Stories from Saturday, December 5, 1992

Amendment VI to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the accused the right to a speedy trial. But as an explosion of court cases have encumbered the dockets, the speed of justice has been slowed at times. To its credit, the Missouri Supreme Court is attempting to speed up the resolution of cases through a new rule setting deadlines for resolving cases...

We guess the reason the U.S. has been so slow to respond to famine in Somalia is because everyone at the State Department has been going through old passport records. --- A good way to tell how close you are to Christmas is by how many servings of creamed turkey are still left in the refrigerator just waiting to be microwaved...

SCOTT CITY -- A Christmas Home Tour is planned Sunday to help fund a holiday clothing and toy drive for needy children in Scott City. The tour is sponsored by the Scott City Women's Club. Throughout the year, the organization raises money to provide new clothing especially for up to 60 children...

The Cape Girardeau Junior High Knowledge Master team placed first in Missouri and sixth in the world during recent academic competition. Dixie Cook, Knowledge Master coach, said this is the 16th time the junior high team has participated in the contest and the 12th time the team has placed first in the state...

The academic Knowledge Master team at Cape Girardeau Central High School ranked fourth in Missouri and 56 in the nation in recent computer competition. Ann Bartlett, Knowledge master coach at CHS, said the team of 14 students answered 193 of 200 questions correctly. They scored 1,555 of a possible 2,000 points...

The Southeast Chamber Players will present a concert at 3 p.m. Sunday at Old St. Vincent Church. The 24-member ensemble, composed of Southeast Missouri State University music department faculty and area music teachers, will present a variety of wind...

U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond has urged president-elect Bill Clinton to maintain the National Guard in the new administration's national defense strategy. "While providing a very low-cost federal military capability, the Guard also provides the states and our nation with a widely-dispersed, community-based response force for natural disasters, civil disturbances and year-round federal, state and community programs," Bond wrote in a letter to Clinton...

The beautiful Holiday Barbie doll, with her fancy party dress, has captured the heart of 9-year-old Melissa. But Melissa may never own the doll, her only Christmas wish. Her mother, a single parent who is currently looking for work, knows the doll is much too extravagant a gift and has tried to persuade Melissa to think of other things...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is reviewing whether nearly 900 convenience stores that now accept food stamps are ineligible because staple items account for less than 50 percent of their sales. The law requires that 50 percent of a certified store's food stamp sales must consist of staple items such as bread, cereal, milk and meat. "Accessory" foods like candy, coffee and fountain drinks all of which can be bought with food stamps may account for the rest of the store's food stamp sales...

The Cape Girardeau City Council likely will complete the appointment of members to a Charter Amendment Committee at its Dec. 21 meeting. The committee was authorized at the Nov. 16 council meeting to determine how to implement the concept of electing council members by zones, which was approved at the Nov. 3 general election. Council members are presently elected at-large...

In a profession where average tenure is less than five years, Bob Hendrix has far surpassed his job expectancy. He's been president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce since 1972 - four times longer than the average stay of a chamber director...

Salvation Army Cadet Charlene Polsley talked quietly with the mother of a toddler at the Cape Girardeau Army headquarters. The child had no shoes, but his mother was a little embarrassed to ask for help. Polsley's husband, Randy, said, "I thought maybe Charlene could talk to her mother to mother."...

As part of its approval and prioritization of projects on a 15-year needs list, the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission Friday authorized funding for extending Nash Road into the Southeast Missouri Regional Port. Commission action Friday during a meeting in St. Louis also authorized completion of widening Highway 60 from Sikeston to Willow Springs...

JACKSON -- The Cape Girardeau County Democratic Women's Club will hold its monthly meeting Tuesday 7 p.m. at the County Administration Building, lower level, in Jackson. New officers will be elected and installed; Lois Boston and Geneva McKinnis will serve as hostesses...

MARBLE HILL -- Charles F. Warner, 65, of Marble Hill, died Friday, Dec. 4, 1992, at Bond Nursing Care Center. He was born Aug. 14, 1927, at Perkins, son of Charles F. and Mary B. Suttles Warner. He and Peggy Warner Martin were married Dec. 19, 1965...

CHARLESTON -- Doris Johnson, 57, of Charleston, died Friday, Dec. 4, 1992, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Aug. 10, 1935, in Scott County, daughter of Orvel Vernon and Addie Martin Linebaugh. She and Glennon Johnson were married April 1, 1956...

The Southeast Missouri Chapter of the National Oncology Nursing Society will receive its charter during a special program Monday, Dec. 7. The local group is only the fourth chapter to be chartered in Missouri and the first in downstate Missouri. Guest speaker will be Karen Procter, R.N., oncology nurse specialist at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah, Ky. and president of the Paducah Oncology Nursing Society chapter...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Carroll R. McIntire, 56, of Dongola, died Friday, Dec. 4, 1992, at his home. He was born May 8, 1936, in Anna, son of Floyd and Lela Morris McIntire. McIntire was a member of First Baptist Church in Anna, and Railway Maintenance Union...

Jackson attorney John Lichtenegger has been re-elected to a second, one-year term as president of the University of Missouri Board of Curators. The action came at a two-day meeting of the board, which ended Friday in Columbia. Lichtenegger said the curators amended the bylaws, adopted in 1967, to allow a president or vice president of the board to serve consecutive terms...

MARBLE HILL -- Harry Vogel, 86, of Marble Hill died Friday, Dec. 4, 1992 at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Morgan Funeral Home in Advance.

Life seems to get more and more complicated for Mrs. F, but she never complains. She is a widow who was living alone, barely making ends meet, when her daughter and two grandchildren moved back home. Mrs. F's daughter is struggling to support her two children and tries not to burden her mother, but things are very hectic around the house...

Community donations from TCI Cablevision of Missouri Inc.'s June "Cable in the Classroom" campaign netted $1,227.60. The money was used to purchase two televisions and four VCRs for local schools. "Video equipment donations are a great way to help our schools take full advantage of the educational programming available on cable," said Roger Harms, local cable manager...

Attending class at Cape Girardeau's Area Vocational-Technical School can pay off. In addition to the educational benefits of coming to school, students are competing for monthly attendance prizes in a new attendance incentive program. Harold Tilley, director of the vocational school, said: "I think that regular attendance is one of the keys to success in school. If students are not here, they are missing something. If they fall behind, it's hard to catch up."...

FROHNA -- A St. Louis man sustained moderate injuries after he lost control of his vehicle in loose gravel on County Road 428 Thursday. Donald S. Mueller, 56, was taken to Perry County Memorial Hospital after the 3:50 p.m. accident. The Missouri Highway Patrol said Mueller was eastbound when he lost control rounding a curve. The vehicle struck a tree, the patrol said...