Out of the Past

Former national education secretary and drug czar William Bennett may have missed his true calling; in an hourlong speech at Southeast Missouri State University yesterday, Bennett delivered a pretty fair stand-up comedy act before a packed house of about 550 people...

The Cape Girardeau Florsheim plant is expected to add some new workers following an announcement yesterday the West Plains, Missouri, Florsheim plant will close; production at Cape Girardeau and Kirksville, Missouri, will be stepped up, with the addition of a total of 100 new workers at the two facilities...

As the Scott City Council's gambling committee called its first meeting to order Tuesday, two representatives from yet another gambling company sat waiting to be recognized; Eagle Gaming Ltd. has joined Lady Luck and Royal Casino Group Inc. in a quest to install a riverboat gambling operation at Scott City...

In the face of opposition from student leaders, Southeast Missouri State University's administrators have scrapped plans to raise room charges for most campus residence halls; students may still be paying more to live on campus in the 1994-95 academic year, as the university is looking at a new food service contract which could increase student cost...

After listening to impassioned testimony on two issues not on the Cape Girardeau City Council agenda last night, the staff elected to take up both matters at the next meeting: Minimum housing standard codes and the parking situation in the 300 and 400 block of Louisiana Avenue, which is close to the 96-car parking lot at Southeast Hospital...

After being turned down in Cape Girardeau on March 8, Lady Luck packed up and moved south; the Las Vegas-based company makes a $63.2 million, three-phase pitch to the Scott City Council to locate a gambling boat at the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority...

SEDGEWICKVILLE, Mo. -- The first of three celebrations commemorating the 125th anniversary of Sargent's Chapel is held in the morning; it consists of a music service honoring baptized members; a potluck dinner follows; the congregation traces its roots back to 1803, when the Rev. Samuel Weyberg was invited to preach in the area, but the chapel was founded in 1869...

Construction of the $5.7 million Jackson Middle School is underway again after being delayed for nearly a month by inclement weather earlier this year; Penzel Construction Co. resumed work on construction of the 93,570-square-foot building earlier this month...

House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt is backing efforts to secure federal funding for the new Mississippi River bridges at Cape Girardeau and Hannibal, Missouri; in a Feb. 7 letter to Transportation Secretary Frederico Pena, Gephardt pushed for federal disaster funding for the projects...

The tiny Cape Girardeau County village of Whitewater finds its name in the news, as President Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton continue to find themselves embroiled in a scandal with the same name. Members of the Louis K. Juden American Legion Post 63 of Cape Girardeau last night welcomed state commander Robert L. Boxdorfer to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the formation of the American Legion in Paris...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- After serving seven terms in the Missouri House of Representatives, Dennis Ziegenhorn has decided not to seek re-election this year; the Sikeston' Democrat's 160th District serves Benton, New Hamburg, Kelso and a part of Scott City...

Boyd Gaming Corp., which last week won the city's endorsement for a riverboat casino in Cape Girardeau, is seeking a third local vote on riverboat gambling; the company's action was prompted by differing legal opinions as to whether the April 5 statewide referendum on riverboat casino "games of chance" also will require local approval...

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department is in the process of forming an Explorer post, and it is looking for young men and women, ages 14-20, who think they might be interested in firefighting; Exploring is a division of Boy Scouts of America. Capital Bancorporation Inc., headquartered at Cape Girardeau, and Bank of South County in St. ...

Lake Country Church has moved its Sunday services to the Office Center Building at 1707 Mount Auburn Road; the congregation, led by Pastor Bernard Gebara, formerly met at the Show Me Center. A dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony is held in the afternoon at Bethlehem General Baptist Church in Crump; the event is in celebration of the recent completion of the church's fellowship hall; pastor of the church is the Rev. Wayne Johnson...

Arkansas Lt. Gov. Mike Huckabee is the guest speaker in the evening at the annual Cape Girardeau County Republican Lincoln Day, sponsored by the county GOP women's club; the event is held at the Arena Building and includes a special tribute to Sen. John Danforth, who is retiring after 26 years in public office in Missouri; U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson uses the gathering to announce his decision to file again for the 8th District seat...

When the lease on the building currently occupied by the Scott City Library expires April 30, the books and the librarian may move across town; the library, currently housed in a building on Second Street East, may be moved to the Tupperware Home Parties Building at 2106 Main St...

