Stories from Friday, August 16, 2013

ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Supreme Court's decision to move ahead with two executions was questioned Thursday by some death penalty observers and opponents, in part over concern about Missouri's proposed use of a drug that remains unproven in lethal injections and which gained infamy in the 2009 death of pop star Michael Jackson...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- A Cape Girardeau doctor apparently learned the hard way that federal courts are not required to obtain a defendant's consent before prosecuting him on fraud charges. According to a transcript of Byron Glenn's initial appearance in U.S. District Court, Glenn argued with a federal judge about his own name, the judge's credentials and whether the court had jurisdiction over the fraud case against him...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Cynthia Canoy's mother said Thursday her family has been devastated by what she called the senseless, immeasurable and incomprehensible death of her daughter. "Cynthia loved her family, friends, being a truck driver, animals, fishing and most importantly life," Canoy's mother Emma Burke said in an emailed statement...

Gene Myers, a resident of Poplar Bluff, died on Aug. 15, 2013, in the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center at the age of 78. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter.

Elsie Naomi Sifford, daughter of the late Marion Francis "Doll" Frailey and Ina Mae Clark Frailey, was born on May 2, 1918, at Essex and died on Aug. 13, 2013, at Malden Nursing Center in Malden at the age of 95. Mrs. Sifford was a member of the Broadwater Church of the Brethren in Frisco she retired as a seamstress from Elder Manufacturing Company in Dexter and was a resident of Dexter...

SEDALIA, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri State Fair got a strong show of political support Thursday from many of the state's top elected officials who flocked to a big-top-tent ham breakfast despite criticism of a weekend rodeo clown act that mocked President Barack Obama...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. --The Bloomfield Board of Aldermen met in a special called meeting Thursday to discuss the required property tax adjustment. The tax rate, currently set at .4166 per $100 of assessed valuation, must be reported to County Clerk Joe Watson before Sept. 1...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. --The recently approved budget for the City of Bloomfield that covers the current fiscal year reflects a revenue decrease. In the year that ended June 30, 2013, the City brought in $1,420,193.54. For the coming year, the budget is based on a revenue figure of $1,354,884.18. That's a decrease of approximately five-percent...

BAKER, Mo. - Southeast Missouri State University Department of Agriculture officials, USDA representatives and farmers gathered Thursday at Rinehart Farms in Baker to hear a presentation about an experiment underway to compare growing rice by the traditional levee method versus the furrow irrigated method. The project is a joint partnership between Rinehart Farms and SEMO University...

Gib Booker, son of Mark and Kristie Booker, meets his kindergarten teacher, Brenda Mason, at the start of school Friday morning at Southwest Elementary in Dexter. Additional photos of the first day at Southwest may be found at www.dailystatesman.com in Photo Galleries. Students in Dexter will attend their first full day of school on Monday, Aug. 19...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - The Bloomfield Wildcats volleyball program will enter the 2013 season with a sufficient supply of juniors. All nine players on the 2013 varsity squad are entering their junior year of high school. "Last year was a rebuilding year because we lost a good, strong senior group the year before," Bloomfield coach Starla Pulley said. ...

Grover "Gene" Myers, son of the late Grover Ecord Myers and Mary Ellen Snider Myers was born on January 29, 1935 in Vinson, Missouri and passed away on August 15, 2013 at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Missouri at the age of 78...