Stories from Tuesday, August 9, 2022

ST. LOUIS — President Joe Biden on Monday approved Missouri's request for a federal disaster declaration in response to severe flooding. The declaration makes St. Louis-area residents eligible for federal help with temporary housing, home repairs and some health expenses...

CHARLESTON, Mo. — Police are investigating after a vehicle crashed into a grocery store, injuring several people Saturday in Charleston. According to Charleston Department of Public Safety director Robert Hearnes, the one-vehicle crash occurred about 6:20 p.m. at McClain's Food Center on South Main Street. A vehicle drove into the building, injuring several people, Hearnes said...

Joseph P. Walker II has been charged in connection with the July 3 armed robbery of Marco's Pizza in Cape Girardeau. A Cape Girardeau Police Department news release states Walker is charged with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Walker's cash-only bond is set at $50,000...

The City of Cape Girardeau announced a wave of street repairs could begin as early as next week. Lappe Cement will begin various street repairs on Siemers Drive, including large concrete patch repairs on the roadway from Campster Drive to Lambert Drive...

Christopher Wolk of Patton, Missouri, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of Brandon Stephens, 28, also of Patton, earlier this year, according to a news release issued last week by Bollinger County Sheriff Casey Graham...

Following action of the verification board, Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers on Friday released official results from the Aug. 2 election. John Voss, winner of the GOP primary for House District 147, emerged with 1,616 votes, the same figure released election night. Elaine Edgar and Nate Thomas each gained one vote with Edgar's official tally set at 1,237 and Thomas at 1,185...

The Immanuel Lutheran Parish Hall, 496 Route F in Cape Girardeau County, caught fire Sunday. Gordonville Fire Protection chief Michael Gentry said the cause of the fire has not been determined, but suspects either lightning from Sunday's thunderstorms or a malfunction from the air conditioning unit in the parish hall...

Brooke Perkins accepts a U.S. flag during her father's funeral Thursday. Steven Gregory, 63, an Army veteran, died March 4 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. ...

A continued staffing shortfall has the Cape Girardeau Public Works Department struggling to keep up with normal operations. The issue — which was briefly mentioned in Mayor Stacy Kinder's "state of the city" address last week — is forcing Public Works employees to fill in on different details, work overtime hours and run undermanned crews for projects, among other things...

WASHINGTON — The FBI searched former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate as part of an investigation into whether he took classified records from the White House to his Florida residence, people familiar with the matter said Monday. Trump, disclosing the search in a lengthy statement, asserted agents had opened up a safe at his home and described their work as an "unannounced raid" he likened to "prosecutorial misconduct."...

This summer, I went on a mission trip called Operation Overhaul to Memphis, Tenn., with Vincentian Marian Youth. There, we served the poor, fed the homeless and learned about God’s love. I went with 60 highschoolers I didn’t know beyond a first-name basis, and playing an icebreaker game was one of my favorite experiences...

For years, European policymakers had assured the world that the relatively rapid "transition" to "green" energy was the world's preordained future -- regardless of the costs. Accordingly, many European Union governments followed the advice of green experts. They eagerly shut down coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants to transition immediately to "renewable energy."...

NASHVILLE -- "We don't have refugee camps in Poland," Szymon Czyszek explains. Instead, Poles have welcomed Ukrainians into their private homes, despite often speaking different languages. Czyszek is in the United States for the Knights of Columbus annual convention, giving testimony to what the Knights have seen and done in Poland and Ukraine to help innocent victims of the Russian war on the Ukrainian people. ...

Lord Jesus, thank you that everyone who calls on your name will be saved. Amen.

Gov. Parson recently appointed two outstanding men, David Martin and Andrew Moore, to serve on the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Governors. As a former regent, I understand that they will make many important decisions and these two are excellent choices...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Police Department responded to the following calls. Arrest does not imply guilt. Arrests n A warrant arrest was reported on North Park Avenue. n A warrant arrest was reported on Sheridan Drive. n A warrant arrest was reported...

O'FALLON, Mo. -- Molly Ann Thomas, 87, peacefully passed away at Delmar Gardens of O'Fallon Nursing Home Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. She was born to the late Faye and Barney Edwards Oct. 11, 1934, in Kennett, Missouri. She married the late Dwight Thomas in 1950, and they divorced in 1985...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Peggy Carolyn Little Sitzes, 79, of Marble Hill died Monday, Aug. 8, 2022, in Cape Girardeau surrounded by her loved ones. A memorial service will be held at a later date for Peggy Sitzes and her late husband, Carl, at Plainview Church...

FARRAR, Mo. -- Opal Emma Mahnken, 93, of Farrar died Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022, at Independence Care Center in Perryville, Missouri. She was born Oct. 4, 1928, in Farrar to Theodor and Hilda Verseman Steffens. She and Leonard Mahnken were married Sept. 28, 1948, at Salem Lutheran Church. He preceded her in death May 7, 1988...

Saundra Guth, 68, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson. Funeral service will be at 11 a.m. at the funeral home with the Rev. Sam Roethemeyer officiating. Burial will follow in Russel Heights Cemetery...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Lawrence "Larry" Joseph Brown, 77, of Perryville died Monday, Aug. 8, 2022, at his home. Visitation will be 8 to 10:40 a.m. Saturday at Ford and Young Funeral Home in Perryville with the Rosary at 9:30 a.m. Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Our Lady of Victory Church in Sereno, Missouri, with the Rev. Rickey Valleroy officiating. Burial will be at St. Boniface Cemetery in Perryville...

