Stories from Saturday, May 8, 2021

A Sikeston, Missouri, man has been convicted for assaulting three corrections officers in the Scott County Jail in 2015. A Pemiscot County jury found William Henry Applewhite III, guilty on three counts of an assault on a corrections officer and three counts of armed criminal action from an incident in the Scott County Jail on May 9, 2015...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Two men were taken into custody Thursday by the Drug Enforcement Administration after being indicted on federal drug charges. Ronnie Moreland, 59, of Bertrand and Paul Hale, 52, of Benton were federally indicted Tuesday on four counts of distribution of, possession with Intent to Distribute, and Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, according to Mississippi County Sheriff Britton Ferrell...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri House on Thursday voted in favor of creating "Rush Limbaugh Day." The GOP-led House tacked the provision on another bill, which then passed the chamber. The bill still needs Senate approval. The proposal is one of several pitched by Republican state lawmakers to honor the late Limbaugh every Jan. 12, his birthday...

DEXTER, Mo. -- When Charlie Parrish turned the lock at Parrish's Barber Shop last Thursday afternoon, it was not the end of his usual work week. After 51 years at 8 N. Locust St. in Dexter, Parrish retired April 29. "I came to Dexter in 1970," Parrish recalled, "and I've been in this same spot all that time. I even still have the same barber chair I bought used when I first opened."...

More than 15 agencies and schools from 14 counties participated in the Cape Spring Games hosted by Special Olympics Missouri at Cape Central High School on Monday, May 3, 2021. Events included track and field competitions such as running, jumping and throwing...

The loss of a mom is always painful, especially on the first Mother's Day following her passing. Jackson's Cori Wray is carrying an even heavier weight this holiday weekend. Wray lost both her mother and her paternal grandmother in less than a week's time in December, as both women succumbed to COVID-19...

On the day before Thanksgiving, Charles Parsons was drinking coffee at his favorite Cape Girardeau cafe when he got a phone call that changed his life Parsons, 43, was informed the adoptive parents who had raised him since the age of 4, had just been killed in a traffic accident in Sikeston...

An 18-year-old Sikeston, Missouri, man was cited for disturbing the peace after allegedly pointing a fake firearm at motorists and structures in downtown Cape Girardeau. Authorities cited Hayden Carter and detained two juveniles in the incident, which occurred about 1 p.m. Thursday...

The Missouri House on Thursday passed a bill unanimously, by a 151-0 vote, to cut bureaucratic red tape to ensure more skilled veterans can work and practice in the state. Every member of the local delegation -- Jamie Burger of Benton, Rick Francis of Perryville, Barry Hovis of Whitewater and Wayne Wallingford of Cape Girardeau, all Republicans -- were among the unopposed bipartisan consensus for House Bill 476: ...

I dearly love a challenge. Over the years, I’ve embraced and enjoyed the challenge of meeting several fairly big ones. I think, though, I may finally have bitten off more than I can chew. This past December 21, I sat at the kitchen table, relaxing and chatting with my son. I’d spent the day making Christmas cookies with my grandchildren, daughter and daughter-in-law, and I’d been eating cookies and other sweets all afternoon...

Loving and raising a labrador retriever — America’s favorite breed for 30 straight years — can be a fun and fulfilling experience, and having two to bring up can be equally entertaining. Most days. Two years ago this April, two littermate chocolate lab pups came home shortly after my then-8-year-old chocolate lab, Abbie, was put to sleep because of a mast cell tumor. ...

The Federal Highway Administration has agreed to spend at least $1 million to launch construction of a Mississippi River bridge at Cape Girardeau this year; U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, announced the funding yesterday from his office in Washington; he said the project could receive as much as $2 million in federal funding this year; the federal agency's decision clears the way for the project to proceed and assures future federal funding to complete the bridge...

Submitted by Nancy Bahn Ramblewood Garden Club has awarded the May Yard of the Month to Brian and Deb Tracy, who live in the Historic Neighborhood of Cape Girardeau. Their natural-style gardens are filled with many perennially blooming hostas, azaleas, variegated vinca and Soloman’s seal (Polygonatum) plantings. The front garden contains spring blooming azaleas of the pink small-blossomed Coral Bells, purple Herbert, orangey-red Hino Crimson and Delaware Valley White varieties, with white-edged Patriot hostas lining their base. All these azaleas varieties grow well in this planting zone and provide an explosion of color early in April. Interspersed among the azaleas are Lee’s Dark Purple rhododendron and English boxwood (Buxus), with variegated Liriope lining the entry walkway. Potted coleus and Rex begonias decorate the porch area. White dogwood (Cornus florida), oakleaf hydrangea (Quercifolia), red-leafed Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), and a pink-blossomed Camilla Winter’s Joy add to this colorful display. Brian related that he would take a picture each spring of their garden and send it to his father, who passed away this last year. Another bed is filled with plantings of spiderwort (Tradescantia), Hellebore, (Helleborus, commonly known as Lenten rose), monkey grass (Liriope muscari), lily of the valley (Convallarie majalis), variegated Vinca major (Periwinkle), orange and pink lilies (Lilium), Frances Williams and Halcyon hostas (Plantain lily), and azalea varieties, with ajuga or bugleweed serving as ground cover. The highlight of the backyard lawn area is a round garden bed containing a French lilac (Syringa vulgaris), purple iris and yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus). A circle drive is landscaped with perfectly round shaped English boxwood. Congratulations to Brian and Deb Tracy for making our town a more beautiful place to live.

