Stories from Thursday, March 14, 1991

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A performance of Easter selections from Handel's Messiah will be presented March 24 at Academic Auditorium. The Choral Union, University Choir and University Orchestra will present the program, which begins at 3 p.m. and is free to the public...

An unpublished African carol that has sparked unconventional audience response will be performed March 22 during a concert by the Southeast Missouri State University Choir. The free concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Academic Auditorium. The carol, called "Betelehemu," will be the finale...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- If you've ever wondered if Cookie Monster could polka, the answer is yes and so can the rest of the Sesame Street gang. Sesame Street Live will celebrate their 11th season by bringing their unique style of dancing to the Show Me Center April 12...

CAIRO, Ill. -- The troops are not back yet, but Cairo, home of the 1244th Illinois National Guard unit which is stationed in Saudi Arabia, is holding a parade here Saturday. "We haven't had any word concerning when the troops will return home," said Karen Myers, a member of a group of area residents who are planning the parade. "But, we're planning a patriotic parade to be held here at 2 p.m...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Dr. Jack Hill, president of Shawnee Community College, will speak at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce's 125th annual dinner meting March 23 at Cairo High School cafeteria. Tickets for $12.50 are available by contacting the chamber at 618-734-2737...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Ele~mentary students and teachers alike have responded positively to a new drug education program offered through the Cape Girardeau Police Department. "I get a lot of real good input from the kids and they seem to be having a lot of fun," the program's coordinator, Cape Girardeau Police Officer Jeannie Dailey, said last week. "I've gotten all positive responses from the teachers."...

JACKSON - The Jackson R-2 school board accepted the resignation Tuesday of a veteran educator who will retire at the end of the school year. Jackson High School art teacher, Herb Wickham, will close out his 31-year teaching career in June. "I feel like we're losing one of our traditions," said Assistant School Superintendent Fred Jones. "He's going to be missed."...

SPEAK OUT: THIS is the first time I've ever written Speak Out but I saw something that really touched my heart about a month ago. We were parked at Wal-Mart in Jackson. A very nice lady came pushing a wheelchair lady out who seemed to be paralyzed. She carefully pushed the button to let the lift down on a van. ...

JUST WANTED TO say thank you to the boys who put up all the red, white and blue bows in Jackson. It really was a nice, patriotic thought of support. ON NATIONAL NEWS this afternoon the American people found out that they were going to be repaid for fighting in the Middle East to get these people's country back by paying increased prices for oil. ...

One of the wickedest things you can do to some folks is to quote their own words back to them. Let's go. Senator Robert Dole, the Minority Leader, has gone and done Something You're Just Not Supposed To Do. He's published an article quoting various of his senatorial colleagues' comments and forecasts from January's debate on whether to authorize President Bush to use force in the Persian Gulf...

A number of items in the news recently are deserving of brief comment. We offer a thumbs up sign to items deserving of praise, thumbs down to those we would have preferred not to learn about. Schools are charged with instilling our young people with basic educational skills. ...

To the Editor: Some quick facts: The fastest growing segment of our population is over 60 years of age. At present 11,115 persons in Cape County are over 60, and more than 15 percent of these live in poverty. Their needs are great and they need a better quality of life. This need can be partially met by passing the tax levy on April 2...

To the Editor: The sudden and untimely death of Dr. David J. Clark has created a deep, aching void in the hearts of each of the lives he touched. Yet, the memory of his compassion and gentle spirit will help us to get through this time of tragic loss. We, at Southeast Hospital Surgery, had the honor of working closely with Dr. Clark, and were treated with the special privilege of truly getting to know this very fine and gentle man...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - State Representative Gail Chatfield, D-St. Louis, will be in Cape Girardeau tonight to discuss legislation he is sponsoring this year to create a statewide health insurance plan. Chatfield will be presenting his Missouri Universal Health Care plan, contained in House Bill 28, to the Southeast Missouri Labor Management Cooperation Committee...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Traffic signals at the busy intersection of South Sprigg and Morgan Oak are back in operation again. Flashing signals had been put in operation at the four-way intersection after one of the signal poles was knocked down earlier this month by a semi-trailer truck attempting to make a left turn off Morgan Oak onto South Sprigg Street...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The "New Vision of Excellence" capital campaign for Southeast Missouri State University has raised $18.5 million of its $25 million goal. James Limbaugh, general chairman of the fund drive, said that the campaign has reached 75 percent of its goal, an achievement he termed as "phenomenal."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Although Dr. Neyland Clark considers himself innovative, he says educators and the community must agree before new ideas can work. Clark visited Cape Girardeau Wednesday. About 35 people attended a meeting Wednesday night designed to give parents and community members a chance to meet the candidate, ask questions and make comments. Approximately 120 teachers attended an afternoon session with Clark...

