Stories from Sunday, April 4, 1993

CHARLESTON -- Mattie L. Thomas, 74, of Charleston, died Wednesday, March 31, 1993, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born March 27, 1919 in Tupelo, Miss., daughter of John and Peggy Ann Baker. She was married to Willie Currie in 1937. He preceded her in death in 1962. She then married Alex Thomas. He preceded her in death...

As was noted in this space recently concerning the dismissal of Dexter's Charles Kruse as assistant adjutant general with the onset of the new governor's administration, the victor enjoys the spoils of a political fight. With this same premise comes the possibility that license fee offices in Cape Girardeau and Jackson will leave the hands of the chambers of commerce in those communities and go instead to an individual. ...

Two years ago (3/31/91) this past week, I opened a column on a proposed Seniors Citizens tax proposal with the following comments: "This is one bleeding-heart conservative with a well-honed aversion to tax hikes who'll be voting FOR the Senior Citizens tax proposal on the ballot this Tuesday (4/2/91). ...

Edwin A. Lampitt has been in private practice as a structural engineer since 1950. He is registered as a structural engineer in Illinois and as a professional engineer in Missouri and several other states. He has designed 150-200 seismically resistant structures, and he investigated damage to 43 buildings in the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. He has lived in Cape Girardeau about four years...

To the Editor: After reading some of the items in your newspaper's Speak Out column, I think it is time to explain some facts to the younger citizens of Cape Girardeau. I hope they will then realize how wrong they are to maintain that senior citizens do not support the upcoming school bond issue...

The subjects of health, education, and workers' compensation create lively discussions among business leaders, says Tony Reinhart, vice president of governmental affairs for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce. "Business leaders have mixed feelings on the education tax package which is before the Missouri legislature," said Reinhart, who was a guest speaker at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee Friday...

The 1993 annual Student Juried Art Exhibition will open with a reception and awards presentation Monday in the Southeast Missouri State University Museum Gallery. The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Refreshments will be served. The event showcases the highest quality art work produced by students in the university's art department during the past academic year. ...

SCOTT CITY -- On Tuesday, voters here will decide who is to hold two city council seats and must eliminate one of four candidates for three school board seats. The ballots will show a contested race in Ward 2, and two write-in candidates are vying for the open Ward 1 seat...

Carl Lindgren, an internationally recognized photographer, will discuss his photographs of William Faulkner's native Mississippi when his exhibit opens today in Southeast Missouri State University's Kent Library. The event is scheduled for 2 p.m. to 4 p.m...

DELTA -- All six candidates for the Delta Board of Education are backing a $1.05 million school bond issue. They say it will provide needed facility improvements for the small, rural school district. Voters Tuesday will decide the fate of the bond issue and choose from among the six candidates for three, three-year terms on the board...

To the Editor: The Rev. Michael O'Connell, officiating at the recent funeral of James Patrick Bulgar, in Liverpool, England, stated, "The death of an innocent little child is causing us to do something about it, to make life better." Rev. O'Connell spoke words of wisdom. James Bulgar was an innocent little child abducted and murdered by mere children. It causes us to pause and reflect. Why did this happen? What can we do?...

To the Editor: As a resident of the Delta R-V district I would like to respond to the recent article in the Southeast Missourian about the upcoming bond election in the district. The first issue deals with the possible regulation being considered by the state legislature on minimum school size. ...

Son to Mr. and Mrs. Alan Grebing of Frohna, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:14 a.m. Tuesday, March 16, 1993. Name, Jesse Lee. Weight, 8 pounds 2 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Grebing is the former Sara Marler, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Farrell Marler of Jackson. She is a general clerk at Sabreliner Corp. Grebing is self-employed with Grebing Farms, and is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Grebing of Frohna...

PERRYVILLE -- Lydia Frances Berkbigler, 90, died Saturday, April 3, 1993, at Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville. She was born Jan. 6, 1903 in Perry County, daughter of Henry Schumer and Barbara Lohmann Schumer. She married Arnold Berkbigler in 1923 at Highland, Mo. He preceded her in death...

Mary Catherine Weber, 86, of Route 1, Benton, died Saturday, April 3, 1993, at Cape La Croix Nursing Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 18, 1907, at Potosi, Wis., daughter of Herman Joseph Wilhelm and Eva Johner Wilhelm. She was married Sept. 16, 1943, at Illmo to William Anthony Weber. He preceded her in death on May 12, 1991...

Louis R. Sticht, 63, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, April 2, 1993, at his home. He was born June 7, 1929, at Farrar, the son of Henry and Bertha Fornkohl Sticht. On Sept. 2, 1957, he married Sharon R. Pender, who survives of the home. He was a retired welder, who worked at the Missouri Dry Docks for 41 years...

