Stories from Tuesday, February 5, 1991

CAPE GIRARDEAU - State Rep. Larry Thomason, D-Kennett, is sponsoring legislation to tighten use of the state's enterprise-zone law. Thomason said he is sponsoring the measure because of his concern that continued use of the law for purposes other than what it was originally intended could lead to its demise as an economic development tool...

JACKSON - Voters here go to the polls today to decide on a proposal to annex 345 acres of land to the northeast of the present city limits. Polling places open at 6 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m. Because it was defeated last November by rural opponents, the unfriendly annexation issue will need a two-thirds majority to pass. There are approximately 6,000 registered voters in Jackson and 30 in the proposed area...

JACKSON -- Almost two decades before the turn of the century, Lydia Rapp Washer was born. Monday she celebrated her 107th birthday. Time has claimed most of her hearing and she tires easily. But she has retained a sharp mind and a quick sense of humor...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Mayor Gene Rhodes said Monday he believes parking should not be prohibited on Kage Hills Drive. Eleven of the street's 16 residents last month sent a petition to City Hall asking that a law prohibiting parking on the street be repealed. The council gave final approval to the no-parking law at its Dec. 19 meeting...

SCOTT CITY -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has granted Scott City $203,500 to help fund construction of sewer lines to serve the city's industrial park. The almost 16,000 feet of sewer lines will provide services for Havco Wood Products, Inc., Industrial Fuels and Resources, Inc., Rhodes Oil Company and about 15 other commercial and service industries located in the industrial park, said Tracy Mehan, DNR director...

SR THOMAS J. KIEFER U.S. NAVY Kiefer, an electronic warfare serviceman apprentice, is the son of Leo and Linda Fuller of Benton. He is a 1989 graduate of Kelly High School. After joining the Navy in August, 1989, he was stationed in Long Beach, Calif., aboard the U.S.S. Princeton...

CHAFFEE -- A bond issue to finance improvements for the city of Chaffee's waste-water plant won't be put before voters in April. City officials announced at the last Chaffee City Council meeting on Jan. 21 their intention to try and get the bond issue on the ballot. But Chaffee Mayor Ron Moyers said Monday night at the City Council's subsequent meeting that the bond issue would not be on the ballot...

JACKSON -- The Jackson Board of Aldermen approved legislation Monday making it possible for donations to be made to the city for development of parks. The City of Jackson Public Park Development Foundation will receive and manage funds or other donations to the city for park development...

SCOTT CITY -- The Scott City Council Monday approved putting a half-cent increase in the city's retail sales tax before voters on April 2. The ordinance approved by the council states that funds generated from the tax increase will be used only for the repairs and improvements in city streets...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A campus recycling program at Southeast Missouri State University continues to grow despite slumping markets for some recyclable materials. "We're alive and well for the next three months," said Annette Adams, who heads the university's recycling committee...

MY NEPHEW'S OVER in Saudi Arabia and his battalion got a bunch of letters from the May Greene School. I'd just like to say thank you to them. I WAS APPALLED to read in this morning's paper that a jury awarded $25 million in Springfield, Mo., to the family of a woman who died during an abortion. What makes her life worth more than the baby she was aborting? Think about it...

"This will not be another Vietnam. Never again will Americans be forced to fight with one arm tied behind their backs." President George Bush Vietnam myths never die, they don't even fade away. Now comparisons are made between the Vietnam War and the current hostilities. While there are some parallels, many Americans fail to recognize the difference between our doomed intervention in an insurgency and our current attempt to combat aggression across sovereign borders...

Almost a year ago I delivered the speech which is excerpted above. Since, my hope for the peaceful resolution of ethnic strife in the Soviet Union has evaporated. The killing of 23 (or more) Lithuanians and Latvians by Soviet paratroopers and interior ministry forces last week - killings implicitly okayed by president-now-dictator Mikhail Gorbachev - and this week's granting of sweeping new powers to the K.G.B. ...

Jon Rust has spent most of the past year and a half studying, working and traveling in the Soviet Union. His most recent stint there included representing the United States in a series of debates throughout the U.S.S.R. on the topic of trust and guarantees in the relations between East and West. ...

