Stories from Wednesday, December 18, 1991

Mary Weaver, 75, of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, Dec. 17, 1991, at the Lutheran Home. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford & Sons Funeral Home.

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Roy E. Walker of Dongola, Ill., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9:43 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9, 1991. Name, Marria Jean. Weight, 6 pounds. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Walker is the former Tia Haffly, daughter of William Haffly and Mary Haffly of Dongola. She is a nurse assistant at Union County Hospital in Anna, Ill. Walker is an EMT and ERT with Union County Ambulance in Anna, and is the son of Norman and Betty Walker Hickam of Jonesboro, Ill...

ANNISTON -- A fire in a mobile home in Anniston Tuesday killed a Mound City, Ill. man. Authorities identified the victim as Michael William Hannan, 33. Anniston Fire Chief Danny Lafferty said the blaze was discovered at approximately 3:30 a.m. by the owner of the mobile home, Vicki Bohannon...

During the recent economic downturn, the demand for training both employees and the jobless has grown. Hard times have spawned an employers' market. And that means both those employed and those seeking employment must work harder to maintain a competitive edge. The region is fortunate that the Cape Girardeau Vocational-Technical School continues to meet this growing training challenge...

Beside being neighbors, three Cape Girardeau couples have a lot in common. They were all married on the same day, built homes on the same street, and their children all attend the same school. Today, the three couples will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversaries...

Dave Courvoisier likes Las Vegas. And Las Vegas likes Dave Courvoisier. A television news anchor at a NBC-TV affiliate in Las Vegas, Courvoisier was recently honored as the 1991 Las Vegas Man of the Year for his work with foster children. The annual award is presented by the City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute, a nationally known multi-specialty hospital and research institution that has been designated a clinical cancer research center by the National Cancer Institute.. ...

SCOTT CITY -- Terry Johnston has filed for a two-year term on the Scott City Council. Johnston, who filed Monday for a Ward 4 seat, is a Scott City native. He said that fact will be an advantage to him in his campaign. "I'd like to see some things changed," said Johnston, adding that he didn't want to be more specific about what he'd like to change about the city...

This is supposed to be the age of leisure, right? There are more computers to do work for us. There are more devices to make our lives easier. We can unabashedly wear sweat suits in places other than a locker room. Okay, so ask yourself these questions: Do you feel less put upon today than you did 10 years ago? Do you feel more relaxed? Do you have a lot of time on your hands?...

Washington is now worrying about nuclear missile proliferation in the Soviet Union just in time to avoid worrying about poverty proliferation at home. --- City Council members in Kansas City spend the night in crime-infested neighborhoods in order to understand the terror of residents. Politics makes frightened bedfellows...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Michael William Hannan, 33, of Mound City, died Tuesday, Dec. 17, 1991, in a mobile home fire in Anniston, Mo. He was born May 30, 1958, in Landstuhl, Germany, son of William and Inge Laschke Hannan. Hannan was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church here, and Ironworkers Local 697 of Roanoke, Va...

EAST CAPE, Ill. -- Kerry Lynn Hileman, 33, of East Cape, died Tuesday, Dec. 17, 1991, at his home. He was born Oct. 4, 1958, in Cape Girardeau, Mo., son of Donald and Shelvy Benefield Hileman. He and Diane Johnson were married July 2, 1988, in East Cape...

John R. Divinny, 49, 519 Vincent Park Drive, died Tuesday, Dec. 17, 1991, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Nov. 28, 1942, at Sikeston, son of George and Eva Louise Abercrombie Divinny. Divinny had worked for a time in the laundry department at Southeast Hospital. He was a member of New Life World Outreach Center...

CHAFFEE -- Della Florence McBride, 77, of Chaffee, died Monday, Dec. 16, 1991, at Chaffee Nursing Center. She was born Jan. 11, 1914, at Leopold, daughter of William John and Agnes Brands DeBrock. She and Willis Xavier McBride were married July 4, 1935. He died Nov. 12, 1986...

MARBLE HILL -- Francis "Ike" Nightingale, 80, of Marble Hill, died Monday, Dec. 16, 1991, at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. He was born Dec. 5, 1911, in Chicago, son of Samuel and Laveta Caswell Nightingale. He and Norma Killian were married Oct. 19, 1974...

