Stories from Wednesday, October 6, 1993

To the Editor: I had the wonderful opportunity to help with the flood relief through Tennessee Disaster Relief of the Southern Baptist Convention in July 1993. I saw first hand the powerful strength of water and its devastating effect on the land and its people. However one cannot keep good people down and if there is one thing I am sure of the people of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois will not be defeated...

To the Editor: SEMO professor Peter Gordon, speaking at the recent pro-riverboat rally, noted that the arguments of the opponents continue to focus on four bits of hyperbole -- that a boat will increase crime, increase traffic, take money from the community and maybe vacate the premises within 10 years. ...

Cape Girardeau dedicated its newly-remodeled airport terminal building over the weekend. About 150 people turned out to take a peek at the new facilities. Most came away impressed. We agree. The improved facility and full-service restaurant are good strides in upgrading the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport - breathing new life into sagging commercial boardings and spurring general aviation traffic...

The best thing that can be said thus far for this year's football season at the University of Missouri is that players are learning how to count above 50. President Clinton may be having a tough time in Washington, but if he continues his energetic efforts to promote Hillary's health-care package he could wind up being named Salesman of the Year...

Cape Girardeau voters Tuesday narrowly defeated a scaled back school bond issue that would have built a new middle school and an addition to Jefferson Elementary School through a 51-cent increase in the tax levy. The 3,133-2,790 vote against the measure represented about 30 percent of the city's registered voters...

JACKSON -- Proposition C rollback initiatives passed overwhelmingly in Jackson, Delta and Oak Ridge Tuesday, allowing those school districts to keep a larger share of an estimated $400 million in new state education funding. "In essence, the voters in this district have again answered a call and stepped forward to help its schools," said Wayne Maupin, superintendent of the Jackson School District...

The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents Tuesday approved plans to renovate the Parker Building and add onto a proposed business building. Both moves would provide added space for classrooms and faculty offices. At the regents meeting, held in the Show Me Center, the board voted to hire The Christner Partnership Inc. ...

Two Southeast Missouri senators are among 12 state lawmakers named to a special joint committee that will oversee welfare reform in Missouri. Senate President Pro Tem James Mathewson has appointed Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, and Sen. Jerry Howard, D-Dexter, to serve with six members of the Senate and six House members on the panel...

Classes will dismiss early Thursday at Cape Girardeau public schools; teachers will attend training sessions. Students in secondary schools will be dismissed at 11:20 a.m. and students in elementary schools will be dismissed at noon. No lunch will be served, said Jim Englehart, director of secondary education...

Cape Girardeau public schools rank in the top third of schools nationwide, says a study released by Expansion Management magazine. Cape Girardeau schools earned a score of 117.7, better than 68 percent of all U.S. public school districts, on Expansion Management's third annual Education Quotient (EQ) index...

SCOTT CITY -- The Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority is among 22 economic development organizations in the state to receive an Economic Excellence grant from Southwestern Bell Telephone. The $7,000 grant will be used by the port authority to continue efforts toward its designation as a foreign trade zone by the U.S. Department of Commerce...

SIKESTON -- Lakeshia Daniels Williamson, 25, of New Madrid, died Saturday, Oct. 2, 1993, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 25, 1968, at New Madrid, daughter of Willie James and Josephine Walker Daniels. She was a 1987 graduate of the New Madrid County Central High School...

Iva Roberts, 92, of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, Oct. 5, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center. Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel is in charge of funeral arrangements, which are incomplete at this time.

SCOTT CITY -- Floyd Frank Hale, 66, of Scott City, died Monday, Oct. 4, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 2, 1927, at Commerce, son of James Frank and Leva Ellen Wright Hale. He and Mary Smith were married April 22, 1953...

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 6 At 4:01 p.m. Monday, firefighters responded to 115 West Park Mall for a report of a fire alarm sounding. At 4:36 p.m. Monday, firefighters responded to a mutual-aid call to Scott City. At 5:24 p.m. Monday, firefighters responded to 2104 Nottingham for medical assistance...

ANNA, Ill. -- Two Illinois residents died in a head-on collision one mile north of Anna, on New U.S. Route 51. Luella Pryor, 71, of Ullin, Ill., and Pamela Richards, 37, of Anna, died of injuries in the crash, which occurred at 2:34 p.m. Richards was a passenger in a car driven by John Moreland, 59, of Cobden, Ill., who was also injured in the crash...

Graveside service for Cornelia Gockel of Kent, Wash., will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Fairmount Cemetery, with the Rev. Mary Elise Earley officiating. Gockel, 94, died Wednesday, Sept. 22, 1993, at Valley Medical Center in Renton, Wash. She was formerly of Cape Girardeau...

Lola Clella Pippinger Bretz, 85, formerly of Poplar Bluff, died Tuesday, Oct. 5, 1993, at Cape LaCroix Nursing Center in Cape Girardeau. Funeral services are incomplete at this time, with Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel in charge of arrangments.

Son to Shannon W. Kelso and Jacquelyn D. Wood of Chaffee, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 1:18 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28, 1993. Name, Garrett Austin Wade. Weight, 8 pounds 11 ounces. First child. Miss Wood is the daughter of James Wood and Carol Wood of St. Louis. Kelso is a deckhand with SCF Towing, and is the son of Robert and Pamela Kelso of Chaffee...

CHARLESTON -- Gertrude Asel Bird, 96, formerly of Charleston, died Tuesday, Oct. 5, 1993, at the Sikeston Convalescent Center. She was born Jan. 1, 1897, at Logansport, Ind., daughter of George Gotlieb and Louise Caroline Kruse Asel. She married Donnell Bird, Sept. 29, 1920. He died April 18, 1986...

Some of the points stressed by the five finalists for a super-maximum security prison during their meetings with Corrections Department officials: -- Alexander County: Two years free water and sewage, motel discount rates for department staffers; $1 million loan pool for home purchases; labor agreement not to strike during construction; close to Shawnee Correctional Center...

In these times of rush-rush, looming deadlines that near with every breathing second and bosses who drive workers like cattle, it's sometimes hard to treat your body right. Zipping through the McDonald's for a cheeseburger and fries during the lunch hour after depositing the paycheck, picking up the dry cleaning, stopping by the school to drop off junior's gym clothes and picking up a bag of cat food for Whiskers who was "forced" to eat a can of tuna for breakfast because someone emptied the bag and didn't tell mom, makes for bad nutrition and can lead to poor health.. ...

JACKSON -- Three women who work diligently side by side in the Cape Girardeau County Prosecutor's office have very different tastes when it comes to lunch. Beth Friedrich, who calls the town of Perkins home, finds it impossible to go home over the lunch hour, so she enjoys eating at a local restaurant, just a block or so from the courthouse...

If one wants spring flowering bulbs to bloom in pots in the dull days of winter, October is the time to plant them. Hyacinths, crocus, tulip and daffodils are some flowering spring bulbs that may successfully be forced indoors. One of the keys to successfully forcing bulbs is to buy only the best. It is important to choose varieties that are recommended for forcing...