Stories from Wednesday, July 7, 1993

Do we take freedom for granted? This will be one of the topics explored by 140 high school students as they gather in Cape Girardeau today for the Missouri Freedom Forum. What better place to nurture America's precious freedoms than with our young. Freedom Forum brings together professional speakers, business leaders and legislators to share their knowledge of America's economic and governmental systems. The mission is to foster teen-agers' appreciation of the uniqueness of our systems...

When Gov. and Mrs. Carnahan took off for a European vacation, it was the first time in 12 years our chief executive didn't have to worry about what a Democratic lt. governor was up to back home. --- Texans elect a new senator who promises to cut taxes just as soon as Congress restores funds for a built-in-Texas space station and a multibillion-dollar super collider...

JACKSON -- The Jackson Municipal Band will hold its weekly concert Thursday at 8 p.m. at the band shell in the Jackson City Park. Special guests for the concert are Marilee and Christy Roethemeyer. Marilee directs the youth and adult choirs at Emmanuel United Church of Christ, where her husband Sam is pastor. She also sings at weddings, church services and civic organizations...

SCOTT CITY -- Anyone taking guns or drugs to school in Scott City will be talking to U.S. marshals, not just school officials. The Scott City Board of Education has approved a drug-free, gun-free school zone. Signs that warn violators they face federal and state prosecution have been erected at the school's four drives...

Recently, my aging Smith-Corona wrote "froward" when I had dictated "forward." These words have different meanings. At this point, I think I'm smarter than my typewriter even though today's column will be about words with opposite meanings. But are we always sure?...

Farm experts say corn should be knee-high by the Fourth of July, but in some Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri fields, the water is that deep. "We have about 18,000 to 20,000 acres of farmland under water in Alexander County in extreme Southern Illinois," said Jess Cushman, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service in Alexander and Pulaski counties...

Hordes of strike-it-rich dreamers in 14 states and the District of Columbia lined up for a 1-in-55 million shot at a $100 million jackpot in tonight's Powerball drawing. The jackpot is the largest ever offered in Missouri and the fourth largest ever offered in the United States...

Proponents of riverboat gambling in Cape Girardeau will have another shot at the issue when it goes back on the ballot Nov. 2. The Cape Girardeau City Council tonight will give first reading of an ordinance to place the riverboat gambling question on the city ballot...

U.S. Rep. Mel Hancock said Tuesday that the intent of his newly formed committee to tighten loopholes in the Hancock Amendment to the state constitution is not to shut down government but rather to provide more accountability. "We have given the state legislature a blank check for years and now we are saying that we want an opportunity to countersign that check," said Hancock, author of the amendment bearing his name that won voter approval in 1980...

JENNIFER WALKER Occupation: Bartender and waitress at Broussards. Birthplace: Cape Girardeau. Current home: Jackson. The best part of my job is: "Meeting people." What do you do in your spare time? "I enjoy concerts, parties and motorcycle riding with my friends."...

Running in a district that spans almost 135 miles from Arkansas to the Cape Girardeau County line, Mark Hackworth and Bill Foster try to convince voters of the state's 156th District that they are qualified to represent it. With the district's 32,000 residents scattered, and opportunities to speak at large gatherings limited, both take their messages to voters one on one. ...

CHAFFEE -- Ella Mae Miller, 97, of Memphis, Tenn. and formerly of Chaffee died Saturday, July 3, 1993, at the Memphis Health Center in Memphis. She was born Jan. 14, 1895, at Rideway, Ill., the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Marshall O'Nan. She was a lifetime member of the Order of Eastern Star in Hot Springs, Ark...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Robert Lee Friedline of Los Angeles, Calif., will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Ed Pangburn will officiate, with burial in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 6-9 p.m. today...

Marguerite Nadine Sparks, 2026 Montgomery, died Tuesday, July 6, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born July 15, 1917, at Clarkton, daughter of Rudy Arthur and Beulah Louise Freeman Wright. She and Lloyd Eugene "Bub" Sparks were married May 10, 1952, in Piggott, Ark. He died Aug. 20, 1992...

For what's believed to be only the second time in eight years, the Jackson Board of Aldermen was unable to conduct its meeting Tuesday due to the lack of a quorum. The meeting was moved to Tuesday because of the July 4 holiday. Only four aldermen, the mayor, city clerk, and city administrator and assistant city attorney were present at the scheduled meeting time of 7:30 p.m. A quorum of five aldermen is needed to conduct a legal meeting...

MARBLE HILL -- Vallie M. Devenport, 82, of Marble Hill, died Monday, July 5, 1993, at her home. She was born Oct. 2, 1910, at Shrum, daughter of David Abraham and Perniece Patton Lincoln. She and the Rev. Odell Devenport were married Jan. 8, 1928. Survivors include her husband; a son, Darrel Devenport of Jackson; three daughters, Wilma Idell Williams, Dean Fulbright and Doris Fulbright of Marble Hill; a brother, Glen Lincoln of Cape Girardeau; a sister, Viola Ridings of Patton; seven grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.. ...

MARBLE HILL -- Russell V. Greer, 72, of Marble Hill, died Monday, July 5, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 10, 1921, at Glen Allen, son of Nezbert and Jenny Kitchen Greer. He and Marie Hansen were married Aug. 6, 1943...

ORAN -- Albert James Cook, 77, of Oran, died Tuesday, July 6, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Nov. 13, 1915, in Cape Girardeau County, son of Napoleon Dallas and Martha Ann McIntyre Cook. He and Opal Felty were married Jan. 16, 1938...

Graveside service for Isaac Johnson Sr. of Cape Girardeau will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at Fairmount Cemetery. Pastor Jo Anna McCauley will officiate. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. There is no visitation. Johnson, 80, died Sunday, July 4, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital...

CHARLESTON -- Augusta Easton, 66, of Charleston, died Sunday, July 4, 1993, at Charleston Manor. She was born March 25, 1927, in Berdeck, Ark., daughter of Mathew and Nellie Easton. Survivors include six sons, Gary, Timothy, Richard and Curtes Easton of Charleston, Willie and Ronnie Easton of Chicago; three daughters, Barbra Pierce of Chicago, Patricia Easton and Veronica Dunigan of Charleston; three brothers, William Easton of Charleston, Ernest Easton of Gary, Ind., Clarence Easton of St. ...

ANNA, Ill. -- Doris J. Lang, 60, of Anna died Tuesday, July 6, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 16, 1933, at Anna, the daughter of Lafayette and Edith Nicholson Dirden. On April 30, 1963, she married Lavern "Red" Lang, who survives of the home...