has given me pause to reflect. The joyous occasion was my granddaughter's first birthday. Naturally, she didn't know what all the fuss was about as posed for the obligatory photos with a baby-sized birthday cake. ...

When the City of Cape Girardeau acquired nearly 250 acres of land for a business park almost 10 years ago, city leaders expected the site would be an attractive location for everything from light manufacturing and distribution firms to technology-related businesses and even hospitality services...

As restrictions are slowly being lifted in our communities and spring is upon us, many people are getting more comfortable gradually resuming normal activities. In addition to easing back into life before COVID-19, it's a good time to schedule any postponed or canceled preventive health care, including dental checkups that may have been put on hold to reduce the transmission of the coronavirus...

On its final day of awards, Old Town Cape Inc. named Rex Rust its 2020 Charles L. Hutson Visionary Award recipient Saturday. According to the award announcement, Old Town Cape presents the award annually to a "person or persons who have demonstrated an outstanding and thorough commitment to the revitalization and future development of the Old Town Cape district."...

Ashley Roney of Cape Girardeau tells an epiphany story, a tale of a recent life-changing discovery, straightforwardly. "I'm 32 years old and for my whole life, I had not known who my biological father was," said Roney, a real estate salesperson and Realtor with Realty Executives Edge for nearly five years. Roney previously had been an adjunct biology instructor at Southeast Missouri State University for two years while also waiting tables...

Want your swing analyzed by coaches and professionals? SportsTrace, one of Codefi's 2020 1ST50K startup competition winners, recently launched a mobile application designed to help athletes by using uploaded video to breakdown movements of a swing or a pitch...

Missouri's nonfarm workforce grew in January while the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by a 10th of a percentage point, according to information released last week by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC)...

Almost two years ago, Barb Bailey and Aaron Horrell, artists and owners of Painted Wren Art Gallery in Cape Girardeau, started a Missouri bicentennial communal mural project, which is now in its final days of completion. After having more than 12,250 people paint the project, they have about 1,030 2-inch triangle spaces left to fill on four of the 15 panels of the before early June. They plan to finish the mural before its debut on the Fourth of July at the Arena Building...

Today is Monday, March 15, the 74th day of 2021. There are 291 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On March 15, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson, addressing a joint session of Congress, called for new legislation to guarantee every American's right to vote. The result was passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965...

Chief Deputy David James with the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office retired in March after an impressive 38 years of service. James successfully rose through the ranks beginning in 1982 as a volunteer. During his tenure, he held the positions of jail deputy, sergeant, lieutenant, captain and finally chief deputy...

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday pledged swift work by Congress on a job and infrastructure package that will be "fiscally sound," but said she isn't sure whether the next major item on President Joe Biden's agenda will attract Republican backing...

A powerful late winter snowstorm intensified over the central Rocky Mountains on Sunday with heavy snow and wind leading to airport and road closures, power outages and avalanche warnings in parts of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. The National Weather Service in Wyoming called it a "historic and crippling" winter storm that would cause extremely dangerous to impossible travel conditions through at least early today...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. effort in World War II was off the charts. Battles spread over three continents and four years, 16 million served in uniform and the government shoved levers of the economy full force into defeating Nazi Germany and imperial Japan...

Marie Frances Harrelson Tucker, 96, died Wednesday, March 10, 2021, at NHC Maryland Heights in Maryland Heights, Missouri. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Ford and Young Funeral Home in Perryville, Missouri. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home, with Brother Ray White officiating. Burial will be at Whitewater Christian Cemetery in Perry County...

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri's rate of new coronavirus cases is ticking upward after months of decline. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the state's coronavirus infection rate has tumbled since the fall, when Missouri hit a peak seven-day average of 4,723 new confirmed cases on Nov. 20. That average fell as low as 343 on March 6, but has since edged upward, to 395 on Friday...

O Lord Jesus, may we speak truth to one another with grace. Amen.

The deputy emergency preparedness director and a National Guard veteran were the first to be interviewed for the job of Cape Girardeau County emergency preparedness director; Martha Vandivort, who has been deputy director since 1979, and David M. Hitt, who served coordinated mobilization and emergency training for the Guard's 1140th Engineers Battalion, were interviewed Thursday by Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones and Commissioners Larry Bock and Joe Gambill; the director will replace Brian Miller, who died of a heart attack Feb. ...

Jackson, MO - Chance Franklin joins Visionary Wealth Advisors as a Wealth Management Advisor to work alongside Steve Elefson in its Jackson, MO location. Franklin began his career in financial services in 2016 as a Financial Advisor. At Visionary, he will facilitate daily business operations, correspond with clients, and handle the maintenance and workflow of client accounts...