Stories from Wednesday, January 2, 1991

Some of the most diverting and diverse writing in the country appears regularly in The New Yorker's Talk of the Town. The first full-scale feature in the magazine, it consists of commentaries on topics having little to do with each other, but everything to do with goings-on in the Big Apple, the nation, and the human condition...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Three American Red Cross blood drives will be held here soon. The Red Cross and HHC 135th Engineering Group has scheduled a blood drive Sunday from 8 a.m. to noon at the National Guard Armory, 2626 Independence. Southeast Hospital, 1701 Lacey, will host a blood drive from noon to 5 p.m. Jan. 9 at the hospital's Harrison Room, and St. Francis Medical Center, 211 St. Francis Drive, will hold a drive from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 10 at the center's conference rooms A & B...

JACKSON -- A new pay classification plan took effect with the new year Tuesday for about 120 Cape Girardeau County employees. For some, the plan will result in pay raises of up to about 25 percent phased in over the next two years; for others it will be 5 percent or somewhere in between...

CAPE GIRARDEAU A Cape Girardeau immunologist whose naval reserve unit was called up early this week to join troops in the Persian Gulf is pleading with government and military officials to excuse him from active duty. He said his family needs him more than does his country...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Auth~orities Tuesday night were investigating what they termed as "a fire of suspicious origin" that destroyed an apartment building in the 300 block of South Pacific Street. The fire was discovered at about 6:19 a.m. Tuesday by one of the tenants of the one-and-one-half story wood-frame structure that had been converted into a five-unit apartment building. It is owned by Walter J. Wright of Cape Girardeau...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The following schools will be closed today because of icy road conditions: Nell Holcomb; Jackson public and parochial; Oak Ridge; Delta R-5; Advance; Perryville public and parochial, including St. Vincent's High School; Perryville Head Start Center;...

SPEC. AARON K. ABERNATHY U.S. ARMY Spec. Abernathy is the son of Kelly and Liz Abernathy of Jackson. He graduated from Jackson High School in 1985 and joined the army in 1987. He was stationed in Panama during the invasion of Panama. After returning, he was stationed with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. for one month before being deployed to Saudi Arabia on Aug. 15...

New Madrid man among Missouri residents killed in traffic accidents over the New Year's weekend NEW MADRID A New Madrid man was among at least 10 people killed on Missouri roads over the extended New Year's holiday weekend. William Thurman, 48, of New Madrid, was killed Monday when a car driven by his wife, Joyce Thurman, 51, struck a patch of icy pavement, left the road and overturned, said the Missouri Highway Patrol...

STURDIVANT -- Freddie W. Simmers, 54, of Sturdivant died Tuesday, Jan. 1, 1991, at St. Louis University Hospital in St. Louis due to a sudden illness. Visitation will be from 5 to 9 p.m. today at the Morgan Funeral Home in Advance. He was born Dec. 13, 1936, near Advance to Vernie and Grace Simmers and proceeded the later...

ANNA, Ill. -- Ten candidates showed up here on the first day of filing for city elections last month. "So many people came in at the same time that we had to have a lottery to determine the order of candidates for the primary election," said Anna City Clerk Steve Guined. "They were all here when the office opened at 8 a.m."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Etta Mae Kassel, 93 years old, 611 South West End Boulevard, died Sunday, Dec. 30, 1990, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Aug. 4, 1897, at Millersville, daughter of Norman Earl and Nora Walker Niswonger. She married Frank Penny in 1913. He preceded her in death. She married Charles B. Kassel in 1922. He died in 1939...

Key Words CYRILLA R. BLATTEL SCOTT CITY Cyrilla R. Blattel, 71 years old, of Scott City, died at 9:42 p.m. Monday, Dec. 31, 1990, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 4, 1919, at New Hamburg, daughter of Leo J. and Emeline Urhahn Menz. Her mother, of New Hamburg, survives...

JACKSON - James Thomas Hope, 87, of Pocahontas died, at 2:40 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 1, 1991 at Deal Nursing Home in Jackson. He was born Aug. 25, 1903, at Pocahontas, the son of James and Bertha Thompson Hope. In 1924 he married Mildred Stewart, who died on Jan. 22, 1965...

JACKSON -- Funeral service for John (Hutz) Grossman of Jackson will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Cracraft-Miller Funeral Chapel. The Revs. William A. Bernauer and Rodney Travis will officiate, with burial in Russell Heights Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4-8 p.m. today...

MCBRIDE -- Funeral service for Thomas B. Sanders of McBride will be held at 2 p.m. today at First Baptist Church in Perryville. The Rev. Charles L. Johnson will officiate, with burial in Home Cemetery. Friends may call at Young and Sons Funeral Home until noon today...

PERRYVILLE - Perryville resident Wilbert J. Weibrecht died Saturday, Dec. 29, 1990 at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was 69. Weibrecht was born April 24, 1921 at Crosstown. He was the son of the late Henry and Catherine Emer Weibrecht...

ADVANCE -- Dorothy Georger of Advance died Jan. 1, 1991, at DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and are being handled by the Morgan Funeral Home in Advance.

PERRYVILLE -- Lester L. Laurentius of St. Louis died Friday, Dec. 28, 1990. He was 57 years old. He was born Jan. 30, 1933, in Perryville, son of Silverius and Lena Ruessler Laurentius. He was a member of St. David Catholic Church of St. Louis, and a veteran of the Korean War. He worked as a custodian at Mehlville School District...

New Year's Day in our not-too-distant past was a time when friends called to extend their good wishes for the coming year. Since Southeast Missouri had a large German and French population during those early years, and because both nationalities had customs for observing the new year, there was merrymaking from dusk 'til dawn...

JACKSON - Paul W. Sander, 35, of 619 Donna Drive, has announced plans to file for re-election to the Jackson Board of Aldermen. Sander, who has five years experience on the board, is completing his second term representing Ward 1. In announcing plans to run again, Sander said he believes the city has made good progress the last few years, has maintained a sound fiscal condition, and is in position to continue its growth and development in the future...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Mississippi Valley Home Educators meeting will be held Jan. 10 at 3 p.m. at Cape Bible Chapel on Kage Road. The children's presentation will be on the theme "Things That Grow Underground," and a project on peanuts is planned. The monthly field trip, scheduled for Jan. 18, will be a tour of the Good Potato Chip Co...

People who say that life is not worth while are really saying that they themselves have no personal goals which are worthwhile... Get yourself a goal worth working for. Better still, get yourself a project... Always have something ahead of you to "look forward to" -- to work for and hope for...

Around the first week of December, prognostication got a black eye in Southeast Missouri. While we don't intend to spell out any earth-moving probabilities in this space, it is customary as a new year debuts to conduct a bit of soothsaying, speculating on what the coming 12 months will bring. We concede some imprecision in this pursuit, but don't look for gloom; the outlook is bright for Cape Girardeau and the region in 1991...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Six National FFA officers will present programs during a Future Farmers of America (FFA) Greenhand session here Jan. 9. The conference will be held at the University Center on Southeast Missouri State University campus, starting at 3 p.m., and will incude FFA chapters from throughout Southeast Missouri...