Stories from Monday, August 23, 1993

JACKSON -- Twelve-year-old Chad Birk loves to swim, play Nintendo and is "kind of" looking forward to going back to school, this year in the seventh grade at R.O. Hawkins Jr. High School. Another thing Chad has to look forward to is the third phase of a revolutionary treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, with which he was diagnosed in February 1988...

For the first time since it was closed in early July, the Mississippi River was opened Sunday afternoon for limited commercial use between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill., but on a highly restricted basis. U.S. Coast Guard officials in St. Louis and Paducah, Ky., reopened the river after running five groups of barges four downstream and one upstream to test the waters of the still swollen river...

When Col. James Meanor, then district engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis office, dedicated the floodwall in October 1964, a controversy that had dogged Cape Girardeau for 20 years finally was settled. In question was the best way to protect downtown Cape Girardeau from the increasingly frequent Mississippi River floods. ...

With the filing period opening in less than two months, at least two members of the Cape Girardeau City Council are weighing the prospect of running for mayor next spring. The election of mayor and three new aldermen isn't until April, but the filing period for candidates opens in November...

Forging ties between education and the business community is the focus of a daylong summit scheduled for Sept. 17 at the Show Me Center. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy has been invited to make the keynote address at the summit, but as of Friday no confirmation had been received...

The Southeast Missourian asked young people how they felt about going back to school? Jerod Talley, 12, of Cape Girardeau, "I don't feel real happy about it. It's been a real short summer. I feel pretty happy because I'm going to a new school, Schultz. I've been in my last school since kindergarten. I had alot of friends in sixth grade, so I'm not worried about making new friends."...

In the wake of floods that devastated entire communities and destroyed millions of acres of crops, Missouri and its 5.1 million citizens face a daunting challenge of recovery as well as an opportunity to take a closer look at our future. Without in the least minimizing the job of restoring homes, farms and businesses to their former condition, the task of restructuring Missouri is far more difficult, and in the long range, far more important...

Once again the Salvation Army is calling for volunteers to help those who have been victimized by the Mississippi River flood. With floodwaters finally receding, volunteers are now needed to help clean up homes and other damaged property. We are confident the response to the call for cleanup volunteers will be as extraordinary as were responses to the many calls for sandbaggers during the height of the long flood fight...

To the Editor: In light of the recent murder of Shakelia Johnson, I am saddened at the lack of response shown to the recent proposal of Councilman Doug Richards to find solutions to the problem of crime in this neighborhood. Some have gone so far as to label the proposal as racist...

Dear Editor: Your editorial of Aug. 15th regarding my complaint to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) obscured the fact that the FEC did determine that federal election laws were violated in connection with the 1988 visit of President Ronald Reagan to the Southeast Missouri State University campus. ...

ANNA, Ill. -- Fredrick "Ted" Turner, 58, of Anna died Aug. 22, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Sept. 1, 1935, at Cobden, Ill., the son of Charles Everett and Cecile Allene (Kerr) Turner. He married Darlene Arnold on June 30, 1978. She survives...

Son to Mr. and Mrs. Larry Buckles Jr. of Villa Ridge, Ill., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 2:54 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1993. Name, Arthur Stephen. Weight, 5 pounds 15 ounces. Third child, second son. Mrs. Buckles is the former Colleen Ervin, daughter of Arthur and Wanda Ervin of Villa Ridge. She is employed at Century High School. Buckles is employed by Pulaski County Sheriff's Department, and is the son of Larry and Phyllis Buckles of Mounds, Ill...

BERTRAND -- Cecil Elizabeth Parker, 86, formerly of Wyatt, died Aug. 21, 1993, at the Bertrand Retirement Facility. She was born Jan. 24, 1907, in Mississippi County to the late Gus Adolph and Slice Hines Henry. She had lived in Mississippi County her entire life...

Alfred D. Davis, 69, of Flippin, Ark., died Sunday, Aug. 22, 1993, at the Baxter County Regional Hospital in Mountain Home, Ark. He was born Feb. 23, 1924, at Canalous, Mo., son of Homer and Grace Vandererifft Davis. He married Mary R. Followell, Jan. 3, 1948. She died Dec. 15, 1989...

PERRYVILLE -- Helen Marie (Statler) Moynihan, a former resident of Perryville, died Aug. 22, 1993, at Clarksville Memorial Hospital in Clarksville, Tenn. She was 80. She was a housewife. She was born April 10, 1913, in Sedgewickville, to Issac L. and Ida Jane Statler, both of whom preceded her in death...

PERRYVILLE -- Stanley A. White, 67, of Perryville died Aug. 21, 1993, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. He was a retired former. He was born April 15, 1926, in Perry County to Elza John and Mary Hendrix White, both of whom preceded him in death. On Nov. 15, 1946, he married Marie A. Blaylock. She survives...

Joyce Brown Bowen, 56, of 332 N. Louisiana, died Sunday, Aug. 22, 1993, at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. She was born Feb. 11, 1937, at Cape Girardeau, daughter of Elwood and Rubye Spencer Brown. She married John Bowen, Dec. 31, 1958. Bowen was an secretary and office manager at the First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau...

ANNA, Ill. -- When Illinois Governor Jim Edgar signed legislation approving funding for the construction of the state's newest super-maximum security prison last week, people in Union County were paying attention. The Union County Economic Development Corporation a coalition of Union, Alexander, Johnson and Pulaski counties is vying for rights to serve as the site for the new prison with several other Illinois cities...

The "Fabulous Forties" will be recreated in Cape Girardeau when the Southeast Missouri Hospital Foundation hosts its annual Southeast Showcase in November. The event, to be held at the Show Me Center on Southeast Missouri State University campus Nov. 11 will include special recognition of area veterans, and a swinging salute to the boogie-woogie music of the 1940s...

Until recently, the gaming industry, referred to by many as a "sin industry," has been limited to a handful of major places in the United States Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe, all in Nevada, and Atlantic-City, N.J. Now the industry is on the threshold of unprecedented growth...

Farmers markets are something special. There are two in Cape Girardeau and more than 65 officially recognized in Missouri. Unofficially, there are many more when you count all the roadside stands and truck tailgates in Missouri towns where surplus produce from family gardens is sold...

JACKSON -- Dr. Edward Anderson has joined the Jackson Podiatric Medical Center, 502-B W. Main. Anderson, a native of Warsaw, Ind., is a graduate of Taylor University at Upland, Ind., with a bachelor of arts degree in biology. He graduated from Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery in 1989...

The Southeast Missourian newspaper will be delivered in Southern Illinois on the same day of publication through a new "Same Day Mail" promotion being offered in Southern Illinois zip code 629 through the U.S. Postal Service. "This is a great opportunity for customers in the 629 zip code of Southern Illinois," said Mike Sturm, Southeast Missourian circulation director. "People there will be receiving the news on time as it happens."...

Associated Industries of Missouri will discuss the Family and Medical Leave Act that went into effect this month. The landmark legislation, which allows up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to employees of companies with 50 or more workers, is being administered by the U.S. Department of Labor...