DELTA -- Missouri Secretary of State Roy Blunt has had fair warning: oppose a 200-day Missouri school year or Delta fourth-grader Kelly Moore will tell everyone he is a "low-down scuz bucket." "I told him, `Just don't vote on it,'" Kelly said Wednesday at his school, Delta Elementary. "It may be good ... but I want my summer off."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., will meet here with local officials and National Guard representatives from throughout Southeast Missouri Saturday to discuss plans to cut back on Guard units. The meeting will be held at 2 p.m. at the National Guard Armory, 2626 Independence...

POPLAR BLUFF -- There's really no place like home. For world-traveling CNN correspondent Charles Jaco, home always will be Poplar Bluff. Television viewers around the world became familiar with Jaco's face as he reported on the Gulf War, first from Saudi Arabia, then from Kuwait City...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- More than 100 exhibitors from seven states will be at the 21st annual Spring Arts and Crafts Fair this weekend at the A.C. Brase Arena Building. "We have many new exhibitors again this year," said Beverly Strohemeyer, executive director of the SEMO Council on the Arts, which is sponsoring the fair. "They come from Cape Girardeau and from as far away as Wisconsin."...

MORLEY -- A Benton woman was seriously injured Wednesday afternoon in a single-vehicle accident on County Road 506, about three miles east of Morley. A spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol said Kathy Hornburg, 34, was taken to Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau after the 1983 Chevrolet she was driving left the roadway, traveled 182 feet in the ditch, overturned and returned to the roadway, and skidded another 80 feet...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Regional Commerce & Growth Association (R.C.G.A.) hopes to put its membership list at the 175 mark with a two-day, 13-city membership blitz today and Friday. "We currently have 134 members," said Walt Wildman, executive director of the association. Members include business and industrial leaders, local chambers of commerce, city and county officials and other individuals throughout the area. "We hope to gain 35 to 40 new members this week," he said...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The city's Planning and Zoning Commission will reconsider whether large sections of William Street should be rezoned from residential to commercial use. Nearly two years ago, the commission asked the city staff to study the feasibility of rezoning William Street from West End Boulevard to Sprigg Street. The street now is zoned primarily residential with some commercial development...

SIKESTON -- Service for Francine Browning will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Sikeston. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery in Sikeston. Friends may call at the funeral home after 5 p.m. today. Browning, 70 years old, of Sikeston, died Wednesday, March 13, 1991, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

BLOOMFIELD -- Charles Floyd Clary, 79, formerly of Bloomfield, died Tuesday, March 12, 1991, at the Miden Medical Center in Louisiana following a lengthy illness. He was born at Bloomfield on March 5, 1912, to the late Jack and Nettie Clary. He had moved to Miden in 1971 from the Bloomfield area. His body will be cremated, and a memorial service will he held at a later date at the Gravel Hill Cemetery near Bloomfield...

BLOOMFIELD -- Funeral service for David L. Flowers Sr. of O'Fallon will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home. The Rev. Cletus Powell will officiate, with burial in North Antioch Cemetery near here. Friends may call at the funeral home after 3 p.m. today...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Funeral service for Mrs. Mattie Inez Verble of the Lutheran Home will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Lutz & Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna, Ill. Friends may call at the funeral home from 6-8 p.m. today. Mrs. Verble, 98 years old, died Tuesday, March 12, 1991, at the Lutheran Home...

PERRYVILLE -- Funeral service for Mark M. Oliver of Heilbronn, Baden Wurttemburg, Germany, will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at Young and Sons Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Donald Loesch will officiate, with burial in Home Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 4 p.m. Saturday...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Funeral service for Mrs. Ada Alexander of Dongola will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Crain Funeral Chapel here. Burial will be in Dongola American Legion Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 6-9 tonight, and until service Friday...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Carroll Louise Oehler, 50 years old, 1001 North Henderson, died at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Oct. 10, 1940, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Dr. William F. and Jeanette E. Carter Oehler. Her father, of Cape Girardeau, survives...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for Lawson Higgins and his wife, Opal L. Higgins, of East Prairie, will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Shelby Funeral Chapel here. The Rev. Martha True will officiate, with burial in East Prairie Memorial Park Cemetery...

McCLURE, Ill. Bryan D. Miller of McClure has received a Regents Scholarship to attend Southeast Missouri State University during the 1991-92 academic year. The scholarship is awarded to high school seniors who are in the top 10 percent of their graduating class and score above the 90th percentile on the ACT or SAT. The scholarship covers tuition and is renewable...

ULLIN, Ill. -- Dr. Jack Hill, new president at Shawnee Community College, and his wife, Mary, will be honored at a reception, to be held at the college near here Sunday. Hill started his duties as president Feb. 11. The reception, sponsored by members of the college's Foundation Board of Directors, will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. in the SCC cafeteria...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Pamela L. Schott of Cape Girardeau has been named to the fall dean's list at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. She earned a 3.91 grade point average. Schott, a second year student at the school, has been named to the dean's list three consecutive semesters...