Stories from Wednesday, August 18, 1993

JACKSON -- An 11-year-old rural Jackson boy acted quickly when his grandfather was involved in a farm accident early Monday. In fact, nurses at St. Francis Medical Center say the boy may have saved his grandfather's life. At about 9:15 a.m. Monday, Brandon Wendel was helping his 74-year-old grandfather Jacob Wendel park a farm implement rigged to a tractor under a low overhang on the family farm near Oak Ridge...

Bettie Knoll made the rounds through flood-damaged areas of Cape Girardeau Tuesday, handing out everything from a "hello" to flood cleanup information. A special officer with the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Knoll has become a familiar sight to flood-weary residents...

A proposal to place before Cape Girardeau voters a $25 million bond issue for sewer improvements would be the first opportunity for the city to address a perennial problem with combined sanitary and storm sewers. The Cape Girardeau City Council heard the bond proposal for the first time Monday, but took no action to place the issue on an election ballot...

CAIRO, Ill. -- There is no popular way to raise taxes and reduce the federal budget, but Illinois Sens. Paul Simon and Carol Moseley-Braun support President Bill Clinton's plan. "We've been operating on a credit card," said Simon. "We have to reverse this situation."...

BENTON -- Construction of a new gymnasium at Thomas Kelly Schools in Benton is on schedule, said Superintendent Michael Johnson. The gym is set to be completed by Dec. 1. Bids on the school's heating and air conditioning improvements are scheduled to be opened tonight. The contractor should be able to start work on that project immediately, Johnson said...

The Corps of Engineers has awarded a $1 million contract to Shappert Engineering Co. of Rockford, Ill., for the first phase of channel improvements on Walker Branch. The work is part of the Cape LaCroix-Walker Branch flood control project. "As recent weeks have proven, flood control is very important for our area," U.S. ...

DUTCHTOWN -- Highway 25 at Dutchtown was reopened by the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department Tuesday afternoon. The highway had been closed since July 16 due to flooding. The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department was notified that the highway had been reopened at 3:50 p.m. Tuesday...

JACKSON -- One of every 12 children under the age of 13 care for themselves before or after school while parents work. "These statistics were revealed from a nearby state's survey during the 1992-93 school year," said human development specialist Mary Gosche. "The poll was conducted with parents whose children ranged in age from 5 through 13...

Harold L. Woods, 75, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, Aug. 15, 1993, at Missouri Veteran's Home. He was born Feb. 13, 1918, at Portland, Ark., son of John L. and Willie Howell Woods. On Dec. 22, 1950, he married Bruce Ellen O'Quinn. He was a member of Centenary United Methodist Church, where he was a Sunday School teacher and member of the administrative board. He also was a member of Boy Scouts, Kiwanis Club, Phi Delta Kappa honorary fraternity, and Parent-Teachers Organization in Tyler, Texas...

JACKSON -- Henry Frank Pulliam, 75, of Long Island, N.Y., died Monday, Aug. 16, 1993, at his residence. He was born Nov. 1, 1917, son of John Calvin and Fronia Eveline Looney Pulliam. He married Grace Brown. Survivors include his wife; two sons, Bobby Pulliam and Tom Pulliam, both of the state of California; a daughter, Francis Pulliam of the state of New York; three brothers, Arnold Pulliam of Jackson, Virgil Pulliam of the state of Oklahoma, Raymond Pulliam of Cape Girardeau; three sisters, Jannie Marie Huckstep of Cape Girardeau, Mildred Lucille Fann of Poplar Bluff, Glenda Caroline Cotner or St. ...

Son to Christopher Sanders and Dawn Dohogne, Scott City Route 1, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 5:40 p.m. Monday, Aug. 9, 1993. Name, Christopher Anthony. Weight, 8 pounds 12 ounces. First child. Miss Dohogne is the daughter of Tina Glastetter and Charles Dohogne of Scott City. Sanders is employed by Renfroe Heating and Air Conditioning, and is the son of Bruce and Nancy Sanders of Scott City...

SIKESTON -- Goldman Arthur Ditto, 74, Sikeston Route 1, died Tuesday, Aug. 17, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born Nov. 7, 1918, in Bald Knob, Ark., son of John Everett and Birdie Carter Ditto. Formerly of East Prairie, he was a retired farmer...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Phillip L. Dodd Jr., 29, of Olive Branch, died Monday, Aug. 16, 1993, at Union County Hospital from injuries received in an automobile accident. He was born March 8, 1964, in Cairo, son of Phillip Lee and Frances Doublin Dodd Sr...

CHARLESTON -- Luella Rigney, 83, of Charleston, died Saturday, Aug. 14, 1993, at Charleston Manor. She was born Nov. 20, 1909, in Blytheville, Ark., daughter of Dennis and Ivory Newhouse Neal. Rigney was a member of Ollie Grove Baptist Church Survivors include two sons, Samuel and Charlie Riggens of Charleston; four daughters, Ivory Kent of Wilson City, Mary Riggens of Charleston, Rosie Johnson of Mounds, Ill., Mable Horton of Haynes City, Fla.; a brother, Dave Neal of Wilson City; a sister, Geneva Hampton of Wilson City; numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.. ...

SIKESTON -- Lindsey Eugene Ozment, 51, of Sikeston, died Tuesday, Aug. 17, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 3, 1942, at Kewanee, son of Donald Ray and Genevieve Trousdale Ozment. He and Mary Lou Lincoln were married Nov. 27, 1965, at Morley...

While pondering the strange turns our language takes via foreign translations, I continue to wonder at the changes we and our countrymen produce. We writers and speakers are forever rearranging attention-getting bits and pieces to suit our needs and fancies...

Southeast Missouri State University will offer a slate of off-campus courses this fall as part of its ongoing University Studies Program in Sikeston. The courses, to begin the week of Aug. 30, will run for 13 to 14 weeks, meeting one night a week from 6 to 9:15 p.m. ...

With family breakdowns and economic realities, it's hard for many teen-agers to achieve career goals, especially if they don't have the financial wherewithal for advanced training or college degrees. But some of these motivated teen-agers may be getting a boost to their job goals through a new privately funded self-help program in Cape Girardeau. ...