Stories from Friday, April 28, 2023

Sam Bottini as Patrick and the sardines perform “Super Sea Star Savior” during a rehearsal of “The SpongeBob Musical”, performed earlier this month at Bedell Performance Hall on the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus in Cape Girardeau...

U.S. 61 in Cape Girardeau County will have a 12-foot width restriction as contractor crews work on the shoulder to install roadside lighting. The affected section of highway is from Old Orchard Road to Wanda Lee Street near Jackson, according to a Missouri Department of Transportation news release. The work will take place from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily Tuesday, May 2 through Friday, May 12...

The Thebes (Illinois) Courthouse will reopen for tours Saturday, May 27, and Thebes Historical Society is planning a weekend of events. Tours will be from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. The Thebes Historical Society will host an event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, May 28, that will begin with a community worship service with members of Olive Branch Methodist Church leading the worship and pastor Brent Grodon delivering a message. ...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- A Morehouse, Missouri, woman was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of her grandmother. Ashley M. Riggins, 37, was convicted of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, armed criminal action, abandonment of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and two counts of abuse or neglect of child for the Aug. 3, 2020, stabbing death of 74-year-old Dottie Lutes. The case was heard without a jury before Circuit Judge Ed Reeves on April 20...

A smörgåsbord of the arts will be presented Friday, May 5, at the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus in Cape Girardeau. There will be a showcase of music, theater and dance pieces at 7:30 p.m. in Bedell Performance Hall, as well as an opening gallery presentation of paintings, sculptures and interior design of SEMO's Bachelor of Fine Art students in the Crisp Museum...

A Notre Dame Regional High School senior received a perfect score on her ACT. Evelyn Jones secured a 36 on the standardized test, in addition to being named valedictorian of the Class of 2023. Jones also has received a slew of scholarships and recognitions from various organizations...

A few houses and vehicles were reportedly struck by gunfire Tuesday night, April 25, in Cape Girardeau. Robert Newton, public information officer for Cape Girardeau Police Department, said around 10 p.m., officers responded to the 900 block of Jefferson Street because of a ShotSpotter -- CGPD's contracted gunfire detection system -- alert...

A pair of fundraisers Saturday, May 6, in Southeast Missouri will benefit Southeast Missouri Pets. Mystic Market of SEMO in Cape Girardeau and Ales for Tales in Altenburg, Missouri, will both send proceeds to the no-kill, local shelter. Southeast Missouri Pets will have dogs available for on-site adoption at both events...

The 2023 Cape Riverfront Market will open Saturday, May 6, at 35 S. Spanish St. in downtown Cape Girardeau. The market will take place each Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to noon through October 28. In a news release, Tori Holmes, Cape Riverfront Market manager, stated there will be a variety of vendors selling hot breakfast and lunch foods, farm-fresh produce, baked goods and arts and crafts, "all of which are locally grown, homemade, and handmade."...

More older Southeast Missourians today are receiving "senior food boxes" from Southeast Missouri Food Bank, according to Heather Collier, manager of donor relations and communications manager. So far this year, the Sikeston, Missouri-headquartered not-for-profit, with a newly-opened satellite facility in Jackson, has handed out 5,505 such boxes per month, a 3.9% increase from the 5,300 handed out monthly in 2022...

Today is Friday, April 28, the 118th day of 2023. There are 247 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 28, 1994, former CIA official Aldrich Ames, who had passed U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and then Russia, pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole...

Lord Jesus, we place our hope and trust in you, our Savior. Amen.

The winter sports finalists, along with the keynote speaker, for this year's Semoball Awards were announced Thursday morning for this summer's big event. Finalists for boys and girls basketball, boys and girls wrestling, and girls swimming were unveiled...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls. April 26 n Medical assists were made at 8:47 a.m. on Marie Street; 10:02 a.m. on South Pind Wood Lane; 4:53 p.m. on Linden Street; 4:53 p.m. on William Street; and 11:47 p.m. on South Pacific Street...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Police Department responded to the following calls. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n A warrant arrest for failure to appear was reported. n A warrant arrest was reported on South Kingshighway. Thefts n Shoplifting was reported on William Street...

BENTON, Mo. — Julie E. Michael, daughter of the late James and JoAnn Stewart, was born April 17, 1963, in Cameron, Missouri, and departed her life Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau at the age of 60 years. She was an honors graduate from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau with a bachelor's degree in nursing. Julie was an employee of Southeast Hospital going on 25 years and a resident of Benton...

Gerald L. Jones died peacefully in his sleep Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at home in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home. Funeral will be at 1 p.m. Friday, May 5, at Christ Episcopal Church...