The onset of war has taken a lot of intestinal fortitude on the part of this nation. In a few cases, it has also tested our tolerance for balderdash. An incident Sunday leaves us shaking our heads and biting our lips. Rob Sherman, a self-proclaimed spokesman for a Chicago atheist movement, called a press conference to announce his displeasure with President Bush and the designation of Sunday as a "national day of prayer." Sherman believes that Bush violated Bill of Rights provisions that church and state be separate.. ...

DORENA -- Funeral service for Joe Taylor White of Dorena will be held at 1:30 p.m. today at Shelby Funeral Chapel in East Prairie. The Rev. Clint Wofford will officiate, with burial in Dogwood Cemetery near East Prairie. White, 78 years old, died Sunday, Feb. 3, 1991, at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, following an extended illness...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Memorial service for Teddy Ray of Jackson, Mich., formerly of East Prairie, will be held at 3 p.m. today at Shelby Funeral Chapel here. The Rev. Darrell Faire will officiate, with burial in IOOF Cemetery near Charleston. Ray, 62 years old, died Friday, Jan. 25, 1991, at Battle Creek Community Hospital, following an extended illness...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Funeral service for Charles H. Miller of Tamms will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Barkett Funeral Chapel in Cairo. The Rev. Jesse Hendrix will officiate, with burial in Green Lawn Memorial Gardens at Villa Ridge. Friends may call at the funeral home after 5 p.m. today...

MCCLURE, Ill. -- Funeral service for Edward (Jug) Woodard of McClure will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The Rev. Frank Giunta will officiate, with burial in Lindsey Cemetery here. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4-8 p.m. today...

JACKSON -- Graveside service for Michael Jeffrey Riney will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Memorial Park. The Rev. Stephen Schneider will officiate, with McCombs Funeral Home in charge of arrangements. The infant died at birth Sunday, Feb. 3, 1991, at Southeast Missouri Hospital...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Funeral service for Eugene H. Benson of Gulfport, Miss., will be held at 2 p.m. today at Riemann Funeral Chapel in Gulfport. Benson, 75 years old, died Sunday, Feb. 3, 1991, in Gulfport. He was born in Sullivan, Ind. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and was a retired chief electronics technician in the Navy. He was a member of VFW in Orange Grove, member of Disabled American Veterans, and was of the United Methodist faith...

SIKESTON -- James Harlie McGill, 90, of Sikeston died Sunday, Feb. 3, 1991, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born June 17, 1900 in McLeansboro, Ill., the son of John Featherston and Laura Anne Vickers McGill. He worked as a carpenter for the Tramell Lumber Company of Dexter and for the Coffee Lumber Company, also of Dexter...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Michael D. Kohlfeld of Cape Girardeau has been recognized with the 1991 Catholic Elementary School Distinguished Graduate Award. The honor was given by the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA). Kohlfeld was named a "distinguished graduate" of St. Vincent de Paul School in Cape. He was honored for his work in promoting Catholic education in this area...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Senior leadership will play a critical role in Southeast Missouri State's bid for a host berth in the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association playoffs. "I'm calling upon our seniors to show the kind of leadership it takes to keep a winning streak together," said Shumate, whose squad has won three of its last four games...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Class 2A second-ranked Scott County Central's Bravettes held Cape Central High to just 25 points over the first three quarters and went on to a 75-46 win over the Lady Tigers at the Central Gym Monday night. The Bravettes, who won the tough Charleston Tournament a week ago playing with just five players, was back at full strength on Monday and it showed, especially on the defensive side...

One of the truly nice guys on the area coaching scene, Notre Dame High soccer coach Wayne Nenninger, is stepping down. Nenninger, a long-time teacher and coach at Notre Dame, announced recently that he was calling it quits after six years as boss of the Bulldogs, although he will continue to teach at the school...

BENTON - Kim Essner scored 17 of her game-high 21 points in the first half to lead Class 2A's ninth-ranked Kelly Lady Hawks to a 20-point win over Charleston at home Monday. Essner held Kelly jump out to an 18-point lead at the break as the Lady Hawk post controlled the offensive glass for Kelly in the first two periods, finishing the game with seven offensive rebounds...