Stories from Friday, June 18, 2021

Two Oran, Missouri, women were injured in a vehicle wreck on U.S. 61 in Morley, Missouri. A Missouri State Highway Patrol report said the crash occurred at about 8 a.m. Thursday when a southbound 2007 Chevrolet Malibu driven by Kathryn Hamilton, 71, was attempting to turn left and was struck by a southbound 2017 Nissan Versa driven by Emily Phillips, 23. The report described their injuries as "moderate," and the women were taken to Cape Girardeau hospitals...

A Sikeston, Missouri, man was arrested Wednesday night on two warrants and other alleged violations. A Missouri State Highway Patrol report said Gary Farrar, 27, was taken into custody just before midnight Wednesday on two felony Scott County warrants. He was cited for alleged false impersonation and failure to wear a seat belt...

Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers arrested a Sikeston, Missouri, woman Wednesday night for alleged drug violations. A Patrol report said Leigh Fisher, 37, was taken into custody in Scott County for two counts of alleged felony possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine and Xanax), felony possession of a controlled substance in a correctional facility, misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance (marijuana), misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, no front license plate and failure to wear a seat belt.. ...

More than 20 out of every 100,000 Missourians died from intentional self-harm in 2018. Katie Ellison from the Missouri Institute of Mental Health (MIMH) wants to change that statistic. Ellison along with her colleagues at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health launched the Gun Suicide Prevention Planning Project earlier this year. The project aims to reduce the availability of guns for people with suicidal ideation or substance abuse in Southeast Missouri...

The American Tractor Museum in Perryville, Missouri, will host Max Armstrong, an American agriculture broadcaster and Indiana native, July 23 as its first fundraising event for museum expansion. The museum features 60 tractors and opened in August to celebrate tractors as the backbone of America...

Officials with the Cape Girardeau School District now have definitive figures on what the long-planned civic center project at Jefferson Elementary, which will house an aquatics center, may cost. A formal bid opening Thursday afternoon from a quartet of contractors revealed prices somewhat higher than administrators had originally hoped...

Attendees at Thursday’s Scott City Area Chamber of Commerce monthly breakfast heard an eye-opening presentation about a common tiny insect just in time for travel season. Chris Horrell, owner of Cape Girardeau’s Bug Zero pest control company since 2009, gave chamber members advice about dealing with bedbugs when away from home...

WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden signed legislation Thursday establishing a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery, saying he believes it will go down as one of the greatest honors he has as president. Biden signed into law a bill to make Juneteenth, or June 19, the 12th federal holiday. The House voted 415-14 on Wednesday to send the bill to Biden, while the Senate passed the bill unanimously the day before...

Today is Friday, June 18, the 169th day of 2021. There are 196 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On June 18, 1812, the War of 1812 began as the United States Congress approved, and President James Madison signed, a declaration of war against Britain...

"The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly, and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him." (Proverbs 23:24) This weekend we celebrate Father's Day, a time to recognize the dads our there doing it right. The ones playing catch in the back yard and going to piano and dance recitals. The ones taking their families to church. The men engaged in the lives of their children and modeling what it means to be a person of good character...

For several decades now, politicians around the world have tried to curtail tax competition to make it easier for them to increase the tax burdens on their citizens without them fleeing to other lower-tax jurisdictions. The best way to achieve their goal is to create a global high-tax cartel. If implemented, the recent G7 countries' agreement to impose minimum taxes on multinational companies would get them much closer to this shady objective...

Betty Eileen Miller Smith died Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at The Villas of Jackson Memory Care Unit at the age of 90. She was born July 16, 1930, at the family farm outside of Oak Ridge, the daughter of Payton and Hazel Kurre Miller. The Millers settled in Cape Girardeau County in 1803. Betty was proud of her long Cape County heritage...

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Jim Ray of Tucson, formerly of Cape Girardeau, passed away Saturday, June 12, 2021. He was born Aug. 25, 1947. Jim was one of those rare people who used the totality of his life experiences to benefit the lives of others. He was a man whose faith was forged in the darkest moments of alcoholism and addiction. ...

