Stories from Monday, July 22, 1991

JACKSON -- A 16-year-old Jackson High School student was killed, and two other teenagers injured, late Saturday, when the car they were in ran off a rural Cape Girardeau County road and overturned in a field near Pocahontas. The Missouri Highway Patrol identified the victim and driver of the car as Jason Kyle Gentry, 16, of Route 4, Jackson...

Southeast Missouri State University's inability to install elevators in three campus buildings will force the university to seek another deadline extension from the Office of Civil Rights. The university two years ago was given a September 1991 deadline to comply with an OCR mandate that all university programs and activities be made accessible to the handicapped. This demand requires installation of elevators in the Grauel language arts, Social Science and art buildings...

Sunday was the second hottest day of July and the year in Cape Girardeau. But the National Weather Service says relief from the heat and 11-day dry spell might arrive by mid-week. MidAmerica Weather Services Inc. said the airport temperature, taken each hour from 3-5 p.m., remained at 97 degrees, before cooling to 96 degrees at 6 p.m. The day's high reading fell short of the record for the date, 102 degrees set in 1973...

The Southeast Missourian asked people what they thought about a new California tax on snacks and if it would be a desirable method for Missouri to use to raise extra revenue. Bob Harper: "I think it would be a nuisance tax and would be hard to enforce. Who is going to set whether an item is a snack or food? I would hate to see it come about. I don't think it would help that much."...

A Cape Girardeau police officer was disciplined by the department for punching a handcuffed prisoner after the prisoner spit in his face Wednesday night. Patrolman Louis Jordan was disciplined Thursday by Police Chief Howard H. Boyd Jr. and other administrative personnel, Boyd said. Details about what disciplinary action was taken are closed records, said the chief, declining to divulge the action...

The Department of Communication Disorders at Southeast Missouri State University has received a $21,000 matching grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a speech science laboratory. The grant, which the university will match over a three-year period, will allow the department to buy several pieces of new equipment totaling $42,000...

The Missouri Division of Tourism is taking its show on the road, and one of the 10 stops on the August tour is Cape Girardeau. "We're taking our show on the road again," says Deb Hendricks of the Missouri Division of Tourism. "But, this year it's with a different flavor."...

Iran-Contra, the scandal that will not rest in peace, is stirring again. Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh keeps digging away despite weekly excoriation by "The Wall Street Journal" and other commentators. Walsh has spent more than $25 million on the investigation. ...

WARE, Ill. -- The Union County Wildlife Refuge Road closes today. The Illinois Department of Transportation said the road will remain closed until Dec. 1 for repair work. Southern Illinois Asphalt Co., of Mt. Vernon, Ill., will start road improvements today on four miles of the refuge road, consisting of relocation of two curves, grading, and a new bituminous surface...

Son to Mr. and Mrs. Ron Streiler of Troy, Ill., St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, 8:08 p.m. Friday, June 28, 1991. Name, Jared Allan. Weight, 7 pounds 12 ounces. First child. Mrs. Streiler is the former Vickie Daniels, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. ...

SIKESTON -- Clora May Learue, 77, of Sikeston died Sunday, July 21, 1991, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Jan. 30, 1914, in Lutesville, the daughter of Julius and Caroline Burr Long. She was a housewife and homemaker. On Dec. 24, 1968, she married Henry Herbert Learue, who preceded her in death Sept. 15, 1970...

Jason Kyle Gentry died Saturday, July 21, 1991, as a result of a one-car traffic accident which occurred west of Pocahontas. Gentry, 16, was born Aug. 15, 1974, in Cape Girardeau, son of James R. Gentry and Karen Graff Gentry. He is survived by his parents; paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Glen R. Gentry, Lake Egypt, Ill.; maternal grandmother, Iris Graft, Scott City; and sisters, Mrs. Lori Wills, Jill Gentry and Amy Gentry, all of Jackson...

Darlene D. Steffens, 48, of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, July 20, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Sept. 14, 1942, at Altenburg, daughter of Reinhold Hellwege and Bertha Perr Hellwege. She married Dale Steffens on Jan. 7, 1984 in Cape Girardeau. He survives...

MARBLE HILL -- The Marble Hill Industrial Park officially is now "re-open" for business. The 75-acre tract of land, situated on Highway 34 West, will in the near future be home to one of the area's biggest packaging and mailing businesses Heartland Industries Inc...

Cape Girardeau firefighters said Sunday that an overturned can of gasoline, ignited by a natural gas water heater, caused extensive damage to the basement of a house at 1006 N. Frederick Saturday night. Authorities said the fire occurred when one of the residents of the house accidentally overturned the can of gasoline while attempting to get a garden hose out of the basement. The vapors from the spilled gas were ignited by the water heater's pilot light at about 8:28 p.m...

PERRYVILLE -- Hattie S. Feiste, 90, of Perryville died Saturday, July 20, 1991, at her home. She was born Sept. 6, 1900, at Farrar, the daughter of the late Oscar and Bertha Buettner Koenig. On April 23, 1922, she married Max Feiste, who preceded her in death July 17, 1984...