Stories from Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Darlene MacCubbin is in her second year of coordinating the local Toys for Tots campaign for Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Perry, Scott and Stoddard counties for Cpl. Mason O. Yarbrough Marine Corps Detachment No. 1081. Toys for Tots is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2022...

Cape Girardeau Jaycees are once again gearing up for their holiday program that brings joy to hundreds of families. This year will be the 47th for Toybox, a charity program providing Christmas gifts to Cape Girardeau children. The Jaycees work all year to put on the program, said Tiffany Brosey, chairwoman for Toybox. The organization — which is open to anyone in Cape Girardeau ages 18 to 40 — volunteers and hosts fundraisers, including golf and cornhole tournaments, to raise funds for Toybox...

Sarah Geringer lives on the same square mile near Tilsit, Mo., where her ancestors first settled when they immigrated from Germany in the 1880s. She is the fifth generation to live there, and her children are the sixth. An author, blogger, speaker and artist, her roots in this region and admiring the geography of Southeast Missouri while taking walks inspired her to write her latest book about using the objects around her as prayer prompts. ...

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 29, the 333rd day of 2022. There are 32 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Nov. 29, 1947, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the partitioning of Palestine between Arabs and Jews; 33 members, including the United States, voted in favor of the resolution, 13 voted against while 10 abstained. (The plan, rejected by the Arabs, was never implemented.)...

Grace and Drew Keen, Dexter boutique owners of Peachy Keen and Peachy Keen Events, took a leap of faith this year and became the new owners of formerly known Blackbird Monogram and Gifts! With the help of Boutique Manager Anne Marie Schlegel, Blackbird by Peachy Keen is excited to expand their offerings while continuing to provide the best possible service...

O Lord Jesus, may we always remember the reason for the Christmas season. Amen.

According to recent news reports and if the existing situation does not change, a railroad strike will begin on Dec. 9. This is important because approximately 30% of the freight in this country moves by rail. The contract offered by management, which was voted down by four of the 12 unions, provided for raises slightly ahead of inflation. But health care premiums would almost double, and it did not deliver any paid sick days, a major disappointment to workers...

Congratulations to Cape Central and SEMO football teams for successful seasons. Saturday's losses were disappointing, but both teams should be proud of their winning seasons. Good luck next year. When Republicans take control of the House in January their first act will not be to fund the government so it doesn't shut down, or tackle inflation, or even gas prices. ...

Conversations and investments in relationships can go a long way. Our polarized and social media culture fights against these incredibly human things, but we can fight back. I was recently in the Dallas area, meeting a friend for lunch. On the way back, somehow, I wound up talking about some of the most controversial topics with my Uber driver. Abortion came up early and often. So did religion...

A lot has changed since the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, the country club resort and unofficial classified document storage facility where Donald Trump resides. Back in August, the search was denounced by many on the right as an unprecedented outrage befitting a banana republic that challenged the very legitimacy of the American regime...

The City of Jackson is seeking an injunction to stop Holigan Homes from operating what the city considers a sales office in the company's Savannah Ridge Subdivision; "This is a commercial operation in a residential neighborhood," Alderman David Hitt said Friday, confirming that legal action is imminent; Holigan Homes contends it isn't operating a sales office, but rather is operating an open house at a spec home...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls. Nov. 27 n Medical assists were made at 5:10 p.m. on Siemers Drive; 8:09 p.m. at North Main Street and Broadway; and 8:51 p.m. on Cape Meadows Circle. n At 11:47 a.m., residential fire on Lacey Street...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Police Department responded to the following calls. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n A warrant arrest was reported on William Street. n A warrant arrest was reported. n A warrant arrest was reported on East Jackson Boulevard...

BENTON, Mo. — Donna Jean Estes, 66, of Benton passed away Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, surrounded by her husband and daughter, after a courageous battle with cancer. She was born June 3, 1956, in Belleville, Illinois, to the late Amos and Voneline "Polly" Mouser. She and Lloyd Estes were married April 2, 1977, in Scott City. Donna moved to the Scott City area as an early teen and spent most of her adult life in the area. She graduated from Scott City High School in 1976...

George Harlon "Toby" Douglas, 87, died Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, at Unity Baptist Church in Benton, Missouri. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at the church, with the Rev. Dennis Lowe and the Rev. Fred Ritter officiating. Interment will follow in Unity Baptist Cemetery...