SCOTT CITY -- Gary Jerriett Wright, 55, of 201 Lincoln St. in Scott City died Friday, April 2, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Jan. 24, 1938, at Commerce, the son of Arthur Newton and Zelma Mae O'Guinn Wright. On Nov. 20, 1954, he married Carolyn Young at Benton. She survives of the home...

THEBES, Ill. -- Mrs. Elvira Rothrock, 84, of Thebes, died Friday, April 2, 1993, at her home. She was born Nov. 8, 1908, at Marissa, Ill., daughter of Grant and Myrtle A. Carter Booth. She married John Rothrock in June of 1937. He preceded her in death Aug. 3, 1963...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Robert Lewis Ellis, 61, of Sikeston, formerly of East Prairie, died Saturday, April 3, 1993, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by the Shelby Funeral Home of East Prairie...

MATTHEWS -- Funeral service for Rebel D. Kelso of Matthews will be held at 2 p.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston. The Rev. Thomas Bray will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park Cemetery. Kelso, 75, died Thursday, April 1, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Ornice Kathleen Raines of Sikeston will be held at 2 p.m. today at Ponder Funeral Chapel. Burial will be in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Raines, 81, died Wednesday, March 31, 1993, at Gunnison Health Care Center in Gunnison, Colo...

Graveside service for Minnie Pearl Sadler of Somerville, Tenn., was held Friday at Oak Grove Cemetery near Bertrand. Peebles Fayette County Funeral Home of Somerville was in charge of arrangements. Sadler, 79, died Wednesday, March 31, 1993, at her home...

Work by Missouri artists who live within 75 miles of Cape Girardeau will be on display at Gallery 100 beginning today. The Southeast Missouri Juried Art Show will open with a reception and awards ceremony from 2-4 p.m. Sunday at the gallery, located at 100 Broadway...

A rare mayor's race in Jackson, a major, capital-improvements school bond issue in Cape Girardeau, school bond issue proposals in Delta and Jackson, and consideration of repealing the ban on Sunday sales in Perry County are among the issues being considered by area voters Tuesday...

Fire investigators are unsure what caused Thursday's blaze that extensively damaged SEMO Heavy Industries, a Cape Girardeau manufacturing firm in the Town Plaza. But the operator of the business, Bill Evans, said the cause likely was some type of electrical malfunction...

THEBES, Ill. -- More than 90 percent of the earthwork is completed for a four-and-a-half mile road relocation project between Thebes and Olive Branch in Southern Illinois. "We're still close to target projections for the project," said Illinois Department of Transportation District Engineer Bob Zieba at Carbondale. "The 4.5 miles of relocated highway is scheduled to be opened to traffic by fall of 1994."...

Southeast Missouri State University students have purchased about 15,000 condoms over the past eight months from the school's Center for Health and Counseling. The sale of condoms is part of a wide range of services offered by the center, including tests for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS, gonorrhea and syphilis...

Twenty-five years ago today, as he stepped out on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was struck down by an assassin's bullet. The event stunned a confused nation, which then watched in horror as cities throughout America erupted in flames and rioting. King represented hope for the hopeless, and although an apostle of non-violence when the dreamer was killed, many feared, so too was the dream...

Three of the four candidates for the Cape Girardeau Board of Education say they have reservations or oppose collective bargaining for teachers. All four candidates indicated they would not want to see teachers strikes in the Cape Girardeau School District...

Opponents of a proposed bond issue and building fund levy hike for Cape Girardeau public schools have organized a last-minute campaign against the Tuesday election ballot measures. Meanwhile, two state lawmakers have come out in support of the $25 million bond issue and 27-cent building fund levy hike...

NEW MADRID -- Patsy Rollins, 33, of East St. Louis, Ill., suffered fatal injuries in a two-vehicle accident about three miles south of Marston on Interstate 55 about 12:45 a.m. Saturday. Rollins was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Wanda Rollins, 22, of East St. Louis...

A "Cholesterol Education for Health Care Professionals Conference" is scheduled for April 24 at Southeast Missouri State University. The event is scheduled for 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. in the University Center Program Lounge. The purpose of the conference is to provide continuing education opportunity for professionals and students in the fields of nursing and health promotion. Current information on prevention and treatment of hypercholesterolemia will be presented, organizers said...

BENTON -- Like so many schools in the region, the Kelly School District is in need of renovations. On Tuesday voters have an opportunity to pass a bond measure to appropriate the needed money without a tax increase. The district is asking for voters' approval of a $1.2 million bond issue to renovate the existing gymnasium and home economics classroom; construction of four new classrooms, science labs and elementary library; and repairs and renovation to make the entire school air conditioned...

