Stories from Thursday, August 19, 1993

Economic development opportunities, while hardly plentiful in the current climate of fiscal uncertainty and escalating taxes, are out there for communities. In order to take advantage of these opportunities, communities must have a good product to sell and a workable way of selling it. Having a systematic means for alerting commercial ventures to the virtues of your community is critical. We believe Cape Girardeau and the surrounding area are well-positioned in this regard...

Among the issues in Congress that will gain momentum this fall is reforming the governmental institution itself. For the last eight months, the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress (JCOC), on which I serve, has heard over 100 hours of testimony about how to effectively improve our nation's highest legislative body. Now, it is our job to put pen to paper and translate those ideas into real recommendations for the whole Congress to consider...

The Mississippi Valley Home Educators will provide gym classes for children every Thursday from 1-2 p.m., beginning Aug. 26. On the second Thursday of each month, the organization will meet from 1-3 p.m. Meetings and classes will be held at the Cape Bible Chapel, Mt. Auburn and Kage Road in Cape Girardeau...

JACKSON - The increase in Cape Girardeau County's sales tax receipts over last year is continuing to rise, but County Auditor H. Weldon Macke believes the true test will come in the next few months when the impact of the extended flooding could be felt...

The Area Wide United Way has a new facility and the Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts is looking for a new home. Both agencies had been renting space at the Boatmen's Bank facility at 100 Broadway. But Jeanne Goodman, vice president of marketing for Boatmen's Bank, said the bank needs additional storage space...

JACKSON - Jackson's new public works director should be on the job by Jan. 1, says Mayor Paul Sander. It will mark the first time the city has employed a separate public works director. Sander said a number of applications have already been received from the area as a result recent advertisements...

Federal buyouts of flood damaged homes in Cape Girardeau may be unlikely, State Rep. Mary Kasten said Wednesday. "It's so complex, I don't think it's worthwhile," the Cape Girardeau Republican said as she toured flooded areas of the city. The state representative said she had spoken previously with a number of residents of the Red Star area scene of some of the city's worst flooding who have expressed interest in the government buying their damaged homes...

City and county officials are trying to decipher how the Federal Emergency Management Agency will credit local governments for volunteer flood-protection efforts. FEMA officials told local officials Aug. 10 that public disaster assistance would include a federal reimbursement of $6 an hour for volunteer labor and equipment...

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. -- When Robin and Bryan Clutts and their three sons voluntarily evacuated their Gorham, Ill., mobile home to escape the rising floodwaters last month, they faced a quandary. Eleven-year-old Jacob is asthmatic, and they feared exposing him to the environment of one of the Red Cross shelters. "So we took all the money we had and rented a place," Robin says...

A 50-foot crack developed in the Fayville-Miller City agricultural levee near Olive Branch Wednesday. Corps of Engineers officials hoped to stop the leak with additional rock today. "We filled the crack with sandbags, and the Corps said we would have six barges of rock at the site Thursday morning," said Louis Maze, an Alexander County commissioner who has been keeping watch on the levee...

JACKSON -- City officials in Jackson expressed surprise and dismay this week over a report that the Jackson landfill may be closed in October by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources because it does not comply with new federal landfill regulations...

Son to Mr. and Mrs. Randy Modglin of Scott City, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:35 a.m. Tuesday, July 27, 1993. Name, William Justin. Weight, 9 pounds 15 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Modglin is the former Cindy Welter, daughter of Gary Welter and Janet Welter of Kelso. She is employed at Mercantile Bank. Modglin is employed by Industrial Systems, and is the son of Bill Modglin and Sheila Modglin of Scott City...

OAK RIDGE -- Myrtle Dessie King, 86, of Oak Ridge, died Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1993, at Deal Nursing Home in Jackson. She was born Oct. 6, 1906, at Sedgewickville, daughter of Francis and Melvine Crites Hahs. She and Elmer King were married June 22, 1940, at Benton. He died May 12, 1984...

ANNA, Ill. -- Robert Butts, 71, of Anna, died Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1993, at Jackson County Nursing Home in Murphysboro. He was born Jan. 11, 1922, in Marion, son of Elmer and Myrtle Gershbacher Butts. He and Violet Miller Foreman were married June 15, 1968...

PERRYVILLE -- Ida Mary Schrenk, 97, of Perryville, died Tuesday, Aug. 17, 1993, at American Care Center. She was born May 2, 1896, in Perry County, daughter of Barney and Julia Kirn. She and William N. Schrenk were married Jan. 31, 1928, at Perryville. He died in May 1963...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Seth D. Griffith, 77, of Cairo, died Tuesday, Aug. 17, 1993, at Massac Memorial Hospital in Metropolis. He was born Sept. 8, 1915, son of Harry and Essie Osborne Griffith. Griffith was retired from the former Karcher Brothers Funeral Home here. He attended Word of Life Tabernacle in Metropolis...

Isabel Burford, 90, of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, Aug. 17, 1993, at LaCroix Manor. She was born April 21, 1903, at Charleston, daughter of Elbert and Josephine Albertine Shelby. She and John A. Burford were married in 1930 in Cape Girardeau. He died in 1946...

Harlan Mueller, 74, of 515 Cordelia, died Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of funeral arrangements, which are incomplete at this time.