Stories from Wednesday, August 21, 1991

BILOXI, Miss. Three times the name of Audra Sherman was called by co-host Dick Clark as the competition was narrowed during Monday evening's competition for the title of Miss Teen USA. The final time, Miss Missouri Teen USA Audra Sherman of Sikeston was given the additional title of second runner-up to the national title...

SCOTT CITY -- Two members of the Police Personnel Board in Scott City have resigned. The resignations of Grover St. Clair, the former chairman of the board, and David E. "Gene" Thompson were accepted by the Scott City Council Monday. Neither of them said in letters to the council why they were resigning, but asked the council to accept their resignations...

WAPPAPELLO -- The Corps of Engineers has scheduled activities for Labor Day weekend Aug. 30-Sept. 1. Campground programs are planned at Redman Creek, Peoples Creek and Greenville amphitheaters; water safety programs at Redman Creed, Peoples Creek and Rockwood Point beaches; and a gatehouse tour is planned...

It's the time of year when an occasional cool, breezy day offers Southeast Missouri residents a taste of the approaching fall season. But, according to area exterminators, it's also the time of year when tiny, multi-legged pests begin their annual home invasions...

Steve Spracklen is a man who commands attention. He needs only to fire up the calliope on the sun deck of the Delta Queen steamboat. He was doing just that Tuesday on the Cape Girardeau riverfront, where the river royalty was making its last scheduled stop of 1991...

The National Weather Service says the pleasant, early-falllike weather the area has enjoyed the past few days soon will be replaced with hot and dry conditions more typical during the final two weeks of August. Forecaster Scott Truett of the National Weather Service in St. ...

The Cape Girardeau Municipal Band, under the direction of Jon Fisher, will close its 1991 concert season tonight with a performance at Capaha Park. The concert begins at 8 p.m. Special entertainment for the evening is vocalist John Mills, who will sing "The Sky is the Limit," "When You Wish Upon a Star," and "New York, New York." He will return at the end of the concert and join the band for selections from the Broadway musical "Oklahoma."...

BECKIE FIGLIOLO Occupation: Project Coordinator with the Cape Girardeau Division of Planning Services Birthplace: Princeton, Ind. Current home: Cape Girardeau Pet Peeve: "People who think rules are for everyone but them." Describe your oddest experience. "A night about a year ago when there was a bright flash of light in the sky that no one could explain."...

The Area Wide United Way's patron division holds the responsibility for the campaign's final big thrust. The United Way's annual campaign officially kicks off with a luncheon Sept. 4. The fund-raising goal is $470,000. Headed this year by Don Sherwood and Robyn Hosp, the patron division will hold a one-day blitz Sept. 17 to talk with small business people, new business people and individuals who have given to United Way in the past...

Tariq Chowdhury of the United Arab Emirates is right at home in the hot weather. Natacha Berrotta misses her family and friends in Argentina. Anna Ohlsson of Sweden is fulfilling her dream attending college in the United States. The three are among about 60 new international students who will be enrolled at Southeast Missouri State University this fall semester. Classes start Monday...

After five years in the Missouri Senate, Jay Nixon believes the General Assembly is passing too many laws and state government is involved in areas it does not belong. "I think we need to get government back to doing a few things well instead of a lot of things not very well," Nixon said Tuesday during a visit to Cape Girardeau to lay groundwork for an attorney general's race next year...

Two Cape Girardeau students attended U.S. Space Camp this summer at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. Floyd Lockhart of Cape Girardeau Route 1 and Ryan Hendrickson, 1937 Weissinger, trained for a space adventure and earned college credit at the space camp...

SCOTT CITY -- The Scott City Police Department is restructuring its chain of command, but it likely won't solve the department's high rate of employee turnover. Police Chief David Beck said the changes will simply "make things run a little smoother" and won't mean raises for department employees...

ST. LOUIS Edwin E. Kralemann, 83, of St. Louis died Tuesday, Aug. 20, 1991, at his home. He was born Nov. 22, 1906, in St. Louis, the son of William and Matilda Schumpe Kralemann. He was married to Ruby G. Kralesmann, who preceded him in death July 25, 1990...

Taylor Ruth Niswonger, infant daughter of Lisa Delaine Niswonger and Gregory Alan Brown of Cape Girardeau, was stillborn Monday, Aug. 19, 1991, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Survivors include her parents; maternal great-grandmother, Eula Niswonger; paternal grandparents, Rodger and Deborah Brown; paternal great-grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. J. Owen Brown and Willie Mecham, all of Cape Girardeau...

Funeral mass for Clementine J. Masters of Cape Girardeau will be held at 10 a.m. today at St. Vincent's. The Rev. Ken Grass will officiate, with burial in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Masters, 79, died Monday, Aug. 19, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center...

MARBLE HILL -- Winfred L. "Wink" Mouser, 60, of Marble Hill, died Monday, Aug. 19, 1991, at the VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. He was born April 29, 1931, at Zalma, son of Hobert and Rosetta Davis Mouser. Mouser was retired from Wagner Electric in St. Louis...

JACKSON -- Allan Trickey, 75, of Leavenworth, Kan., died in a hospital there Friday, Aug. 16, 1991. He was born April 3, 1916, at New Wells, son of Arthur and Ida Leimer Trickey. He and Virginia Joy were married Jan. 18, 1939, in Leavenworth. She died in 1980...

