Stories from Saturday, May 1, 2021

City of Jackson mayor and Board of Aldermen Regular meeting 6 p.m. Monday Approval of minutes n Minutes of Regular Meeting of 4/19/2021 Financial affairs n Monthly bills Action items Power, Light, and Water Committee n Consider a motion approving the Mayor's appointment of Heather Harrison to the Planning & Zoning Commission, filling an unexpired term ending May, 2025...

Cape Girardeau City Council 5 p.m. Monday City Hall 401 Independence St. Study session n No action will be taken during the study session Presentations n Beautiful Business Property of the Month n Recognition of Lori Meyer for retirement from the City of Cape Girardeau...

Stoddard County Emergency Management Agency has rolled out some new technology to assist in their duty to provide early warning messaging to County residents in the event of severe weather. SDS Weather's RadarOmega is now active in the county. This system includes a cyclonePORT network with weather stations installed in Dexter, Puxico, Bloomfield, Dudley, Advance and Essex, and a mobile unit based out of Bernie. ...

Seven vehicles were involved in a crash and three people were transported with moderate injuries Friday afternoon at the intersection of South Kingshighway and State Highway 74. According to Sgt. Joey Hann, Cape Girardeau Police responded to the scene around noon where a driver allegedly ran a red light, T-boned a van in the intersection and caused it to hit five other vehicles at the lights...

Cape Girardeau Public Schools Foundation director Amy McDonald, left, hands a package containing a dozen crispitos to district teacher Anna Sturgeon of Jackson on Friday during a drive-through pickup at the school district central office. The foundation has sold 853 12-count packages of crispitos, netting approximately $5,000 after expenses to be placed into a fund for student needs, especially emergencies.

Late last month, the City of Cape Girardeau announced a false-alarm reduction plan to take effect July 1, spurred by a large number of erroneous alarms city police and fire officials said is draining staff time and diverting resources away from legitimate calls for service and emergency situations...

COVID-19 cases continue to rise, albeit slowly. Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center officials said Friday a total of 9,446 cases of the disease have been found in the county. As of Friday, there were 24 active cases in the county. In the past 14 days, the testing positivity rate was 3.3%, and in that period 34 new cases had been reported...

Robert Hamblin of Cape Girardeau, an emeritus professor of English at Southeast Missouri State University, has a reliable outlet for his powerful feelings in the wake of the death of the love of his life, his wife Kaye, on Good Friday 2020. He writes poetry because the venerable educator says it is his favorite form of written expression...

After 40 years in a building that was falling apart, the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri (HSSEMO) launched a capital campaign to raise $3.7 million toward a larger facility. Over $2 million has been raised to help future adopted pets, and the facility is under roof with plans to open this fall...

People gathered outside of the Vasterling Suites for the 2021 Cape Girardeau Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit opening reception in Cape Girardeau on Thursday, April 8, 2021. Speakers from the local government, the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, Old Town Cape, Inc. and Southeast Missouri State University all spoke to echo the importance of art to the community and how these sculptures bring an artistic presence to downtown...

Dr. Wilson Brown's prominence as doctor and community-minded citizen took him to the halls of the Missouri capital as the representative from Scott County in 1838-1839. Later, Gov. Austin King appointed him as state auditor Jan. 5, 1849. It was a difficult time in Jefferson City in 1849 as cholera had landed on the Missouri River levee aboard a steamship. ...

Submitted by Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary This is Laura. She is 6 years old and would be good as an only pet but could live with another cat. She's a sweet girl. If you are ready for a rewarding experience, come see us at Safe Harbor. Call (573) 243-9823...

Senior centers are open for carryout and delivery only. Monday: Hot ham and cheese on bun or beef Tater Tot casserole, baked beans, steamed squash, whole-grain bun or bread slice and chilled diced pears or banana pudding. Tuesday: Mushroom chopped steak or Polish sausage with kraut, mashed potatoes, California-blend veggies, whole-grain hot roll and chilled peaches or lemonade cake...

The flowers pictured here are from the native paw paw tree. I found dozens of paw paw trees sporting hundreds of blooms in a Scott County woodlot April 12. This image shows two blossoms on the same limb. The green one is beginning to burst open and will turn purple like the other one that is a few days older...

