Stories from Wednesday, June 2, 1993

POPLAR BLUFF -- Geraldine "Gerry" M. Pittman, 68, of Poplar Bluff, a former resident of Cape Girardeau, died June 1, 1993, at the Methodist Central Hospital in Memphis. She was born Sept. 11, 1924, in Jackson, and formerly lived in Cape Girardeau. She had lived most of her life in Poplar Bluff...

To the Editor: On June 8, the voters of Cape Girardeau will have the opportunity to vote on an issue that will bring great economic benefits to our community by voting on the gambling issue. It was not a typographical error when I said on and not for. I believe in the law of reciprocity which, in Christian terms, simply means that when you give to God he takes those gifts and multiplies them back to you...

METROPOLIS, Ill. -- Superman is back. Or is he? "The people at Metropolis are not too happy about what they're seeing in the comics," says Dan Milam. "We prefer the old Superman. Some people here are not even acknowledging the other guys." "The other guys" are four Superman contenders who have shown up in four recent issues of D.C. Comics, including the No. 500 issue of "The Adventures of Superman."...

Vicki McLemore will be guest speaker during the monthly meeting of the City of Roses Chapter of the American Business Women's Association, to be held Thursday. The meeting will be held at Drury Lodge, starting at 6 p.m. McLemore will discuss "Precious Moments."...

Union Electric linemen and emergency personnel worked for more than an hour to repair a break in a natural gas main in the 1400 block of Broadway Tuesday night. A jogger passing by Capaha Park first noticed the smell of natural gas and the hiss of the broken pipe, which was three feet underground. He alerted police at about 6 p.m., who in turn called the gas company...

The American Red Cross and the Jackson Outreach Service of Southeast Missouri Hospital will hold a special needs blood drive Thursday from 2-6 p.m. at the outreach office, 2106 Highway 61 East. Coordinators hope to draw donors of types O-negative and O-positive blood, but all donations are welcome...

The Southeast Missouri State University art department will offer three workshops this summer. The Age of Napoleon is a two-hour undergraduate or graduate workshop in art history. The workshop provides a historical background on the art, customs and trends in Europe during the time of Napoleon. The course will be held June 15-18 and 22-24...

Every year, thousands of dollars in child support go unpaid, leaving the children of broken marriages without money courts have ordered that they receive. But a bill signed by Gov. Mel Carnahan last week gives the courts a "bigger gun" to point at non-custodial parents who refuse to pay child support...

Morley Swingle is prosecuting attorney of Cape Girardeau County. As a prosecutor in Cape Girardeau County during the past decade, I have had very little experience with gambling or prostitution cases. Our clean college town with four percent unemployment has not given its prosecutor any reason to become an expert in the areas of gambling, prostitution, public corruption and organized crime. Not yet, anyway...

Southeast Missouri State University earns high marks for its fall class of National Merit scholars. The university has been making a concerted effort the past two years to recruit academically talented students. That work has paid off. This fall the university will welcome 38 merit scholars from 14 states. ...

Tonight marks the opening of the 67th season of Cape Girardeau's Municipal Band. Talented local musicians will fill Capaha Park with wondrous sounds for 11 weeks this summer. The summer season is like an old friend - familiar and yet still very engaging. Each year we are delighted by the bounty of local talent on display - both by the "regulars" and weekly guests. The performances provide family entertainment at a price everyone can afford. They're free...

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Dale Gilliland of Searcy, Ark., White County Hospital there, 3:08 p.m. Thursday, April 29, 1993. Name, Alissa Dianne. Weight, 8 pounds. First child. Mrs. Gilliland is the former Lesa Duffey, daughter of Ray and Marilyn Duffey of Cape Girardeau. Gilliland is the son of Lawrence and Kay Gilliland of Cape Girardeau...

Robert L. Beard Sr., 71, former basketball and football coach at Central High School, died Sunday, May 30, 1993, at Clayton House Health Care in St. Louis. He was born May 26, 1922, in Cape Girardeau, son of William and Mary Mildred Rector Beard. Beard was a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University...

CHAFFEE -- Alvena Gertrude Pfefferkorn, 85, of Chaffee, died Tuesday, June 1, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Feb. 6, 1908, at Chaffee, daughter of Michael Henry and Gertrude Blocker Witt. Pfefferkorn worked 30 years at Thorngate Ltd., formerly Buckstein Pants Factory. She retired in 1972 as a final examiner. She was a member of First Baptist Church...

ZALMA -- Sylvia Caroline Beyatte, 71, of Zalma, died Monday, May 31, 1993, at Wentzville. She was born March 28, 1922, at Kennett, daughter of Wesley and Annie Laden Goforth. She and Carel L. Beyatte were married Nov. 22, 1939, in St. Louis. He died Dec. 17, 1991...

CHARLESTON -- Funeral service for Ardell Straughter of Charleston will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Mercy Seat Missionary Baptist Church. The Rev. J.L. Posey will officiate, with burial in Oak Grove Cemetery. Friends may call at Sparks Funeral Home from 7-8 p.m. Friday...

