Stories from Sunday, March 15, 1992

From the 1920s to the early '50s, there were two wings of the Republican Party: the Eastern establishment internationalist wing led after 1940 by Gov. Thomas Dewey of New York and the Midwestern isolationist wing led at the same time by Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio. ...

It is indeed a disorderly House, one that too often disgraces the people it is supposed to stand for and slights its momentous obligations. To their great credit, members of the U.S. House of Representatives did the right thing last week in voting to disclose the names of those who kited checks at their on-premises bank. ...

ANNA, Ill. -- Christopher K. Wells wants to return to Union County as state's attorney. Wells, a native of the area and a graduate of Anna-Jonesboro High School, will face incumbent Wes Wilkins in the Democratic primary for Union County state's attorney Tuesday...

CARTERVILLE, Ill. - U.S. Rep. Glenn Poshard predicts the primary race in the new 19th Congressional District, in which he faces fellow Democrat Terry Bruce of Olney, could be close. Bruce also expects expect a close vote. "It'll be a long night Tuesday," said Bruce's campaign manager, W.T. Reynolds, from Bruce's campaign headquarters in Olney...

A panel of retired judges should sit in judgment on Congress rather than an in-house ethics committee, U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., said Saturday. Speaking to a reporter prior to the Cape Girardeau County Republican Lincoln Day banquet Saturday night at the A.C. Brase Arena Building, Bond called for reform of Congress...

Youngsters wielding shovels and rakes and wheelbarrows transformed a pile of gravel and sand into the beginnings of a small desert plot at Nell Holcomb School Saturday. The rock and cactus garden is part of Nell Holcomb's outdoor classroom, which, when completed, will include at least 20 different learning stations, an amphitheater and a nature trail...

The Illinois portion of financing for the Mississippi River bridge project at Cape Girardeau has to fit into a list of transportation priorities, and currently the priorities favor other Missouri-Illinois bridge projects. "It's a matter of priorities," said Dale Janik, chief of the Illinois Department of Transportation's program planning in Springfield. "We've been talking about the bridge at Cape Girardeau for a number of years, and it has to fit into a theme of priorities...

The message is loud and clear: Teachers are angry. They are angry about state funding for schools and about court-ordered desegregation costs. At the annual Southeast District Missouri State Teachers Association meeting Friday, teachers said in interviews with a Southeast Missourian reporter that they plan increased activism on political and legal levels...

JACKSON -- Four people were injured in a two-vehicle accident Friday in which one of the cars crashed through the front of an insurance company office, police said. The accident occurred at 11:04 a.m. at Missouri and Main streets, Jackson police said...

Peter Kinder, associate publisher of the Southeast Missourian newspaper, will announce today his candidacy for the Missouri Senate. The Republican candidate for the 27th District seat will officially announce his candidacy at a 4:30 p.m. press conference at the Holiday Inn in Cape Girardeau...

PERRYVILLE -- More than 20 firefighters battled a 35-acre forest fire for more than three hours before bringing the blaze under control near here Saturday afternoon. "Firemen from a half-dozen communities answered the call," said Ted Ballman, a member of the Perryville Fire Department. "Between the fire departments and the use of Missouri Department of Conservation plows we got the fire under control between 6 and 7 p.m."...

Saying he wants to spark a populist movement to deal with the state's social and economic problems, the Rev. Larry Rice of St. Louis announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor of Missouri at a campaign stop Saturday in Cape Girardeau. Rice, 43, made the announcement at his campaign office at 733 Broadway before a gathering of about 10 supporters...

Missouri State Water Patrol divers found a vehicle in the Mississippi River Friday downstream from the Union Electric water plant pump station at Cape Girardeau. A Cape Girardeau Police Department spokesman said it will be at least Monday before any attempt is made to retrieve it...

The Teen Pregnancy and Responsibility Network will meet Thursday at 7:30 a.m. at the Cape County Public Health Center, 1121 Linden. The meeting is open to everyone. The group was established in 1986 as a community task force charged with studying the problems of teen pregnancy in the area. Members of the task force come from all professions and segments of the community...

JACKSON -- Calvin E. Pfeiffer, 53, of Columbia, formerly of Jackson, died Friday, March 13, 1992 at Boone Hospital Center. He was born July 5, 1938 in Jackson, son of the late Edna Meisner Pfeiffer, and Erwin Pfeiffer, who survives of Jackson. On Feb. 23, 1963, he married Donna Gramm in Columbia. She survives of Columbia...

