Stories from Thursday, October 28, 1993

SIKESTON -- Erma Harris Reeves, 60, of DeKalb, Ill., died Tuesday, Oct. 26, 1993, at the St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Ill. She was born Aug. 29, 1933, at Blodgett, Mo., daughter of Lowell Harris and Ruby Galemore Harris Gibbs. She married Lyndle R. Reeves, April 4, 1953...

To the Editor: It is true that riverboat gambling would bring in more money to Cape and some of its greedy merchants. But for that quick buck, they do not recognize what will certainly happen to them -- and Cape in the near future as it did to Atlantic City over the years...

Wilbur Colyer of Cape Girardeau won a $1,000 shopping spree from the QVC home shopping network, seen locally on TCI Cablevision of Missouri. He became a winner last month by matching part of his QVC membership number in the QVC shopping spree sweepstakes...

The SEMO chapter of American Association of Critical Care Nurses will host a mini-seminar on renal hemodynamics and acute renal failure in critically ill patients today from 6-9 p.m. at Southeast Missouri Hospital's Harrison Room. The presentation will feature several points of interest to physicians, nurses and health care professionals. Its focus is kidney function...

Gov. Carnahan and other state officials are back from a Far East trip to promote products grown and made in Missouri. No word on whether anyone in the delegation brought back a Japanese car. --- There's no truth to the rumor the real reason for the Carnahan trip to the Orient was to find someone to buy out M.U. Coach Bob Stull's contract...

St. Louis must wait another month to see if the National Football League will accept the city's bid to host an expansion team. The city and its civic leaders have put themselves through a soul-searching wringer, set about building a new stadium and generally exhausted the community in an attempt to woo the NFL back to Missouri's largest city. Is this important? The answers is simple: yes and no...

To the Editor: We visited your beautiful city in August of 1993 as a member of a disaster team. We saw a city that was warm, friendly, peaceful, but going through a difficult time with the Mississippi River and the flood waters. The people of your city turned to God and His love came to your city...

To the Editor: Let's all take a deep breath and calmly review the issues regarding the riverboat gambling election: A "yes" vote is indeed a vote for progress, better paying jobs, and economic benefit for the entire city of Cape. Dan Elkins Cape Girardeau...

To the Editor: I'm not going to try to convince those who are in favor of gambling against it. Those in favor have already decided it is not a moral issue. I hope and pray that to Christians and people of good conscience it is a moral issue. If not, then we are all lost. ...

To the Editor: As one of the oldest ministers in Cape Girardeau, who is still active in the work of the Lord, I would like to bear my heart and speak out concerning riverboat gambling. I came to Cape in August 1938 to a poorly built basement church on Park and Merriwether Streets. My salary was $15 a week and the cheap parsonage was full of termites. That was 55 years ago. Today I am closing my 85th year of life, so I shall speak as one that has work to build the city of Cape Girardeau...

To the Editor: The "No Organization" has made as their slogan "We Love Cape," but is this really true? If they really "loved" this community and the citizens in it, would they be voting against a proposal that would bring 800 new jobs to this city? Would they vote against a proposal that brings $37 million in construction jobs to the carpenters, bricklayers, contractors, building suppliers, and other similar trades?...

To the Editor: Over the course of these long months that we have been forced to debate riverboat gambling, I have had ample opportunity to consider why both my mind and my heart find the possibility of its introduction into the Cape Girardeau community so detestable. I can boil down my arguments in opposition to a single word: exploitation. The dictionary defines exploitation as "unethical utilization for selfish purposes."...

MILLERSVILLE -- A Millersville man was killed Wednesday afternoon from injuries sustained while trying to break up a fight between two horses in a pasture, according to Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Carpenter. Robert Cook, 61, was pronounced dead at the scene at about 3:20 p.m. by the coroner...

Students in Cape Girardeau public schools are observing Red Ribbon week this week, an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. Red ribbons and buttons have been distributed to students throughout the district. Teachers and staff have also been encouraged to wear the ribbons and buttons...

Son to Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Sissom of Olive Branch, Ill., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 6:18 p.m. Monday, Oct. 4, 1993. Name, Joshua Shane. Weight, 6 pounds 11 ounces. First child. Mrs. Sissom is the former Sherry Walton, daughter of Charles and Carol Walton of Cape Girardeau. She is a secretary with state of Missouri Disability Determinations. Sissom is a painter, and is the son of James and Frances Sissom of Olive Branch...

ALTENBURG -- Leota Weber, 80, of Altenburg, died Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1993, at her home. She was born Jan. 10, 1913, in Black Hawk County, Iowa, daughter of Phillip and Anna Hartung Walther. She and George A. Weber were married Sept. 26, 1931. He died March 31, 1993...

ORAN -- Mary Elizabeth Marvel, 74, Oran Route 2, died Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Jan. 27, 1919, near Oran, daughter of Henry and Ida Nagel Halter. She and Floy Woodrow Marvel were married Feb. 15, 1941. He died April 7, 1991...

NEW WELLS -- Nelda Mirly, 71, of New Wells, died Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1993, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 15, 1922, at Altenburg, daughter of Hugo and Bertha Weber Richter. She and Elton Mirly were married Oct. 26, 1952. He died May 30, 1987...

MARBLE HILL -- Guy Gustave Sickles, 72, of Marble Hill, died Tuesday, Oct. 26, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 4, 1921, in St. Louis, son of Guy Stanton and Marie Stocker Sickles. He and Gloria Jakubowski were married May 6, 1950...

JACKSON -- Robert Earl Cook, 61, of rural Jackson died in an accident at his home Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1993. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements, which are incomplete.