A walk in the Southeast Missouri woods during April can be full of surprises. Patches of beautiful wildflowers are enough to please any wandering soul, but there is more to discover. April 26 was a cool, windy day. It was not a good day to focus a camera on flowers that move in the wind. I was looking for a springtime surprise and I got one...

A heart-saver CPR certification class will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at HealthPoint Fitness in Cape Girardeau. This is an instructor-led course that teaches adult and child CPR and AED use, infant CPR and how to relieve choking in adults, children and infants. ...

I love the readings that take place after Easter, readings following the development of the early Church in the Book of Acts. They are stories about connection and community and amazement at the ways we need each other. They remind us none of us are meant to go through this life alone...

We honor mothers on Mother's Day. I hope you have been blessed with a loving mother. There are many prominent women in the Scriptures. For this column, I want to discuss lessons from several biblical mothers. Mary, the mother of Jesus, teaches us there is only one perfect child. ...

Looking at the Bible through the lens of Mother's Day brings several women into the spotlight. Women such as Eunice instilled the gospel into her son, Timothy, Paul's protege in ministry. Women such as Elizabeth, whose son, John the baptizer, prepared the way for the Lord. Women such as Mary, the mother of Jesus, experience the joy and agony of her son's ministry. The woman Hannah also comes to mind. A woman who knew sorrow sought the Lord and fulfilled her vows to Him...

Several years ago we would be shopping in Cape Girardeau, which is just north of where we live, and we'd end up hungry. Rather than wait until we got home, we'd eat out. It's a fairly large college town, so there were lots of places to eat. One that we particularly enjoyed also had pour-over coffee, which naturally seemed to draw me in. ...

Senior centers are open for carryout and delivery only. Monday: Saucy meatballs or chicken Parmesan, parsley buttered pasta, glazed carrots, buttered corn, garlic bread and Mandarin oranges or fresh baked cookies. Tuesday: Ham and beans or hot chicken salad, oven-fried potatoes with onions, stewed tomatoes, cornbread and crackers and pears and cottage cheese or lemon-pineapple cake...

"Banned in Boston" is a phrase that probably doesn't resonate with many people today. But there was a time when "Footloose" might as well have been set in Beantown. Founded by Puritans in the 1630s, Boston held onto its Puritan zeal -- if not necessarily the Puritan faith -- for centuries. ...

In reference to the Jeff Long article on May 4 on city street conditions at 97% good or fair: My first thought was this was an April Fool's joke. But that can't be, it's May. My second thought -- terms like "good" and "fair" are subjective terms. So maybe Ms. Kelly Green and Mr. Casey Brunke have a calibration problem...

O Lord Jesus, may we encourage one another and build each other up. Amen.

When I began my work 25 years ago, my vision for fixing our poor, broken communities was driven by my belief in America and what made it successful. It's what I call the 3 C's: the principles of Christianity, the virtues of capitalism and the rule of law outlined in our Constitution...

Everyone knows President Joe Biden ran as a moderate and is governing as a leftist radical, yet we see little evidence of Democrats, including the liberal media, breaking ranks from him. Why? I've previously written about the lack of Democrats' dissent from their party's undeniable extremism and have always been met with the response that they don't dissent because there are no longer any moderate Democrats. ...

WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden's promised economic comeback hit a speed bump Friday with the April jobs report, which found modest job gains of 266,000 that complicated his $4 trillion push on infrastructure, education and children. The employment report failed to show that the U.S. ...

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California released this first-ever audio Friday, just before Ingenuity was set to soar on its fifth test flight. The low hum from the helicopter blades spinning at more than 2,500 revolutions per minute is barely audible. It almost sounds like a low-pitched, far-away mosquito or other flying insect...

VIENNA -- World powers held a fourth round of high-level talks Friday aimed at bringing the United States back into the nuclear deal with Iran, with both sides signaling a willingness to work out the major stumbling blocks. The talks began in Austria in early April. Russian delegate Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted following Friday's meeting that "the participants agreed on the need to intensify the process."...

