Stories from Wednesday, December 6, 2023

A Charleston, Missouri, man has been arrested in Cape Girardeau County for several crimes stemming from an incident last month. According to an arrest warrant, Zy'Quan Williams, 18, faces five counts -- burglary and two counts each of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon...

Seniors and Lawmen Together (SALT) will be holding its annual Christmas party from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7. The Christmas party will be held at the Cape Girardeau Eagles No. 3775 at 321 N. Spring Ave. in Cape Girardeau. Cape Girardeau County senior citizens are invited to join SALT for an afternoon of fun, with musical entertainment provided by the Alma Schrader School Choir. ...

People of all ages celebrate this year's Scott City Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 2, in Scott City. The parade began at Crites Street and ended at Lincoln Street. More photos are in a gallery at www.semissourian.com.

Southeast Missouri State University opened its new Transfer Center on Friday, Dec. 1. The center will help incoming students through the process of transferring into SEMO from other schools. According to a news release from the university, the new Transfer Center will serve as a one-stop resource for transferring students from recruitment to enrollment. ...

When Hamas attacked Israel and kidnapped people for hostages Oct. 7, Cape Girardeau native Charles Lynn couldn't stand by. Lynn, who now lives in Texas but returned to his hometown Cape Girardeau on Thanksgiving after serving in a humanitarian role near the Gaza border, has regularly visited Israel for about 40 years...

Looking for a girls night out or wanna do some local Christmas shopping? Look no further, Flourish, a magazine for Southeast Missouri women, is holding Flourish at the Farm on Thursday, Dec. 7. This event, from 5:30 until 9 p.m., will be held at Rusted Route Farms, located at 5739 Route W in Jackson...

When the Jackson Board of Aldermen convened Monday, Dec. 4, the bulk of the meeting was spent in study session. There, the board heard from management consultant Shad Burner about the future plans of Southeast Missouri Regional Economic Development Inc., or SE MO Redi...

Today in History Today is Wednesday, Dec. 6, the 340th day of 2023. There are 25 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Dec. 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery, was ratified as Georgia became the 27th state to endorse it...

Charlie Garber started his men’s clothing store on Good Hope Street in the early 1950s when men took their appearance more seriously, and the occasion to dress well was more frequent and expected. In August of 1960, he made a bold move and relocated his store to a brand new retail center, The Town Plaza Shopping Center. ...

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's address to Congress on Dec. 8, 1941, in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 -- his "day of infamy" speech -- is among the most iconic messages ever delivered by an American leader. But FDR was not the first Roosevelt to speak to the nation about the events of that tragic day...

President Biden went to Lauren Boebert's home district to announce a new program for building components for wind turbines. He made sure the crowd knew she voted against the program and didn't want it because it was a Democratic bill. She's not doing well in her re-election bid with the Beetlejuice vaping and grope-fest she and her boyfriend put on, and that announcement didn't help her either. Her political days are numbered...

O God, protect those in harm's way and thank you for those who have fought for freedom. Amen.

Here in southeastern and south-central Missouri, we're very blessed to live in an area that's home to some of the best hunting found anywhere in the state. While we always set out hoping for a successful day, what makes hunting really special is that it's an opportunity to spend time with friends and family, making memories we'll never forget. ...

"Diplomacy is the art of hope." Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger quoted Pope Benedict XVI in what must have been the final public address he made, just weeks before his death. Kissinger was speaking at the annual Al Smith Dinner for charity in New York, an event he'd regularly attended for decades. For myriad reasons, Kissinger being the keynote speaker was important...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls. Dec. 4 n Medical assists were made at 1:58 a.m. on South West End Boulevard; 2:11 a.m. on South Benton Street; 5:52 a.m. on Kingsway Drive; 1:34 p.m. on Franks Lane; 2:21 p.m. on Megan Drive; 2:54 p.m. on Sycamore Circle; 4:16 p.m. on South Mount Auburn Road; 4:53 p.m. on Brenda Kay Court; 5:47 p.m. on Whitener Street; and 6:05 p.m. on Sailer Circle...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Police Department responded to the following calls. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrests n A warrant arrest was reported on Morgan Oak Street. n A warrant arrest was reported. Assault n Third-degree assault was reported on Whitener Street...

Nancy Ruth Smith, 79, of Friedheim passed away Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, surrounded by her loved ones. Nancy was born April 23, 1944, in Cape Girardeau to Joseph and Ruby Kranawetter. She was the first of four daughters...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. — Douglas David Long, 65, of Marble Hill died Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, at his home, surrounded by his loving family. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, at Ford and Liley Funeral Home in Marble Hill. Funeral will be at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, at the funeral home, with pastors Otis Long and Terry Douglas officiating. Burial will be at Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield...

CAMBRIA, Ill. — Andrew Wayne Chandler, 31, of Cambria died Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023, at his father's home in Goreville, Illinois. He was born May 10, 1992, in Cape Girardeau, the son of Darrell Chandler and Kelley Matlock. Andrew was a 2010 graduate of Shawnee High School. ...

Veronica Mae Anderson, 85, of Scott City died Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, at her home. There will be a graveside service at 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, at Lightner Memorial Cemetery in Scott City, with the Rev. Barry Pfanstiel officiating. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements...

