Stories from Thursday, September 16, 2021

Cape Girardeau County Commission 9 a.m. today 1 Barton Square, Jackson Approval of minutes n Minutes of stated meeting of Sept. 13, 2021 Communications/reports -- other elected officials n COVID-19 Update: In an effort to keep Cape Girardeau County residents safe and aware regarding the status of the virus, Emergency Management Agency (EMA) director Mark Winkler will be issuing an update at County Commission meetings. ...

School is back into full swing for many families and that means busy schedules and supper on the run. My niece has two children involved in sports and many after school activities. I talk to her almost every day and it sure brings back memories of our busy days with children in school and after-school activities. She does a great job meal prepping and weekend cooking for the week, and I am so proud of her for cooking for her family and teaching them to cook as well...

Don't be too quick to stash away your bicycle as summer comes to a close. On Oct. 2, the Cape Girardeau County Rotary Club and the Cape Girardeau Evening Optimist Club will once again host the annual Tour de Cape charity bike ride. This is the 22nd year the two clubs have hosted the event, though a big change has been planned for the upcoming Tour de Cape. Rotary president Marc Fulgham said organizers added a 25-mile gravel loop in addition to the tour's 15-, 30- and 60-mile road routes...

Some foods have holes in them. Often a circular shape with a hole in the middle is purely symbolic, as in the Paris-Brest, a pastry shaped like a bicycle wheel, concocted to celebrate a race from Paris to Brest that was a forerunner of the Tour de France. Mostly, however, a hole in a food serves a purpose, as in a Bundt cake, whose hole helps ensure that its typically dense batter gets baked all the way through...

The past couple of weeks I have been hearing about a new drive-up only barbecue joint in Jackson named "DB's Barbecue". It started with a whisper, a quiet Facebook message from a friend encouraging me to check it out. The heat began to build as I overheard people here and there gushing about their DB's experiences, specifically the pulled pork potato skins. ...

Van Buren police officers evacuated about 16 occupied rooms at The Landing shortly before 1 a.m., when a fire at the Carter County hotel and restaurant was called in. Personnel from the Carter County Sheriff’s Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol helped check the building while Van Buren Volunteer Fire Department responded with crews and trucks, said Curt Majors, fire chief.

The conservative advocacy organization Americans for Prosperity-Missouri (AFP-MO) released this week its 2021 Legislative Scorecard. AFP-MO took positions on 11 pieces of legislation in the Missouri General Assembly this year and Sen. Holly Rehder (R-Scott City) emerged with a perfect score, an A-plus, from the group...

One in five people in Southeast Missouri don't have enough food to eat, according to Southeast Missouri Food Bank. To shine light on hunger here and around the nation, the organization will host a series of events and activities throughout September in honor of Hunger Action Month...

In a late afternoon email Wednesday to the Southeast Missouri State University campus, SEMO president Carlos Vargas announced the current mask mandate will be continued until at least Oct. 15. The original Aug. 16 order, which applied "with some exceptions" in all university buildings regardless of a person's vaccination status, was to have expired today...

The Shipyard is back after a brief pandemic hiatus for its third year of food, fun and your favorite people in one place, raging to your old favorite bands and discovering new music to put on repeat. This year, we're on The Grounds at Century Casino Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17 and 18, with two stages, where we'll have 10 nationally-touring bands and seven local musicians from our Scout Sessions playing...

COVID-19-related deaths continue to rise in Southeast Missouri, albeit at a slow pace, while cases of the virus are increasing more rapidly in most places. Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center officials reported three virus-related deaths Wednesday. For the pandemic, 149 county residents have died because of the virus...

VAN BUREN — Smoke still rose above the Current River on the west side of Van Buren Wednesday morning, hours after a fire destroyed The Landing, an icon in the community for decades. “We’re heartbroken, obviously, but we care as much for the community and how it impacts them. I’m at a loss for words,” said Matt Bedell, son of owners Tom and Della Bedell...

A week after President Joe Biden announced sweeping COVID-19 vaccination mandates for the nation's 17 million health care workers, hospitals say they are waiting for definitive guidelines before deciding how to respond. "We are trying to figure all this out," said Jimmy Wilferth, marketing and foundation vice president at Saint Francis Healthcare System. "It's complicated."...

