Stories from Saturday, January 20, 2024

Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy and local attorney Jason Crowell were appointed to the SE MO REDI board of advisers during the Cape Girardeau County Commission's meeting Thursday, Jan. 18. The economic development organization now known as SE MO REDI had previously been known as Cape Girardeau Area Magnet until 2022...

SIKESTON -- Sikeston Regional Chamber and Area Economic Development Corp. kicked off the new year with its first luncheon Thursday, Jan. 18, at the Clinton Building in Sikeston. During the luncheon, Kathy Medley, executive vice president of the chamber, discussed several major events in 2024, including the Balloon Festival, Tourist Award, Total Eclipse of the Park and Veterans Project...

Scout Hall is bringing back a sense of nostalgia magic with their upcoming event, a grown-up book fair on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16 and 17. The anticipation Scholastic Book Fair day is a memory many adults have. Those who attend this nostalgia throwback will be able to browse the racks of local bookstore, The Book Rack...

In the next several days, he Southeast Missouri region will climb out of a cold snap that saw temperatures plunge into single digits. By Monday, the forecast calls for temperatures to reach the upper-30s and mid-40s on Tuesday. The temperatures during the recent frigid spell did not come close to cracking the one top 10 coldest days in Cape Girardeau history, at least as recorded by the National Weather Service since 1960...

Fishing anglers can harvest trout from parks in Jackson, Perryville and Sikeston beginning Feb. 1, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. Fishermen may catch and release the trout before the harvest time. Only flies, artificial lures and unscented plastic baits can be used to catch trout before Feb. 1. After Feb. 1, any bait may be used. Anglers may harvest up to four trout...

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in the St. Louis district seized enough fentanyl in 2023 to kill 24 million people. The St. Louis DEA took possession of 735 pounds of fentanyl powder and more than 345,000 fentanyl-laced pills last year, according to a news release. That amount equates to about 24 million fatal doses...

Today is Saturday, Jan. 20, the 20th day of 2024. There are 346 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first chief executive to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 instead of March 4. On this date:...

Attorney Scott Lipke will challenge Jackson Mayor Paul Sander in the general election in April, providing Sander with his first opposition since he was first elected in 1993; Lipke, a former assistant prosecuting attorney for Cape Girardeau County, filed for the mayor's seat yesterday, the last day of filing for the election...

If you know about the Work Projects Administration, or WPA, you likely know it was part of the New Deal, President Franklin Roosevelt's program to get Americans working again in the wake of the Great Depression. The WPA is probably most strongly associated with public building projects all over the country, including Jackson's Post Building (formerly the city's post office) and Cape Girardeau's Lorimier School, now in transition to become the Kellerman Foundation's museum, but the WPA also employed people to help with document conservation projects. ...

There are numerous ways to learn how to garden, and Marge and I've tried many of them. The ones we learn the most from seem to be the absolute failures and the huge successes. We've had both. One failure was growing onions from seed. I got this brilliant idea to plant onion seeds and grow my own transplants. Now transplants are usually about $3 to $4 per 50 to 60 transplants, so I wasn't going to save a ton of money. I just wanted to see if I could...

This is a representation of a historic old house that stands on Mingo National Wildlife Refuge near Puxico. It is in a remote area of the refuge and seldom visited. My internet search for information on this old house turned up nothing. Information I gained from talking to individuals in and near Puxico revealed that the cabin was built by a family named Sweet on or around the year 1905...

The Town and Country FCE club met Saturday, Jan. 13 in home of Mary Klaproth. Debbie Brown and Gayle Gilyeart were guests at the meeting. The devotion was given by the hostess titled "love one another." Darlene McCain presented a game that was a paper snow ball throwing contest...

Monday: Beef Stroganoff over noodles or white chicken chili with 1/2 sandwich, green peas, steamed carrots, whole-grain bread and chilled pears or fresh-baked cookies. Tuesday: Pulled pork or roast chicken breast, sweet potato, green beans, whole-grain hot roll and pineapple tidbits or coconut delight...

It is usually a good thing to have your name on a list. We may think of an "A" list of Hollywood actors, a top 100 list of professional athletes in sports or maybe the dean's list. There are also lists that no one would desire to see his or her name, such as a sex offender's list. I will say more about that later...

In 2019, Strava, a social network for athletes, conducted an extensive research project on New Year's Resolutions, discovering that 80% of those who set new goals quit them by the second Friday in January -- nationaltoday.com/quitters-day/. Designating Jan. 12, 2024, as National Quitters Day...

The following students have been named to the fall 2023 Dean's List at Southeast Missouri State University. Advance: Jeremy Limbaugh, Jenny Burrow, Victoria Pixley, Colton White, Jolie Pickett, Mikayla Mikels, Alyssa Miles, Ashtin Fowler. Altenburg: Brooke Schuessler, Alli Haertling, Ethan Schmidt...

BRUSSELS -- NATO will launch its biggest military exercises in decades next week with around 90,000 personnel set to take part in months of drills aimed at showing the alliance can defend all of its territory up to its border with Russia, top officers said Thursday...

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Friday it has tested a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone in response to a combined naval exercise by South Korea, the United States and Japan this week, as it continues to blame its rivals for raising tensions in the region...

TOKYO -- As Japan's space agency prepares for its first moon landing early Saturday, it's aiming to hit a very small target. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, is a lightweight spacecraft about the size of a passenger vehicle. It's using "pinpoint landing" technology that promises far greater control than any previous moon landing...

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday rejected calls from the United States to scale back Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip or take steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian state after the war, drawing an immediate scolding from the White House...