Japanese educators are visiting Cape Girardeau public schools this week for a look at a "typical American school." On Wednesday the group of 23 educators met with Cape Girardeau administrators and toured some schools. The visitors are mostly middle-school and junior-high-school principals and teachers. As such they are especially interested in Cape Girardeau's L.J. Schultz seventh-grade center and Central Junior High School...

Those who read the police, sheriff's and fire reports daily in the newspaper perhaps have noticed that the Cape Girardeau Fire Department have been running a lot of medical calls in recent weeks. In fact, since the program was started on May 21, emergency medical responses have nearly doubled the total number of calls received by the fire department. Some days, those are the only calls firefighters are dispatched to...

The Board of Regents at Southeast Missouri State University will discuss operating and capital budget recommendations for fiscal year 1995 when it meets Monday in St. Louis. The meeting will be held in the New York Room of the Hyatt Regency in Union Station at 6:30 p.m. Southeast last held a regents meeting in St. Louis on Sept. 25, 1986...

A three-year comprehensive program to evaluate the condition of every block of city street is nearing completion about a year ahead of schedule. Kevin McMeel, assistant public works director, said Wednesday the "Pavement Management System" will enable the city to set priorities for street repairs and replacement...

EVANSVILLE, Ind. Riverboat gambling is a hot topic in this Ohio River city. Whether such a venture is in the cards for Evansville depends on the voters. Voters in Vanderburgh County, where Evansville is located, will decide that issue Tuesday -- the same day that voters in Cape Girardeau and Scott County will decide the fate of similar gambling measures...

City officials hope an informational display at Capaha Park will give citizens the tools to help divert up to 20 percent of materials from the city's solid-waste stream. The display explains various techniques to turn yard waste -- grass clippings, leaves and twigs -- into compost...

"Cancerween," today's American Cancer Society's fund-raising event, is an attempt to take the scare out of cancer. Area business people will be captured and detained in the dungeon until they collect enough "treats" to be released. Twelve tricksters will be captured at their place of employment by volunteers and will be taken to a "dungeon" until they solicit enough treats (pledges) from relatives, friends and co-workers to be set free...

The voter registration office will be open from 9 a.m. until noon Saturday at the Common Pleas Courthouse Annex in Cape Girardeau, to give voters a chance to cast absentee ballots for Tuesday's election. Absentees can also be voted in person until 4:30 p.m. today and Friday, and from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday...

CHAFFEE -- Although it cost $500,000 to renovate the final cell of Chaffee's triple-cell waste-water treatment system, the only active component used in the final treatment process - lemnacae plants - was literally free for the taking. Lemnacae is the Latin word for the aquatic duckweed plant, a species of floating water plant that's found throughout the world. ...

Every tradition has to have started somewhere; hayrides are no exception. In the colonial Midwest, long after independence had been declared and revolutions had been fought, farmers braving the rugged land between the Appalachian Mountains and Mississippi River had "socials" to celebrate the fall harvest. They included hayrides...

Michael Pritchard was kicked off the Southeast Missouri State University football team 21 years ago for being a bad influence. Much of his beery collegiate career was spent "finding out how to get home from Twin Trees," a once-popular party spot for collegians...

LYNYRD SKYNYRD BAD COMPANY Music-lovers have a choice between country and classic rock 'n' roll this weekend in two concerts at the Show Me Center. Leading off will be one of the most popular female singers in country music history, Reba McEntire. She will perform in an 8 p.m. concert Saturday...

STE. GENEVIEVE -- A weekend program devoted to traditions of the French along the Mississippi River has been set for Nov. 5-7 by the Foundation for Restoration of Ste. Genevieve. Speakers, musicians and tours of historic homes, some rescued from this year's flood, will be featured...

PORTAGEVILLE -- U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson of Missouri's 8th District and state Sen. Jim Mathewson of Sedalia, president pro tem of the Missouri Senate, will be featured speakers at a Farm Bureau FARM-PAC appreciation dinner Nov. 11 at Delta Research Center in Portageville...

Taking a gamble October 28, 1993 Dear Julie, Round 2 of the great gambling debate is Tuesday. We denizens will decide whether we want Cape Girardeau to become a gambling town or maintain the status quo. Quo is low unemployment, nice parks, deteriorating school buildings, a struggling downtown. The town's population -- about 35,000 -- hasn't changed much in the past 10 years. Some people think that's fine, some don't...

HAYTI -- The Southeast Missouri Civil Defense Association will hold a meeting Nov. 7 at 2 p.m. in the Hayti Community Center, Highway 84. Sikeston Public Safety Capt. Drew Juden will discuss how public safety and fire departments interact with emergency management. He also will discuss fire department mutual-aid responses...

STE. GENEVIEVE -- For the citizens of historic Ste. Genevieve, the battle of the Flood of 1993 is only half over. Thanks to their efforts and those of thousands of volunteers from across the nation, countless numbers of sandbags were filled and levees built to protect the town's crown jewel: the priceless, historic French Creole buildings and homes that make Ste. Genevieve -- population 4,400 -- unique...

William Miller, retired executive with Wetterau Inc. at Scott City, and Bob Robins, district office sales supervisor for Union Electric Co. in Cape Girardeau, are co-chairing the Corporate Division of the 1993 Area Wide United Way campain. Jeffrey Dix, a Jackson attorney, is chairing the division in Jackson...

An immediate need for blood donors exists, the American Red Cross Missouri-Illinois Regional Blood Services announced. A "Code Yellow" blood supply alert has been issued for type O, A and B blood donors. An additional 600 blood donors are needed this week to maintain an adequate blood supply for area hospital patients. Over the last four days, during a "Code Red" alert, an additional 1,000 people donated blood...