Stories from Sunday, May 16, 1993

SCOTT CITY -- Troy Allen Dover, 32, of Scott City, died Saturday, May 15, 1993, in a fire at his home. He was born Jan. 10, 1961, at Anna, Ill., son of Raymond and Verda Meisenheimer Dover. Dover worked at Wetterau Inc., in Scott City. Survivors include his parents of Scott City; a son, Troy J. Dover of Billings, Mo.; four brothers, Collin Dover of Homewood, Ala., Gary Dover of Scott City, Dallas Dover of Scott City, Eldon Dover of Scott City; and a sister, Mary Edith Sprenger of Las Vegas, Nev...

CHARLESTON -- John Henry Scheffer Sr., 68, Charleston Route 2, died Thursday, May 13, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Oct. 22, 1924, in rural Charleston, son of Clem and Emma Gibbear Scheffer. He and Rita Magdeline Urhahn were married Feb. 1, 1947...

The old saying goes that justice delayed is justice denied. If that is true, justice has certainly been denied in the case of the federal government against former Attorney General Bill Webster. An investigation into his supposed transgressions in office, including handling of a statewide Second Injury Fund, has dragged itself along a course from rumor to legend without the weight of tangible evidence and any semblance of legal resolution. ...

The regular monthly meeting and a field trip are planned next week by Four Seasons chapter of the National Audubon Society. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at Cape County Park Conservation Building. John Dogget will present the program on "Wildflowers of Southeastern Missouri."...

Twenty-seven young writers, the best from 72 schools in Southeast Missouri and the St. Louis metropolitan area, were honored recently at the 11th annual Southeast Missouri Writing Achievement Awards program at Southeast Missouri State University. "This program was initiated in 1982 by the university's department of English as a means of recognizing the importance of writing skills in the development of an educated person," said Linda Burns, professor of English...

Ryan Kasten, a freshman music major at Southeast Missouri State University, will present an organ recital Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Broadway and Lorimier. He will present works of Buxtehude, J.S. Bach, Franck, Vierne and Lemmens. The program was recently performed in Fairfield Bay, Ark., for the North Central Arkansas Foundation for the Arts and Education...

"This is a problem that is, after all, in Europe's back yard. We have opinions. We are working on trying to get some sort of consensus out of the Europeans to achieve both these objectives." President Bill Clinton It is clear as clear can be that the Europeans want no part of any military action in Bosnia. They want neither to arm the Bosnian Muslims, nor to bomb the Bosnian Serbs. They desire to continue to do what they are doing on-the-ground humanitarian relief and to do no more...

Charles Gudermuth is a resident of Cape Girardeau. On June 8, 1993, the citizens of Cape Girardeau will be given the opportunity to speak out decisively on a moral issue that will affect families throughout their lifetime. Proponents of riverboat gambling are touting this evil as "good, clean family fun and entertainment." Gambling is far from good, far from clean and definitely is not family fun and entertainment and its mendacious "get rich quick" lure led to the ruination of a lovely lady's last years. ...

Center of photograph above, Bill Boyd, executive director of a Las Vegas-based gaming and resort company, talks with S.E. Missouri Council on the Arts director Beverly Strohmeyer. Behind, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce executive director Robert Hendrix points to the Boyd Group's proposed riverboat casino while Joe Gamble, plant manager at Biokyowa, looks on...

Editor's note: The following questions were posed to the group, Citizens Against Riverboat Gambling. The responses were written on behalf of this group by Charles Grant, Dr. Richard Martin and Craig Nessan. Grant and Nessan are members of the local clergy; Martin is a Cape Girardeau physician.1. ...

Funeral service for Gilbert E. Hassen, 1520 N. West End Boulevard, was held Saturday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel, with the Rev. Louis Launhardt officiating. Burial was in Forest Hills Cemetery at Morley, with graveside rites by VFW Post 3838...

Milford H. Fee, 85, of 1265 Kingsway, died Friday night, May 14, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Oct. 19, 1907, in Cape Girardeau, son of Ira and Vada Gaines Fee. His wife, Edna Belle Kincaid Fee, whom he married at Bourbon, Mo., died in 1986...

SCOTT CITY -- Amy Nora Statler, 87, of Scott City Route 2 died Friday, May 14, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Nov. 24, 1905 in Monterey, daughter of Jacob Watts and Marcella Alcorn Hasty. On Nov. 24, 1927, she married Silas Jefferson Statler. He died on July 31, 1965...

SCOTT CITY -- William Thomas Mason, 85, of Scott City died Friday, May 14, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Sept. 27, 1907 in Ardeola, son of Henry and Ollie Jackson Mason. On May 15, 1938, he married Ethel Pyle at Dexter. She survives of the home...

CHARLESTON -- Louis Alex Mor, 67, of Charleston, died Friday, May 14, 1993, at the John J. Pershing Veterans Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. He was born Dec. 28, 1925, at Gillespie, Ill., son of Joseph and Lucille M. Bausano Mor. He married Allene Tosti, June 15, 1968...

JACKSON -- Douglas "Doc" Sneathen, 74, of Gordonville, died Saturday, May 15, 1993, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 19, 1918, at St. Louis, son of Joe and Sophia Deneke Sneathen. He was married to Edna Ueleke, Jan. 25, 1947 in Cape Girardeau...

CHARLESTON -- William Wayne Downs, 42, of Memphis, Tenn., formerly of Charleston, died Saturday, May 15, 1993, at his home. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston.