JACKSON -- John Ferguson, the public administrator of Cape Girardeau County, has filed for re-election to a second term. The Republican officeholder and Methodist minister from Cape Girardeau was elected as public administrator in 1988. Ferguson, who filed last week, could not be reached for comment...

JACKSON -- Miss Ruby Strong died at the Chateau Girardeau Health Center Saturday, March 14, 1992. Strong, 91 years old, was born Nov. 11, 1901, at Burfordville, daughter of E. Marion Strong and Virginia Gladish Strong. She was a retired school teacher. She taught in the St. Louis area until her retirement in 1967...

SCOTT CITY -- Theodore Charles Ziegler, 78, of Scott City, died Saturday, March 14, 1992, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 16, 1914 at Oran, son of Jacob Joseph and Mary Halter Ziegler. He married Celestia LeDure on March 4, 1935 at Jackson. She survives...

PERRYVILLE -- James H. Teague, 81, of Perryville Route 5, died Friday, March 15, 1992 at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 16, 1910 in East Prairie, the son of Joshua C. Teague and Florence C. Phillips. He was a self-employed electrician...

Richard J. Divine, 49, died Wednesday, March 11, 1992, at his home, 1111 Themis. He was born Oct. 23, 1943 in Minneapolis, Minn., the son of James L. Divine and Mae Emerson. He is survived by one son, Richard J. Divine Jr. of Cape Girardeau; one daughter, Gloria, of California; and one brother, Doug Divine, West Palm Beach, Fla...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Lona M. Portwood, 89, of East Prairie, died Friday, March 13, 1992 at the East Prairie Nursing Center. She was born Aug. 12, 1902 near Cypress, Ill., the daughter of Joseph and Lula B. Campbell Gore. She had lived in Mississippi County since 1949...

CAHOKIA, Ill. -- Shirley J. Slinkard, 52, of Cahokia, Ill., died Friday, March 13, 1992 at her residence. She was born July 25, 1939, daughter of Cecil and Lydia Fox. She married Truman Dale Slinkard, who survives Cahokia. She was a member of the North Dupo Bible Church...

DENVER -- Robert "Bob" Schultz of Denver, formerly of Cape Girardeau, has died at age 70. He was the son of Louis and Norma Schultz. Louis Schultz was a long-time school principal in Cape Girardeau and a school is named in his honor. Survivors include one daughter, Catherine Anne Schultz, a son, Stephen Schultz, and a stepson, Jeffrey Schultz, all of Denver. He is also survived by a brother, Jack Schultz of St. Louis...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Graveside service for Charles Earl Tucker of Cobden was held Saturday at Jonesboro City Cemetery. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel in Cape Girardeau, Mo., was in charge of arrangements. Tucker, 87, died Thursday, March 12, 1992, at Hillside Terrace Nursing Home in Cobden...

ULLIN, Ill. -- Beatrice M. Adkins, 72, of Ullin, died Friday, March 13, 1992, at her home. She was born Feb. 17, 1920, at Mounds, daughter of Eulis and Flora Belle Hiatt Rainwater. She married John T. Adkins March 26, 1936. He died Jan. 15, 1988. Adkins was a member of First Baptist Churach here...

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Chuck Humburg of Hazelwood, Christian Hospital Northwest in St. Louis, 4:46 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, 1992. Name, Hannah Jean. Weight, 7 pounds 13 ounces. Second daughter. Mrs. Humburg is the former Kathy Kannady, daughter of Ralph and Doris Kannady of Florissant. She is a teacher at Harvest Ridge School in St. Charles. Humburg is a teacher at Bayless High School in St. Louis, and is the son of Chris and Sandra Humburg of Scott City...

The Cape Girardeau area critically needs an economic development director, says Judy Moss, who learned recently that her position with the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce has been eliminated. "I knew when I started work here that this might happen," Moss said Friday following an official announcement by chamber chairman John E. Mehner that funding had run out for the director's position. "I was told that the funding was guaranteed only three years," she said...

This year's session of the Missouri legislature is a "tough-rough, lean-mean" one, says Rep. Mary Kasten. Rep. David Schwab agreed. The two Cape Girardeau County Republican legislators, who have filed for new terms in the Missouri House, were guest speakers during the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee...

MALDEN -- Phyllis Biggs finished high school. Then she started raising a family. Now, she's going to college while continuing to hold down a job. For two years, Biggs has been taking college classes at the Bootheel Education Center in Malden. Biggs, who lives in Parma and works in Malden, says it would have been hard for her to take college classes at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau or even Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff while continuing in her job...