With the closure of school yesterday because of an 18-inch snowfall, Jackson public school students have missed eight days this year due to the weather, while Cape Girardeau public schools have missed four; for both districts, the prospect of another day or more of canceled classes means problems in the school calendar...

JEFFERSON CITY -- A school choice bill proposed by Sen. Peter Kinder was defeated yesterday after the chairman of the Senate Education Committee held the voting board open to allow senators who weren't present to vote later on it. A late-winter storm blanketed Southern Missouri last night and early today with as much as 18 inches of snow, closing roads, schools and businesses; more than a foot of snow fell on the Cape Girardeau area; for many residents -- who only a few days ago were enjoying sunny, 70-degree-plus days -- the storm revives memories of the late-February blizzard of 1979.. ...

After hearing testimony from several concerned citizens and church leaders against the development of a go-cart track, the Cape Girardeau Council last night allowed the matter to die for a lack of a motion; earlier in the day, several council members attended a decibel test conducted by Southeast Missouri State University physics professor Richard Cannon at the proposed site, the corner of North Kingshighway and Lexington...

After more than a year-long wait in Cape Girardeau, Boyd Gaming Corp. officials see their hopes for a riverboat casino here culminate in the City Council's endorsement of their riverboat gambling proposal; Mayor Gene Rhodes is the only council member present who votes against Councilman Al Spradling III's motion to endorse Boyd's proposal...

Brian and Toni Becker of Williamsville, Missouri, perform in concert in the evening at Concord Theatre; the concert is free, but donations are accepted and will benefit the Hobbs Chapel United Methodist Church building fund; the Beckers have been youth ministers at First United Methodist Church in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, for two months...

Four representatives of the federal government's General Services Administration were in Cape Girardeau yesterday to perform preliminary work toward the site selection for a new federal courthouse; the current federal budget includes $3.9 million this year for site acquisition and design of a courthouse, as well as $1.7 million for design and renovation of the Federal Building at 339 Broadway...

Lowe's opened its 115,000-square-foot home center in the I-55 Business Park yesterday; the store employs about 160 workers. Since Cape Girardeau firefighters assumed the added responsibility of responding to medical calls in late May, they have relied heavily upon donations to purchase state-of-the-art medical equipment to be used in the field; this week, the department received two combination pulse and blood oxygen monitors, purchased with funds raised by public programming and CPR and first aid classes.. ...

McCLURE, Ill. -- Resurfacing and shoulder work along a 4.2-mile stretch of the Grapevine Trail, which leads from McClure to the Dishwood "Y," is one of a number of Illinois Department of Transportation projects that were bid on last week; bituminous resurfacing will start on the road about five miles southeast of McClure and continue to the Dishwood "Y" about 2 1/2 miles west of Tamms, Illinois, which will be the site of a new super-maximum prison...

The Cape Girardeau City Council met yesterday behind closed doors to iron out final details in the city's process to endorse one of two riverboat gaming proposals; that process will culminate Monday, when the council is slated to recommend that either Boyd Gaming or Lady Luck Gaming be granted a license to operate a riverboat casino in Cape Girardeau...

For the past year, Boyd Gaming Corp. has had a stalwart partner in the majority of downtown merchants who support its proposal for a riverboat casino and complex in downtown Cape Girardeau; but now another group of local businessmen and residents -- the South Cape Development Group -- has started a campaign backing Lady Luck Gambling Corp.'s proposed resort...

Cape Girardeau Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr. and City Engineer J. Kensey Russell are preparing a preliminary study on the impact riverboat gambling will have on the city's traffic. Five Cape Girardeau area men are among the members of the Missouri Highway Patrol's 66th recruit graduating class; the newly-commissioned troopers from this area are David B. Haggett and Philip E. Gregory, both of Cape Girardeau, Mark A. Winder of Jackson, Lee Gerler of Gordonville and Henry W. Moore of Sikeston...

A Mass is celebrated at Old St. Vincent's Catholic Church in the morning, as local residents recall Holy Family Catholic Church and its school, which served the black population of Cape Girardeau for two decades; officiating is the Rev. Willis F. Darling, C.M., 87, the founder of the church...

Cape Girardeau stands to lose more than $2 million annually in local revenue, if a majority of City Council members are unable to decide which riverboat casino operator ought to be allowed to build in the city; with Councilman David Limbaugh already declaring he will abstain from voting on the issue, the seven-member council could face a deadlock March 7, when a proposal is chosen...

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau is forecast to crest 2 feet above the 32-foot flood stage Sunday; no serious flooding occurs at that stage, but the rising river has stopped construction of the Fayville levee near Olive Branch, Illinois. The Rev. ...

