Stories from Friday, March 4, 2022

MARBLE HILL, M0. — Ward 1 Alderman Roger Burr resigned his position during a closed session Monday night during a meeting of the Marble Hill Board of Aldermen. Mayor Trey Wiginton announced Burr's resignation following the closed session after the board went back into open session. Burr left City Hall during the closed session and declined to comment...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. — Using a color-coded map of the city of Marble Hill, Woodland Fire Protection District Chief Calvin Troxell showed the Marble Hill Board of Aldermen how inadequate the city's hydrant system has become over the years. Troxell told the board Monday that he and his department conducted a fire test during December and found the system inadequate for the city's current needs...

Dennis Manning dressed as Batman and Lonnie Johnson as Superman take a break in downtown Cape Girardeau. The "heroes" walked down Broadway after donating $5,400 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Manning and Johnson are volunteers with Heroes for Kids, a not-for-profit of law enforcement officers, firefighers, military and costumed heroes with a mission to bring smilles and raise money for charities. Their donation was part of a fundraiser organized by K103 radio station.

KYIV, Ukraine -- Russian forces shelled Europe's largest nuclear plant early Friday in the battle for control of a crucial energy-producing city, and the power station was on fire. Plant spokesman Andriy Tuz told Ukrainian television that shells were falling directly on the Zaporizhzhia plant and had set fire to one of the facility's six reactors. That reactor is under renovation and not operating, but there is nuclear fuel inside, he said...

The co-owners of Bi-State Oil Company, Scott and Lisa Blank, won the 2021 Charles L. Hutson Visionary Award, presented at Old Town Cape's (OTC) annual dinner Thursday at Century Casino. The event theme was "Revitalization: It's Not Trivial." The Blanks, alumni of Southeast Missouri State University, have repurposed two buildings along South Frederick and Morgan Oak streets -- with a third structure connecting them -- creating a centralized art complex for SEMO students studying ceramics, woodworking, metal sculpture, painting and 3D printing.. ...

Repairs are underway at the newly-finished Center Junction, which is between Cape Giardeau and Jackson, after a multivehicle crash damaged a barrier on an Interstate 55 overpass. A crash on Feb. 23 resulted in damage to a barrier on the west side of the southbound I-55 overpass...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Officials in Perryville, Missouri, are hitching their economic development wagon to film production, with one film already scheduled for next year. Thomas Smugala, writer and director of "The Spring," which will be filmed in the region in the summer of 2023, and members of the City of Perryville helped make the Film-friendly Perryville website -- filmfriendlyperryville.com -- to encourage other low-budget producers to film in the town...

Today is Friday, March 4, the 63rd day of 2022. There are 302 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On March 4, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt took office as America's 32nd president. On this date: In 1789, the Constitution of the United States went into effect as the first Federal Congress met in New York. (The lawmakers then adjourned for lack of a quorum.)...

O Lord God, we praise you, for your name is a strong tower. Amen.

The reason Trump should be charged with sedition is he wasn't trying to right a wrong when he had his thugs storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. No, he was trying to simply reverse the outcome of the election. He lost, he knew it, but his ego couldn't take the blow so he was going to steal the presidency. That is what sedition is, stopping the federal government from the peaceful transfer of power...

The weather has turned springlike, and it won't be long before tractors begin criss-crossing fields throughout the region. Seasons don't much matter, though, to those who produce beef, pork and poultry, as their work never ends. Such are the lives of our nation's farmers...

The tragic events of the past week highlight the wisdom in maintaining a fiscally sound house, rather than a highly indebted government, before emergencies strike. Russia's barbaric invasion of Ukraine and the West's response will likely drive inflation even higher. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls. March 2 n Medical assists were made at 5:35 a.m. on South West End Boulevard; 7:43 a.m. on Marlin Drive; 10"18 a.m. on Gordonville Road; 10:39 a.m. on North West End Boulevard; 11:05 a.m. on North Ellis Street; 2:09 p.m. on North Ellis Street; 3:34 p.m. on William Street; 5 p.m. on Lexington Avenue...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Police Department responded to the following calls. Arrest does not imply guilt. Arrests n A warrant arrest was made. n A warrant arrest was made. n A warrant arrest was made on Independence Street. Thefts n Shoplifting was reported on William Street...