George W. Plumb, 51, 232 Edgewood, died Tuesday, Aug. 20, 1991, at his home. He was born Nov. 4, 1939, at Allenville, son of Burnett and Alpha Cleo Surlet Plumb. He and Donna Marie Jacobson were married Sept. 20, 1975, in Albany, Calif. Plumb served 20 years in the U.S. Navy. He had been manager of VFW Post 3838 six years. He was a lifetime member of the post, and member of Eagles Aerie 3775...

Virgil A. Skaggs, 76, 907 Rodney Vista, died Tuesday, Aug. 20, 1991, at his home. He was born Feb. 21, 1915, at Delta, son of William and Ethel White Skaggs. He and Louise Knight were married Nov. 27, 1948, in Piggott, Ark. Skaggs worked 32 years at the Borden Co., retiring as district manager in 1979. He was a member of First Baptist Church, and St. Mark Masonic Lodge 93...

Graveside service for Sean Michael Vails will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Lorimier Cemetery. The Rev. James Mattox will officiate. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements. There is no visitation. The infant, son of Danny and Peggy Edwards Vails of Jacksonville, Fla., died shortly after birth Thursday, Aug. 15, 1991, in Jacksonville...

As Labor Day approaches, area school children are returning to classes. Notre Dame students resume studies today. Jackson students hit the books Thursday. Southeast Missouri State University begins its fall session Monday. Cape Girardeau Public Schools return Sept. 3. Summer vacation is nearly over...

They were nice images, no? There were those joyous folks standing on the Berlin Wall, reveling in an action that would have resulted in authoritarian gunfire a week earlier. There were those exotic and marvelous words that infiltrated the language ... glasnost and perestroika...

Kenneth L. Stilson, an alumnus of Southeast Missouri State University, received his doctorate degree in theater from the University of Missouri-Columbia Aug. 2. He attended public school in Malden and earned a bachelor's degree in theater from Southeast in 1984 and a masters degree in theater from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1987...

JACKSON -- Jennifer Icaza of Jackson has been selected as an entrant in the 1991 Miss Missouri Teen All American Pageant in Bridgeton Sept. 14-15. She will be competing against teens from across the state. Icaza attends Jackson Senior High School, where she participated in cheerleading, concert band, student council, Students Against Driving Drunk, Pep Club, Spanish Club, Choir Council, Girl's Choir, and is vice president of her class...

Brenda Sides Emerson, formerly of Cape Girardeau, received her masters degree in biological sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She previously earned a bachelor's degree from Southeast Missouri State University. She and her husband, Robert, live in Rock Hill, Mo. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gene Sides of Cape Girardeau...

Tiffiney Kies of Cape Girardeau Route 2 attended the Southeast Missouri Teen Institute on Substance Abuse near Ironton. While at the institute, she was trained in skills to prevent alcohol and other drug abuse in the school and community. She is the daughter of David and Diane Kies...

MARION, Ill. -- Five Department of Children and Family Services staff members in Southern Illinois are being recognized for their efforts in serving Desert Storm troops and their families. The service was part of a statewide program in which community social service agencies, including DCFS, welcomed the families and troops of returning Desert Storm guard units with briefings regarding the prevention and recognition of emerging family problems and community resources available to help...

Five area high school graduates have been named to the centennial class of the University of Missouri system Curators Scholars Program. Recipients are Edwin Christopher Kuntz of Cape Girardeau, Holly Renee Kutscher of Jackson, A. Lauren Brazel of Charleston, Gretchen Fornhahl of Jackson and Jennifer Frericks of Jackson...

JACKSON -- Jessica Beeson, a senior at Jackson High School, attended a weeklong speech and debate clinic at Northeast Missouri State University. She participated in the Lincoln-Douglas debates and storytelling events. Beeson is a member of the speech and debate team at Jackson High School, where Karen Kight is the faculty adviser. She is also a member of the Student Council, National Honor Society and Quill and Scroll Club...

Labor-management relations of the early 20th century American West are examined in a new paperback book written by George G. Suggs Jr., a professor of history at Southeast Missouri State University. The book is being published by the University of Oklahoma Press and is due to be released in September...

JACKSON -- A Jackson student will receive the America FFA Degree, FFA's highest degree, at the 64th national FFA convention in November in Kansas City. Earning the award is Stephanie Gable, Star Route, who is a member of the Jackson FFA Chapter at Jackson High School...

For more information, call 243-1390...

As everyone knows fairs are a Far Eastern custom that found their way as a form of both assistance and entertainment to residents in the New World when America began to be populated by individuals and families from Europe. Fairs were a means of distributing information and assisting farmers and businessmen, as well as women, about improved methods in farming, manufacturing, and accomplishing household and craft projects. ...

Auditions for a play to be performed by children for children are being held next week. The one-act musical revue called "How to Eat Like a Child" will be presented in November. The director will be Annabelle Gilhaus. Auditions will be held at the Academy of Dancearts from 5-7 p.m. Aug. 29., from 10 a.m. to noon on Aug. 30 and from 10 a.m. to noon on Sept. 7...

PORTAGEVILLE -- Southeast Missouri farmers and those in nearby states will gather in Portageville Sept. 5 for the annual Delta Center Field Day. The field day provides a good opportunity for farmers to update their farming skills in variety selection, management techniques and weed, disease and pest control...

When I was in grade school, the longest word in the English language was said to be "antidisestablishmentarianism." Today, the "Guinness Book of World Records" lists scores of words that are longer, the winner containing 6,000 letters. Lack of space prevents our reproducing it here, and it would serve no useful purpose if we could...