William "Billy" Hansford Bess II died Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022, at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, after a brief illness. His sisters, Jane and Margaret, cared for Billy before he was transferred by helicopter on Aug. 3 from Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau to Vanderbilt Hospital...

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Picture it: A vacant Beverly Hills bistro has been transformed into the set of a 1980s sitcom about four women living in Miami -- but it's also a working restaurant. Reservations have been going fast at the newly opened The Golden Girls Kitchen. Some patrons have come from out of state to see the pop-up eatery...

BEIJING -- China said Monday it is extending threatening military exercises surrounding Taiwan that have disrupted shipping and air traffic and substantially raised concerns about the potential for conflict in a region crucial to global trade. The announcement further increases uncertainty in the crisis that developed last week with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan...

KYIV, Ukraine -- Russia and Ukraine traded accusations Monday that each side is shelling Europe's biggest nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Russia claimed that Ukrainian shelling caused a power surge and fire and forced staff to lower output from two reactors, while Ukraine has blamed Russian troops for storing weapons there...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- With a cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants holding after nearly three days of violence, Gaza's sole power plant resumed operations Monday and Israel began reopening crossings into the territory. Israel also lifted security restrictions on southern Israeli communities after the Egyptian-mediated truce took effect late Sunday...

HAVANA -- A deadly fire that began at a large oil storage facility in western Cuba spread on Monday, threatening to plunge the island into a deeper energy crisis as it forced officials to shut down a key thermoelectric plant. Flames around dawn enveloped a third tank that firefighters had tried to cool as they struggle to fight the massive blaze in the western province of Matanza that began just days after the government announced scheduled blackouts for the capital of Havana...

WASHINGTON -- The Biden administration said Monday it was shipping its biggest yet direct delivery of weapons to Ukraine as that country prepares for a potentially decisive counteroffensive in the south against Russia, sending $1 billion in rockets, ammunition and other material to Ukraine from Defense Department stockpiles...

Prominent demographers are asking the U.S. Census Bureau to abandon a controversial method for protecting survey and census participants' confidentiality, saying it is jeopardizing the usability of numbers that are the foundation of the nation's data infrastructure...

NEW YORK -- It's a question that keeps some scientists awake at night: Do spiders sleep? Daniela Roessler and her colleagues trained cameras on baby jumping spiders at night to find out. The footage showed patterns that looked a lot like sleep cycles: The spiders' legs twitched and parts of their eyes flickered...

LOST CREEK, Ky. -- President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Monday witnessed the damage from deadly and devastating storms that have resulted in the worst flooding in Kentucky's history, as they visited the state to meet with families and first responders...

Authorities on Monday identified the fourth victim in a series of killings of Muslim men in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the deaths sent ripples of fear through Islamic communities nationwide. Three of the slayings happened in the last two weeks. Now law enforcement officials are seeking help finding a vehicle believed to be connected to the killings in New Mexico's largest city. The common elements were the victims' race and religion, officials said...

DUNCANSVILLE, Pa. -- Researchers are seeking thousands of volunteers in the U.S. and Europe to test the first potential vaccine against Lyme disease in 20 years -- in hopes of better fighting the tick-borne threat. Lyme is a growing problem, with cases rising and warming weather helping ticks expand their habitat. ...

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- The white father and son who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery in a Georgia neighborhood each received a second life prison sentence Monday -- for committing federal hate crimes, months after getting their first for murder -- at a hearing that brought a close to more than two years of criminal proceedings...

Climate hazards such as flooding, heat waves and drought have worsened more than half of the hundreds of known infectious diseases in people, including malaria, hantavirus, cholera and anthrax, a study says. Researchers looked through the medical literature of established cases of illnesses and found that 218 out of the known 375 human infectious diseases, or 58%, seemed to be made worse by one of 10 types of extreme weather connected to climate change, according to a study in Monday's journal Nature Climate Change.. ...

NEW YORK — Olivia Newton-John, the Grammy-winning superstar who reigned on pop, country, adult contemporary and dance charts with such hits as “Physical” and “You’re the One That I Want” and won countless hearts as everyone’s favorite Sandy in the blockbuster film version of “Grease,” has died. She was 73. ...

FLEMING-NEON, Ky. -- Barely a week after floodwaters swept downtown and left a foot of mud and twisted, gutted buildings along Main Street, an incongruous sight appeared: A flashing sign declaring JR's Barber Shop "OPEN." As National Guard troops patrolled outside and volunteers on backhoes mounded up debris, J.R. ...

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Five years after Brian Spaulding's parents found him fatally shot in the home he shared with roommates, his slaying remains a mystery that seems increasingly unlikely to be solved as Portland, Oregon, police confront a spike in killings and more than 100 officer vacancies...

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri has named Greg Jones as the new executive director of the organization; he replaces Beverly Strohmeyer, the director for 12 years, who resigned last month to accept a position with the Missouri Arts Council in St. Louis; Jones formerly served as studio coordinator for the sculpture, metalsmithing and wood shops programs at the University of Iowa in Iowa City...

Each town has their own defining event, providing their community a time to shine. For Sikeston, Missouri, one of those events is the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo. This year marks the 70th annual gathering, which includes a full slate of professional rodeo activities and some big names in musical entertainment...

JACKSON- Caidyn Strand, 18, of Jackson, has earned the highest recognition that American Heritage Girls, Inc. offers to Girl Members, the Stars & Stripes Award. In addition to badge work, references, and personal reflection, Stars & Stripes Award Candidates complete a substantial service project of 100+ hours, which they plan, lead, and implement...

Emily Kellum formerly played soccer for Notre Dame Regional High School and Mineral Area College has Committed to play DI soccer for Chicago State University.