Marvalyn Obermiller, 90, of Jackson passed away Wednesday, June 16, 2021 at her home. She was born May 15, 1931, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Albert and Lula Fassel Holschen. She and Jesse E. Obermiller were married July 27, 1950. He passed away Aug. 16, 2016...

Daughter to Chris R. and Jacquaisha L. Carter of Sikeston, Missouri, Saint Francis Medical Center, 6:04 p.m. Monday, May 24, 2021. Name, Malia Dana. Weight, 6 pounds, 12 ounces. Third daughter. Mrs. Carter is the former Jacquaisha Lane, daughter of Jackie and Eddie Lane of Sikeston. She works at Rally's. Carter is the son of Dana and Wesley Carter of Sikeston. He is employed by Unilever...

OMAHA, Neb. -- Strong growth continues across rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states and three states now have more jobs than they did before the coronavirus pandemic began, according to a monthly survey of bankers released Thursday. The overall Rural Mainstreet economic index slipped in June to 70 from May's record high of 78.8, but it remained in positive territory. Any score above 50 suggests a growing economy, while a score below 50 suggests a shrinking economy...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri is at risk of losing $4.5 billion in tax revenue and federal funding for Medicaid because of a fight between lawmakers over contraceptives. At issue is a state tax on hospitals, doctors and other health care providers used to draw down billions of dollars in federal funding for the government health insurance program, which covers children, low-income adults and people with disabilities...

ST. LOUIS -- A 13-year-old boy was apparently trying to stop his father from strangling his mother when he shot both parents in their St. Louis home, police said. The shooting happened around 10 a.m. Wednesday in St. Louis' Academy neighborhood, television station KMOV reported. St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers called to the home found a 50-year-old man shot in his lower body and a 47-year-old woman shot in the torso...

Justice Samuel Alito called it a "wisp" of a decision -- a Supreme Court ruling Thursday favoring Catholic Social Services in Philadelphia but was far from the constitutional gale wind that would have reshaped how courts interpret religious liberty under the First Amendment...

JIUQUAN, China -- Three Chinese astronauts arrived Thursday at China's new space station at the start of a three-month mission, marking another milestone in the country's ambitious space program. Their Shenzhou-12 craft connected with the space station module about six hours after taking off from the Jiuquan launch center on the edge of the Gobi Desert...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court, though increasingly conservative in makeup, rejected the latest major Republican-led effort to kill the national health care law known as "Obamacare" on Thursday. The justices, by a 7-2 vote, left the entire Affordable Care Act intact in ruling Texas, other GOP-led states and two individuals had no right to bring their lawsuit in federal court. ...

WASHINGTON -- Georgetown University ecologist Emily Williams first became fascinated with birds not because of their beauty, or their sweet songs. She was riveted by their extraordinary travels. "Realizing that this tiny animal that can fit in the palm of your hand can travel thousands and thousands of miles one way in spring, and then does it again later in the year, was just amazing to me," she said. "I have always been dazzled by migration."...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri state offices will be closed today in honor of Juneteenth, a new national holiday commemorating the end of slavery. The Missouri Office of Administration announced the closures Thursday, after President Joe Biden signed a law declaring Juneteenth a federal holiday...

ST. LOUIS -- A St. Louis couple who gained notoriety for pointing guns at social justice demonstrators pleaded guilty Thursday to misdemeanor charges, but the man left the courthouse defiantly pledging to "do it again" if faced with the same circumstances...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri's governor and attorney general said in a defiant letter to the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday they stand by the state's new law banning police from enforcing federal firearms rules. Gov. Mike Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt wrote they still plan to enforce the new law, which Parson signed Saturday. The measure penalizes local police departments if their officers enforce federal gun laws...

Bless, O God, those who call upon you and seek your guidance and mercy. Amen.

Elizabeth Dole, wife of GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole, will visit Cape Girardeau tomorrow as part of a Republican campaign rally; the Victory '96 rally will be held in the Holiday Inn Oak Room from 4 to 5:30 p.m.; it won't be Elizabeth Dole's first visit to Cape Girardeau: The former labor secretary campaigned for her husband in Cape Girardeau in March 1988 during his failed primary bid for president...