Stories from Monday, January 30, 2023

SIKESTON, Mo. — A Georgia man was arrested and faces charges for the murder of a Sikeston couple last week. Cornelius M. David, 33, of Georgia is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to Sgt. Tyler Rowe, public information officer with Sikeston Department of Public Safety...

El Kolibri Coffee & Curiosities, in Cape Girardeau's Indie House at 605 Broadway, Suite 203, launched with a soft open on Christmas Eve and will have a formal ribbon-cutting at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3. Proprietor Karla Cornelius, born and reared in Mexico, is a Spanish teacher at Eagle Ridge Christian School and an assistant cross country and track coach at Saxony Lutheran High School...

A bald man in a blue shirt sits at the head of a conference table, surrounded by coworkers when a woman walks in. You hear her before you see her. "Excuse me, is there a Craig in here? Craig!? Is that YOU? CRAIG?!" the woman says. Well, she doesn't actually say it. She belts it...

Shelly Kaiser has been named retail and membership director of Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce effective Wednesday, Feb. 1. Kaiser most recently served as Alliance Bank mortgage loan originator and won the chamber's WIN Woman of the Year Award in January 2022...

The Jackson School District is looking for a new high school principal following the announcement Seth Harrell is leaving for the same position at Kirkwood High School in Kirkwood, Missouri, near St. Louis. Harrell sent an announcement email to parents Tuesday, Jan. 24. In an interview Friday, Jan. 27, Harrell explained that the move will allow him to live closer to family...

Today is Monday, Jan. 30, the 30th day of 2023. There are 335 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Jan. 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. On this date: In 1649, England's King Charles I was executed for high treason...

O Lord Jesus, we lift our hands to you in praise. Amen.

It's a stretch, but I think I know the real reason the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago. We've been told for months that the DOJ ordered a search of Donald Trump's home in Florida because he was not turning over a bunch of classified documents to the National Archives fast enough...

The community will have its first opportunity to see the creative work of area students this week during the First Friday Art Walk when the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri hosts its 23rd annual Children's Arts Festival. Visual and literary art pieces from more than 20 area schools will be featured at the exhibit. ...

"If people like you, they'll listen to you, but if they trust you, they'll do business with you." ...

Three ribbon-cutting events are scheduled this week in Cape Girardeau ...

Perryville Area Chamber of Commerce will hold Business After Hours at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, at Mediterranean House, 221 W. St. Joseph St. in Perryville, Missouri. n Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce will hold First Friday Coffee on Friday, Feb. 3, at Century Casino Cape Girardeau Event Center, 777 Main St. in Cape Girardeau. Doors open at 7 a.m., with program, also carried on Facebook Live, beginning at 7:45 a.m...

Chad E. Crow, executive vice president and chief credit officer of Farm Credit Southeast Missouri, is being recognized by the organization for 20 years of service. Headquartered in Sikeston, Missouri, Farm Credit is a $950 million agricultural lending cooperative serving Bollinger, Butler, Carter, Cape Girardeau, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Ripley, Scott, Stoddard, and Wayne counties...

Chelsea McDowell will be recognized Wednesday, Feb. 1, as Immaculate Conception School's Distinguished Graduate for 2023. The recognition will come during an all-school Mass during Catholic Schools Week. McDowell, a 2003 graduate of IC in Jackson, is a special-needs coordinator for Amazima Ministries International, working with children in Uganda...

Jason Merritt, RN, has been promoted to manager of the emergency department by Saint Francis Healthcare System. Merritt, who earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Southeast Missouri State University, began working at Saint Francis in 2015...

Stephanie Mirly, FNP-C, ENP-C, has assumed a new role as emergency nurse practitioner in the emergency department with Saint Francis Healthcare. Mirly, whose education includes a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of South Alabama, began her career at Saint Francis in 2016...

Jacob Wolpers, DNP, CRNA, has joined Saint Francis Healthcare as a certified registered nurse anesthetist. Wolpers, who joins the Cape Girardeau-based hospital system from Southern Illinois Healthcare in Carbondale, has earned degrees from Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College and from Webster University...

Rubina A. Mirza, MD, has joined Cape Cardiology Group, Saint Francis Healthcare has announced. Mirza, a native of Pakistan, has 18 years of experience as an interventional cardiologist. The hospital system reported Mirza will primarily see patients at Saint Francis Clinic Dexter and at Piedmont Physician Associates...