NEW HAMBURG -- Funeral service for Vera Louise Steger of New Hamburg will be held at 11 a.m. today at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City. Terry Eades will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park Cemetery in Cape Girardeau. Steger, 76, died Monday, Dec. 16, 1991, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

Frank Steck Jr., 44, of Memphis, Tenn., died Thursday, Dec. 12, 1991, at his home, following a lengthy illness. Steck was a graduate of Central High School, attended Southeast Missouri State University and Memphis State University. He was founder and administrator of Hair-Tek America, and founder of Stage One the Hair School in Memphis...

SIKESTON -- Trudie L. Nelson, 87, of Sikeston, died Tuesday, Dec. 17, 1991, at Miner Nursing Center. Amick-Burnett Funeral Home in Sikeston is in charge of arrangements.

MARBLE HILL -- Donald S. Eakins, 58, of Marble Hill Route 1, died at 12:10 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 17, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 15, 1933, at Whitewater, son of S.B. and Hester Proffer Eakins. He married Shirley Grindstaff Dec. 22, 1956...

WOLF LAKE, Ill. -- Dorothea C. Hartline, 61, of Wolf Lake, died Monday, Dec. 16, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was born Nov. 2, 1930, in Perth Amboy, N.J., daughter of Joseph and Mary Yuro Platt. She married Ernest Leon Hartline Aug. 11, 1951, in Perth Amboy...

ADVANCE -- Funeral service for Orville "Jack" Shirrell of Advance will be held at 1 p.m. today at Morgan Funeral Chapel. The Revs. Michael Scott and Robert Wright will officiate, with burial in Brush Creek Cemetery near Arab. Shirrell, 78, died Dec. 16, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center...

The Convention and Visitor's Advisory Board will include two new members when it begins next month to discuss proposals for use of the city's tourism funds. The Cape Girardeau City Council Monday reappointed the board's chairman, Narvol Randol Jr., and Robert Hoppmann, but replaced Show Me Center Director David Ross with Walt Wildman, director of the Regional Commerce and Growth Association...

PATTON -- A man was killed Tuesday night when a fire broke out in a private residential care facility for the mentally handicapped. Seventeen other residents were evacuated from the facility, which is located about three miles west of the Highway 72-51 intersection, near Patton in Bollinger County...

Nearly 12 years ago, Grace V. Hoover of Southeast Missouri State University had an idea for an adult day-care facility. On Tuesday, Hoover was honored by the university and the community for the idea that became a program that now bears her name: The Grace V. Hoover Eldercare Center Program...

At age 26, Julie Bowman is a single mother of five children and a high school drop-out. But she's determined to make some changes in her life. Bowman, of Cape Girardeau, is working on her GED at the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School and hopes some day for a career in counseling or perhaps working with computers...

A group of state legislators were encouraged to recognize the potential of port authorities in Missouri as a tool for economic development and the role they can play in providing companies with intermodal transportation capabilities. "If Missouri is serious about economic development, this is the kind of investment we need to make to help open this state up to national and international trade," said Allan Maki, director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority...

Attention, last-minute Toybox shoppers: Today is the last day for gifts to be donated to this year's campaign. On Thursday toys will be delivered to the children. Toys delivered today can still be used to help brighten the holiday for a needy child...

Medical costs for inmates at the Cape Girardeau County Jail have risen substantially this year and are the highest since 1987. Meanwhile, Bollinger County Sheriff Dan Mesey said the money available to the sheriff's department for inmates is so tight a prisoner requiring major surgery would just "literally destroy our budget."...

JANET SMITH Occupation: Bridal consultant. Pet Peeve: "People who always complain." The best part of my job is: "Working with people who are getting married." The book I'd recommend is: "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." I've always looked up to: "My mother. She always had good things to say about people."...

Victims of crimes would be able to bring legal claims for restitution at the end of criminal trials rather than filing a separate civil lawsuit under legislation proposed by Sen. Roger Wilson, D-Columbia. "This will streamline a process we have now, and put more fairness into the process for victims," declared Wilson, at a news conference here Tuesday...

Since there were few newspapers in America when Louisiana became part of the United States in 1803, and none in Southeast Missouri, it is surprising how news of free land to settlers became public knowledge so fast. It seemed to have attracted people to the Cape Girardeau District...

DEXTER -- The Stoddard County Ambulance District will conduct its fifth annual "Home For the Holidays" on Dec. 24-26. The service will take patients who are unable to travel except by ambulance from their nursing homes to their homes. Visits can last from a few hours to overnight...