Stories from Sunday, March 28, 1993

JACKSON -- The slam of the outer steel door of the Cape Girardeau County Jail unnerves many first-time visitors - as the resounding echo bounces off pale green concrete walls. Not until the outer door is securely closed does the inner, barred door slide open, emptying out into an average-sized activity area...

JACKSON -- The proposed Jackson Middle School will cost about $5.4 million to build. But it won't cost taxpayers any additional money, said school officials. Bond issue approval on April 6 would not change the current operating levy of $2.85 per $100 assessed valuation...

JACKSON - Class changes at R.O. Hawkins Junior High School in Jackson are not for the timid. During these five-minute transitions, 900 students spill out into the hallways of this building designed to handle 500 pupils. Both teachers and students must be prepared to get bumped, jostled, pushed around, and maybe even knocked down if they're caught in the hallways during one of these class changes...

PERRYVILLE - Voters in Perry County will be deciding April 6 whether to repeal the county's "Blue Law" that prohibits the sale of "non essential" items on Sunday. In other races, residents of Perry County School District No. 32 will be choosing between four candidates for three positions on the board of education; three aldermen and a new city marshal will also be chosen in Perryville...

Gene E. Huckstep, who transformed Cape Girardeau County government into one of the most financially stable local governments in the state, has decided not to seek re-election to a fifth term in 1994. "I will not be a candidate for re-election," Huckstep said Saturday. "I indicated the last time I filed it would probably be my last term, but I want to make it official...

Dorothy Hardy, director of the single parent program at the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School, hopes a "community outreach" effort Wednesday will help single parents understand what resources are available to better themselves. "We're looking for single parents," Hardy said. "What we want to do is get the information out there that they need...

JACKSON -- There is a lot more to the Cape Girardeau County Jail than guards and orange uniforms. The jail division of the Cape County Sheriff's Department consists of an administrator, a sergeant, a handful of deputies and court bailiffs and four matrons...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Floyd Griswell of Sikeston will be held at 2 p.m. today at Ponder Funeral Home. The Rev. Billie Butler will officiate, with burial in Gravel Hill Cemetery near Dexter. Friends may call at the funeral home from 9 a.m. to service time...

MORLEY -- Funeral service for Kenneth R. Morgan of Morley will be held at 2 p.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston. Woodrow Phillips will officiate, with burial in New Morley Cemetery. Morgan, 66, died Thursday, March 25, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON -- Mildred Louise Lyons, 64, of Sikeston died Friday, March 26 at her son's residence in Cahokia, Ill. She was born Sept. 21, 1928 in Dexter to James and Ella Lane Markland. She first married C.D. Dickerson in Dexter in 1943. He preceded her in death in March of 1968. She then married Gus Lyons in Sikeston in 1970. He preceded her in death Oct. 4, 1976...

JACKSON - Anna Deal, 84, of Jackson, died Friday, March 26, 1993, at the Deal Nursing Home in Jackson. She was born Nov. 3, 1908, to John P. and Smatha Sides McDonald. In 1924, she married Sylvester Thompson. He died in 1941. In 1942, she married Nelson Deal, who preceded her in death in 1981...

BENTON -- Mary M. Strayhorn, 86, of Benton, died Friday, March 26, 1993, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 5, 1907, at Webster Groves, Mo., daughter of Frederick A. and Grace Reese Stebbins. She was married to Winford B. Strayhorn June 27, 1935 at Webster Groves, Mo. He died March 17, 1982...

Walter W. Moeller, 86, of 1650 Perryville Road, died Friday, March 26, 1993, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau, where he had been a resident since June 1992. He was born Dec. 5, 1916, at Friedheim, to Frederick and Caroline Ruesler Moeller. On June 4, 1931, he married Stella Bergman at Perryville. She preceded him in death on July 14, 1992...

CHARLESTON -- Opal Irene Sasseen, 80, of Charleston, died Thursday, March 25, 1993, at her residence. She was born Jan. 13, 1913, in Mississippi County, daughter of Joseph and Dorothy Duvall Davis. She married Claud Able Sasseen Sept. 9, 1935. He died Nov. 10, 1986...

JACKSON -- Flossie Marie Burchett, 88, of Jackson, died Saturday, March 26, 1993, at Cape La Croix nursing facility in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 19, 1905, at Sunfield, Ill., daughter of Thomas and Girtie Boyd Robison. She was married to Melvin Burchett on Aug. 19, 1920. He died Dec. 22, 1964...