Pam Froemsdorf loved to feel the grass under her bare feet. She loved singing and dancing and laughing. She was always ready to go — Florida, Las Vegas, on a train ride — no matter what the plan was. Pam lost her family at a young age. Her father, Gale, died when she was 19; her brother, Roger, died at birth when Pam was 7; and her mother, Frances "Sparky" Froemsdorf, died 18 years later...

Patricia "Pat/Patsy" Ann Brase, 70, of Cape Girardeau passed away Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at home surrounded by family. The cause of death was bone cancer that she courageously fought for the past two and a half years. She was born Dec. 12, 1952, to Albert and Martha Eftink of Chaffee, Missouri. She married Dan A. Brase on Sept. 8, 1978, in Cape Girardeau. He survives...

CAIRO -- Armed fighters rampaged through a city in Sudan's war-ravaged region of Darfur on Thursday, battling each other and looting shops and homes, residents said. The violence came despite the extension of a fragile truce between Sudan's two top generals, whose power struggle has killed hundreds...

WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden's student loan agenda would be all but obliterated by the U.S. debt legislation passed by House Republicans, dooming his mass cancellation, scrapping a more generous loan repayment option and permanently barring future regulation around student debt...

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Massachusetts Air National guardsman accused of leaking highly classified military documents kept an arsenal of guns and said on social media that he would like to kill a "ton of people," prosecutors said in arguing Thursday that 21-year-old Jack Teixeira should remain in jail for his trial...

JACKSON, Miss. -- The white woman who accused Black teenager Emmett Till of whistling at and accosting her in Mississippi in 1955 -- causing his lynching, which galvanized a generation of activists to rise up in the Civil Rights Movement -- has died at 88...

OMAHA, Neb. -- Federal regulators are warning railroads the long trains they favor can cause all kinds of problems and contribute to derailments, so they want the railroads to ensure their training and operating procedures account for that. The Federal Railroad Administration stopped short of recommending in its latest safety advisory issued Thursday that railroads limit the size of their trains, which can routinely stretch more than 2 miles long. ...

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Two U.S. army helicopters crashed Thursday in Alaska returning from a training flight, the second accident involving military helicopters in the state this year. Each helicopter carried two people, said John Pennell, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Alaska. Pennell said he did not immediately have any other information he could share about the condition of those involved...

CINCINNATI -- Jerry Springer, the onetime mayor and news anchor whose namesake TV show featured a three-ring circus of dysfunctional guests willing to bare all -- sometimes literally -- as they brawled and hurled obscenities before a raucous audience, died Thursday at 79...

WASHINGTON -- Former Vice President Mike Pence testified Thursday before a federal grand jury investigating efforts by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to a person familiar with the matter...

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Former President Donald Trump turned his attention to the general election Thursday, using his first campaign appearance since President Joe Biden launched his own reelection bid to boast of his poll numbers and suggest he has no need to debate his Republican rivals...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A man who was freed from prison last year after his murder conviction was set aside alleges in a lawsuit that Kansas City police framed him in the killing. Keith Carnes, 53, was released from prison in April 2022 after serving 18 years of a life sentence for first-degree murder and armed criminal action...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri voters would need approval from a majority of the state's congressional districts or a 57% statewide vote to amend the state constitution under a proposal the Senate passed Thursday. Senators voted 24 to 10 along party lines in favor of the change, which would go before voters if passed by the House by the May 12 end of session...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's Republican governor Thursday said he's ready to force lawmakers to keep working if they do not send him bills putting limits on transgender kids' health care and participation in sports by the session's upcoming end...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice announced Thursday that he is running for Democrat Joe Manchin's U.S. Senate seat in 2024, setting up what could be a hard-fought campaign between two of the state's most prominent politicians...

NEW YORK -- The first years of the pandemic saw a huge decline in high school students having sex, according to a government survey. Teen sex was already becoming less and less common before COVID-19. About three decades ago, more than half of teens said they'd had sex, according to a large government survey conducted every two years. By 2019, the share was 38%. In 2021, 30% of teens said they had ever had sex. That was the sharpest drop ever recorded by the survey...

Venture Stores Inc. has announced plans to sell and assign leases on most of its stores and other real estate to Kimco Realty Corp.; under terms of the agreement, Kimco will acquire lease rights to 89 Venture properties; at this point in the negotiations, the future of Venture as an anchor store at West Park Mall in Cape Girardeau is not known; it could become a Kmart store, a retail outlet for one of the other Kimco clients, or it could close...

Tucker Carlson has left the building. That in itself was unusual because Carlson hadn’t been in the building most other days over the last couple years. ...

Rolla Resident Kara Roberts represented Missouri this past April in the 2023 United United States of America's MS Pageant. Roberts placed as a Top 12 Finalist and Won the National People's Choice Award. Roberts is the first contestant from Missouri to make the finals. ...