Resonate seems to be the new buzz word going around. Something a candidate says in New Hampshire doesn't resonate in Georgia, or a slogan coined in Texas doesn't resonate in California. If it weren't for these every four years political spasms we might never get a new word to bandy around. In political shorthand this means, "I can't hear you, Bub," although the words may be loud and clear...

Bill Ouseley, a former FBI agent who earned the title of "The Agent's Agent" while serving with the Organized Crime Squad in Kansas City, will be the guest speaker at the Cape Girardeau Executive's Club meeting Friday. He retired from the FBI in 1985, after 25 years of service. During his years with the agency, he tracked down members of the Kansas City mafia...

ORAN -- Artist Cleda Curtis-Neal of Oran has been elected to The American Society of Portrait Painters. Members of the society are artists who are serious portrait painters who have achieved national acclaim. The evaluation for membership in the society is granted to only a few portrait painters...

Lady Foot Locker, one of the country's largest specialty retailers of women's athletic footwear and apparel, has opened in West Park Mall. "We offer a complete line of major name-brand athletic footwear, clothing and accessories," said Lisa Crews, manager of the business. "We have a wide selection and range of styles."...

A new men's-wear store has opened in West Park Mall. J. Riggings, owned by Edison Brothers Stores Inc. headquartered in St. Louis, opened Wednesday in a 2,200-square-foot space along the Famous Barr corridor. "We're a traditional men's-wear specialty store," said Anna Marie Wolfe, manager of the business. "We have a variety of merchandise; we have suits, sports coats, shirts, knits, shoes and other accessories."...

ST. LOUIS Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. and Sunwest Financial Services Inc. have announced that Boatmen's will acquire the Albuquerque-based bank holding company, which has assets of about $3.4 billion. Under terms of the merger agreement, Boatmen's will issue 0.7722 shares of its common stock for each of Sunwest's 9.8 million shares outstanding...

More than a fourth of Southeast Missouri area employers who participated in a recent Employment Outlook Survey indicated they will add more workers during the second quarter of the fiscal year ending June 30. The hiring forecast, compiled by Manpower Inc., shows that 27 percent of companies responding will add jobs, and another 66 percent will remain the same...

The Small Business Development Center at Southeast Missouri State University will conduct sessions for area small-business persons and individuals planning business ventures. Sessions will be held at Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Dexter, Malden and Perryville...

A Cracker Barrel restaurant is expected to open in Cape Girardeau in the near future. "We are considering a location at Cape," said a spokesman from Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, a Lebanon, Tenn.-based restaurant chain that has more than 120 stores...

JACKSON -- A Jackson woman who recently completed the University of Kansas Law Enforcement Training Course has been appointed deputy sheriff in Johnson County Kansas. The woman is Tori Wickham, daughter of Herb and Nancy Wickham of Jackson. Wickham, a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, where she majored in criminal justice, is stationed at Olathe, Kan...

JACKSON -- Kenneth E. Volkerding of Jackson has earned membership in Lutheran Brotherhood's 1991 President's Club, one of the fraternal benefit society's most prestigious sales honors. Representatives become eligible for membership based on sales of insurance and investment products to Lutherans. Volkerding is associated with Lutheran Brotherhood's Harlan Pals Agency in St. Charles...

"Banking on Success" is the theme for the second annual Southeast Missouri Business Seminar to be held at the Show Me Center on Southeast Missouri State University campus April 8. The major thrust of the seminar will be on the topics of financing and marketing, said Keith Russell, co-chairman of the event, which is co-sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's University Relations Committee and the university's College of Business Administration...

JACKSON -- P. Bruce Dockins has been appointed new chairman of the board of Jackson Exchange Bank and Trust Co. Josh C. Cox Jr., president and CEO of First Exchange Corp., announced Dockins' appointment last week during a stockholders social hosted by First Exchange Corp. at Elks Lodge here...

PERRYVILLE -- Ronald McDowell of Fruitland has purchased Keele Pontiac-Buick-Ford at Perryville. McDowell, who was owner of Brugger-McDowell Motors at Jackson, has also moved his Jackson operation to the new dealership just off Interstate 55. "We have more than 40 used cars to go along with our new-car inventory," said McDowell, who purchased the dealership from Billy Keele, who was principal owner of Keele Motors in Cape Girardeau before taking over the dealership at Perryville in 1987...

Marta Green of Classic Real Estate Ltd./Better Homes and Gardens recently completed the third in a series of Better Homes and Gardens master classes entitled Buyer Power: Qualification, Counseling and Commitment. Upon completion of all six classes, Green will earn the new Residential Marketing Master (RMM) national designation...