Stories from Wednesday, October 30, 1991

Dear Editor: In June, Missouri schools suffered a $40 million cut from the school foundation formula due to project revenue shortfalls. Now another cut has been announced in October due to federally ordered desegregation costs for Kansas City. Once again, the children in Missouri schools outside of the large cities will suffer shortages...

Amy Hammen is a senior at Southeast Missouri State University. She is pursuing a degree in education. We need your help. The students, educators, and business persons of Missouri need your help. Proposition B may be the last chance for significant additional funding for education in this decade...

The enhanced 911 emergency telephone system for Cape Girardeau County; Proposition B, which proposes tax increases to provide additional funding for elementary and secondary schools and public colleges and universities; and Cape Girardeau's proposed purchase of the water system from Union Electric Co. will be topics of the First Friday Coffee this week...

Although our local students score higher on standardized tests than the national average, business men and women of our area report that many high school graduates applying for jobs are unable to compose complete sentences. This does not necessarily apply to students writing for school newspapers or magazines, but some of the best are also careless or less than knowledgeable about grammar and syntax...

Entry forms for Cape Girardeau's Holiday of Lights will be available starting Friday. Forms may be picked up at The Fantastics, Sears, Wal-Mart, Schnucks, SEMO Council on the Arts, and the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office. The forms must be turned in to the chamber office by Dec. 6. Homes and businesses will be judged Dec. 9...

Although our local students score higher on standardized tests than the national average, business men and women of our area report that many high school graduates applying for jobs are unable to compose complete sentences. This does not necessarily apply to students writing for school newspapers or magazines, but some of the best are also careless or less than knowledgeable about grammar and syntax...

Dear Editor: E.J. Rotert's letter to the editor Oct. 25 giving reasons to oppose Proposition B voices a general attitude among most of us today. We are sick of paying taxes and sick of their unending increases. Each taxpayer now finds about 35 percent of his income gobbled up in this manner. I Acknowledge Rotert's disgruntled attitude, but from that point, his opinions are way off...

Dear Editor: Friday's editorial concerning National Hardwood Day was appropriate for recognizing the timber industry's efforts in maintaining a supply of timber. Trees are indeed a renewable resource, and the industry benefits all of us by managing tree farms well. Because my brother owns and operates a logging truck and a small sawmill in Oregon, I am pleased to see recognition for those who work in this industry...

I once had a professor who was not so much cynical about life as he was quietly exasperated by the things he saw in books and around him. Put in a certain frame of mind by a news story or a student's bogus excuse for a missed assignment, he would discharge a world-weary sigh and recite a well-rehearsed line. "Well," he'd say, "things are tough all over."...

With common sense, this Halloween can be a treat for our children. Tomorrow is Halloween, a favorite holiday of children. But it's also a potentially dangerous night for kids. If parents and adults keep safety in the forefront, the holiday should progress without incident...

It's unlikely the Mideast peace conference, which begins today in Madrid, Spain, will resolve the conflicts between Israel and its Arab neighbors, a retired Southeast Missouri State University history professor said Tuesday. "I'll admit I'm not terribly optimistic about it," said the retired professor, George Ketcham, an expert on the Mideast and Islamic civilization...

Alright, so it's not the greatest unanswered question of science, but it still begs asking: Where are all the woolly bears those little, furry prognosticators of winter weather that are usually seen by the hundreds this time of year crossing highways, roads and sidewalks...

Bartenders and waitresses who serve alcohol have a responsibility to see that their customers do not overindulge. At a training seminar Tuesday, members of the Southeast Missouri Restaurant Association learned about their liability when customers drink and about underage drinking and ways to help prevent customers from becoming intoxicated...

With a vote on installation of an "Enhanced 911" emergency system in Cape Girardeau County less than a week away, supporters of the measure are attempting to clear up confusion about the proposal. "There is some confusion," said Sgt. Carl Kinnison of the Cape Girardeau Police Department. "People think that what they see happening on the 911 television program is happening in Cape Girardeau, and it's not."...

U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond said Tuesday he will endorse a House-passed version of a new federal highway bill and will try to build support for the measure in the Senate. "It is clear to me the House proposal is much better than what we got out of the Senate, even though we got considerably more funding than we are getting now in the Senate bill," Bond said in a conference call with about a dozen newspaper reporters from around the state...

GLADYS FAY BEAL EARNHART Occupation: Hairstylist Pet Peeves: "Bad hair cuts, and females with rollers in their hair in public." What do you do in your spare time? "I fish. It's very relaxing." The book I recommend is: "The Bible. It offers history and a great variety of stories."...

Representatives of the New Life World Outreach Center's ACT-45 television station last week petitioned the Citizens Cable TV Committee to add the Christian station to Cape Girardeau's cable programming. Jack Cathcart, pastor of the church, and several other citizens presented the committee with a petition that included the signatures of 3,000 Cape Girardeau and Jackson residents who want ACT-45 on cable...