The Torchbearer Iota Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi met April 12 at the home of Bobbie Woodard with 10 members present. Carole Calvin, president, was co-hostess and presided over the meeting. Thank-you notes were received from Torchbearer Omicron Chapter and from Marilyn Schwab for attending her surprise birthday party...

Alexa Clark of Jackson was inducted into Chapter 378 of Phi Eta Sigma national honor society for academic excellence at McKendreee University in Lebanon, Illinois. Phi Eta Sigma is the nation's oldest and largest multi-disciplinary honor society for first-year college and university students. Students may qualify in the first or second semester of their first year...

A person ought to be judicious before taking a tutorial in morality and ethics from a TV show. Nevertheless, a recent episode of NBC's "The Blacklist" got me thinking about how each of us decides how far to pursue the things we want. Episode 14 of season 8 is a case in point...

Probably the most famous sermon of the 20th century was, "Payday Someday." It was preached over 1,200 times by R. G. Lee, a Southern Baptist Pastor. I first learned of this sermon as a graduate student at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, in Fort Worth, Texas. One evening I decided to go to the audio-visual section of the campus library and check out the sermon on a VHS tape. I sat in a cubical and viewed the sermon in its entirety...

Spring? Yes! It seems I see the evidence of spring everywhere I glance. I see it in the environment exhibiting its beautiful displays of natural beauty. I feel spring in the air, and my step agrees. My feet hit the ground like a playful rubber ball, bouncing up and down as fast as I touch a surface. ...

Every year is different, and this spring was no different. Not bad by any means, just different. Cool up until it got cold and then for only a couple nights. I think both nights we got down into the upper 20s. I know we ran the wood stove in the greenhouse as well as an electric heater. Once the cold snap was over, I checked the 10-day forecast and it all looked good, so we went to planting the next day...

The Society of the Southwest presents the 16th annual Western Swing Showcase and Dance at VFW Post 3838 in Cape Girardeau. It will be held from 2 to 10 p.m. May 20 and 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. May 21 and 22. There will be several WSMSS musicians from many states performing. ...

It is indeed rare, if not unprecedented, to see a highly diverse group of organizations such as the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom, the liberal American Civil Liberties Union, the libertarian Cato Institute and the Reason Foundation on the same page as the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund on the same issue...

Joe Biden didn't just campaign as a moderate. He signaled again and again that he would be an affable placeholder president who'd clean up the messes created by his opponent, mend some fences with allies and get the pandemic under control. "Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else," Biden said not long after essentially locking up the Democratic nomination on Super Tuesday...

Father God, we marvel at creation and thank you for it. Amen.

My major takeaway from President Biden's joint address to Congress is that he and his handlers are continuing to employ the Democrats' primary strategy from the Obama years: Never let a crisis go to waste. To scare the American people into accepting his reckless spending proposals, Biden is leveraging the pandemic, which means he is framing it as still hot, raging and dangerous, while immodestly taking undeserved credit for the progress that we've made...

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Europe's economy shrank 0.6% in the first three months of the year as slow vaccine rollouts and extended lockdowns delayed a hoped-for recovery and underlined how the region is lagging other major economies in rebounding from the coronavirus pandemic...

WASHINGTON -- Federal authorities investigating Rudy Giuliani are seeking information related to a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was ousted from her job two years ago on orders of then-President Donald Trump, a lawyer for Giuliani said Friday...

JERUSALEM -- The holiday of Lag BaOmer is one of the happiest days on the calendar for Israel's ultra-Orthodox community -- a time of mass celebrations in honor of a revered sage. But in a split second Friday, the festive gathering in northern Israel turned into one of the country's worst-ever tragedies, with at least 45 people crushed to death and dozens injured in a stampede...

DALLAS -- Disneyland reopened Friday and cruise lines welcomed the news that they could be sailing again in the U.S. by midsummer, as the number of Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 hit another milestone: 100 million. Visitors cheered and screamed with delight as the Southern California theme park swung open its gates for the first time in 13 months in a powerful symbol of the U.S. ...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Former Vice President Mike Pence, positioning himself for a possible return to elected office, told an audience in early-voting South Carolina that he will spend the coming months "pushing back on the liberal agenda" he says is wrong for the country...

