Stories from Saturday, March 9, 1996

MOREHOUSE -- Funeral service for Hattie Mae Hunt of Morehouse will be held at 1 p.m. today at Watkins and Sons Funeral Chapel in Morehouse. The Rev. Nathaniel Lewis will officiate, with burial in Essex Cemetery at Essex. Friends may call at the funeral home after 11 a.m. today...

FRUITLAND -- The owner of a Fruitland subdivision agreed Friday to restore a gravel road in and out of the subdivision until a dispute over easements can be settled. Allen McDowell, owner of the Cher-Ron-Doe Estates subdivision, agreed to restore Comanche Lane, a gravel road in and out of the area, to allow residents of a neighboring subdivision to use the gravel road...

Cape Girardeau native Georganne Penzel Syler was named the 1996 winner of St. Francis Medical Center's Womancare Award Friday. "Anybody that excels has to have a wonderful support system," said Syler, an assistant professor of human environmental studies at Southeast Missouri State University...

Son to Rodney Allen and Tammy Renee Pinkerton Sr. of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:27 a.m. Friday, March 1, 1996. Name, Austin Taylor. Weight, 6 pounds 9 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Pinkerton is the former Tammy Ringwald, daughter of Harold Ringwald and Kathy Ringwald of Gordonville. She is employed in the accounting department at Wal-Mart Supercenter. Pinkerton is the son of Kenny Pinkerton of Millersville and Laura Pinkerton of Mesquite, Texas. He is parlor manager at Midway Dairy Farm...

ORAN -- Sylvia McGranahan, 52, of Oran, died Friday, March 8, 1996, in an automobile-train accident in Oran. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel at Oran is in charge of arrangements.

ORAN -- Wanda Johns, 61, of Oran, died Friday, March 8, 1996, in an automobile-train accident in Oran. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel at Oran is in charge of arrangements.

KELSO -- Alvin George Moore, 85, of Kelso, died Thursday, March 7, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 23, 1910, at Allenville, son of Lewis and Fredia Buck Moore. He first married Bernice Smith Dec. 24, 1929. She died July 6, 1970. He later married Thelma Sledge Ward Feb. 10, 1973, in Jonesboro, Ill...

ZALMA -- E.W. "Wart" Phillips, 74, of Zalma, died Thursday, March 7, 1996, at his home. He was born Dec. 12, 1921, near Zalma, son of Thomas H. and Ancie Gaines Phillips. He and Erma E. Pate were married May 3, 1927. Phillips was a trustee for Union Hill Cemetery, member of VFW Post 5900, and member and deacon of Union Hill General Baptist Church. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II...

ORAN -- Aaron McGranahan watched the last few minutes of his mother's life Friday afternoon before she and a friend became the fifth and sixth people to die at a railroad crossing since 1957. McGranahan was in a vehicle following the car in which his mother, Sylvia McGranahan, was riding with her best friend, Wanda Johns. He watched as both woman laughed and talked, and then pulled into the path of an oncoming Burlington Northern freight train...

When it comes to speed limits, 55 is still alive in Missouri and likely to remain so on most two-lane state highways. Gov. Mel Carnahan is expected to sign a bill early next week that would raise the speed limit to 70 mph on rural interstates and allow for speeds of 65 mph on rural, four-lane divided highways and 60 mph on two-lane numbered highways...

After funding dollars for the Ryan White AIDS program dwindled last September, the 170 people infected with the HIV virus in Southeast Missouri couldn't get all the help they needed. A local group hopes to correct that problem by developing an alternative budget to send to the state...

Some people are meant to have roommates and some aren't. For example, when an acquaintance decried the lack of affordable yet decent rental housing in Cape Girardeau, I encouraged her to get a roommate. She paled visibly. "A roommate? At my age?" she shrieked. "I don't like living with people. I don't like people eating my food, I don't like eating their food. I don't like having their stuff around. I'm hard to live with."...

"It's time to go to work." This is the focus of new programs which have been established by the Missouri Department of Social Services' Division of Family Services to help welfare recipients find jobs. The "Welfare to Work" programs could provide as many as 725 new employees to the Cape Girardeau County work force...

To the editor: I do not know who wrote this poem, but may it comfort all the parents of little angels: Heaven's Very Special Child A meeting was held quite far from Earth. "It's time again for another birth," Said the angels to the Lord above. "This special child will need much love."...

To the editor: Many years ago I watched a young tennis player from Ecuador win the NCAA championship in Evanston. If and when he made a poor shot, he would take hold of himself and shout, "Vamos, (Let's go), come on, Pancho." It was like giving himself a pep talk or words of encouragement to play better. It seemed to work. He won the championship and went on to become a successful professional tennis player named Pancho Segura...

To the editor: I want to commend Dr. James L. Fletcher Jr. and his lengthy and excellently written letter on the possible dangers of the excessive use of antibiotics and penicillin that can result in severe reactions and cause allergies to occur. I was a victim of that mistake myself at one time...

To the editor: There was an article in Parade magazine Feb. 25 dealing with organized crime. The article says the Cosa Nostra has enjoyed dominance in organized crime for 65 years but has finally been reduced to a fraction of its former size. But this partial victory has been turned into defeat by our elected officials. ...

The crime has gone on long enough. Missouri has been held hostage to court-ordered desegregation payments for 24 years. At the whim of federal court judges, the state has been forced to pay out an obscene $1.34 billion dollars. A federal court hearing, which began last Monday and should run two more weeks, could determine the fate of school desegregation programs in St. ...

The presidential search committee at Southeast Missouri State University has done its job. Through a nationwide search, it narrowed a field of 120 candidates to three. The campus and community will have an opportunity to evaluate William C. Merwin, Dale F. Nitzschke and G. Warren Smith II firsthand when the candidates visit the campus in April...

To the editor: My heart bleeds for the Bowen family in Bowling Green when their daughter could have been so easily protected. I'd suggest to any convenience store owner to simply enclose a clerk in a bulletproof cage with a telephone and an alarm button to police and another button to lock all exits. They could also install a video camera outside with a monitor in the clerk's enclosure to enable the clerk to identify and report a drive-off thief of their gasoline purchases...

CPR for Healthcare Providers will be offered Thursday and March 25 in Classrooms C and D at Southeast Missouri Hospital's Regional Cancer Center. Those not employed in health care are also welcome. From 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on both days courses will be offered for new CPR providers, those who don't have current CPR cards, those who may need additional learning time and those who have let their cards expire...

The Better Breathers Club meets at 1:30 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. Co-sponsors are the American Lung Association of Eastern Missouri, Southeast Missouri Hospital, St. Francis Medical Center, Apria Home Care and Heartland Home Care. For more information, call Chris Berge Pekios, 651-5538...

St. Francis Medical Center will offer heat check screenings Wednesday from 7 a.m. to noon at the St. Francis Heart Institute Outpatient Diagnostic Center. Services include free blood pressure checks, $5 cholesterol and finger stick glucose screenings and a $15 full cholesterol breakdown with an individual heart assessment (12-hour fast required)...

Children with Attention Deficit Disorders Support Group will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at the Community Counseling Center. Jim Davis, a licensed professional counselor and clinical social worker, will present "Attention Deficit or Attention Surplus: The Positive Side of ADHD."...

Rodney VanGennip of Jackson passed the time with a word search puzzle while undergoing dialysis at the Renal Treatment Center. Susie Duschell, LPN, prepared a dialysis machine for the next patient. About a year ago, the SEMO Dialysis Center changed names and owners. Pat Glueck, the nurse administrator, said the Renal Treatment Center on Bloomfield Road at Interstate 55 in Cape Girardeau provides better quality care than ever before...