Dr. Lyle L. Brown and Dr. Robert W. Ruess will discuss open heart surgery on this week's "Ask Your Doctor" television program. The show airs Thursday at 8 p.m. on Cable Channel 13. "Ask Your Doctor" features local doctors answering questions from viewers who call in. Martha Muench and Dr. Jean A. Chapman also interview the doctors...

After four decades of communist rule, implementing a free-market system isn't an easy task, Bulgarian business leaders say. "It's very, very hard," said Kina Kavgazova, director of Terra-EX Co., a Sofia-based firm that deals with agricultural goods...

JACKSON -- James "Bud" Barks, 63, of Fort Worth, Texas, died Sunday, Oct. 27, 1991, at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. He was born April 4, 1928, at Crump, son of H. Lewis and Georgia Proffer Barks. Barks moved from Jackson to Fort Worth 15 years ago. He was an electrician many years. Barks was a member of Teamsters Union and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers...

Raymond Grider, 77, 1113 N. Water, died Monday, Oct. 28, 1991, at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. He was born May 9, 1914, at Lonoke, Ark., son of John and Sarah Allan Grider. He and Elsie Grimbley were married July 15, 1945, in Lester, England...

Pauline Joe Naylor, 69, of San Antonio, Texas, died Monday, Oct. 28, 1991, in a San Antonio hospital. She was born Dec. 25, 1921, at Benton, daughter of Joe H. and Pearl M. Brunner Skelton. She and Joe O. Naylor Jr. were married March 3, 1946, in San Antonio...

ALTENBURG -- Clara W. Schilling, 89, formerly of Altenburg, died Monday, Oct. 28, 1991, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 7, 1902, at Wittenberg, daughter of Henry and Bertha Mueller Loebs. She married Rudolph F. Schilling Nov. 9, 1924. She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church here...

MORLEY -- Wesley Hazel, 72, of Morley, died Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1991, at his home. He was born April 19, 1919, at Morehouse, son of Ben and Blanche Jones Hazel. He and Reba Velma Johnson Puckett were married July 13, 1988. Hazel owned and operated Hazel Service Station many years, retiring seven years ago. He was a member of Morley Baptist Church and Morley VFW Post 5368. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II...

The Joint Veterans Council will sponsor a Veterans Day parade at 3 p.m. Nov. 10. The parade will begin just west of the Common Pleas Courthouse and proceed north to Broadway and west to Capaha Park. The parade will be held in memory of the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor...

Son to Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Petzoldt of Altenburg, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 10:39 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, 1991. Name, Caleb Ryan. Weight, 8 pounds 8 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Petzoldt is the former Angel Weber, daughter of Glenn and Barbara Weber of Frohna. She is employed at Rudert Jewelry in Perryville. Petzoldt is employed by Lever Brothers of St. Louis, and is the son of Lewis and Louise Petzoldt of Frohna...

JACKSON -- As a result of passage of Senate Bill 148, Missourians may choose someone else to make health care decisions for them, if they become incapable of making those decisions themselves. Free forms for Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and Health Care Directive are provided by the Missouri Bar Association. They are available at the Riverside Regional Library in Jackson and regional libraries in Scott and Perry counties...

(First in a series of articles on Cape Girardeau's Bicentennial.) Cape Girardeau is the only place in the United States so named. It lies on the west bank of the Mississippi River about halfway between St. Louis and Memphis, Tenn. It is a beautiful city and a progressive one with a current population of about 40,000. The residents are now making preparations to observe the bicentennial in 1992-1993...

PERRYVILLE -- Agriforestry can be a land management alternative, says Rick Kammler, assistant district forester for the Perryville District, Missouri Department of Conservation. "Landowners can grow both trees and agricultural commodities on the same land," said Kammler, who reported on an agriforestry conference held at Springfield, Mo. recently. "Agriforestry could include truck crops growing between rows of trees, a practice common in Canada."...

The MIs-Sco-Deau Association of Educational Office Personnel met Oct. 22 at the Cape Girardeau Public Schools. President Dorothy Statler conducted the meeting. Cape Girardeau Superintendent Neyland Clark spoke to the group. The program featured Cape Girardeau Police Detecive Robert E. McCoy Jr. and his wife, Betsy, who talked about sexual assault prevention...

The Community Counseling Center is offering a five-part class series to assist step-parents. The class, "Strengthening Step Families," works toward identifying the potential areas of adjustment. A special focus will be given to conflict resolution and problem solving...

JACKSON -- The annual All Clubs Day of Missouri Extension Homemakers Association was held Oct. 17 at Jackson KC Hall. The meeting was opened by group singing led by Roberta Seabaugh of the Lamplighters Club, and the devotional was given by Linda Thompson of Town and Country Club. Roll call was answered with a recycling tip...