Stories from Thursday, March 6, 2014

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- In the midst of current trends of stone-aged diets and organic meals, primitive tools and skills are on the rise as well. "It's incredible to think that cordless drills existed thousands of years ago," said Sara Turner, manager of the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center. "We rely so heavily on electricity and modern comforts, but people seem to be more and more curious of how to do things without electricity."...

DAEOC Community Action Agency will be hosting "Get Out There and Get Covered," a day of education and information about the new health care laws and the health insurance Marketplace. The event will be held Saturday, March 15 from 8:30 a.m. until5 p.m. ...

CAIRO, Ill. -- The Illinois Department of Transportation alerts motorists traveling in the Cairo area that the US 60/62 bridge over the Mississippi River will be closed. The closure is scheduled to begin on Friday, March 21, 2014 at 7:00 a.m. and will extend through Friday, March 28th, 2014 at 5:30 p.m...

Louise Margaret Cox, daughter of the late Henry Rogers and Opal Harper Rogers, was born on May 1, 1925, in St. Louis, Mo., and died on March 4, 2014, at her residence in Glen Allen, Mo., at the age of 88. Mrs. Cox was a member of the St. Joe General Baptist Church in Idalia and a homemaker...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A state funding increase for public schools would be partly contingent upon a strong economy under a new spending plan outlined Wednesday by the top budget writer in the Missouri House. The proposal by House Budget Chairman Rick Stream seeks to bridge the gap between differing revenue projections embraced by the Republican-led Legislature and the Democratic governor...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A new plan making potential income tax cuts contingent upon a variety of factors, including school funding, faced criticism Wednesday from both Republicans and Democrats as the Senate struggled to reach consensus on what GOP leaders have labeled as a top priority...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A group of U.S. Navy Seabee veterans is working together throughout the nation to get much deserved recognition for their fallen comrades of wars long since past. A monument serving that very purpose will be unveiled Saturday, March 8, at the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery at Bloomfield...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Stoddard County voters approved making the Stoddard County prosecutor a full-time position in the November 2012 election. The change was to take place January 1, 2015, after the general election in 2014. A recent ruling in a federal lawsuit could impact the salary of the full-time prosecutors in Missouri, which would include Stoddard County. ...

Mountains of snow stand on all the Dexter School parking lots, but doors remained closed again Thursday. None of the seven Stoddard County Schools have been in session this week, following the winter storm that began Sunday morning and left ice, sleet, and snow-packed roads. While the snow routes in Dexter are clear, most of the rural roads where busses travel, remain ice-packed. Thursday's temperatures are expected to at least partially remedy the situation...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Area youth interested in theatre will have the opportunity to learn new performance skills this spring through two youth theatre sessions being offered at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus. Elementary and middle school students can register to participate in two classes: "Beginning Broadway: The Lion King" or "Youth Theatre Experience: Art Escape." The classes are sponsored through by the Earl and Margie Holland School of Visual and Performing Arts...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Southeast Missouri State University marketing club students Nibesh Amatya, Jeremiah Hathorn, Kyle Jacobsmeyer, Thu Nguyen, Samantha Rupp, and Vincent Sorrentino won high honors in the 2014 Collegiate DECA State Career Development Conference and Competition Feb. 27-28 in Jefferson City, Mo...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Three Rivers College's Department of Nursing and Allied Health has extended the application deadline for its day and evening Registered Nurse program in Poplar Bluff to March 17 at 5 p.m. "Our first concern was the time lost to weather closings this winter and making sure that we gave our applicants time to catch up from that," said Staci Campbell, Chair of the Department of Nursing and Allied Health. ...

The former office building of Dexter Family Eye Care LLC sustained damage this week when the weight of snow and ice accumulation brought down an awning on the front of the building. A similar incident at the Daily Statesman offices occurred late Tuesday afternoon when a sheet of ice and snow fell from the roof, puncturing a gas line to the Statesman building...

BENTON -- Scott County officials aren't exactly welcoming the snow and ice this winter but it sure has eliminated the possibility of buyer's remorse. "If the county was ever going to spend money on a snow blade, this is the year for it, so we got that right," Presiding County Commissioner Jamie Burger said Tuesday...

BOURBON, Mo. (AP) -- An eastern Missouri police officer shot and killed a man as he was running from officers during a chase. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says 50-year-old Gary Wenzel of Bourbon was killed Wednesday during a confrontation. The patrol says a Bourbon police officer tried to stop a car that had been involved in an earlier police chase in Sullivan. ...

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. -- A traffic backup on Interstate 55, which stretches south from the Missouri border past Turrell, Ark., persisted Wednesday and has stranded many travelers for more than 24 hours. Thousands of people remained stranded on I-55, many since Monday afternoon. Reports of the situation circulated through Blytheville, and local church and volunteer groups helped stranded motorists by bringing them food and drinks...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri lawmakers have given final approval to a bill limiting the ability of Missouri cities and counties to restrict cellphone towers. The bill passed Wednesday by both the House and Senate seeks to reinstate a state law originally enacted last year that was struck down by a Cole County judge on procedural grounds...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Lab-coat clad physicians rallied at the Missouri Capitol while lawmakers endorsed a measure Wednesday seeking to reinstate limits on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits. The legislation attempts to reimpose a $350,000 cap on noneconomic damages for issues such as pain and suffering that was struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court in 2012. ...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A national environmental group has made good on its promise to sue a St. Louis-based utility over what it calls thousands of violations of federal clean air laws. The Sierra Club filed a federal civil lawsuit against Ameren Corp. on Wednesday in St. Louis. The complaint seeks to compel Ameren to reduce air pollution at three area power plants and asks the court to also levy financial penalties for past violations...

PARK HILLS, Mo. - Not all big shots come at the end of games. In the case of Advance senior Austin Miller, none of his big shots came at the end of his team's Class 2 state sectional against New Haven on Wednesday night at Park Hills Central High School, but they were still pivotal in helping the Hornets advance to quarterfinals with a 63-52 victory...

DEXTER, Mo. - Saxony Lutheran varsity girls basketball coach Sam Sides thinks pressure defense is a big part of the perfect formula for success for his youthful squad in the 2014 state playoffs. "I want us to play hard all the time," Sides said. "For us to be successful we've got to play 94 feet and with a lot of intensity. We are not very big, but we are free, aggressive and active. Our goal is to try to challenge every pass."...