BOSTON -- President Joe Biden told campaign donors Tuesday that he wasn't sure he'd be running for reelection if Donald Trump wasn't also in the race, warning that democracy is "more at risk in 2024" and that the former president and his allies are out to "destroy" democratic institutions...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The next head of Missouri's education department will be Republican state Sen. Karla Eslinger, a former teacher, principal and school district superintendent whose first day on the job will be in mid-2024, officials said Tuesday...

LOS ANGELES -- Hollywood's actors have voted to ratify the deal with studios that ended their strike after nearly four months, leaders announced Tuesday. The approval of the three-year contract from the members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists was no certainty, with some prominent members voicing dissent on the deal for which the union leaders bargained...

NEW YORK -- A Donald Trump ally who worked in his Justice Department said Tuesday that if the former president is elected again, his administration will retaliate against people in the media "criminally or civilly." Kash Patel, who was also chief of staff in the Defense Department and held a role on the National Security Council, made the comment on Steve Bannon's podcast. ...

NEW YORK -- Former President Donald Trump declined to rule out abusing power if he returns to the White House after Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity asked him Tuesday to respond to growing Democratic criticism of his rhetoric. The GOP presidential front-runner has talked about targeting his rivals -- referring to them as "vermin" -- and vowed to seek retribution if he wins a second term for what he argues are politically motivated prosecutions against him. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Prosecution of violent crime in St. Louis is rising sharply in the six months since an embattled progressive prosecutor was replaced by an appointed circuit attorney, according to the prosecutor's office. Gabe Gore said Tuesday that his office has prosecuted 45% more cases than in the same six-month period of 2022, when Kim Gardner was the city's top prosecutor. ...

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Mike Johnson told fellow Republicans on Tuesday that sweeping changes to U.S. border policy would be their "hill to die on" in negotiations that have already grown tense as Congress considers President Joe Biden's $110 billion package for the wars in Ukraine and Israel and other security needs...

WASHINGTON -- In a rare punitive move against Israel, the State Department said Tuesday it will impose travel bans on extremist Jewish settlers implicated in a rash of recent attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the step after warning Israel last week that President Joe Biden's administration would be taking action over the attacks. ...

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The owner of a Virginia house that exploded as police tried to execute a search warrant is believed to have died in the blast, officials said Tuesday, as details emerged about numerous grievances he expressed against neighbors and others on social media and in lawsuits...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate in a single stroke Tuesday approved about 425 military promotions after Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama ended a monthslong blockade of nominations over his opposition to a Pentagon abortion policy. Tuberville had been under pressure from members of both sides of the political aisle to end his holds as senators complained about the toll it was taking on service members and their families, and on military readiness...

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip -- Israel said Tuesday that its troops had entered Gaza's second-largest city as intensified bombardment sent streams of ambulances and cars racing to hospitals with wounded and dead Palestinians, including children, in a bloody new phase of the war...

BATU PALANO, Indonesia -- Rescuers searching the hazardous slopes of Indonesia's Mount Marapi volcano found the last body of climbers who were caught by a surprise weekend eruption, raising the number of confirmed dead to 23, officials said Wednesday...

LIMA, Peru -- Peru's constitutional court ordered an immediate humanitarian release Tuesday for imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori, 85, who was serving a 25-year sentence in connection with the death squad slayings of 25 Peruvians in the 1990s...

NEW YORK -- Denny Laine, a British singer, songwriter and guitarist who performed in an early, pop-oriented version of the Moody Blues and was later Paul McCartney's longtime sideman in the ex-Beatle's solo band Wings, has died at age 79. Laine, inducted five years ago into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Moody Blues, died Tuesday in Naples, Florida. The cause was interstitial lung disease, according to an announcement on Laine's Instagram page by his wife, Elizabeth Hines...

JERUSALEM -- A man hiding in a pit during the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on an outdoor music festival in Israel said he heard someone nearby screaming she was being raped. Elsewhere in the area, a combat paramedic saw the body of a young woman with her legs open, her pants pulled down, and what looked like semen on her lower back. An army reservist who was tasked with identifying those killed by the militants said some of the women were found wearing only bloodied underwear...

Some 900 of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese's 57,439 parishioners will receive tickets to attend the papal Mass on Jan. 27 in St. Louis; the tickets will be distributed by the parish pastors based on the number of members in each parish, the number of tickets alloted for each church ranging from as many as 62 to as few as two...

PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release The Season’s Spectacular Christmas Country Church Tour is here! 18th annual Christmas Country Church Tour featuring 37 rural churches in Perry, Cape Girardeau, Ste. Genevieve and Bollinger counties December 14th and 15th 2023, 2pm-9-pm each day...

The Missouri Public Transit Association (MPTA) has elected Ginny Smith, Executive Director of the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority (CGCTA), to its Board of Directors. She will serve a two-year term. Smith has more than 15 years of safety, compliance and growth experience within the transportation industry. ...

Did'ja ever stop and think about a clay pot representing our bodies, which are earthen vessels? 2 Corinthians 4:7 tells us, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us (KJV)." The NIV calls it treasures in jars of clay,...