Motorists and pedestrians in downtown Cape Girardeau are noticing an upgrade underway on the steps leading from North Spanish Street to the mid-19th century-built former Common Pleas Courthouse -- the latter of which is now part of the new City Hall complex due for completion Dec. 1...

It's "aboat" time for downtown Cape Girardeau's third Shipyard Music Festival. The event will be held Friday and Saturday at Century Casino Cape Girardeau and feature two stages, one sponsored by Southeast Missouri State University and one by the casino...

Today in History Today is Thursday, Sept. 16, the 259th day of 2021. There are 106 days left in the year. Today's Highlights in History: On Sept. 16, 1974, President Gerald R. Ford announced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam war deserters and draft-evaders...

It's your right to eat undercooked chicken. It's not a business' right to serve you that undercooked chicken. If you don't understand how that analogy applies to the federal vaccine mandate then you should sit in the woods waiting for a tree to fall so you can blame some conspiracy theory on why it made a sound...

On Nov. 2, the voters of Cape Girardeau are being asked to approve a use tax (internet sales tax). To enable me to be an informed Voter, I would appreciate answers to the following questions. 1. What is a use tax (internet sales tax)? 2. Is this a new tax?...

In 1983, Tom Cruise starred in the film "Risky Business." It's about wealthy parents in Chicago who go on vacation and leave the house under the stewardship of their high school-age son. In short order, the boy throws a wild party, and the rest of the film is about the chaotic fallout...

O Heavenly Father, with a humble heart may we seek your guidance. Amen.

COLUMBIA, Mo.-- Two lawyers are demanding the removal of two courthouse murals in Columbia showing a white man pointing a gun at a Native American man, shirtless Black men chained by their ankles, and white men being hanged and whipped. Gary Oxenhandler and Rusty Antel say the artwork in the Boone County Courthouse, which was painted by Sidney Larson in 1994, has been "personally and professionally upsetting," The Columbia Missourian reported Tuesday...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- An Independence, Missouri, police officer is hospitalized with critical injuries and another man is dead after a shooting Wednesday morning. Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Andy Bell said two officers went to a residence in Independence about 11:30 a.m. in response to a call to dispatch and were met by a man who fired a handgun at the officers...

CAPE GIRARDEAU The Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls. Sept. 14 n Medical assists were made at 12:13 a.m. on South Broadview Street; 9:03 a.m. on Walnut Street; 9:53 a.m. on Haddock Street; 12:55 p.m. on Olive Street; 2:36 p.m. on Shirley Drive; 4:24 p.m. on North Frederick Street; 9:16 p.m. on Stone Hill...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Jesse Willard Steele, 77, of Perryville died Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, at his home. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at Ford and Young Funeral Home in Perryville. Funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Monday at the funeral home with the Rev. Benjamin Chapman officiating. Burial with military honors provided by VFW Post 4282 and Delta Team will be at Home Cemetery in Perryville...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Surrounded by his loving family, the Rev. Jasper David "J.D." Smith, 80, went to be with the Lord Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. He was born July 15, 1941, in Patton, Missouri, to Marion David and Florence Willard Scott Smith. He and Mary Ann Stovall were united in marriage on Sept. 17, 1960. She survives...

Bobby G. Roloff, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021, at his home. Arrangements are pending at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

BENTON, Mo. -- Mary Margaret Margrabe, 85 of Benton died Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, at her home. She was born Dec. 14, 1935, in Benton to Edward and Alma Scherer Heuring. She married Marvin Margrabe on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 1953. She retired as a machine operator at Thorngate in Chaffee, Missouri, after 44 years, then returned to school to obtain her GED at the age of 62. ...

Son to William Ray Simmons and April Cherie Fulton of Marble Hill, Missouri, Saint Francis Medical Center, 8:26 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. Name, Legend Ray. Weight, 5 pounds, 6 ounces. Fourth child, second son. Fulton is the former April Rosenthal. She works at Casey's. Simmons is the son of Jimmy and Laura Simmons of Phoenix, Arizona. He is employed by Havco Wood Products...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The community is already promising to help rebuild a historic Black church destroyed by fire early Friday morning; the fire that destroyed Greer Chapel Church has been ruled "incendiary in nature" by the state fire marshal's office...

There are many ways in which you can support your immune system against COVID-19. From diet and exercise to supplementing your nutrition, it’s important to give your body the best defense as we enter into cold/flu season and as new variants of the COVID-19 virus emerge...