Stories from Wednesday, August 2, 2000

Stone-ground grits like Fiddlehead's are neutral in flavor, but that lets them soak up other flavors and serve as a foil to other ingredients. "On every breakfast plate in the South there always appears a little white mound of food. Sometimes it's ignored. Sometimes insulted. But without it, the sun wouldn't come up, the crops wouldn't grow, and most of us would lose our drawl."...

Last week we ran stories about peach cobbler in Recipe Swap. My friend Cheryl Mothes called me with this panic in her voice when the papers came out. I'm sure she thought I was going to share her peach cobbler recipe with you. Actually, I had forgotten all about it until she called, so now you have to hear the story...

Republican conventions are nothing new for Dorothy Burford. At 96, the Doniphan, Mo., woman is attending her 12th national convention. She has attended all but one of the party's conventions since 1952. She was wheeled onto the floor Monday for opening day of the 2000 Republican convention in Philadelphia. She is an alternate at the convention...

Schnucks Supercenter in Cape Girardeau is about to become the largest food and drug store in Southeast Missouri. With construction work already in progress on one side of a parking lot to the south of the 55,000-square foot Schnucks store, 119 S. Kingshighway, a group tossed out shovelfuls of dirt at the other end to officially start the expansion and remodeling project...

A Glenallen, Mo., woman was killed and two others injured in a four-vehicle pileup on Highway 34 west of Jackson, Mo., Tuesday. Iris Null, 20, of Glenallen was killed when her pickup truck was struck from behind and pushed into another vehicle before a car came to rest on top of her truck...

You can almost feel the heat of a house fire that Dawn Sander of Patton, Mo., photographed. The weathered-gray exterior contrasts sharply with the intensity of the flames seen through a window. One judge of the Foto Fest 2000 contest said the picture shows "the demons inside." Another said it gives a "spooky feeling that captures what a fire can do."...

Rachel Whitaker and her five companions were greeted by as many as 35 to 40 area residents when they entered Trails of Tears State Park over the weekend. Whitaker, her four companions and an 8-year-old miniature Doberman named Bo, are running in the Peace and Dignity Journey 2000 -- an event designed to encourage healing and sovereignty among Native Americans...

Jalisa Durham, 8, of Cape Girardeau is out of immediate danger and on the mend a week after receiving a double-lung transplant at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Durham was placed on a donor list in May for the transplant, which was needed to treat a potentially deadly lung disease she developed because of cystic fibrosis...

Southeast Missouri state Reps. Mary Kasten, David Schwab and Peter Myers have endorsed Republican lieutenant governor candidate Joe Ortwerth. The lawmakers made their announcement Tuesday on the steps of the Cape Girardeau Federal Building. Ortwerth, on hand for the announcement, said the endorsement was a boost for his campaign...

Davy Jones is the more famous singer, but try making a Monkee of U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft. Both Ashcroft and Jones, a member of the TV show band The Monkees, are scheduled to sing at separate events in Cape Girardeau in the coming weeks. Ashcroft, the baritone member of the Singing Senators, will sing solo Aug. ...

In the past year, Adam Daughhetee established himself as not only one of the top distance runners in the area, but one of the best in the state. Thursday, he'll see how he stacks up against the nation's best when he travels to Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., for the 2000 AAU Junior Olympic Games...

Jeff Patton of Cape Girardeau carded his second lifetime hole-in-one Sunday as he aced the 11th hole at the Cape Girardeau Country Club. He used an 8-iron on the 145-yard hole. Cord Dombrowski, Mark McDowell, Neil Frater, Larry McKinney and Donnie Beasley witnessed the shot...

ROLLA, Mo. -- The Kohlfeld fast-pitch softball team will compete in a national tournament in Aurora, Colo., on Aug. 30 after winning a state championship this past weekend in Class C competition. Kohlfeld -- a team comprised of softball players in the Kelso, Mo., area -- won all four games it played this past weekend, including a 7-0 win over a team from Mansfield, Mo., for the state championship. ...

Funeral for Richard M. McLean Jr. of St. Louis will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Dan Schulte will officiate. Burial will be in Cape County Memorial Park. Friends may call at the chapel from 1-3 p.m. Thursday...

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- A Dexter, Mo., man sustained injuries Monday when the motorcycle he was driving overturned on a sand bar in the Mississippi River. John Mathis, 38, was taken to Pemiscot Memorial Hospital In Hayti, Mo., after the 7 p.m. accident four miles south on Caruthersville on County Road 369...