MARBLE HILL -- Clifton H. Gilmore, 83, of Marble Hill, died Monday, May 31, 1993, at his home. He was born Nov. 25, 1909, at Anniston, son of Cave J. and Minnie Carter Gilmore. He and Alice Barbee were married Jan. 30, 1928. Gilmore was retired from Strickland Freight Co. He was a member of United Methodist Church at Anniston, Teamsters Local 600, and VFW Post 2365 at Jennings. He attended Hickory Grove Baptist Church at Clubb...

Funeral service for Esther Anita James, Cape Girardeau Route 2, will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Karl Leeman will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park. Friends may call at the funeral home after 3 p.m. today...

ORAN -- Lillie Mae Pugh, 79, of St. Louis, died Saturday, May 29, 1993, at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. She was born Nov. 14, 1913, in Newport, Ark., daughter of Rance Sullivan and Minnie Irene Martin Duke. She married C. LeLeon Pugh Dec. 27, 1931. He died Nov. 3, 1973...

Graveside service for Suzanne Wilson of San Diego, Calif., will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Park. The Rev. Jesse Perry will officiate. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements. There is no visitation. Wilson, 51, died Tuesday, May 25, 1993, at Sharp Cabrillo Hospital in San Diego...

JACKSON -- Geraldine M. "Gerry" Pittman, 68, of Poplar Bluff, died Tuesday, June 1, 1993, at Methodist Central Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. She was born Sept. 11, 1924, at Jackson, and was formerly of Cape Girardeau. She married M.R. Pittman May 11, 1947, in Piggott, Ark...

PERRYVILLE -- Funeral Mass for Luella F. Bohnert will be celebrated at 10 a.m. today at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Apple Creek. Bohnert, 72, of Perryville, died Sunday, May, 30, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was the daughter of Hugo A. and Josephine Cecilia Meyer Trapp...

LEMON GROVE, Calif. Lenore D. Stiver, 75, of Lemon Grove, Calif., formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Monday, May 31, 1993, at her residence. She was born Sept. 21, 1917, at Chicago, Ill., daughter of Edward and Marvel Hubbell Dunning. Stiver lived in Cape Girardeau from 1949 to 1964, where she was active in civic affairs...

MARBLE HILL -- Cletus "Pete" Burchett, 69, of Marble Hill, died Tuesday, June 1, 1993, at Advance Nursing and Residential Care Center. He was born April 16, 1924, in Bollinger County, son of Charlie and Ella Arnold Burchett. He and Margaret Gould were married May 2, 1942. She died May 7, 1992...

For the first time since early April, the Mississippi River here is below flood stage. But water woes inside the East Cape Girardeau, Ill.-Clear Creek Levee District are expected to continue for at least another week or two. One-way traffic will remain in effect over part of water-covered Illinois Route 3 between the Route 146 junction and Gale for another seven to 10 days, an Illinois highway official said Tuesday...

JACKSON - With another report expected to be on file later today, the Boyd Group has spent $16,472.46 to promote the June 8 vote in Cape Girardeau on whether to allow riverboat gambling. The Boyd Group, which has four casino operations in Las Vegas, has expressed a strong interest in locating a riverboat in Cape Girardeau if citizens approve riverboat gambling. They are providing all of the funding so far for the campaign in favor of the issue...

ALTON, Ill. -- This blue collar city of 34,200 was in financial trouble when the Illinois gambling law took effect early in 1990. The riverboat that has been moored only about 200 yards from City Hall since September 1991 was approved by the Board of Aldermen. If Illinois had required a local option, the boat never would have survived an election in this conservative community, says new Mayor Bob Towse...

ALTON, Ill. "Company's Coming" was the slogan Alton adopted before the Alton Belle Casino began accepting customers in September 1991. At 1:30 on a Tuesday afternoon 20 months later, Betty Nairn's From the Heart Restaurant on West Third Street is occupied by two customers, three high school student employees and herself. The restaurant's homey atmosphere is less than two blocks from the riverboat that attracted 63,000 people in April...

A gaming company's proposal to build a $15 million facility in downtown Cape Girardeau would increase revenues of the Downtown Special Business District by more than 400 percent, according to a report submitted to members of the city council. The report from the Downtown Special Business District Advisory Commission estimates additional annual tax revenues to the district of $38,400. The district's annual revenues currently are $12,500...

ALTON, Ill. -- Opponents charge that the restrictions government imposes on gambling often become as loose as a loser's collar as time goes by. Recent developments on the other side of the Mississippi River follow that assertion, though movement is under way in the legislature to give port cities more control over the operations...

In a modern, Midwestern equivalent to a gold rush, businesses and individuals are clamoring to capitalize on the possibility of riverboat gambling in Cape Girardeau. Voters here next week will consider whether to approve riverboat casinos in the city...

Amy Elizabeth O'Kelly, a student at the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School, has been recognized by the state of Missouri as an outstanding nontraditional student. O'Kelly received honorable mention in the 1992-93 Missouri Breaking Tradition Award Contest, which recognizes outstanding nontraditional students across the state...