Stories from Friday, October 22, 1993

JACKSON -- Woodrow A. Statler, 78, formerly of Jackson, died Wednesday, Oct. 20, 1993, at the Missouri Veterans' Home in Cape Girardeau at the age of 78. He was born July 14, 1915 at Sedgewickville, son of Rudolph and Catherine Bollinger Statler. He married Hazel Bollinger on March 17, 1933. She died on May 12, 1985...

Rummaging around through some old news photographs the other day, I ran across a picture of Saddam Hussein. Boy, did it bring back memories. There was a time when Saddam Hussein let this nation cast off a lot of hostility. His mustachioed likeness found its way onto dart boards, pistol targets and even toilet paper...

FRIDAY, OCT. 22 At 1:16 a.m. Thursday, firefighters responded to the 1000 block of South Sprigg for medical assistance. At 7:01 a.m. Thursday, firefighters responded to 1413 William for a report of a grease fire. At 7:13 a.m. Thursday, firefighters responded to Capaha Park to help remove a vehicle from the lagoon...

KELSO -- A single-engine airplane was forced to make an emergency landing Wednesday afternoon, about two miles south of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport near Kelso. The pilot, whose name was not disclosed by airport officials, was forced to land in an open field at about 1:40 p.m., after his engine died as the result of "icing in his carburetor," an airport spokesman said Wednesday evening...

The city of Cape Girardeau will change the way it oversees construction through a shift aimed at speeding up the process and making it more "customer friendly." We feel this is a positive step, and we applaud City Manager J. Ronald Fischer for taking the issue in hand...

Son to Mr. and Mrs. Russell Yarbro, 1620 William, Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, 5:32 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 6, 1993. Name, Clinton Russell. Weight, 4 pounds 2 ounces. Mrs. Yarbro is the former April Morgan, daughter of Bonnie Umfleet of Cape Girardeau, and the late Clinton Morgan, and stepdaughter of James Wendel of Cape Girardeau. Yarbro is employed at Metco Marine Corp., and is the son of Larry and Donna Yarbro of Cape Girardeau...

CHAFFEE -- Amy Grace McBride, 89, St. James Route 1, died Thursday, Oct. 21, 1993, at her home. She was born Dec. 31, 1903, at Crowder, daughter of Charles Robert and Minnie Louise Hency Mansell. She married Elbert McBride, who died in 1963. McBride worked at Lowenbaum Manufacturing Co. 42 years, retiring in 1964. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Chaffee, and VFW Ladies Auxiliary 3127 here...

JACKSON -- Charles W. "Butch" Neumeyer, 84, of rural Jackson, died Thursday, Oct. 21, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born July 17, 1909, near Tilsit, son of William and Mary Bohnsack Neumeyer. He and Nora Mantz were married Nov. 28, 1937...

Funeral service for Odell H. Ayers, 517 S. Benton, has been changed to noon Sunday at Green Memorial Church of God In Christ at Sikeston. Bishop Charlie Green will officiate, with burial in Fairmount Cemetery. Friends may call at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel from 6-8 p.m. Saturday...

SIKESTON -- Thomas J. Monan, 68, of Sikeston, died Tuesday, Oct. 19, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born May 3, 1925, in Sikeston, son of Thomas H. and Ida May Henson Monan. He and Jeanetta Wray Holland were married May 13, 1950, in Sikeston...

Ruth E. Wilkerson, 93, of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, Oct. 20, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Oct. 16, 1900, in Quincy, Ill., daughter of Frank and Dolly Long Hugh. She and Leslie Wilkerson were married in 1931 in Quincy. He died Aug. 2, 1968...

William Lee O'Howell, 72, of Route 1, Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Oct. 21, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Aug. 4, 1921, at Cape Girardeau, the son of John William and Nancy Ballard O'Howell. On May 20, 1944, he married Mattie D. Young, who survives of the home...

SCOTT CITY -- Carrie Zelma Love, 83, of Scott City, died Thursday, Oct. 21, 1993, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 27, 1909, at Gid, Ark., daughter of Dan and Pearl Hill McCoy. She married Burton Love, Dec. 24, 1926, at Guion, Ark. He died June 14, 1989...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for George Ulis Sullivan of Sikeston will be held at 2 p.m. today at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel here. The Rev. Marvin Butrum will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park. Sullivan, 95, died Wednesday, Oct. 20, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center...

MARBLE HILL -- Marie Chandler, 97, of Marble Hill, died Wednesday, Oct. 20, 1993, at Bond Nursing Care Center. She was born Jan. 24, 1896, in Marble Hill, daughter of Francis M. and Lucy Swift Wells. She and Homer D. Chandler were married April 4, 1921. He died Feb. 8, 1972...