KARNAK, Ill. -- Nancy Hofmann, 49, of Beach Park, Ill., died Thursday, July 27, 2000, at Midwestern Regional Medical Center in Zion, Ill. She is the daughter of Herman and Gladys Hayes McKinney. Hofmann had worked at Midwestern Regional Medical Center 24 years. She was a member of Trinity Assembly of God Church in Zion...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Linda Sue Coyne, 51, of Sikeston died Monday, July 31, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born May 15, 1949, in St. Louis, daughter of Roy O. and Birdie Oliver Chaney. Coyne received a bachelor of arts degree in education from Southeast Missouri State University in 1990. She did substitute teaching at a number of elementary schools in Southeast Missouri. She was a member of Powerhouse of God Church...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- William Loyd Minton, 74, of Perryville died Monday, July 31, 2000, at his home. He was born Sept. 15, 1925, in Thebes, Ill., son of Loyd Erwin and Lola Irene Gibbs Minton. He and Barbara June Morris were married June 6, 1964. Minton was a teacher 38 years at Perry County School District 32...

Funeral for Dorothy J. "Johnny" Taylor of Cape Girardeau will be held at 10 a.m. today at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Charles Blaylock will officiate. Burial will be in Cape County Memorial Park. There is no visitation. Taylor, 86, died Friday, July 28, 2000, at the Lutheran Home...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Rosetta M. Bohnert, 76, of Perryville died Monday, July 31, 2000, at her home. She was born Sept. 10, 1923, in Kaskaskia, Ill., daughter of Edward J. and Blanche E. Rayoum Kline. She and Wallace I. "Wally" Bohnert were married May 4, 1948, at Apple Creek, Mo...

ANNA, Ill. -- Betty E. Bour, 94, of Mobile, Ala., died Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2000, at Autumn Breeze Nursing Home in Mobile. She was born Oct. 27, 1905, at Neelys Landing, Mo., daughter of Alfred and Bertha Gohn Craft. She and Robert E. Bour were married Feb. 26, 1933. He died Feb. 3, 1956...

HOLCOMB, Mo. -- Funeral for Leonard Blanton of Holcomb was held Monday at McDaniel Funeral Home in Arbyrd, Mo. The Rev. Kevin Morris officiated. Burial was in Memorial Gardens at Kennett, Mo. Blanton, 77, died Friday, July 28, 2000, at Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center in Kennett...

Daughter to Dan Manchette and Nancy Davis of Aurora, Colo., Colombia Medical Center in Aurora, 5:52 a.m. Sunday, July 16, 2000. Name, Krys TeAnn Davis. Weight, 7 pounds 2 ounces. Third daughter. Ms. Davis is the daughter of Gladys Davis of Jackson, Mo., and the late Virgil Davis. Manchette is the son of Harold Manchette of Conifer, Colo., and Arleen Manchette of Aurora. He is a heavy equipment oiler with BT Contractors...

To the editor: We are writing concerning the 40-cent levy increase proposed by the Jackson Board of Education. If passed, according to school officials, this increase would result in approximately $2.3 million of increased revenue to the district this year and each year in the future. As assessed valuations increase and new homes and businesses are built, the $2.3 million should increase. The increase over the next five years would total $11.5 million...

To the editor: What better seat could Cape Girardeau County have then the beautiful city of Jackson, with its charmingly lush parks, outstanding homes, distinguished churches and uniquely diversified community. It is no great surprise that our school system is growing at an ever-increasing pace to parallel that of the endlessly flourishing district...

To the editor: I disagree with your July 27 editorial concerning the transfer of the Vincentian artifacts and historical library housed at St. Mary's of the Barrens in Perryville. Those I have questioned feel it should not be moved to Southeast Missouri State University's new River Campus project...

To the editor: Melissa Holliday's recent letter to the editor asserted that Missouri's sodomy law was "antiquated" and applied "to many heterosexuals as well as homosexuals." She chastised previous letter writer Tom Lichtenegger for not "doing his homework to get the facts straight."...

Consumers have long been annoyed by the confusing information contained in the barrage of advertisements from long-distance telephone service providers. Attorneys general of eight states, including those in Illinois and Missouri, assert that those ads are illegally deceptive...

Missouri's practice of separately electing its governor and lieutenant governor has led to some minor hitches over the years, but it is a system that for the most part works well. No serious consideration should be given to changing it. Wendell Bailey, one of two Republicans running for lieutenant governor, has floated the idea of electing Missouri's top two executive positions as a unified ticket. ...

With only a half year left in his reign, his legacy starving for some substance, and Al and Hillary getting all the attention, it must be awfully tough to be Bill Clinton right now. Apparently overcome by the urge to recapture the spotlight, the president threw a couple of tantrums over the last few days in Boston and Chicago. ...

AN ANSWER to "Let seniors pay": Take $778 a month. Out of this you pay $164 a month for extra health insurance, $125 a month for gas and electric, $30 or more for water and trash, $29 for phone, $25 for car gas so you can go to the doctor, get groceries and go to church. ...

To the editor: What a treat to open Section C of Sunday's paper and find the "Where we live" feature on Commerce, Mo. The images by Susan Whitney and the story by Spencer Cramer are first-rate. Susan is an artist with a camera. I love her fine compositions and the candid quality of the photos. ...