ATLANTA -- Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis hired attorney Nathan Wade to lead the Georgia prosecution of Donald Trump and 18 others over efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Now, allegations of a romantic relationship between Willis and Wade are raising questions about his past work and qualifications and threaten to taint one of four criminal cases against the former president...

ATLANTA -- Donald Trump used his social media platform Friday to mock Nikki Haley 's birth name, the latest example of the former president keying on race and ethnicity to attack people of color, especially his political rivals. In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump repeatedly referred to Haley, the daughter of immigrants from India, as "Nimbra." Haley, the former South Carolina governor, was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, as Nimarata Nikki Randhawa. ...

Cape Girardeau County Commission 9 a.m. Monsday, Jan. 22 1 Barton Square, Jackson Approval of minutes n Approval of minutes of the Thursday, Jan. 18, meeting Communications/reports -- other selected officials/department heads n Updates on new jail and 1908 courthouse project...

Sign installation set for SB I-55 in Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Cape and Scott counties Southbound Interstate 55 in Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Cape Girardeau and Scott counties will have reduced shoulders, allowing contractor crews to install new signage on the right of way. According to a Missouri Department of Transportation news release, the work will take place from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily:...

Anyone who has read and studied the Scriptures knows that there can never and will never be a "two-state solution" in the Middle East. God has promised Israel more land than they actually ever possessed, and He repeated the promise several times and confirmed with an oath (in which He swore upon Himself) to bless them and protect them and to "bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you."...

I am writing this letter in response to the highly biased and skewed opinion written by Victor Davis Hanson called, "Biden saves democracy by destroying it". Hanson goes about making a case that all of the various prosecutions of Donald Trump are simply politically motivated and not of Donald Trump's making by committing crimes...

With the possible exception of fights over the national debt and Supreme Court nominations, there is no topic that arouses more partisan hypocrisy than presidential use of military force. And globally, there is no issue that arouses more hypocrisy than Israel. Put them together and you have a perfect storm of double standards...

Speaking in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 6, President Biden said that the 2024 election is about whether "democracy" is "still America's sacred cause." But is democracy "sacred?" Is the process by which we make choices "sacred," or is what we choose "sacred?"...

Joe Biden went to Valley Forge to give a big speech telling us how much he cares about defending democracy against the threat represented by Donald Trump. How much does President Biden care? Enough to give a speech defending democracy, one of what's sure to be many if Trump is his opponent...

O Heavenly Father, may the joy of the Lord fill our heart. Amen.

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Police Department responded to the following calls. Arrests do not imply guilt. Arrest n A warrant arrest was reported on North Kingshighway. Assaults n Assault was reported on South Silver Springs Road. n Assault was reported on South Silver Springs Road...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls. Jan. 17 n Medical assists were made at 7:08 a.m. on Hemlock Court; 7:54 a.m. on Sheridan Drive; 3:42 p.m. on Hemlock Court; 4:35 p.m. on Themis Street; and 9:03 p.m. on Engram Street...

Richard Leland Nelson, 82, of Jackson passed away Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, at Mercy Hospital Southeast in Cape Girardeau. The past two years, Leland enjoyed the many friendships he made at the Villas of Jackson, and his family is grateful for the attentive care he received there...

Theresa Ann Messmer, 59, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, at Shuck Recital Hall at Southeast Missouri State University River Campus in Cape Girardeau...

Leo Albert Fuller, 93, of Benton died Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 at his home. Visitation will be from 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, at the St. Denis Parish Hall in Benton. Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23 at St. Denis Catholic Church in Benton, with the Rev. Daniel Belken as celebrant. Burial will be in the church cemetery...

Alvin D Farless, 83, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 22, at Bethel Assembly of God in Cape Girardeau. Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, at the church, with Pastor Phil Roop officiating. Burial will be at Cape County Memorial Park Cemetery in Cape Girardeau...

Pamela Mae Bramlett passed away Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, at Saint Louis University Hospital, with family by her side. Pam was born April 17, 1970, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to Kenneth Bramlett Sr. and Carolyn Bowers Bramlett. She attended school at Cape Girardeau Central High School, Southeast Missouri State University's Law Enforcement Academy and Three Rivers Community College for criminal justice. ...

Police cleared the ousted chair of the Florida Republican Party of rape allegations on Friday, but said they have asked prosecutors to charge him with illegally video recording the sexual encounter he had with a female acquaintance. The Sarasota Police Department said in a statement that a review of a cellphone video Christian Ziegler made of the Oct. ...

UVALDE, Texas -- A Texas prosecutor has convened a grand jury to investigate the Uvalde school shooting, multiple media reported Friday, as families of the 19 children and two teachers killed continued their calls for criminal charges against officers involved in the hesitant and haphazard police response to the massacre...

The Clippard/Blanchard basketball team won their game against Alma Schrader on Saturday, January 20th.

Local lawmakers say they will push for state funding for Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus even though Gov. Mel Carnahan's proposed budget for fiscal 2000 doesn't include any money for the project; Carnahan's budget, unveiled yesterday, includes $66.3 million for capital improvement projects on the state's college campuses; the governor wants to spend $49 million on four projects already under construction at Truman State University in Kirkwood and another $17 million on four projects at Southwest Missouri State University; Rep. ...

Daughter to Nathaniel James Sutton and Brianna Alexis West of Cape Girardeau, Saint Francis Medical Center, 11:06 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. Name, Andreah Alexis. Weight, 7 pounds, 9 ounces. First child. West is the daughter of Teddy West of Cape Girardeau and Kristin Smith of Sikeston. Sutton is the son of Amber Smith of Sikeston and Wayne Wright of Temple, Texas. He works for Holloway Distributing Co...