In its annual volunteer recognition dinner Friday, Jan. 27, Boy Scouts of America district executive Chance Ziegler announced various successes for the Cape Girardeau-based district last year in what he called "a challenging time for Scouting."...

World Atlas said Cape Girardeau is one of six "underrated" Missouri towns, along with St. James, Bonne Terre, Hermann, Boonville and Columbia. Www.worldatlas.com praised Cape Girardeau for its "nightlife and culture due to its sizeable population and notable student body," with the online site also highlighting the city's arts and performance community, its freshwater aquarium and park system...

Citing inflation, U.S. Postal Service on Sunday, Jan. 22, raised the price of first-class stamps from 60 to 63 cents. The last increase was just six months ago, when the same stamp rose from 58 to 60 cents. Mailing a postcard also got more expensive in the most recent hike, with the cost rising from 44 to 48 cents...

Poplar Bluff, Missouri-based Southern Bancorp, parent of Southern Bank, has completed its buyout of Citizens Bancshares. The Jan. 20 announcement completes a merger first announced last fall. Southern has 40 Missouri locations, including five in Poplar Bluff, two each in Cape Girardeau and Dexter, and single branches in Jackson, Advance and Sikeston...

Family-owned Appleton Valley Farm Inc. said a new 6.924-square-foot building being constructed at 2441 E. Main St. in Jackson should be ready for retail occupancy by Thursday, June 1. The company, owned by the Lichtenegger family, employed Jackson's Tim Dameron Construction as general contractor and South Carolina's Marc Camens as architect...

JERUSALEM -- An alarming spike in Israeli-Palestinian violence and sharp responses by both sides are testing the Biden administration as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken plunges into a cauldron of deepening mistrust and anger on visits to Israel and the West Bank this week...

JERUSALEM -- Israel on Sunday sealed the home of an east Jerusalem man who killed seven people outside a synagogue, in a preliminary step ahead of the expected demolition of the building, as two Palestinian men died from Israeli fire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet approved an order to seal the home of a second Palestinian shooter -- a 13-year-old boy who wounded two Israeli men in east Jerusalem on Saturday. ...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Bomb-carrying drones targeted an Iranian defense factory in the central city of Isfahan overnight, authorities said Sunday, causing some damage at the plant amid heightened regional and international tensions engulfing the Islamic Republic...

LIMA, Peru -- When police fire tear gas at protesters demanding the resignation of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, most run away. A few, though, run toward the gas canisters as quickly as possible -- to neutralize them. These are the "deactivators." Donning gas masks, safety goggles and thick gloves, these volunteers grab the hot canisters and toss them inside large plastic bottles filled with a mixture of water, baking soda and vinegar...

A MILITARY BASE IN SOUTHEASTERN POLAND -- On the front lines in Ukraine, a soldier was having trouble firing his 155 mm howitzer gun. So, he turned to a team of Americans on the other end of his phone line for help. "What do I do?" he asked the U.S. military team member, far away at a base in southeastern Poland. "What are my options?"...

ISTANBUL -- Turkey's president has suggested his country might approve Finland's application for NATO membership before taking any action on Sweden's, while the Turkish government issued a travel warning for European countries due to anti-Turkish demonstrations and what it described as Islamophobia...

WASHINGTON -- As Joe Biden contemplated his next move in 2017 after decades in government, he considered a familiar path -- creating a Washington-based think tank to focus on international affairs and diplomacy. It proved an easy sell and a lucrative one, too...

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Republican lawmakers who have spread election conspiracy theories and falsely claimed that the 2020 presidential outcome was rigged are overseeing legislative committees charged with setting election policy in two major political battleground states...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Former President Donald Trump kicked off his 2024 White House bid with stops Saturday in New Hampshire and South Carolina, events in early-voting states marking the first campaign appearances since announcing his latest run more than two months ago...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Competing priorities, outsized demands and the federal government's retreat from a threatened deadline stymied a deal last summer on how to drastically reduce water use from the parched Colorado River, emails obtained by The Associated Press show...

You've got big financial plans for 2023. Maybe they include buying a home or car, or getting a new travel rewards credit card to help pay for your next trip. There's a key piece of these plans you may not have considered: building your credit score...

KALYNIVSKE, Ukraine -- When night falls in Tatiana Trofimenko's village in southern Ukraine, she pours sunflower oil that aid groups gave her into a jar and seals it with a wick-fitted lid. A flick of a match, and the make-do candle is lit. "This is our electricity," Trofimenko, 68, says...