JERUSALEM -- Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinians and wounded a third after the men opened fire on a base in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the latest in a series of violent confrontations amid soaring tensions in Jerusalem. Dozens of Palestinians in an east Jerusalem neighborhood are at risk of being evicted following a long legal battle with Israeli settlers, and Palestinian protesters have clashed with Israeli police in the city on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.. ...

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- Across the border from a devastating surge in India, doctors in Nepal warned Friday of a major crisis as daily coronavirus cases hit a record and hospitals were running out of beds and oxygen. Nepal reported 9,070 new confirmed cases on Thursday, compared to 298 a month ago. The number of fatalities also reached its highest with 58 on Wednesday and 54 on Thursday, for a total of 3,529...

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- A Sherpa guide scaled Mount Everest for the 25th time on Friday, breaking his own record for the most ascents of the world's highest peak. Kami Rita and 11 other Sherpa guides reached the summit at about 6 p.m., Department of Tourism official Mira Acharya said...

MINNEAPOLIS -- A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd's arrest and death, accusing them of willfully violating the Black man's constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air...

NEW YORK -- New York City is still using refrigerated trucks to store bodies of coronavirus victims, more than a year after they were first set up as temporary morgues as deaths surged at at the height of the pandemic. The city's medical examiner's office said Friday that 750 bodies are being kept in long-term storage in refrigerated trailers at a Brooklyn pier while family members sort out plans for their final resting places...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California's population fell by more than 182,000 people in 2020, marking the first year-over-year loss ever recorded for the nation's most populous state. State officials announced Friday that California's population dipped 0.46% to just under 39.5 million people from January 2020 to January 2021...

The Office of the New York Attorney General said in a new report that a campaign funded by the broadband industry submitted millions of fake comments supporting the 2017 repeal of net neutrality. The Federal Communications Commission's contentious 2017 repeal undid Obama-era rules that barred internet service providers from slowing or blocking websites and apps or charging companies more for faster speeds to consumers. The industry had sued to stop these rules before they were repealed but lost...

President Joe Biden is facing a fresh challenge to his oft-repeated commitment to diversity in his administration: assembling a diplomatic corps that gives a nod to key political allies and donors while staying true to a campaign pledge to appoint ambassadors who look like America...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri lawmakers approved a $35 billion budget on Friday that includes no funding for a Medicaid expansion approved by voters, putting Gov. Mike Parson's administration in a position to decide what to do next about the health care program for low-income residents...

BOISE, Idaho -- Authorities say they are trying to determine what prompted a young girl to open fire at a rural Idaho middle school, one of the few school shootings in which the suspect is female. The shooting happened around 9 a.m. Thursday, when police say the girl pulled a handgun out of her backpack and shot two other students and an adult custodian before she was disarmed by a teacher and held until police arrived. ...

** Eunice Curry Eunice Mae Curry, 81, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, May 7, 2021, at Life Care Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home.

PERRYVILLE, MO. -- Evelyn J. Detjen, 76, of Perryville died Thursday, May 6, 2021, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday at Ford and Young Funeral Home in Perryville. Funeral will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Matthew Marks officiating...

SCOTT CITY-- Susan Renee Gilmer, 54, of Scott City died Thursday, May 6, 2021, at Chaffee Nursing Center in Chaffee, Missouri. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City. Funeral will be at 1 p.m. Monday at the funeral chapel, with the Rev. Jeremy Sells officiating. Burial will be in Lightner Cemetery in Scott City...

JEMISON, Ala. -- Thomas Allen Miller of Jemison, 54, died Sunday, May 2, 2021, surrounded by his loved ones. He was born in Cape Girardeau on March 20, 1967, to Richard and Patricia Miller and attended Cape Girardeau Central High School. Thomas worked in the restaurant industry in Gulf Shores, Alabama, for many years. He moved to Alabama and worked in the restaurant and in the RV leisure sales and service industries. Tom enjoyed fishing, golf and grilling and loved his family and friends...

The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to a more complete decontamination of the Kem-Pest Superfund site north of Cape Girardeau; the agreement means that once the process is complete property owners will be able to develop the site as they choose; EPA officials earlier this week outlined their remediation plans for cleaning up contamination in the former pesticides formulation building; the original plan called for demolishing and decontaminating the main building, but leaving most of the basement in place; after further negotiations with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the basement area also will be decontaminated.. ...

Cape Girardeau The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls. May 5 n Medical assists were made at 2:09 a.m. on Greenway Drive; 11:25 a.m. on North Fountain Street; and 11:42 a.m. on North Spanish Street. n At 7:20 a.m., lift assist on South Spring Avenue...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Police Department released the following items. DUI n Driving under the influence was reported in the 500 block of South Frederick Street. n Driving under the influence was reported at Clark Avenue and Whitener Street. Assaults...