Stories from Monday, October 7, 1991

SIKESTON -- Four people were killed and another injured Saturday night in a head-on collision in the Bootheel. The drivers of two cars and a passenger in each were killed at 9:30 p.m. Saturday on a New Madrid County road near Sikeston, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said...

Sunday hours proved to be popular with users of the Cape Girardeau Public Library. Director Terry Risko said 115 people visited the library Sunday, which had Sunday hours for the first time ever. "We thought if we got 100 people that would be pretty good," Risko said. "We saw there was a definite need" for Sunday hours...

The Cape Girardeau City Council tonight will consider a measure that would allow the city to charge property owners for demolition costs of dilapidated and dangerous buildings. The council also will revisit a much-maligned and often-amended construction trades licensing law...

More than 200 pro-life supporters Sunday, carrying signs saying, "Abortion kills children," lined a section of Broadway as part of a nationwide anti-abortion effort. Cape Girardeau was one of six Missouri cities where demonstrations were held Sunday involving thousands of Missourians...

(Last of two parts) MARBLE HILL The sheriff and two deputies at the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department are footing part of the bill when answering police calls for the county. According to department records, the three officers were not reimbursed for $439 worth of gasoline used in July while answering calls for police assistance from county residents...

The Southeast Missourian asked patrons at the Cape Girardeau Public Library how they liked the library's new Sunday hours of noon to 4 p.m. Mike Johns: "I like it a lot better on Sunday. It seems like you can get around a lot better because there aren't as many people here. I'm a student at Southeast, so it helps that it opens earlier on Sunday than Kent Library."...

For three days last month, a Cape Girardeau high school student ran with the bulls. Richie Couch, 17, attended the Coyote Hill Arena Rodeo School of Champions in Hastings, Okla., Sept. 27-29. He learned basic skills needed to become a rodeo clown and rodeo bull fighter...

SCOTT CITY -- An informational meeting concerning the installation of an emergency 911 system in Scott City will be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Scott City High School cafeteria. Voters will decide Nov. 5 whether to install the system in the city. City officials and representatives of Southwestern Bell will be on hand to answer questions...

The FISH food drive Sunday netted about 400 to 500 bags of food for Cape Girardeau's Christian emergency relief organization. "It was really a lot of food. I was just amazed," said Audrey Daniel, who heads up the food pantry operated by FISH. A number of church groups Sunday delivered canned goods and other food items to the pantry, housed at the Maple Avenue United Methodist Church, 624 S. Ellis...

President George Bush, with his decision on the unilateral elimination of short-range nukes, pushed onward in recognizing our diminished military and intelligence role in a post Cold War era. For almost half a century, our focus has been on the perceived threat from the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact satellites...

Once each year, fire chiefs across the nation promote Fire Prevention Week. But their biggest message is sometimes lost on the general public: Effective fire safety must be a daily habit. Too often, families don't think about fire protection until their house or a neighbor's is engulfed in flames. And that could be a fatal mistake...

Open Letter to Senator Bond: Thank you for your unsolicited letter of Sept. 26 that you said had been "PREPARED, PUBLISHED AND MAILED AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE." While I understand your reasoning regarding the so-called, "Family and Medical Leave Bill," the fact of the matter is that any form of this bill remains a potential burden to all businesses, and a further liberal move to take away freedom of enterprise. Your letter, (mailing), in my opinion, is a political ploy to gain votes from liberals...

I am pleased that the Federal Reserve has acted to lower interest rates. Also, we have some encouraging signs that the recession is about to lift. Still, it is becoming tougher and tougher for small businesses to stay viable. I asked to serve on the Small Business Committee because I appreciate how important small businesses are to Missouri and our economy. ...

Son to C.W. Scherer and Barbara J. Lowes of St. Louis, Barnes Hospital, Sunday, Sept. 8, 1991. Name, Adam Kelly. Weight, 8 pounds 14 ounces. Fourth child, second son. Mrs. Lowes is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joe K. Lowes of Jackson, and is nurse manager in the surgical unit at St. Louis University Hospital. Scherer is a nurse practitioner in thoracic surgery at Barnes Hospital, and is the son of Cyril Scherer of Cape Girardeau and the late Anita Scherer...

MARBLE HILL -- Della A. Masters, 81, of rural Marble Hill died Saturday, Oct. 5, 1991, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 19, 1909, in the Mayfield community of Bollinger County, the daughter of Amaziah and Dicy Fulton Cook...

JACKSON -- George Vinyard, 83, of Jackson, died Saturday, Oct. 5, 1991 at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Oct. 7, 1907, in Jackson, son of Charles and Louise Steimel Vinyard. He married Hester Koehler on June 20, 1930. She survives. Also surviving are one son, Jim Vinyard, Vienna; two brothers, Sam Vinyard and Dave Vinyard, both of Jackson; four sisters, Daisy Stockman, Jackson, Blanche Johnson, Phoenix, Ariz., Elizabeth Looney, Jackson and Dorothy Dunn, Uniontown, Penn.; seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.. ...

SEDGEWICKVILLE -- Perry Edgar Statler, 77, of Sedgewickville died Sunday, Oct. 6, 1991, at John Cochran Veteran's Hospital in Poplar Bluff. He was born Dec. 22, 1913 in Sedgewickville, the son of Adolph and Ida M. Seabaugh Statler. He served in the U.S. Army from 1941-45 and lived and farmed in Sedgewickville his entire life...

The Missouri Highway Commission on Friday awarded a $1.29 million contract to Robertson Contractors, Inc. of Poplar Bluff for a new connection from the Route 61 intersection with Mt. Auburn to the Lexington intersection with Route W. A spokesman for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department's District 10 office in Sikeston, said work should begin within 30 days...

Southeast Missouri Hospital's mammography service has been accredited by the American College of Radiology. The hospital is now listed with the American Cancer Society as a certified program. Assistant Administer Richard Meyer said the accreditation follows a peer review evaluation of staff qualification, equipment, quality control and quality assurance programs and image quality. The accreditation must be renewed every three years...

Warranty deeds issued at the office of Janet Robert, Cape Girardeau County Recorder of Deeds: Fred Wayne and Anna M. Smith to Albert F. Batchelor III and Suzanne M. Batchelor; Marie J. Weiss, et al, to Robert A. Drury; Walter M. and Sally K. Pierce to the City of Jackson...