CAIRO - Nellie Rednour, 71, of Cairo died Friday, March 26, 1992 at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Oct. 26, 1921 in Cairo, the daughter of Joseph and Clora Gregory. She was a retired employee of the Burkart Manufacturing Co. in Cairo, a member of the First Southern Baptist Church in Cairo, the Cairo VFW Ladies Auxiliary, and the American Legion Auxiliary...

Virgie M. Doza, 72, of 1521 North West End Blvd., died Saturday, March 27, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born in St. Marys on Oct. 10, 1920 to Sylvester and Ada Grass Moll. On July 27, 1938, she married Bon Doza in Perryville. He survives, along with two sons, Ned Doza of Jackson and Paul Doza of Cape Girardeau; three brothers, Albert Moll of Scott City, Louis Moll and Bobbie Moll, both of St. Marys...

Floyd Robert Keesee, 83, of 214 S. Park, died Friday, March 26, 1993, at his home. He was born Dec. 28, 1909, in Blodgett, son of Tom and Mary Shrum Kessee. He was married to Mabel L. Foeste, on Nov. 11, 1933, in Cairo, Ill. She died June 12, 1988. He worked as a barge tanker man for Gulf Oil Company for 29 years. He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau...

There'll be discourse a-plenty April 3 as former Southeast Missouri State University debaters meet to form an alumni chapter of Pi Kappa Delta and to honor two former presidents of the largest intercollegiate debate organization in the United States...

Of the numbers available to promote passage of two April 6 school improvement issues in Cape Girardeau, here is a compelling one: 230. The number 230 represents the combined age of May Greene, Washington and L.J. Schultz schools, all facilities that would be retired with passage of this measure. ...

Recessions, if they go deep enough and last long enough, are likely to bring out the worst in politics. This is most certainly so today in Europe. In comparison to the continental talent of contemporary times, Stanley Baldwin and Edouard Deladier begin to take on a belated afterglow...

JEFFERSON CITY - Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, has been named to a joint legislative committee on wetlands by Senate President James Mathewson. The committee is co-chaired by Sen. Jerry Howard, D-Dexter, and Rep. Larry Thomason, D-Kennett. It was formed in 1991 to help the state comply with changing federal regulations pertaining to wetlands...

JACKSON -- The Jackson Heritage Association will kick off its 1993 season with a membership tea this afternoon at the historic Oliver House. The membership committee invites not only present and past members, but encourages area residents who are not presently members to attend and learn more about the association. It will be held from 2-4 p.m...

All day I heard the high winds blowing, not high as swishing swiftly around house corners, stirring up dry leaves, but high as in up, way up. At first I thought it a roaring wind coming from afar that would soon reach the tall oaks and make their leafless limbs appear to be brushing the sky. When the sound of the wind continued and the tall tree limbs didn't move, I knew then it was one of those freak winds so high you can't see it do anything, yet hear the roar of it...

August 1992 Hurricane Andrew rips Southeast Florida to shreds. Thousands are left homeless. Billions of dollars of property damage causes President George Bush to declare the entire region a disaster area. National Guard troops from across the country are called in to aid storm victims. Spearheading the effort are American Red Cross units from throughout the country...

Just like Missouri's weather, trends in gardening change. Most all gardeners are familiar with the well known All-America Selections for seed propagated garden plants, and depend on these winners for outstanding plants in their home gardens. There is a new program designed to evaluate and promote superior potted plants and cut flowers. It is known as Flora Star and is patented for flowering and foliage plants sold only in pots...

Kindergarten registration at Scott City Elementary School will be April 7 in the hallway by the elementary multipurpose room. The times for registration are 8-11 a.m., 12:45-3 p.m., and 6-8 p.m. To enroll in kindergarten, a child must live within the Scott City School District and be 5 years old on or before June 30...

Amber V. Keller was selected as a semifinalist in the 1993 North American Open Poetry contest. The contest is sponsored each year by the National Library of Poetry. Final competition is held this summer in Owings Mills, Md. Her poem will be published in this fall's anthology, "A Break in the Clouds."...

A new Mexican restaurant, El Torero, has opened in the Town Plaza Shopping Center at 2120 William. The restaurant is operated by the Alvarez family, Juan and Daniel, and a brother-in-law, Pablo Santillan, all from the Mexican village of San Jose de la Paz...

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan will discuss his views on the future of business, industry and education in Missouri during a luncheon meeting of the Business Conference to be held April 7 at the Show Me Center. Carnahan is keynote speaker for the conference, which is being sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's University Relations Committee and the Southeast Missouri State University College of Business Administration...

