Stories from Wednesday, July 14, 1993

When Cape Girardeau County was added to the list of Missouri counties declared federal disaster areas Tuesday, residents who have suffered flood damage became eligible for federal assistance. "The key was getting the proclamation signed by President Clinton," said Mark Winkler, a Southeast Missouri representative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). "Once the five northeastern counties of Missouri were declared disaster areas, the state could tack on as many counties as necessary."...

On one side of an earthen levee, a sea of unwanted water covers hundreds of acres of farmland; on the other side, machines pump water into the furrows of a field, providing much-needed moisture to a corn crop. "This is a typical scene in southern Cape Girardeau County and northern Scott County," said Terry Birk of the Cape County Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service office at Jackson...

The end result of severe flooding along the Mississippi River will be that people around the country "will have an enhanced understanding of the importance of the river," 8th District U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson said Tuesday. "This flood, as tragic as it is, will have its benefits: there will be a much fuller national appreciation of what rivers and tributaries mean to this country," said Emerson...

City and county officials say Cape Girardeau's water supply remains safe, despite the fact that the flood has greatly increased the amount of raw sewage being dumped into the Mississippi River. Like many other cities up and down the river, Cape Girardeau currently is pumping raw sewage into the river because its sewage disposal plant is being bypassed. ...

The National Guard has been called out to assist the beleaguered town of Commerce as the surging Mississippi River on Tuesday threatened to cut off the lone remaining road into the Scott County community. A security contingent of eight guardsmen was being deployed to Commerce to help prevent looting, said Glenn Greene, Scott County's emergency management director...

SHARON HOUAR Occupation: Resource forester, Missouri Department of Conservation. Pet Peeve: "People who let someone else do their thinking." The best part of my job is: "Helping people understand forests and trees." The book I'd recommend is: "Arctic Dreams," by Barry Lopez...

Ralph Ford spent much of his professional career encouraging young people to work, on math problems or career solutions. A long-time educator and Republican party leader, Ford set an example. He was not afraid to work himself for the causes he believed in...

No immediate relief is in sight from the heat wave that has pushed temperatures into the mid- to upper-90s each of the past 16 days. There is a chance of scattered thunderstorms today in Southeast Missouri; but where no rain occurs highs will again be in the low- to mid-90s...

SCOTT CITY -- William Lawrence O'Brien, 87, of Scott City, died Tuesday, July 13, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center. The Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City is in charge of funeral arrangements, which are incomplete at this time.

PERRYVILLE -- Charles J. Mansfield, 66, of Perryville, died Tuesday, July 13, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Jan. 29, 1927, in Ripley, Tenn., son of Merle and Sadie Collins Mansfield. He and Elaine Motts were married Aug. 17, 1948...

Funeral service for Ralph L. Ford, 3124 Kage Road, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Westminster Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Miles White will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park. Friends may call at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel from 4-8 p.m. today...

FREDERICKTOWN -- Floyd Edgar Heady Jr., 64, of Granite City, Ill., died Sunday, July 11, 1993, at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Granite City. He was born Aug. 8, 1928, in St. Louis, son of Floyd E. and Lillian Inez Taff Sr. Heady was a supervisor with Chemtco...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Charles Edward Griffith, 63, of Cairo, died Monday, July 12, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Nov. 13, 1929, in Wickliffe, Ky., son of Joseph and Zula Mae Whitis Griffith. Griffith was a security guard at Bunge Grain, and was a former police officer in Cairo. He was a member of First Presbyterian Church, Cairo Masonic Lodge, KIM Shrine Club, Ainad Shrine Temple, and Cairo VFW Post 2649. He was a veteran of the Korean War...

ANNA, Ill. -- Dorothy M. Dexter, 78, of Anna, died Monday, July 12, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 3, 1914, in Flint, Mich., daughter of Jesse E. and Doretha Anderson McLeod. She and Roy B. "Brownie" Dexter were married Feb. 14, 1934. He died Dec. 10, 1987...

Ellen M. Fischer, 82, of 1215 N. Main, died at 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, July 13, 1993, at the Lutheran Home. Arrangements were incomplete at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel.

A memorial service will be held Friday for Fred Eric Saalfeld Jr., 32, of Springfield, Va., who died March 4, 1993 at home. The service will begin at 2 p.m. at Memorial Park Cemetery with the Rev. Ed Brasington officiating. He was born June 10, 1960 in Ames, Iowa to Fred and Mary Liz Renner Saalfeld. He grew up in Springfield, Va. and attended Longwood College...

People who do not have flood insurance may still receive limited assistance through other types of policies, according to the Missouri Department of Insurance. For instance, vehicles which are insured for comprehensive covered are covered by private passenger and commercial auto policies is they sustain water damage...

About 20 Coast Guardsmen have been deployed to Cape Girardeau, the Coast Guard announced Tuesday. They are working in two eight-person teams. Each team is outfitted with three 16-foot vessels called "flood punts." These vessels are conducting river patrols in the flood zone, paying particular attention to populated areas, waterfront facilities and barge moorings...

Cape Girardeau has finally resolved a long-standing legal impasse with the hiring of a special municipal court judge. Cape Girardeau attorney Paul V. Gilbert will handle disqualification cases on a part-time basis. His first docket has been scheduled Aug. 9...

To the Editor: We are reading so much about the rampaging Mississippi and the towns being flooded along it. However, nothing has been said about the town of McClure and also East Cape Girardeau. We read the predicted crest at 47 feet on the Cape gauge and that is for next Friday. This is two feet higher than it has ever been...

To the Editor: The Baha'is of Southeast Missouri would like to make the people of this area aware of the continuing denial of fundamental human rights to the Baha'is of Iran. Repression and persecution for reasons of religious difference alone continue to be the official policy of the Iranian government...

To the Editor: This letter concerns an accident I was involved in on May 9, 1992. There have been many things written about me in the newspapers that were not true. For over a year, I have told the reporters the same thing over and over ... the truth. There was no alcohol served at my class reunion, and I did not drink any alcohol at the reunion, but they printed their lies anyway. I guess it made a more interesting story that way...

JACKSON -- The Jackson School District plans to join 49 other school districts in Southeast Missouri this fall to seek voter approval of a waiver of the property tax rollback. In Jackson, passage would allow the district to retain $170,000 in local tax money...

The Democratic chairman of the state's 156th Legislative District has filed a complaint against Republican Bill Foster for failing to use a disclaimer on some campaign materials. The chairman, Jerry Martin, recently filed the complaint with the Missouri Ethics Commission, which is responsible for overseeing the state's campaign finance disclosure law. ...