It takes time to get the world rolling again once daylight-saving time begins. Sometimes it takes the police. Just in case the uptake is a little slow this morning understandable since those who didn't sleep in lost an hour of inertia daylight-saving time began at 2 a.m. today...

The most popular reply by Missourians, perhaps the entire Midwest population, when asked, "What do you like most about the area?" is, "The seasons." Count me in. Perhaps it is because I have never known another geographical region for any length of time that I think it would be stifling to live where the weather, flora and fauna changed only infinitesimally the year 'round...

Have daffodils every been more beautiful or more welcome than they are this spring? And you oldsters recall when there was memory work at school to train the mind and give us homework? Here is one of the favorites written by William Wordsworth in 1804 that was a regular spring memory assignment:...

Something new is brewing in Cape Girardeau. Cool Beans, The Coffee Cafe will open at West Park Mall this week. The new coffee shop, situated down the JCPenney concourse in the mall, will specialize in espresso, cappuccino and lattes and will offer a wide selection of gourmet coffee, decaffeinated varieties, bulk coffee, herbal teas and snacks...

Whitfield's Fine Dining will offer a unique experience for diners, says Elma Staten, manager of a new operation that opens next weekend at 220 Independence. "The service will be on the order of old Southern service," said Staten. "Our waiters will wear cut-away-tails and white gloves and our hostesses will wear French maid uniforms."...

Lowe's Companies Inc. is looking to a winter opening in Cape Girardeau in Cape West Business Park. "Our plans are to have a 115,000-square-foot building with an accompanying live nursery and garden center," said Clarissa Felts, a spokesperson for the company...

The Easter Bunny will join the Pillsbury Dough Boy, Oreo Kid, Jolly Green Sprout, and more than 1,000 youngsters for the second annual Shop 'n Save Easter Egg Hunt April 10 at Shawnee Park in Cape Girardeau "More than 1,000 youngsters, ages 11 and under, attended the first big hunt last year," said Mike Recker, manager of Shop 'n Save, 254 Silver Springs Road. "We expect that many or more this year."...

Cape Mutual Insurance Co., 144 S. Ellis, held its annual membership meeting, which was followed by a meeting of the Board of Directors. Leon Whitler was appointed special liaison to the board, Joel Dermott was named general manager, Charles Hammack was elected secretary-treasurer, and Robin Cook was named claims manager for the company...

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan; C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group; and Daryl Hobbs, director of the University of Missouri Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis, will be speakers for the annual Business Conference to be held at the Show Me Center Wednesday...

Vicki McLemore of Cape Girardeau has been named Woman of the Year by the City of Roses Charter Chapter of the American Business Women's Association (ABWA). McLemore is active in accounting and is staff accountant for Stanley, Dirnberger, Hopper & Associates in Cape Girardeau...

Tellco Cellular, an agent for Southwestern Bell Telephone and for Southwestern Bell Mobile Phone System, opened recently at 320 N. Kingshighway. The company, which is also an authorized dealer for Toshiba business telephone systems, recently added two new account executives Eddie Rhodes and Lori Trepasso...

Ian Cohen, director of account services and research, and a partner in Kupper Parker Communications Inc. of St. Louis, will address members of the Advertising Federation of Southeast Missouri Thursday. The group will meet at 6 p.m. at Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau...

Kelle A. Lane has been named the regional placement manager of the Heartland Projects With Industry office in Cape Girardeau. Heartland Projects With Industry provides free job placement services to clients that qualify for assistance through the Missouri Division of Vocational Rehabilitation...

Bonanza Restaurant will become Ponderosa Restaurant in Cape Girardeau. Ponderosa Restaurant, which opened in Town Plaza Shopping Center almost two decades ago, will move into the building at 45 S. Kingshighway, which housed Bonanza. Bonanza closed last weekend...

Attorney Allen Moss has opened a private practice in the Sunset Towers Building, Suite A, at 1020 N. Kingshighway. Moss, who received his law degree in 1986 from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, has seven years experience as an attorney handling all types of civil and criminal cases...

Chris Byrd, St. Francis Medical Center neurosciences nurse specialist, has been recognized as one of the top nurses in Missouri. Byrd, who has held several nursing positions at St. Francis since joining the center in 1985, has received one of five Tribute to Missouri Nurses awards. The award program, now in its fourth year, is sponsored by the St. Louis University Hospital Auxiliary and the St. Louis University School of Nursing...

The Cape Girardeau area chapter of AARP will meet Monday at Grace United Methodist Church beginning at 1:30 p.m. The featured speaker will be Bob White of Southeast Missouri State University. The topic will be "Cape Girardeau, the First 100 Years." Members will display personal items from pre-1900s...