Stories from Thursday, May 30, 1991

POPLAR BLUFF -- Professional wildlife artist Eileen Melton of Doniphan will exhibit her work during June at the Margaret Harwell Art Museum in Poplar Bluff. Melton has won more than 90 awards and honors for her work, which includes the 1992 and 1989 Missouri Trout Stamp and the 1990 Missouri Waterfowl Stamp. She also was the artist of the Conservation Federation of Missouri 1990 Print of the Year...

Boxer Virgil "Quick Silver" Hill will defend his WBA light heavyweight title against Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns during a closed circuit boxing match Monday at the Show Me Center. The 8 p.m. event will feature a lower ticket price than previous closed circuit boxing events held at the center...

The Council of Garden Clubs goes Hollywood during their annual flower show Saturday. The show will be held from 1-5 p.m. at the Riverview Banquet Center, 132 N. Main. A $1 donation at the door will be used to maintain the rose display garden in Capaha Park...

JACKSON -- The fourth annual Working Crafts Festival will be going on this weekend at the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railway in Jackson. Crafters will demonstrate, display and sell their handmade items from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Many items will be available for sale, including quilts, furniture, pillows, dolls, wind chimes, pottery and more. An artist also will be available to draw caricatures...

Art Experience '91, the annual Juried Fine Art Competition, is the June exhibit at Gallery 100. The competition is sponsored by the Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts. "There will be a broad range of works in Art Experience '91," said Beverly Strohmeyer, executive director of the Arts Council. The exhibit includes works from artists in Michigan, Tennessee, Iowa, California, New Jersey, Kansas, Ohio, New York, and several other states including Missouri. One artist is from China, she said...

The Missouri Pops Orchestra conducted by Hugo Vianello will perform in Cape Girardeau on June 29 at 8 p.m. at Academic Auditorium. The Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts and Boatmen's Bank, with financial assistance from Union Electric Co. and the Missouri Arts Council, will present the concert of popular, classical and contemporary music...

Dreaming may be fun, but the Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts has made sure kids have more to do this summer than daydream. Kids are putting their dreams to work in art workshops that teach them hands-on skills like painting, drawing and working with clay...

Dick Gaffney, chief of flood plan management for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, knows how important it is for cities to plan for flood disasters. Gaffney was in Cape Girardeau Wednesday to help conduct a workshop on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which provides federally funded flood insurance to cities and other governmental units...

Some area swimming pools began offering respite from the spring heat last weekend, while other pool staffs are readying themselves for openings within the next couple of days. Both the pools at Scott City and Chaffee opened Saturday. Pool workers described business as good...

When Dennis Ziegenhorn assumed the chairmanship of the House insurance committee early this year, he promptly announced that his leadership style would be a bit nontraditional. Instead of being the chairman who basically controlled what the committee did, the Sikeston Democrat declared he was nothing more than "a traffic director," and would give all 26 members opportunities for input on insurance bills...

Jerra May, general manager of Riverview Banquet Center in downtown Cape Girardeau, is taking on some additional downtown duties. She was named marketing director for the Downtown Merchants Association Tuesday night. "I'm real excited about the new position," said May, who will continue her duties with the banquet center. "I'll be working with the downtown merchants and promoting various events. I'll be involved with anything that involves the downtown area."...

The House approved legislation on Wednesday to provide $117 million next year for planning and construction of water projects benefiting Missouri. Included in the package is $10.3 million for construction of a flood control project in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson area...

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- The HLM Country Music Hall will celebrate it's grand opening Saturday with guest band The Runaways. The hall opened May 11 and regularly features the band "It's Country." They also offer amateur performers the chance to take the stage...

The "Plucked Chickens," a team of 10 Cape Girardeau Central High School students, won the annual "Anything Goes Games" at the high school Wednesday afternoon. The games are sponsored at the end of each school year by the Central High School Student Council. The contest started as soon as school dismissed and lasted a little over an hour...

Irene Christine Ross, 81, of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, May 29, 1991, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Jan. 13, 1910, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Charles W. and Etta Owens Juden. She married Claude Ross April 13, 1949, in Clay County, Ark. He died Aug. 7, 1961...

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Johnson Jr. of Marble Hill, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, May 22, 1991. Name, Lauren Frances. Weight, 7 pounds 10 ounces. Fifth child, third daughter. Mrs. Johnson is the former Beverly VanGennip, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Norman VanGennip of Lutesville. Johnson is an electrician with El Grande Corp., and is the son of Ivan Johnson of Lutesville and Wilma Dugger of Herrin, Ill...

OAK RIDGE -- The Rev. Karl F. Albers, 87, of Owensville, died Saturday, May 25, 1991. He was born March 20, 1904, in Cincinnati, Ohio, son of Karl D. and Rhosa Pulz Von Rohr Albers. Albers was a minister 42 years, with pastorates in Oak Ridge, Moscow Mills, Augusta and Troy, Mo., and in Illinois and Ohio. After retiring in 1969, he moved to Owensville...

PRAIRIE DU ROCHER, Ill. -- The Midwest's largest gathering of 1700s-era soldiers, settlers, traders and campers will be held this Saturday and Sunday at the 22nd annual Rendezvous at Fort de Chartres State Historic Site in Randolph County, Ill. "The Rendezvous brings people from across the country who are interested in re-enacting the settlement of the Illinois territory in the mid-1700s," said Phyllis Eubanks of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. ...

When it comes to environmental protection, uncertainty remains the prevailing decree. Science makes itself known in slow measure and, unfor~tun~ate~ly, not all information is available on the harm some elements do to the planet and its inhabitants. Caution should be our approach to addressing environmental concerns, but common sense must be our guide. In dealing with an environmental problem locally, the Environmental Protection Agency has shown itself deficient in this latter quality...

To the Editor: The gun-grabbers of the country are alive and well; fortunately, so is the National Rifle Association (NRA). The battle over gun control is again heating up. Pick your side, I'll take the NRA. The House of Representatives just passed the Brady Bill. If the Senate does the same and President Bush doesn't veto it (although he says he would) the legislation would establish a federal seven-day waiting period for would-be purchasers of handguns...

To the Editor: Yesterday, I heard a stirring speech from an American hero. It was Memorial Day, and I had just finished watching the posting of the color guard at the conclusion of the American Legion ceremony downtown. Lisa Lane had just delivered the most stirring rendition of our National Anthem perhaps ever heard in Sikeston. ...

SCOTT CITY -- Seniors at Scott City High School were recognized Friday for scholarships they have received. Following are scholarship recipients. Jennifer Arnold: President's Scholarship, Southeast Missouri State University; Student Council Scholarship, Quincy College; Hannibal-LaGrange Dean's Scholarship...

I'M JUST CALLING to say I thank God for my good friends. They mean a lot to me. I'D LIKE TO comment on the thing I saw in the paper about smoking in grocery stores. I think that smoking should be banned from all the retail stores, not just grocery stores...