W W W. S E M I S S O U R I A N . CO M
ESTABLISHED 1904, CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO. $1.00
THURSDAY
FOOD & DINING / 14A
Katie’s Pizza
JULY 30, 2020
St. Louis restaurant delivers with frozen pizzas SPORTS / 1B
ROSTER MOVES? How other states manage high school athletics could reverberate here
Officials urge voters to reject Medicaid expansion
FEEDING TIME
BY JAY WOLZ
SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN
BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com
Shiann Clayborn and Daniel Houston feed the geese Wednesday at Capaha Park in Cape Girardeau.
Cape Girardeau County coroner candidate’s ‘endorsement’ challenged BY RICK FAHR
SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN With the primary election days away, questions have arisen about a Cape Girardeau County coroner candidate’s claim of an endorsement from the state association governing coroners and medical examiners. His training record has also been questioned. Tuesday’s Republican
JEFF LONG ~ jlong@semissourian.com, file
Cape Girardeau Co. coroner candidate Dennis Turner.
primary will pit chief deputy coroner Dennis Turner against Wavis Jordan and K. Gerald “Jerry” Swan. A political advertisement submitted to the Southeast Missourian by Turner — who serves as chief deputy to Coroner John Clifton, who is retiring at the end of this year — touted an endorsement from Missouri Coroners and Medical Examiners Association. However, Kathleen Little,
executive director of the organization, said the group has not endorsed Turner and does not endorse candidates in coroner races. “We have not been contacted to endorse any candidate,” she said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “We have never endorsed a candidate in the four years I have been here.” See CORONER, Page 11A
Calling it an unnecessary burden on the state budget, Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick and State Rep. Cody Smith are campaigning this week against an initiative to expand Medicaid eligibility in Missouri. Amendment 2, also known as the Medicaid Expansion Initiative, will be on the statewide ballot Tuesday. A simple majority is required to pass the measure, which would amend Missouri’s constitution to give more people access to the Medicaid program. Medicaid provides health insurance coverage to low-income people and individuals with disabilities. In Missouri, coverage is generally limited to those who are older than 65, people who are blind or disabled, and adults with dependent chil-
dren with an annual household income at or below 22% of the federal poverty level. The state currently receives reimbursement from the federal government amounting to about 65% of its Medicaid costs. If Amendment 2 passes, that percentage would reportedly increase to 90%, but opponents say state costs would increase because more people would be eligible for coverage. “We have a balanced budget requirement in Missouri, so when we spend more money on Medicaid, we have to take it away from another state priority, and in this case it would be education most likely because that’s the biggest expenditure we have,” said Smith (R-Carthage), who chairs the Budget Committee in the Missouri House of Representatives. See MEDICAID, Page 11A
Election coverage
For all of the Southeast Missourian’s election coverage, visit semissourian.com/election.
Fire crews, barge crewmen locate floating body Tuesday on Mississippi River ONLINE
BY BEN MATTHEWS
SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN Cape Girardeau firefighters were dispatched to assist the Scott City Fire Department with a body recovery operation at 8:47 a.m. Tuesday near mile marker 47 on the Mississippi River. Swift water rescue teams launched marine vessels at the Southeast Missouri Port Authority in Scott City, near mile marker 48, and at the Red Star River Access in Cape Girardeau, near mile marker 53,
WEB:
Map Find this story at semissourian.com to see an enlargeable map of the search area on the Mississippi River. according to an incident report prepared by Cape Girardeau fire Capt. Andy Matthews. Crew members of Florida Marine Transportation towing vessel David Goin had located the
semissourian.com
Cape Girardeau fire captain Jason Poole and master firefighter Kevin Drury deploy a vessel on the Mississippi River during a water rescue operation Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.
body and waved down one of the rescue teams. “Two crewmen from this barge had the floating body on a hook on the side of a barge in the water,” the report stated. “It was obvious the victim was deceased and had been for an amount of time due to the decomposition of the body.” Rescue teams positioned their vessels against the barge to form a triangle around the victim and recover the body, See RIVER, Page 11A
COVID-19 coverage
BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com
WEATHER
B Magazine Outside the Office Dr. Alan Branson — who started playing the banjo since he was 10 years old — shares his love of music. Read his essay at bmagazine.io.
H:85 L:71 Local, state and nationals coronavirus coverage at semissourian.com/coronavirus.
INDEX
Church Directory .................. 5A Classified...................................4B Comics .......................................3B
Crossword .....................12A, 3B Dear Abby .............................13A Food & Dining ......................14A
Obituaries................................ 6A Opinion ............................ 8A, 9A Sports.........................................1B
A heavy thunderstorm
TGI‘F’.......................................... 3A TV listings ...................12A, 13A
Volume 116 • Issue 248
Copyright © 2020 Rust Communications