Armed with a petition bearing the signatures of more than 100 Cape Girardeau residents, opponents of a go-cart track on North Kingshighway assailed the City Council on Wednesday and thwarted final approval of the proposal; opponents who live in the vicinity of the track site, at the corner of Kingshighway and Lexington Avenue, argued the noise of the track would be a nuisance and that the facility would be an eyesore...

Because she could not serve a full, four-year term before reaching the mandatory judicial retirement age of 70, Cape Girardeau County Associate Circuit Judge Marybelle Mueller isn't seeking re-election this year; Mueller, a pioneer among women in the legal profession, became the first woman lawyer ever elected to a judicial post in the state of Missouri in 1956...

Friends and family of Michael Davis plead for an end to hazing violence during a memorial service for Davis, the Southeast Missouri State University who died in a hazing ritual involving the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity; about 300 persons, many of them students, attend the hour-long service held in Academic Hall...

Before one bucking horse, bronco bull or cowboy has reached the Show Me Center for this weekend's rodeo, a competition is underway; the Animal Rights Action Team of Southern Illinois University is at odds with promoters of the Longhorn World Championship Rodeo over the treatment of animals...

Carol Roth of Cape Girardeau presents a slide program of mission work being done in Ghana, West Africa, in the evening at Hanover Lutheran Church; her son-in-law, the Rev. Carl Rockrohr, is serving as missionary of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to the Konkumba people...

Six more men with ties to Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity have been arrested on misdemeanor hazing charges stemming from the beating of five pledges, and authorities say more arrests may be made; in all 13 men have been arrested since Wednesday in an investigation prompted by the death of 25-year-old Southeast Missouri State University student Michael Davis...

The president of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and another fraternity member were arrested yesterday in connection with the alleged hazing death of pledge Michael Davis; in addition Southeast Missouri State University has banned the fraternity from the campus in the wake of the beating death of Davis...

Five members of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the hazing death of a man pledging the fraternity at Southeast Missouri State University; Michael Davis, 25, of St. Louis died shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday, the cause of death being blunt trauma to the head...

After far surpassing previous tonnage records in 1993, the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority has started the new year where it left off; in January, net tonnage for the port authority was 30,454, which is the third highest single month total in the port's history...

Allen Moss, who has served as an assistant attorney general, assistant county prosecutor and city prosecutor, has announced his intentions to run for Division IV associate circuit judge in Cape Girardeau County. Cape Girardeau police are investigating the death of a 25-year-old Southeast Missouri State University student, who dies at his residence in the afternoon; police are considering the death of Michael Davis of St. Louis a homicide...

A building permit has been issued for the addition of eight loft apartments in the former Montgomery Ward building in downtown Cape Girardeau; Don Lowe of Sikeston, Missouri, owner of the building, announced earlier that the apartments would be added on the second floor of the building, with five of them providing river views...

The 1994 Missions Convention begins today and will continue through Wednesday at First Assembly of God Church; the church displays colorful decorations and international flags promoting foreign and home missions. While Lady Luck and Boyd Gaming try to convince city officials theirs is the best choice for a riverboat gambling operation in Cape Girardeau, some have raised safety concerns with both proposals; Woody Rushing of Cape Girardeau, whose river career spanned nearly six decades, says he doubts the Army Corps of Engineers will approve either riverboat docking site.. ...

Cape Girardeau anthropologist Scott Grantham has seen his share of graves in recent months; from last August through January, Grantham was involved in moving the skeletal remains from some 2,500 graves in an abandoned, predominately black St. Louis cemetery to make way for completion of the MetroLink route to Lambert Airport...

A national community service program -- President Bill Clinton's vision of a domestic Peace Corps -- is taking shape locally through the efforts of Southeast Missouri State University officials and other civic leaders; workers will receive $7,400 a year in wages plus health insurance; for each year of service, the government will give a worker $4,725 to attend college at a post-secondary vocational school...

Southeast Missouri State University will eliminate summer commencement for undergraduates beginning in 1995; university officials plan to implement a scaled-down ceremony for graduate students. Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle announced yesterday he will seek re-election to a third term this year; the 38-year-old Republican announced his re-election bid at the sheriff's office before a group of 53 people...