WASHINGTON -- From John Kennedy to Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump, American presidents have taken aim at corporate America's tax-avoidance schemes before -- and mostly missed. Now, President Joe Biden is training the government's sights again on the loopholes, shelters and international havens that have long allowed multinational companies to dodge taxes in ways that ordinary households cannot...

CAPE GIRARDEAU The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls. April 29 n Medical assists were made at 1:34 a.m., on South Pacific Street; 2:46 a.m. on Jean Ann Drive; 7:35 a.m. on South Benton Street; 4 p.m. on Penny Avenue; 4:20 p.m. on Themis Street; 5:28 p.m. on South Benton Street; 6:33 p.m. on South Lorimier Street..

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. Assaults n Assault was reported in the 2500 block of Magnolia Avenue. n Assault was reported in the 800 block of Themis Street. Theft n Larceny was reported in the 100 block of North Main Street...

James W. "Jimmy" Welty, 82, of Scott City died of COVID-19 Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Jan. 7, 1939, in Neelys Landing to James A. and Ruby D. Masterson Welty. He and Marilyn G. Papenberg were married Aug. 15, 1957. Two daughters were born to their union, Elizabeth and Theresa. Jim and Marilyn had been married 57 years, when Marilyn passed away Feb. 23, 2013...

Shirley J. Huffman Sessoms, 86, died peacefully Thursday April 29, 2021, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Shirley was born Jan. 11, 1935, in Nashville, Tennessee, the youngest of four children born to Hartwell Franklin and Mable Gallagher Huffman...

Dawn Kay Wright Major, 60, of Cape Girardeau passed away, surrounded by her loving family, Wednesday, April 28, 2021, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 10, 1961, in Peoria, Illinois, the daughter of Ronald and Nila Avery Wright. She and Terry Major were united in marriage on Nov. 10, 1979...

Ryan Allen Hohenadel, 41, of Cape Girardeau "finished the race" Wednesday, April 28, 2021, after battling a terminal illness. Originally from Perryville, Missouri, Ryan lived with his family in North Carolina, Oregon and Tennessee before returning to Missouri in 2017...

Peggy Joyce Gross Hitt, 88, of Cape Girardeau departed this life on April 29, 2021, at Chateau in Cape Girardeau. Peggy was born Au. 25, 1932, in Scott City (Fornfelt), daughter of the late Jess Joseph and Mary Frances Poorman Gross. On Aug. 8, 1958, she was united in marriage to Herman Hitt in Benton, Missouri. He preceded her in death on Sept. 24, 1994...

Michael Allen Gast, 73, passed away Thursday, April 29, 2021, at Saint Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 3, 1948, in Cape Girardeau, to John E. and Lavera V. Darnell Gast Mike attended Jackson High School. He honorably served 22 years in the U.S. ...

Shirley Jean Davis, 82, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Bolivar, Missouri, died Wednesday, April 28, 2021, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral home. The funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Burial will follow at Cape County Memorial Park Cemetery...

Allen Howard Boren, 84, of Jackson passed away Thursday, April 29, 2021, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born June 16, 1936, in New Wells to Clarence H. and Gusta Pfeiffer Boren. Allen was baptized and confirmed into the Christian faith in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. He was a longtime, faithful member of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson...

Likening himself to a referee in an intense basketball game, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas defined the role of the court in society; about 1,400 gathered in the Show Me Center last night to hear Thomas, appointed in 1991 by President George Bush; originally slated to speak about the changing legal system, Thomas changed his topic after meeting with students in the afternoon; he said the questions students asked distressed him, because they implied that judges base their decisions on their own ethics and personal experiences, not on the law.. ...

A new Mississippi River crest forecast for Friday at Cape Girardeau has put city officials at ease; the river had been expected to crest Thursday at 41.5 feet, 9.5 feet above flood stage; but the National Weather Service in St. Louis said Wednesday the river should crest at Cape Girardeau Friday at 37.5 feet, 4 feet below the prediction...