Stories from Wednesday, March 2, 1994

JEFFERSON CITY -- Area legislators are joining many of their colleagues in expressing concern -- some even outrage -- over a proposal in Gov. Mel Carnahan's budget to increase salaries of Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education employees by 7-12 percent...

Southeast Missouri State University regents say they are willing to discuss concerns raised by American Legion members that American history is being de-emphasized at the school. But several regents said Tuesday that students are getting a sufficient dose of American history in the school's University Studies curriculum...

Jim Reed is confident there aren't enough horses in the go-carts he would bring to Cape Girardeau to pull the Kart Inc. recreation project off track. In fact, Reed says the Pacer go-carts that will be tested by members of the Cape Girardeau City Council at 1 p.m. Monday are no louder that a vacuum cleaner...

The Cape Girardeau City Council met Tuesday behind closed doors to iron final details in the city's process to endorse one of two riverboat gaming proposals. That process will culminate Monday, when the council is slated to recommend that either Boyd Gaming or Lady Luck Gaming be granted a license to operate a riverboat casino in Cape Girardeau...

JACKSON -- After serving as county auditor during Cape Girardeau County's transition from third class to second class status, H. Weldon Macke says he is seeking re-election in the hopes of being part of moving the county toward first class status in 1996...

The earliest prevention of drug and alcohol abuse has become the focus of a majority of community action teams across the state. But locating the resources to fund programs or disseminate information to the public can be a problem. That is why the Division of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, within the state Department of Mental Health, made available grant money for resource centers throughout the state...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Arthur Frederick Stevens, 55, of Deer Park, Texas, died Monday, Feb. 28, 1994, at Bay Shore Medical Center in Pasadena, Texas. He was born June 12, 1938, in Olive Branch, son of Americus Frederick "Mack" and Lela Maude Houston Stevens. He married the former Janice Dowdy...

CHAFFEE -- Wilma Elizabeth Gibbons, 40, of Chaffee, died Tuesday, March 1, 1994, at her home. She was born Oct. 12, 1953, at Portageville, daughter of Albert Allen and Clara Pauline Gooch Morgan. She and John Edward Gibbons Sr. were married March 13, 1971...

SIKESTON -- Vernon B. Buck, 74, of Sikeston, died Tuesday, March 1, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 8, 1919, in Commerce, son of George Frederick and Maggie Mae Baldridge Buck. He and Bernice A. Bollinger were married Feb. 17, 1944, in Memphis, Tenn...

FARRAR -- Arthur John Hadler, 85, of Farrar, died Tuesday, March 1, 1994, at Perry County Nursing Home in Perryville. He was born May 12, 1908, in Perry County, son of Henry and Marie Stelling Hadler. He and Wilma Esther Versemann were married May 31, 1936, at Farrar...

DEXTER -- Joe W. Riddle, 86, of Pyle Town community near Dexter, died Monday, Feb. 28, 1994, at Baptist Hospital East in Memphis, Tenn. He was born Sept. 23, 1907, at Powe, son of Benjamin and Sarah Moor Riddle. He and Dorothy May White were married Nov. 8, 1932, at Bernie. She died April 19, 1987...

ANNA, Ill. -- Martha Jane Nimmo, 73, of Anna, died Monday, Feb. 28, 1994, at Vencor Hospital in St. Louis. She was born Nov. 30, 1920, in Anna, daughter of Henry Edgar and Mary Susan McIntire Hileman. She and Gilbert L. Nimmo were married Aug. 9, 1941...

Eileen Deering, 77, of De Soto, died Sunday, Feb. 27, 1994, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Crystal City. She was born Oct. 16, 1916, in Parkersburg, Ill., daughter of George Henry and Clara Loretta Marks Dawson. She married Earl Emmett Deering, who preceded her in death...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Graveside service for Frankel A. Carney Jr. of Lake Alfred, Fla., will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Spencer Heights Cemetery in Mounds. The Rev. Bill Gholson will officiate. Friends may call at Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo after 5 p.m. today...

SIKESTON -- Jessie May Towery, 90, of Sikeston, died Monday, Feb. 28, 1994, at Sikeston Convalescent Center. She was born Nov. 22, 1903, near Bloomfield, daughter of P.P. and Ora Lee Miles Ferrell. She and Robert L. Towery were married Nov. 17, 1934. He preceded her in death...

Today's leadership is playing a word game -- both at the state and federal level. Sweeping health reform programs will be funded through a series of "fees, provisions, and cost shifting" as opposed to "taxes". For example, Gov. Mel Carnahan has pledged his health reform package won't increase taxes. ...

Dear Editor: Exuberant President Clinton in his State of the Union address stressed health care reform as his foremost priority. Health care in United States is at a cross roads. Rated as the best in the world, it is costing too much and is still not accessible to a large portion of its population...

Jennie Webb believes you can never have too many pairs of shoes. She owns around 100, and is still adding to the collection. "I probably buy a new pair of shoes once every week or two," Webb said. "I just try to find shoes that match whatever clothes I have. I look to see if they're comfortable, and if they are cute...

TILSIT -- The Tilsit 4-H Club will have a chili dinner Sunday at Immanuel Lutheran Parish Hall, 496 Highway F in Tilsit. Serving will be from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Cost is $2.50. The dinner is co-sponsored by AAL Branch 1374. Proceeds will benefit the Toy Train on the pediatrics floor at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

It was beginning to seem as if this long, dreary, cold winter would never end, when suddenly on a bright, cheerful day, one tiny little yellow crocus appeared. What a welcome sight! This was the very first sign that there would soon be another season with all of the wonders of the spring flowering bulbs coming back to life again...

Mistakes in collective nouns and pronouns provide endless fodder for word-watchers. Even the most knowledgeable take wrong turns off and on. In a recent broadcast about America's non-reading public, a long-time announcer reported that "Almost every town in the country have lost at least one book store." Every town have?...