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Virginia "Jinny" Lou Johnson died Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021, at the Spring Valley Hospital in Las Vegas. Jinny was born to Frank and Clarabell Link July 31, 1942, and grew up on the family farm near LaPorte, Indiana, with siblings William and Kathleen, as well as a "family" of dogs, feral cats, cows and the chickens who would peck her when she collected their eggs...

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Google-owned Fitbit has recalled 1 million of its Ionic smartwatches after dozens of users reported burn injuries after the battery overheated. The fitness gadget maker says anyone who bought the $299 watch with the model number FB503 should immediately stop using the product and contact Fitbit for packaging to return it. Customers will receive a full refund and a discount of 40% to purchase certain Fitbit products, the company said...

LONDON -- Countries are snapping up the rights to "Servant of the People" -- a comedy series starring the Ukrainian president, as the Ukrainian president. Back in 2015, former actor and comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy played Vasiliy Petrovich Goloborodko, a high school teacher propelled to the presidency after a student's video of him denouncing official corruption in Ukraine goes viral...

The Peace Corps will start sending volunteers overseas again in mid-March after it evacuated them from posts around the world two years ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government program announced Thursday. An initial group of new volunteers and those who were evacuated in March 2020 as the coronavirus began to spread across the globe will go to Zambia and the Dominican Republic this month, according to a Peace Corps statement...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A former Kentucky police officer was found not guilty Thursday on charges he endangered neighbors the night he fired into Breonna Taylor's apartment during a botched drug raid that resulted in Taylor's death. The panel of eight men and four women delivered its verdict for Brett Hankison about three hours after it took the case following closing arguments from prosecution and defense attorneys...

As demand for COVID-19 vaccines collapses in many areas of the U.S., states are scrambling to use stockpiles of doses before they expire and have to be added to the millions that have already gone to waste. From some of the least vaccinated states, such as Indiana and North Dakota, to some of the most vaccinated states, such as New Jersey and Vermont, public health departments are shuffling doses around in the hopes of finding providers that can use them...

NEW ORLEANS -- Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 50 inches of rain on parts of the Texas coast in 2017. Then in 2020, ferocious winds from Hurricane Laura destroyed homes across coastal Louisiana. Hurricane Ida hit in 2021, leaving the entire city of New Orleans without power for days...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri hospitals and nursing homes would have to allow visitors, even during a pandemic, under a bill advanced Wednesday in the Republican-led state House. Lawmakers gave the measure initial approval in a voice vote, meaning it needs another vote to move to the GOP-led Senate...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri officials proposed to cancel public contracts with Russian entities and pull Russian products from stores Wednesday as they joined a growing contingent of U.S. states targeting the country over its war against Ukraine...

ST. LOUIS -- Experts have warned for decades a large swath of the central U.S. is at high risk for a devastating earthquake. They know overcoming complacency is among their biggest hurdles. Hundreds of emergency managers, transportation leaders, geologists and others devoted to earthquake preparedness gathered Thursday in St. Louis for the annual Missouri Earthquake Summit to discuss the latest information on risks, preparedness strategies and recovery planning...

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau is expected to begin a slow fall following yesterday's 39.5-foot crest; the river here should remain at 39.5 feet today, but begin a fall to 38.8 feet tomorrow and drop to 37.2 feet Thursday, according to the National Weather Service; the possibility of one-half inch of rain through tomorrow is factored into the river forecast...

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Elfrieda Marie Williams, 83, of Jackson passed away Wednesday, March 2, 2022, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau, surrounded by family. Elfrieda was born July 26, 1938, in Jackson to William A.H. and Ruby A. Fluegge Aufdenberg. She was a longtime member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Tilsit (rural Jackson), where she was baptized by the Rev. ...

WASHINGTON -- A bill to dramatically boost health care services and disability benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan won approval Thursday in the House. The measure has the backing of the nation's major veterans groups and underscores the continued cost of war years after the fighting has stopped. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday called for more severe sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Parson told reporters gathered for an annual Missouri Press Association Capitol meeting sanctions should be "much more severe" and encouraged any action to "cutoff the Russian influence and hurt them financially."...