Deborah "Debbie" Marie Kempf Bruce, 68, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Boonville, Missouri, passed away unexpectedly while visiting family Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. Deborah Marie Bruce was born Sept. 28, 1954, the daughter of Kenneth and Doris Lorenz Kempf. Debbie married David Bruce on July 5, 1984, in Boonville...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. — Shirley Louise Balsman, 69, of Perryville died Friday, Nov. 25, 2022, at her home. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, at Ford and Young Funeral Home in Perryville and from 8 to 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Silver Lake, Missouri...

Son to Deanre L. Abbage and Ashley Nicole Banks of Bertrand, Missouri, Saint Francis Medical Center, 2:50 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, 2022. Name, Dream Dior. Weight, 5 pounds, 6 ounces. Ninth child, seventh son. Banks is the son of Timothy Banks of Cape Girardeau...

Dr. Oleh Duda was in the middle of a particularly complicated surgery at a hospital in Lviv, Ukraine, when he heard explosions nearby. Moments later, the lights went out. Duda had no choice but to keep working with only a headlamp for light. The lights came back when a generator kicked in three minutes later, but it felt like an eternity...

NEW YORK -- "Gaslighting" -- behavior that's mind manipulating, grossly misleading, downright deceitful -- is Merriam-Webster's word of the year. Lookups for the word on www.merriam-webster.com increased 1,740% in 2022 over the year before. But something else happened. There wasn't a single event that drove significant spikes in curiosity, as it usually goes with the chosen word of the year...

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii -- Waves of orange, glowing lava and smoky ash belched and sputtered Monday from the world's largest active volcano in its first eruption in 38 years, and officials told people living on Hawaii's Big Island to be ready in the event of a worst-case scenario...

BRUSSELS -- Law enforcement authorities in six different countries have joined forces to take down a "super cartel" of drugs traffickers controlling about one third of the cocaine trade in Europe, the European Union crime agency said on Monday. Europol said 49 suspects have been arrested during the investigation, with the latest series of raids across Europe and the United Arab Emirates taking place between Nov. 8-19...

KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine prepared for more Russian strikes against energy and other key infrastructure Monday in what appears to be a weekly pattern, and warned of possible evacuations from the capital. Estonia's foreign minister joined counterparts from six Baltic and Nordic nations -- in the largest delegation to visit Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale war -- to pledge electric generators, warm clothes and food. ...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- An Iranian general on Monday acknowledged that more than 300 people have been killed in the unrest surrounding nationwide protests, giving the first official word on casualties in two months. That estimate is considerably lower than the toll reported by Human Rights Activists in Iran, a U.S.-based group that has been closely tracking the protests since they erupted after the Sept. 16 death of a young woman being held by the country's morality police...

HONG KONG -- Students in Hong Kong chanted "oppose dictatorship" in a protest of China's COVID-19 rules Monday after demonstrators on the mainland issued an unprecedented call for President Xi Jinping to resign in the biggest show of opposition to the ruling Communist Party in decades...

WASHINGTON -- "We the People" is Jill Biden's holiday theme with White House decorations designed for "the people" to see themselves in the tree ornaments, mantel displays, mirrors and do-it-yourself creations that have turned the mansion's public spaces into a winter wonderland...

PHOENIX -- Republican officials in a rural Arizona county refused on Monday to certify the 2022 election ahead of the deadline amid pressure from prominent Republicans to reject a vote count that had Democrats winning U.S. Senate, governor and other statewide races...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The white gunman who massacred 10 Black shoppers and workers at a Buffalo supermarket pleaded guilty Monday to murder and hate-motivated terrorism charges, guaranteeing he will spend the rest of his life in prison. Payton Gendron, 19, entered the plea Monday in a courthouse roughly two miles from the grocery store where he used a semiautomatic rifle and body armor to carry out a racist assault he hoped would help preserve white power in the U.S...

OMAHA, Neb. -- President Joe Biden on Monday asked Congress to intervene and block a railroad strike before next month's deadline in the stalled contract talks, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers would take up legislation this week to impose the deal that unions agreed to in September...

Kevin Johnson might not be facing imminent execution if he was white, attorneys speaking on his behalf told the Missouri Supreme Court on Monday, Nov. 28. Meanwhile, Gov. Mike Parson announced he will not grant clemency. Johnson, 37, is scheduled to die by injection at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, for killing Kirkwood, Missouri, police officer William McEntee in 2005...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Nearly 9,000 laying hens in Webster County were killed after federal officials confirmed an outbreak of bird flu in the flock, state agriculture officials said. It is the 11th case of the highly contagious avian influenza in Missouri this year, involving nearly 435,000 birds on six commercial farms and four backyard flocks, the Missouri Department of Agriculture said...