Stories from Saturday, January 15, 1994

Population estimates released last week by the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the Missouri Office of Administration show Cape Girardeau County growing at a rate that outpaces nearly three out of four Missouri counties. This is encouraging news. With an estimated increase of 1,685 people between the 1990 census and 1992, Cape Girardeau County apparently has enjoyed a 2.7 percent growth rate. ...

JACKSON -- On Thursday Jacquelyn Close of Jackson went on-line via computer with Vice President Al Gore, suggesting a national network for environmental research. Gore responded, "A great idea." It was the first-ever on-line computer conference with Gore. About 900 people around the world watched as the words were displayed on their computer screens...

Work is well under way on the transformation of Towers West into a modern residence hall at Southeast Missouri State University. David Grauvogl, the resident engineer on the project for Sverdrup Corp. of St. Louis, sees the changes taking shape every day that will turn the 12-story structure into virtually a new building on the inside...

Most federal, state, county and municipal employees will have a three-day weekend in observance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday on Monday. All federal, state, and county offices will be closed Monday, as will most municipal offices. The exception is Scott City, where city offices will be open during regular hours. The Monday solid-waste route in Scott City will also be run as scheduled. The regular board of aldermen meeting will begin at 8 a.m...

Juanita F. Spicer was the recipient Friday of the 1994 Martin Luther King Jr. Award, presented at Cape Girardeau's third annual community celebration in honor of the slain civil rights leader. The award is presented annually to a person in Cape Girardeau who exemplifies the qualities of King, and who has been active in bringing peace and justice to the community...

The Rev. Solomon Williams urged people gathered Friday in Cape Girardeau in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. to follow the slain civil rights leader's example and "let love lift us from the depths of despair and injustice. "Do something about your own state of mind," said Williams, national chairman of the General Council of Pastors and Elders of the Church of God in Christ. ...

Kenneth W. Retter, M.D., will discuss risk factors in heart disease on the Ask Your Doctor program Thursday. Ask Your Doctor airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. on cable channel 5. The medical show is sponsored by St. Francis Medical Center, Southeast Missouri Hospital, Cape Girardeau County Medical Society and channel 5...

SIKESTON -- The SEMO Chapter of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses will host a mini-seminar on hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke on Wednesday from 5-9 p.m. at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. The seminar will feature points of interest to critical care nurses along with physicians and health professionals whose focus of care deals with strokes of this kind...

Parents and professionals in the Cape Girardeau area have combined efforts to form a local support group called CHADD (Children with Attention Deficit Disorders) of Southeast Missouri. The group meets Monday. Certified occupational therapists Mary Morse and Jane Freed of Southeast Missouri Hospital's pediatric rehabilitation facility, The Pediatric Spot, will be guest speakers for the meeting...

For anyone suffering pain, the idiom, "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning," is not a welcome prognosis. It's only been in the past decade or so that the medical community has considered acute short-term and chronic pain a branch of medicine that requires multi-faceted treatment...

The Heart Institute at St. Francis Medical Center is sponsoring the Heart Healthy Recipe Contest in early February. "The contest is an opportunity for us to draw attention to heart health and its relationship to proper nutrition," said Vicki Frank, RN, cardiac rehabilitation supervisor at St. Francis. She said the contest is being held as part of The Heart Institute's observation of American Heart Month in February...

Son to Mr. and Mrs. Michael Provo, 305 Edgewood, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9:06 a.m. Friday, Jan. 7, 1994. Name, Zachary Michael. Weight, 8 pounds. Fourth child, second son. Mrs. Provo is the former Janet Chovris, daughter of Ron and Joan Graham of DeSoto. Provo is the son of Barbra Provo of Tamms, Ill., and the late Jesse Provo Jr...

Wilton H. "Witt" Suedekum, 79, 1731 Lakeshore, died Friday, Jan. 14, 1994, at the Lutheran Home. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

DEXTER -- Funeral service for Novella Sielert of Dexter will be held at 7 p.m. today at Watkins and Sons Funeral Chapel here. The Rev. Vaughn Wright will officiate. Burial will be at 10 a.m. Sunday in Dexter Cemetery. Sielert, 94, died Thursday, Jan. 13, 1994, at Dexter Nursing Center...

SIKESTON -- Lillie James, 89, of Sikeston, died Thursday, Jan. 13, 1994, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Feb. 1, 1904, in Bethel Springs, Tenn., daughter of Tab and Cora King Russom. She and C.J. James were married May 29, 1921, in Bethel Springs. He died March 14, 1983...

BLOOMFIELD -- Funeral service for Eileen Meinershagen of Malta Bend will be held at 1:30 p.m. today at Malta Bend United Methodist Church. The Revs. Jane Weiland and Jay Frost will officiate, with burial in Malta Bend Cemetery. Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home at Marshall is in charge of arrangements...

Funeral service for Edwin L. Hargens, 926 Jefferson, will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Grace United Methodist Church. The Rev. Ernest Swartz will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park. Friends may call at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel from 5-8 p.m. today...

COMMERCE -- Ben Andrew Knight, 81, of Commerce, died Friday, Jan. 14, 1994, at Cape Girardeau Nursing Center. He was born Aug. 26, 1912, at Neelys Landing, son of Roy "Price" and Rozena Jane O'Guin Knight. He and Blanche English were married Jan. 27, 1953. She died March 29, 1983...

Private funeral service for Geraldine F. Thompson of Cape Girardeau will be held today at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. Private burial will be Monday at Pine Village Cemetery in Pine Village, Ind. Thompson, 86, died Thursday, Jan. 13, 1994, at Chateau Girardeau Health Care Center...

ADVANCE -- Woodrow D. Nichols, 80, of Advance, died Friday, Jan. 14, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 26, 1913, at Gipsy, son of Henry Dennis and Josephine Young Nichols. He and Mary Walk Hefner were married Jan. 13, 1979, at Zalma...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Wayne Sadler, 43, of Jonesboro, died Friday, Jan. 14, 1994, at Union County Hospital in Anna. He was born Jan. 18, 1950, in Anna, son of Ray and Margaret Hankla Sadler. He and Barbara Ann Mowery were married April 6, 1974. Sadler was a technician at Choate Mental Health Center. He was a member of Salem Lutheran Church, Anna Moose Lodge, American Bowling Congress, and AFSCME Union. He was manager of Khoury League Baseball many years...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Alan E. "Sox" Morris, 67, of Jonesboro, died Thursday, Jan. 13, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 10, 1926, in Anna, son of Luther and Jannie Forsee Morris. He and Wilma Graham were married May 3, 1945...

Harrison W. McCulley, 59, of 205 Franks Lane in Cape Girardeau, died Friday, Jan. 14, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center. Fore and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.