Stories from Thursday, August 29, 1996

For many, Labor Day offers the final chance of summer to hit the road for a three-day weekend road trip to visit friends, family, or to just get away from it all. For some, these trips result in tragedy. In 1995, the Missouri Highway Patrol reported that 1,282 traffic crashes resulted in 14 deaths on Missouri roads and highways over the Labor Day weekend. On an average, 12 to 15 people are killed every year over the holiday...

A first-ever combined concert by the Cape Girardeau and Jackson municipal bands will be presented at 7 p.m. Monday at the Capaha Park Band Shell. The performance caps the Old Fashioned Summer Holiday Concert Series sponsored by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri...

Alden Field, a name meant to act, is in Sikeston this week, taking a break from his portrayals in "Julius Caesar," "Henry V" "As You Like It" and "Comedy of Errors." He is that rarest breed of thespian. "I make a living as an actor," he says. For the past eight months, Field has been Field a member of the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express. The acting troupe wowed audiences here in the spring of 1995 and will return next month for a week of workshops and performances...

Two nationally known political commentators will square off in a liberal-conservative debate at Southeast Missouri State University Wednesday. The debate between Bob Beckel and Tony Snow will be held at noon at Academic Auditorium. Beckel managed Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign. During the 1988 presidential campaign, he served as an on-air consultant for ABC News...

BENTON -- Students in Pat Morrow's government class at Kelly High School will get a civic lesson Friday they are not likely to forget. About 60 students from the Benton high school will hear President Bill Clinton speak in Cape Girardeau. "It's an educational experience and not all education takes place in the classroom," Morrow said...

Preparation is the key to enjoying the event surrounding President Bill Clinton's speech at Capaha Park Friday. Prepare for hot weather, but don't bring a cooler. Bring sunscreen, possibly a cap, water and a sack lunch. Prepare for rain, if you're so inclined. Above all else, prepare to walk -- parking will not be allowed within close proximity to the park...

Protesters got Jackson resident Vicki Abernathy's attention at the Democratic National Convention, but their message went unheard. A group of about 25 protesters rocked the bus carrying Abernathy and other delegates as they left the convention center about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday...

Those Southeast Missourians without a high school degree are losing out financially, a study has found. Nearly 40 percent of the region's residents, 25 years and older, dropped out of high school. That is worse than both the state and national averages...

JACKSON -- A new transfer station could be operational by the middle of September. The transfer station, which will be operated by Allied Waste Management, the city's trash hauler, is under construction in the Jackson Industrial Park near the city's wastewater plant...

Aug. 29, 1996 Dear Ken, I was a fresh high school graduate when the Democratic National Convention was last held in Chicago. 1968 was the year that was. First, Martin Luther King Jr., then Robert Kennedy were assassinated. Then the Chicago police and the anti-Vietnam War protesters at the Democratic convention declared war on each other...

Whitey Herzog should be a home-run hitter for the Area Wide United Way campaign kickoff luncheon next month. Since Cape Girardeau is a baseball community, Herzog seemed like a natural choice, said United Way executive director Nancy Jernigan. About 300 people are expected to attend the kickoff luncheon for the Area Wide United Way. The luncheon will be held Wednesday at the Drury Lodge...

SECRETARY OF State Bekki Cook hopes the way she presided over the Speaker of the House election won't be an issue to the voters in November. Well, it should be a major issue because the Secretary of State's most important function is to insure that elections are both fair and impartial. But Mrs. Cook put party before people and failed miserably in conducting her first election...

Week before last, the Missouri Conservation Commission reversed an earlier decision to allow prospecting for minerals on state land in the Ozarks. The vote was 4-0 and came without comment at the commission meeting, which was held in Kennett. St. Louis-based Doe Run Co. ...

Sadly, the statistics roll in. Surely, of all the head-counting and list-making government does today, the ever-growing number of prison inmates has to be the very saddest. Nationwide statistics report that the inexorable growth in our prison population continues apace. ...

Dear Editor: The Fourth Annual Cape BBQ Fest was held this past weekend. Twenty-five teams from Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois competed at Arena Park. An estimated 6,000 people attended the activities. This was made possible by the fine merchants and people of this community. ...

The American Red Cross "blood drive on wheels" will be in Cape Girardeau today. The agency's mobile unit, an 18-wheeler equipped to house blood drives, will be at the Common Pleas Courthouse steps on Spanish Street from noon to 6 for a blood drive sponsored by the Southeast Missourian and the Downtown Merchants Association...

ORAN -- Funeral service for Junior Jackson "Jack" Callow of Oran will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Oran. The Rev. Bob Bishop will officiate, with burial in Forest Hills Memorial Gardens near Morley. Friends may call at the funeral home after 4 p.m. today...

BLOOMFIELD -- Funeral service for Burley W. Parker of Bloomfield will be held at 1 p.m. today at Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home, with the Rev. Greg Greason officiating. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery near Puxico. Parker, 85, died Tuesday, Aug. 27, 1996, at Bloomfield...

Viola E. Garber, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Aug. 27, 1996, at the Lutheran Home. She was born March 20, 1907, in Alamo, Tenn., daughter of Eugene and Jane Kelley Nichols. She first married J. Glenn Young in 1939. He died May 8, 1963. She later married Charles W. Garber Oct. 12, 1970. He died Dec. 28, 1978...

GLEN ALLEN -- Funeral service for Claude Franklin Hogan of Glen Allen will be held at 11 a.m. today at New Salem Baptist Church near Marble Hill. The Rev. Randy Poole will officiate. Burial will be in Jefferson Barracks Cemetery in St. Louis. Liley Funeral Home at Marble Hill is in charge of arrangements...

SIKESTON -- Marjorie Ilene Estes, 64, of Sikeston died Wednesday, Aug. 28, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born March 1, 1932, in Ava, Ohio, daughter of John Howard and Hettie Alta Cavins Dudley. Estes had been a nurse aide, and was a member of First United Pentecostal Church. She moved here 10 years ago from Ohio...

Daughter to Jerry and Annetta Evans of Chaffee, 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, 1996. Name, Jessie Lee. Weight, 6 pounds 11 ounces. First child. Mrs. Evans is the former Annetta Davis, daughter of Forest and Myrtle Davis of Chaffee. Evans is the son of Norma Evans of Chaffee...

There is no agenda for today's joint meeting of Cape Girardeau's city council and school board, but members of both hope to learn a lot. The two groups will meet at 5:30 p.m. today at City Hall. Councilman Melvin Gateley originally proposed the informal session, saying there were issues in Cape Girardeau that concern both the City Council and the Board of Education...

PUXICO -- Funeral service for Albert Cooper of Shrewsbury will be held at 10 a.m. today at Kutis Funeral Home in Affton. A graveside service will be held at 3 p.m. in Puxico Cemetery. Cooper, 80, died Monday, Aug. 26, 1996, at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Louis...