NEW YORK -- Across the country, there's a silent frustration brewing about an age-old practice many say is getting out of hand: tipping. Some fed-up consumers are posting rants on social media complaining about tip requests at drive-throughs, while others say they're tired of being asked to leave a gratuity for a muffin or a simple cup of coffee at their neighborhood bakery. What's next, they wonder -- are we going to be tipping our doctors and dentists, too?...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The pastor at the Memphis church where Tyre Nichols' family spoke from the pulpit urging peace after his brutal killing reiterated the call for calm Sunday following the release of video showing the fatal beating by police. Cities nationwide have braced for protests after body camera footage was released Friday showing Memphis officers beating 29-year-old Nichols, who died of his injuries three days after the Jan. ...

ALBANY, Ga. -- Jessie Blanchard started small nearly five years ago, just trying to get enough of the rescue drug naloxone that reverses opioid overdoses to keep her daughter from dying from an overdose. She pleaded with colleagues at the college where she's an adjunct teacher in Albany, Georgia, to use their prescription benefits to get two doses every six months...

WASHINGTON -- The National Prayer Breakfast, one of the most visible and long-standing events that brings religion and politics together in Washington, is splitting from the private religious group that had overseen it for decades, due to concerns the gathering had become too divisive...

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Sunday he is looking forward to discussing with President Joe Biden a "reasonable and responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling" when the two meet Wednesday for their first sit-down at the White House since McCarthy was elected to the post...

Jeffery Adam Young, 20, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. — Larry Ray Sides, 80, of Perryville died Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, at his home. He was born Jan. 16, 1943, in Perryville to James Lonnie and Viola Louise Kiefer Sides. Larry and Sue Sarff were married Feb. 7, 1970, at St. Mary's Cathedral in Cape Girardeau...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. — Joyce Sissom Rodgers, 75, of Olive Branch died Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, at her home. Visitation will be from 11 to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31, at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms, Illinois. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31, at the funeral home, with the Rev. Curt Alderson officiating, and eulogy by Amy Parker. Interment will follow at Olive Branch Cemetery...

Alice M. Ahrens, 85, of Jackson died Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, at Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson, and from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Tilsit...

ST. LOUIS -- A Missouri mother who reported that her infant twins were stillborn has been convicted of manslaughter. Maya Caston, 28, was convicted Friday of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and two counts of child endangerment. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the jury found her guilty of lesser charges instead of convicting her of second-degree murder...

An agreement between Alliance Blue Cross Blue Shield and MedAmerica HealthNet Inc. stipulates that the local network won't be liable for losses on a state health insurance contract; the settlement also stipulates all of the doctors and hospitals contracted with MedAmerica HealthNet for the HealthNet Blue product will contract directly with Alliance Blue Cross Blue Shield until at least Oct. ...

Actor Annie Wersching, best known for playing FBI agent Renee Walker in the series "24" and providing the voice for Tess in the video game The Last of Us, has died. She was 45. Wersching died Sunday morning in Los Angeles following a battle with cancer, her publicist told The Associated Press. The type of cancer was not specified...

"Avatar: The Way of Water" claimed the No. 1 spot on the domestic box office charts for the seventh weekend in a row with an additional $15.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. It was a quiet weekend overall, notable mostly for the Hindi language blockbuster "Pathaan" that broke into the top five and the post-Oscar nominations rereleases of films such as "Everything Everywhere All At Once" and "The Fabelmans"...

Here's a collection curated by The Associated Press' entertainment journalists of what's arriving on TV, streaming services and music and video game platforms this week. n If you haven't managed to catch "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" yet, the Marvel sequel arrives on Disney+ on Wednesday, Feb. ...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. — Merlin Orville Kasten, 89, of Perryville passed away Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. He was born Oct. 9, 1933, in Uniontown, Missouri, to Oscar and Martha Rasche Kasten. He was baptized Oct. 15, 1933, at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown by the Rev. J.M. Mueller. He was then confirmed April 4, 1948, by the Rev. Hafner at Grace Lutheran Church...

Auto club federation AAA reports the reopening of China's economy because of the end of COVID lockdowns and the resultant demand for gasoline there is effectively sending pump prices higher in the United States. n $3.51 -- U.S., up 11 cents from a week ago and up 38 cents from a month ago...

January 17, 2023, Adella Frank, of Chaffee, celebrated her 95th birthday. The mother of 5, grandmother of 10, and great-grandmother of 21 marked her special birthday by attending mass and dining out with family members.