Stories from Tuesday, May 5, 1992

Forty-six years and two months after British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered the prologue to the Cold War at Westminster College with his "Iron Curtain" speech, former Soviet President and Communist Party Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev is expected to hearken the era's end...

Missouri Gov. John Ashcroft and two state department directors unveiled a new program Monday called "Baby Your Baby," which is designed to increase the use of pregnancy care. Ashcroft explained that the program, which came from a recommendation of the Governor's Conference on Infant Mortality, will attempt to "encourage women to get early and regular baby care."...

Black students at Cape Girardeau Public Schools expressed outrage at the Rodney King verdict and concerns about signs of racism in the school and community. About 30 students attended a meeting Monday afternoon, sponsored by the local chapter of the NAACP, to discuss student feelings about the acquittal of four white Los Angeles policemen accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King...

The Cape Girardeau City Council Monday agreed to endorse and send to the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department a list of area road projects for the department's 15-year highway plan. But council members fell short of endorsing two ideas suggested by Mayor Gene Rhodes...

Southeast Missouri State University's Budget Review Committee approved a budget package Monday that calls for a 3 percent across-the-board salary increase for all but the institution's executive staff. The budget package also includes slight cuts in athletic funding. The committee wound up 3 months of deliberations by recommending a nearly $50 million budget for fiscal year 1993. The vote was 20-0, with one abstention...

Missouri Attorney General William Webster said Monday he is optimistic that in light of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, there will soon be a recognition by federal courts that Missouri has fulfilled its obligation for desegregation efforts in St. Louis and Kansas City...

The May meeting of the City of Roses Charter Chapter of American Business Women's Association will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at Drury Lodge. The program will be on "Resources on Vacation Planning" by Cathy Crites of the Convention and Visitors Bureau...

A special meeting of the Cape Girardeau Board of Education, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Monday, was canceled early Monday afternoon. James Englehart, director of secondary education, said board members had scheduling difficulties that did not allow them to attend the meeting...

SCOTT CITY -- The city will make the final payment for the water and sewer line extension project to the Nash Road industrial area after city council members have a chance to inspect the area, it was decided Monday at a Scott City Council meeting. The project has been inspected and approved by the Department of Natural Resources and by the city's Public Works supervisor...

Residents who have long complained about the Lexington Avenue arterial project Monday contended that city officials continue to change plans for the route. Priscilla Kirby, who lives on the corner of Sherwood and Lexington, said residents of the segment of Lexington between Cape Rock Drive and Perryville Road were told by city officials in 1990 that their's would be the last segment of the street built. ...

Something quite remarkable is happening in Missouri tomorrow. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, the one-time leader of the most oppressive sovereignty on the planet, will speak in Fulton Wednesday on the spot where the notion of the Cold War was engendered 46 years ago. ...

Are you sick to death of the glib pronouncements offered by so many on the national news media about "the root causes" of last week's rioting following the Rodney King beating case? Are you as sick as I am of liberal commentators who are certain that "Reagan-Bush budget cuts" are the root of the problem? Columnist George Melloan offers a powerful antidote to the fashionable media cliches and to the widely prevalent nonsense...

Forty-six years and two months after British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered the prologue to the Cold War at Westminster College with his "Iron Curtain" speech, former Soviet President and Communist Party Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev is expected to hearken the era's end...

BLOOMFIELD -- Archie A. Williams, 85, died Monday, May 4, 1992, at Crowley Ridge Care Center in Dexter, where he resided. Visitationat Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield will be after 6 p.m. today. Graveside rites will be conducted at the Zion Cemetery near Bloomfield at 10 a.m. Wednesday...

JACKSON -- It's going to cost more to take a dip in the Jackson Municipal Swimming Pool this summer. Because of increased operating costs, the Board of Aldermen approved fee increases Monday that will be in effect when the pool opens May 16. The board also opened bids on the Phase Three water-main project along East Jackson Boulevard, and the street paving of Anna and Eastview streets. The board authorized a change of contractors for the Main Street improvement project...

CHAFFEE -- The Chaffee City Council Monday night moved a bit closer to getting new sports lights for Harmon Field. A representative of a Muscatine, Iowa, sports lighting company will appear before the council to discuss possible purchase by the city of new lights, Chaffee officials said. City Councilman Tom Cunningham of Ward 4 asked that the representative appear, if possible, before the council at its next meeting in two weeks...

Funeral service for Richard Ray Rau of Tishomingo, Okla., was held Monday at Smith Funeral Chapel there. Deacon Mike Radosevich officiated, with burial in Condon Grove Cemetery. Rau, 58, died Friday, May 1, 1992, following an extended illness. He was born Feb. 23, 1934, son of Alfred Ray and Mary Neal Firquain Rau. He and Frances Ida Norris were married Sept. 26, 1978, in Tishomingo...

OLMSTED, Ill. -- Murle D. Ehrhardt, 80, of Olmsted, died Monday, May 4, 1992, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was born Dec. 26, 1911, in Hampton, Ky., daughter of Shirley and Florence Lee Grisham Ramsey. She married Arthur B. Ehrhardt, who preceded her in death...

CHARLESTON -- Guy Thomas Crawford, 77, Charleston Route 1, died Monday, May 4, 1992, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Feb. 27, 1915, in McLeansboro, Ill., son of Tom and Lula May Biggerstaff Crawford. He and Bernita Key were married April 9, 1938...

Iva R. Ford, 80, of 1040 South Sprigg, died suddenly Sunday at her home following a period of failing health. She was born Feb. 27, 1912 in Canalou to William and Minerva Crook Ausley. On Feb. 9, 1930, she married Elmer Ford in Cape Girardeau. He died April 7, 1988...

BLOOMFIELD -- Lorene Lewis, 74, of Bloomfield died Monday, May 4, 1992, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Visitation at Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield will be after 5 p.m. today. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home...

Funeral service for Fay Graham Hale, Cape Girardeau Route 2, will be held at 2 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. S.S. Borum will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park. Hale, 53, died Saturday, May 2, 1992, at St. Francis Medical Center...

JACKSON -- Children are invited to Leap Into Books this summer at the Jackson Public Library. Children from preschool age through fifth grade may register in the library's reading and activity programs on May 20 at 9 a.m. Registration for the reading portion of the program continues through July 1. Registration for the activities are first come first served until the programs are filled...

Students from the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School were inducted into the National Vocational-Technical Honor Society last week. The organization is for outstanding students enrolled in occupational, vocational or technical programs. The purpose of the organization is to promote the ideals of service, leadership, honesty, career development and skilled workmanship...