Stories from Friday, July 19, 1991

U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond has introduced a bill that would make federal money available to school districts across the nation to assist parents in readying their preschool children for an education. When viewed within the larger scheme of education, the measure is worthy of adoption...

Missourians now spend more for health care than food. Although this statistic became reality only a short time ago, it is really not surprising to Missouri employers, wage earners, farmers, fathers and mothers and anyone else trying to get along in today's world. ...

It is, you might say, the unkindest cut of all. Washington, which seemingly constructs for itself small problems so the big problems don't have to be so readily addressed, is somewhat wound up about a particular lawmaker's new do. Of the world's capitals, maybe only Paris would match Washington for concerns about coiffures. Certainly, Capitol Hill is one of the few places where such a thing could become a political tempest...

The second annual Heartland Writers Conference will be held Aug. 10 at the Southeast Missouri State University Center. The conference focuses on the nuts and bolts of getting published in popular fiction and non-fiction for amateur and professional authors...

The default rate of guaranteed student loans at Southeast Missouri State University falls considerably below the 20 percent federal guideline that determines if the rate is acceptable. But university officials still are concerned about students who fail to pay back student loans...

Despite a Cape Girardeau physician's belief that Lyme disease exists in Missouri and state health officials confirming 300 cases of it federal researchers have collected ticks in an effort to determine its existence. The researchers believe the ticks collected in Southeast Missouri hold the answer to the question...

A number of major highway construction projects in the area are scheduled to be bid this summer and fall with construction starting this year, Missouri Highway and Transportation Department officials said Thursday. The only major project in Southeast Missouri on the department's August bid-call list is a Highway 25 bridge over the Diversion Channel near Dutchtown...

A brief, weekend respite from the heat and humidity is over, and the "Dog Days of Summer" are here. The National Weather Service said seasonal temperatures and humidity levels likely will be around for a while. The extended outlook for Saturday through Monday calls for highs in the 90s and lows in the 70s...

Key WordS: HIGHWAYS JACKSON Departing Missouri Highway and Transportation Department District 10 Engineer Bob Sfreddo told members of the Tri-County Coalition for Highway Development Thursday to continue cooperative efforts to improve highways in Southeast Missouri...

JACKSON - A subcommittee of the Cape Girardeau County Planning Commission will take another look at proposed map and zoning ordinances Tuesday, and likely will recommend final changes before the plan is sent to the full planning commission. The subcommittee, composed of three members of the planning commission and three other people, has been working closely with staff of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission, which was hired by the Cape Girardeau County Commission to help draft a plan for countywide zoning.. ...

MALDEN -- Businesses in Missouri's Bootheel are finding it increasingly tougher to hire well-trained, conscientious employees, says the executive director of the Bootheel Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission. A new program that will find and train employees for business may help to solve the problem, and it will provide needed jobs in an area with a high rate of unemployment...

U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson says a House version of the federal highway bill discussed Thursday in the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation "bodes well for Missouri." The 8th District congressman is one of the members on the Surface Transportation Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the new legislation proposed Thursday. The proposal will be formally introduced early next week...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Evelyn M. Walden, 80, of East Prairie, died Thursday, July 18, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 12, 1911, in East Prairie, daughter of Dr. A.J. and Annie Millar Martin. She was retired from the Missouri Division of Family Services in East Prairie, and was a member of the First Christian Church of East Prairie, where she was a Sunday School teacher for many years...

ST. MARYS Edward R. Hurst, 88, of St. Marys, died Thursday, July 18, 1991, at his home. He was born Nov. 13, 1902, at Ozora, son of August J. and Mary M. Kettinger Hurst. He married C. Louise Bartels Aug. 2, 1940, in Arlington, Va. Hurst was a member of Knights of Columbus, Ste. Genevieve County Farm Bureau, St. Marys Chamber of Commerce, and was a past board member of Bank of St. Marys and St. Marys Public Schools...

ANNA, Ill. -- Fred C. House, 84, of Anna, died Thursday, July 18, 1991, at Carbondale Memorial Hospital. He was born Jan. 21, 1907, in Clay County, Mo., son of Herbert E. and Sarah Raby House. He married Catherine Carter, who died in 1973. He later married Alma Johnson Doggett in 1980...

WYATT -- Osea Sloan, 53, of St. Louis, died Sunday, July 14, 1991, at Christian Northeast Hospital in St. Louis. He was formerly of Wyatt. He was born March 10, 1938, in Mississippi. He married the former Almeta Rowe. Survivors include his wife; a son, Ronald Sloan of Sikeston; three daughters, Sherrie Triplett of Chicago, Irshala Sloan of St. ...

Michael A. Braun, formerly of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, has received a promotion in which he became supervisory special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. He was promoted to the post in April after working for the DEA since 1985. Braun became a senior special agent with the DEA in 1989...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Alma Hewitt, 90, of Kingsburg, Calif., died Monday, July 15, 1991, at Southern Hills Nursing Home in Tulsa, Okla. She was born Aug. 10, 1900, at Pocahontas, Mo., daughter of Charles P. and Nora Foster Deimund. She married Melvin Hewitt Feb. 5, 1921, at Cairo...

CHARLESTON -- Pinkie Turner, 88, of Charleston, died Wednesday, July 17, 1991, at Charleston Manor. She was born April 10, 1903, in Clarksdale, Miss. Survivors include a stepdaughter, Mabel Turner of Charleston; seven stepgrandchildren, including Phillip Turner and Dorothy King of Charleston, and 20 great-stepgrandchildren...

Fred Finley, 76, 624 S. Benton, died Tuesday, July 16, 1991, at Cape LaCroix Nursing Center. He was born Aug. 29, 1914, in White Station, Tenn. He and Ora Dorothy Huffman were married in 1945. She died July 29, 1990. Finley had lived in Missouri more than 40 years. He had been a maintenance worker at Sunny Hill and KFVS-TV. He was a member of Futrell Temple Church of God in Christ...

SCOTT CITY -- Hilda Catherine Carr, 66, of Scott City, died Thursday, July 18, 1991, at the Dexter Nursing Center. She was born Nov. 13, 1925, in Illmo, daughter of Roscoe and Ruby Dorsett Carr. She was a member of the Illmo United Methodist Church and order of Eastern Star in Illmo...

JACKSON -- Walter "Cleve" Brandes, 79, Jackson Route 1, died Thursday, July 18, 1991. He was born March 12, 1912, at Uniontown, son of Ben H. and Catherine Shumaker Brandes. He and Irene Kassel were married Nov. 14, 1940. They had lived at Hanks Park near Shawneetown all their married life. He was manager at Hanks Park Station many years. He was a lifelong member of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown, and VFW Post at Perryville. He was a veteran of World War II...

Southeast Missouri Hospital's pediatric outpatient rehabilitation service has resituated to new and expanded facilities in west Cape Girardeau. With the move, the service also has a new name: The Pediatric SPOT (Speech, Physical, Occupational Therapy)...