Stories from Wednesday, November 29, 2017

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- An Illinois man was sentenced to 30 months in prison after making false statements on a loan application in Scott County. Appearing before US District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr., Roger Allen Strong Jr., 57, of New Athens, Ill., was sentenced Tuesday on one felony count of false statement on a loan application and one felony count of bank fraud...

The head cleric of the Church of England says he still doesn't understand why Christians support President Donald Trump. Now under normal circumstances, this off-handed comment by a religious leader in a foreign country would go virtually unnoticed. But the British and American people have a special bond unlike any other nation. And as head of the Church, Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, has a true bully pulpit to share his thoughts. The Rev. Welby is joined in his concern for Trump by none other than Pope Francis. I won't pretend to speak for all Christians when it comes to supporting the President, but let me give it a shot.

PARMA, Mo. -- Jessie Ann Montoya, 60, died Nov. 27, 2017, at the Southeast Health of Stoddard County in Dexter. Born June 20, 1957, in Malden, daughter of Ray and Joyce Myricks Greene of Parma, she had lived in the Parma area all of her life. She was a CNA and had worked in home health. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Parma...

ORAN, Mo. -- Lee Cook, 88, died Nov. 28, 2017, at Southeast Health in Cape Girardeau. Born Dec. 31, 1928, in Lamar, Ark., to the late Boyd Wallace and Beulah Lee Cowell Cook, he was a retired self-employed farmer and member of the First Baptist Church in Morley...

LILBOURN, Mo. -- James Vincent "JV" Robinson, 84, died Nov. 29, 2017, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Born March 12, 1933, near Lilbourn, to the late Simon Peter and Mamie Jeannette Johnson Robinson, he worked as a farmer and later a pump inspector for The Missouri Department of Agriculture Division of Weights and Measures. ...

PADUCAH, Ky. -- Jay D. Sams, 53, formerly of Charleston, Mo., died Nov. 28, 2017, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born April 26, 1964, in Fort Gordon, Ga., to Donald Lee and Norma O'Reilly Sams of Charleston, he was a 1982 graduate of Charleston High School. ...