Yesterday's election set the stage for April's municipal election in Cape Girardeau, as voters in wards 2 and 6 selected their candidates; with a turnout of about 9 percent of registered voters in the two wards, Tom Neumeyer secured the most votes in Ward 2, and Richard "Butch" Eggimann led the three-man field in Ward 6; Neumeyer will face Brenda Dohogne in the April election, while Eggimann will go up against Jay Knudtson; Dohogne and Knudtson finished second in their respective wards in yesterday's balloting.. ...

The Scott City Council yesterday approved a measure which will allow voters to decide whether or not they want riverboat gaming in the city; citizens will vote on the issue April 5. Yesterday was a kind of homecoming for John Ashcroft; Ashcroft, who has enjoyed strong support fro Cape Girardeau County during a political career that included two terms as attorney general and two terms as governor, came here Monday to announce he wants to return to public life as a U.S. senator...

PRAIRIE DU ROCHER, Ill. -- The flood of 1993 has claimed another victim; the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency has canceled the June 1994 Fort de Chartres Rendezvous because of extensive flood damage that occurred to the fort and the surrounding grounds...

ANNA, Ill. -- A light earthquake rattled the ground and people's nerves in at least five states early yesterday morning, but reports indicate damage, if any, was very light; the epicenter of the quake was in Southern Illinois, near the small Union County community of Lick Creek...

Four members of Congress in Missouri and Illinois have taken a new approach toward funding of replacement bridges crossing the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau and Hannibal; 8th District U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson has teamed up with U.S. Reps. Harold Volkmer, who represents Hannibal, Missouri, and David Durbin and Jerry Costello, who represent the Illinois side of the river, to seek funding for bridges as an "authorized project" in the National Highway System authorization legislation...

Joe F. Gambill, recently retired manager of BioKyowa Inc., is named recipient of the Rush H. Limbaugh Sr. Award; the award is presented by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce during its annual dinner/dance held at the Show Me Center; also honored are chamber president John Mehner, who receives the "Go-Getter" award, and KBSI-TV, which receives the "Small Business of the Year" award...

The Towers renovation project at Southeast Missouri State University has hit a snag over a labor union official's complaints there have been violations of the prevailing wage law; the complaints center around the university's decision to expand the renovation of two of the campus' high-rise residence halls to include a new chilled water cooling system...

The Scott City Council gathered for an unannounced meeting Monday night and, without news media present, discussed its plan of action regarding riverboat gambling; the result was a decision to put forth a city ordinance at the next regular council meeting that, if passed, would allow voters to decide whether or not they want riverboat gambling in Scott City...

Bill Hopkins, women's gymnastics coach at Southeast Missouri State University, has filed for a seat on the Cape Girardeau Board of Education; he is the fifth candidate to file for two seats on the school board. Dredging and fill work on an 80-foot scour hole is underway along a breached Mississippi River levee in Alexander County near Miller City, Illinois; meanwhile, work on a 1,000-yard-wide, 50-foot deep scour hole has been completed in Perry County, Missouri, where levee work has been underway since November.. ...

Southeast Missouri State University students can graduate without ever taking American history; that concerns some of the university's history professors; but Southeast officials say while it's possible to graduate without having taken American history as a course, all students are exposed to various aspects of American history in the school's University Studies or general education curriculum...

John C. Seay is the president of the new Golden K Kiwanis Club of Cape Girardeau, which was founded here this week; a charter presentation ceremony will be held Feb. 17. A group of property owners who live in the vicinity of the Jackson municipal landfill are objecting to the proposed sale of the landfill to a private waste-management company; instead, they want the city to close the landfill immediately...

The developer of the Lady Luck Gaming Corp. riverboat casino proposal for Cape Girardeau says concerns about the feasibility of the project are unwarranted; the $58 million proposal calls for a riverboat casino, hotel, golf course, miniature golf course, batting cages, museum, marina and a downtown market and festival site; the 100-acre development would be built along the riverfront from St. Vincent's College south to Locust Street...

Although the annual event is six months away, a couple of significant donations already have been made toward Riverfest '94; last week, Lady Luck Gaming Corp. announced a $7,500 donation toward the fireworks display; on Wednesday, the Cape Girardeau Riverfest Association got another boost with a $7,000 donation from the Boyd Gaming Corp., earmarked for "special river entertainment."...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Mel Carnahan and legislative leaders are promising quick action in response to a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that has cast a cloud over the licensing of riverboat gambling boats in the state; the result of the ruling is that a statewide election will have to be held on a constitutional amendment legalizing games of chance such as slot machines that would be available on boats...