Hobby Lobby Creative Centers is taking job applications for the more than 40 people who will be employed by the retail arts- and crafts-supplies operation that opens next month in Cape Girardeau. "We're looking at April 12 as our opening date," said a spokesman for the firm, which will build its store at 207-A S. Kingshighway...

St. Mark Lutheran Church will open its Christian Preschool in September. The facility, under construction, is scheduled for completion in June. The building will feature a vaulted sanctuary on the upper level and will house the preschool facility on the ground level. The large classroom will access a fenced play yard...

Ten local nurses have been nominated for the fourth annual Tribute to Missouri Nurses Awards program sponsored by St. Louis University Hospital Auxiliary and St. Louis University School of Nursing. The program aims to recognize nurses throughout Missouri for excellence within the profession and to promote nursing in a positive light while raising money for nursing scholarships...

New officers will be installed during the Cape Girardeau County Legal Secretaries annual meeting to be held April 15 at the Cape Girardeau Country Club. "Anyone working in the legal field is invited to attend the annual banquet," said Jackie Givens of the group. Reservations are available by contacting Givens, 335-8278, or Cheryl Amos, 243-8463...

Pauline Fox, academic associate for personnel and budget in Southeast Missouri State University's provost office, has been named an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow for the 1993-1994 academic year. The ACE Fellows Program, established in 1965, is designed to strengthen leadership in American higher education by identifying and preparing promising faculty and staff members for responsible positions in college and university administration. ...

JACKSON William Elliott of Jackson recently attended a national sales and educational conference sponsored by Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL) in Maui, Hawaii. Elliott qualified to attend the conference for outstanding sales and service to AAL members during 1992. Elliott was also honored for achieving excellence in fraternal service, and attended special volunteer events during the conference...

At Your Service, a commercial cleaning and lawn-maintenance service, is expanding its business to include high-pressure washing for commercial and residential buildings and mobile homes. "We founded our business eight years ago as a commercial and residential cleaning service," said Lori Wheeler-Bodenschatz, owner of the firm. "We added lawn maintenance last year and will be adding the pressure washing this year."...

ST. LOUIS Spartech Corp. is in line to become the largest producer of custom rigid-sheet and rollstock plastic in the United States. "The acquisition of Penda Corp.'s custom extrusion division should add $10 million to $12 million in annual sales," Spartech President Bradley Buechler said in an address at the company's annual meeting. "The transition of equipment is now complete, with the fourth line installed at our Mankato, Minn., facility...

Don Rogers has joined the local group of IGA Supermarkets as a partner and general manager of IGA supermarkets at Jackson, Chaffee and Fredericktown. Rogers is former director of merchandising for Wetterau Inc., Scott City Division. "Rogers brings a wealth of experience to our organization," said Lester Maevers, president of the local IGA Corp. ...

JACKSON -- Warranty deeds issued at the office of Janet Robert, Cape Girardeau County recorder of deeds: David E. and Tamara G. Gragg to Bryan L. and Cyndi Poeyoke Hupperts; Weisbrod Construction Inc. to Ashli D. Ford; Frederick August Bartels by attorney to Scott and Sheree Devore...

Wesley Wade of Marcon Promotional Advertising has been installed as president of the Advertising Federation of Southeast Missouri. Other officers include Maggie Friend, Southeast Missouri Hospital, vice president; Traci Neldon, Fox 23 KBSI, secretary; and Kim Mitchell, Red Letter Communications Inc., treasurer...

The Fireplace Center and River City Masonry, 1028 N. Kingshighway, has expanded its showroom and added a new product: an unvented gas fireplace. "The unvented gas fireplace can be installed almost anywhere in the house," said Noretta Blattner, "No chimney or direct vent is needed."...

Century 21 Key Realty's sales agents were recently honored for outstanding production during 1992. Birdie Rader was honored as Centurion Agent of the St. Louis region of Century 21. She was also recognized as Top Agent in the categories of top listing volume, top listing units, and top gross-closed commissions. She was second in top closed unit. Closed production was $5,338,260 for 1992...

PERRYVILLE -- Andrew's Flower Garden, 9 East Ste. Maries St., Perryville, has been accepted as a member of Florists' Transworld Delivery (FTD) Association. "FTD is the world's oldest and largest inter-city, flowers-by-wire delivery organization," said Mark A. Hotop, who opened the Flower Garden in July 1992. "We are proud to be a part of such an exclusive wire service. FTD's standards are high, and I think the selection of our shop reflects well on the quality work of our business."...