Lawrence McLain, 94, of the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau, formerly of 2560 Meadow Lane, died Saturday, May 15, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of funeral arrangements, which are incomplete at this time...

Robert Daniel Taylor Burns, 52, of Benton, Ark., formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, May 15, 1993, at Saline Memorial Hospital in Benton. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Ollie R. Warren, 86, of Olive Branch, Ill., died Saturday, May 15, 1993, at the Life Care Nursing Center in Jonesboro, Ill. He was born Feb. 7, 1907 in Chicago Heights, Ill., son of James A. and Gertrude Story Warren. He was a retired construction laborer and a member of Laborers Local 773 in Cairo, Ill...

WITTENBERG -- Paula Elizabeth Thurm, 96, of Wittenberg died Friday, May 14, 1993, at the American Care Center in Perryville. She was born Aug. 19, 1896, in Wittenberg, the daughter of Martin and Emma Richter Grebing. On April 18, 1915, she married Herman F. Thurm, who preceded her in death Feb. 11, 1959...

In the debate over housing assistance in Cape Girardeau, a recurring theme has been that housing needs of the city's low-income residents aren't being met sufficiently in the private sector. Typically, the problem is described as follows: A slumlord buys a dilapidated, inexpensive property and rents it to low-income tenants. The owner pockets a federal rent subsidy, while the renter is forced to live in vulgar conditions because he's too poor to live elsewhere...

Cape Girardeau is the largest city in Missouri without public housing, something some residents are proud of. But others want change. The local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has successfully lobbied the city council to study housing needs for low-income residents and consider authorizing the mayor to appoint a housing authority...

JEFFERSON CITY - Southeast Missouri legislators generally agreed the 1993 session of the Missouri General Assembly was one of the toughest, most intense sessions they have encountered. And while everyone agreed that some good things were accomplished and nearly all major issues addressed in some way, the overall rating of the session broke out on party lines. Democrats suggested this was one of the best ever and Republicans were withholding judgment until legislation is studied more closely...

The Boyd Group of Las Vegas, Nev., has pledged it will make a $37.5 million capital investment in Cape Girardeau if voters approve riverboat gambling in the city next month. The company, which owns and operates four casino and resort hotels in Las Vegas, revealed its proposal for a riverfront development and floating casino at a news conference Friday at Cape Girardeau's Holiday Inn...

Following approval Friday of Missouri's sweeping change to school funding, school officials throughout the state were attempting to decipher the 139 pages of legislation. Few people, it seems, have a clear understanding of all elements of the bill, which would change the way Missouri funds its 538 school districts...

JACKSON -- A veteran deputy with the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department was presented the Timothy J. Ruopp Award Friday by Sheriff Norman Copeland. Sgt. Vince Diebold, who has served with the department for 13 years, was given the award. "I guess it's not so much of a surprise anymore," Copeland said as gave the audience a brief biography of Diebold. "He's already turned around and seen his whole family sitting in the back of the room."...

William R. Spicer of St. Louis has been named the new director of purchasing at Southeast Missouri State University. "We are very pleased to have Mr. Spicer join the Southeast staff," said Kenneth Dobbins, vice president for finance and administration at Southeast. "He brings expertise from several areas, including as purchasing agent for the city of Chicago and as a staff member at the University of Chicago, where he was assigned to the procurement division of Argonne National Laboratory."...

The handwriting is on the wall: "A major tax bill is coming down the pike," U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson predicted Saturday. Missouri's 8th District congressman said there's little Republicans can do, particularly on the House side, to block such legislation. The Republicans hold 176 of the 435 seats in the House...

Riverboat gambling advocates and opponents will face off at a public informational meeting May 25 at 7 p.m. at the Show Me Center. Co-sponsors of the event are News Radio 960-KZIM and the League of Women Voters of Cape Girardeau County, neither of which has taken a position on the issue...

"Where Quality Counts" is the theme for National Medical Transcriptionist Week May 16-22. The local Midwestern River Cities Chapter of American Association for Medical Transcription will hold its annual dinner meeting Thursday. The event begins at 5:15 p.m. in the Executive Room at Holiday Inn. Robert Lefebre will present the program on "Teen Suicide."...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Two faculty members at Egyptian Community Unit School District, each with 33 years of service, will retire at the end of the school year. Kerry Baugher and Charles W. Goforth both started work for Egyptian schools in August 1960. Baugher began his tenure at Tamms Grade School. ...

BENTON -- A no-tobacco use policy at Thomas W. Kelly schools has been extended to include staff and guests as well as students for the upcoming school year. The Board of Education approved the change at its May 11 meeting. The policy prohibits use of tobacco products on school property during the day. Designated areas will be established outside for smokers attending night events like ball games...

Boothe Dugan, a fifth grade student at Charleston, claims he doesn't know a single person who smokes neither a classmate nor an adult. And he likes it that way. Would he ever consider taking a puff? "No ma'am," he replies. "It hurts your lungs and turns your teeth yellow and your fingernails yellow...

For me, one of the more pleasant sounds of spring is that of a hammer driving a nail. It speaks of something new being constructed or something old being repaired, brought back to near original appearance and usefulness. There is something sturdy and fundamental about the sound...

JACKSON -- Warranty deeds issued at the office of Janet Robert, Cape Girardeau County recorder of deeds: Bobby G. and Jane K. Clark to M. Jeffery and Nancy E. McNabb; Thomas L. and Deborrah K. Ramsey to Timothy D. Johnson and Tamera K. Wellin; George G. and Irene G. Hartle to Wade G. Hartle...