Graveside service for Geraldine M. O'Brien of Cape Girardeau will be held at 1 p.m. today at Lorimier Cemetery. The Rev. S.S. Borum will officiate. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements. There is no visitation. O'Brien, 84, died Thursday, Oct. 21, 1993, at Cape LaCroix...

CHARLESTON -- Inas Presson, 80, of Charleston, died Thursday, Oct. 21, 1993, at Charleston Manor. She was born Oct. 31, 1912, in Mississippi County, daughter of Eldridge and Emma Mehler Shew. She and Rolfe Ray Presson were married Feb. 1, 1952. He died June 2, 1989...

Three hundred fifty-one Cape Girardeau County residents have applied for federal flood disaster assistance, ranking the county 20th statewide in the number of applicants for aid, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said Thursday. FEMA officials said that 199 Cape County applicants were eligible for temporary housing assistance because of the flooding, with 99 percent having received such aid...

BLOOMFIELD -- "This is the Space Shuttle Columbia. We copy you Bloomfield Elementary. Over," were the first words 76 wide-eyed third grade students heard from "the man on the moon" Thursday afternoon. Bloomfield Elementary School was one of 10 schools across the country chosen to participate in the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment during the Space Shuttle Columbia's 13-day mission...

The Missouri Farm Bureau and more than a dozen other state organizations have teamed up to form a "Pro-NAFTA" coalition to promote the benefits of the proposed trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. "We feel that many Missouri farm products are a good fit for Mexico," said Charles Kruse, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau. Kruse was in Cape Girardeau Thursday afternoon...

Over the past two decades, Jim Davis has seen a lot of changes in the treatment of troubled youth. But one thing that hasn't changed is the kids, says Davis, who manages the Missouri Division of Youth Services' Girardot Center for Youth and Families. The center deals with youth, ages 12 through 17...

Southeast Missouri State University's homecoming parade and the annual Veterans Day parade are being combined this year. The parade will be held Nov. 6 in Cape Girardeau. Tom Giles, chairman of the Joint Veterans Council representing the various veterans groups in Cape Girardeau, said it made sense to join with the university's homecoming parade this year...

The Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association has been chosen to receive an Economic Excellence grant from Southwestern Bell Telephone. The grant of $4,718 will be used to assemble and distribute a regional economic profile to be used to market and promote the greater Cape Girardeau area...

JACKSON -- The sound of musket and cannon fire will echo through the hills and fields around Gordonville this weekend as part of Cape Girardeau County's Civil War heritage comes alive once again. On Saturday and Sunday, between 150 to 200 Federal and Confederate reenactors from Wisconsin, Indiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois and Missouri will recreate their living history campsites along the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company's railroad tracks west of Gordonville...

Fifth-grader Ricky Ogles couldn't believe the trek from Alma Schrader Elementary School to Cape Girardeau County Park was only two-and-one-half miles. From his perspective the journey seemed a lot longer. Ogles was among 90 fifth-graders who walked to the park and back Thursday as part of a unit on pioneers. Round trip, the students walked a little over five miles...

They came to Cape Girardeau in a bright yellow van, loaded down with pressure washers for flood victims; they drove a long way to get here. Two Finlay, Ohio, firefighters had been watching the floodwaters rise and fall in the Midwest throughout the summer and decided to mobilize their firefighters union to help flood victims clean up and get on with their lives...

The Internal Revenue Service has revealed a surprising statistic about non-filing Missourians. "More than half of them are entitled to refunds," said Nova Felton of the IRS office at St. Louis. The IRS started a non-filer program in late September 1992. What it amounts to, said Felton, is that if a taxpayer voluntarily files delinquent returns without prior contact by the IRS, criminal tax charges are not pursued...

Pam Vest first became involved in the criminal justice program at Southeast Missouri State University as a preparatory step for admittance to law school. But then Vest met Linda Ferrell at the university, an "advocate" of sorts for the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole office in Cape Girardeau. Vest applied to become a volunteer at the office and has been hooked ever since...

"Exchange Bank: What Happened? Why?" will be explained Monday night at the meeting of the Cape Girardeau Branch of the American Association of University Women. The meeting will be held in the Activity Room of Chateau Girardeau, 3021 Independence, at 7 p.m., and will feature Dr. ...

Live comedy returns to Cape Girardeau Saturday night when Jeff Batts, J. Fred Gemoets and Patrick Keating entertain at the River City Yacht Club in the Port Cape Girardeau Restaurant. Batts, who lives in Benton, Ill., has performed at comedy clubs across the South, including The Punchline in Greenville, S.C., and Cartoon's Comedy in Daytona Beach. In the past year he has shared bills with Jimmy "JJ" Walker and Gallagher...

Dracula may be right at home at the Ford Groves blood drive on Oct. 29. Called "Limo for Life," the blood drive will fit in with the Halloween season: Donors, who request it, will be picked up in a Lincoln Town Car driven by a Dracula-like creature...