Stories from Saturday, May 28, 1994

To the Editor: "We the people" selected and elected a group of people from our midst to look after the affairs of our country and have given them almost unlimited funds to accomplish this. Now lets suppose the greedy and most power hungry of this group wanted total control, power and wealth. They might talk among themselves and ask, How would we do this?...

Mid-American Teen Challenge's fourth annual Strawberry Festival on Saturday offers not only a good opportunity to acquire plenty of fresh, home-grown strawberries but to see firsthand the remarkable program that is so successful in changing the lives of men addicted to drugs and, or alcohol...

Nobody counts his fat like Joe Piscatella. He's got good reason to. Seventeen years ago, at age 32, he had a coronary bypass. Since then, he's harped on health -- selling off his Seattle hotel business and establishing the Institute for Fitness and Health...

An insurance trade group was proclaiming a circuit court decision on workers' compensation this week as a victory for the insurance industry, although the Missouri Department of Insurance made it clear they would appeal the decision. Cole County Circuit Judge James F. McHenry ruled unconstitutional a plan by the Department of Insurance to require workers' compensation insurers to cover any employer the state declares safe...

Several area highway projects, including the Mississippi River bridge, received a major boost this week when the U.S. House of Representatives passed a National Highway System authorization bill. The measure must still be approved by the Senate before going to the president for his signature, but most of the projects outlined for this area likely will remain unchanged by future legislative action...

Americans will pause Monday to remember and pay tribute to veterans of all wars who served their county in time of war and peace, and to those who paid the supreme sacrifice in the defense of their country. The National Weather Service said the Memorial Day weekend should be rain-free, with partly cloudy skies and highs in the 70s and low 80s in the Cape Girardeau area...

Ken Dobbins was ecstatic about Missouri's new $12.3 billion budget, which provides increased funding for Southeast Missouri State University. As executive vice president and chief financial officer for the school, Dobbins has been used to bad-news budgets since coming here three years ago...

GORDONVILLE -- An official with the Gordonville-Dutchtown Public Water District Number Four said Friday the district's second water well should be in operation by late summer. Jerry Lorberg, president of the district's board of directors, said drilling of the new well began about two weeks ago on a tract of land near Highway 25, at the north end of the water district...

To Cape Girardeau residents troubled by ever-rising trash fees, a one-eighth cent sales tax to fund solid waste services might seem a good idea. It's not. At issue is whether to raise monthly residential trash fees from $10.54 per household to $12.13. The fee hike was proposed last year, but has been put on hold while a citizens group has studied volume-based trash billing and other aspects of solid waste service...

Cape Girardeau firefighters spent the greater part of the morning Friday crawling around the hallways of the fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the Towers North residential complex, training for a high-rise fire. "We were very fortunate to be able to do this kind of training," explained fire Chief Robert L. Ridgeway. "The university is about to completely renovate the Towers North complex, so they gave us a week to use the building for our purposes."...

SIKESTON -- Sue Brunette Emerson, 80, of Sikeston, died Thursday, May 26, 1994, at the home of a son. She was born May 13, 1914, in Marion, Ill., daughter of T.B. "Dick" and Ruby Swaim. She and H.F. "Frank" Emerson were married Nov. 1, 1934. He died in 1983...

BELL CITY -- Carl Albert Daniels, 79, Bell City Route 1, died Friday, May 27, 1994, at the home of a daughter in Sikeston. He was born Oct. 3, 1914, at Parma, son of Thomas and Myrtle Daniels. He married Laura Surface, who died in 1966. Survivors include four daughters, Doris Baker of Sikeston, Gloria Smith of Campbell, Linda Gillespie of Dexter, Beth Minner of Morley; a sister, Alice Perkins of Puxico; nine grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren...

CHAFFEE -- Vonda Jean Garrett, 49, of Chaffee, died Thursday, May 26, 1994 at 2:45 p.m. at St. Francis Medical Center after a brief illness. She was born Dec. 30, 1944 in Cairo, Ill. to the late Richard Garfield and Ellen Marie Phillips Nickell. She had lived in Chaffee the past six years, where she was a member of the People's Pentecost Church...

SIKESTON -- Betty Jean Huffman, 59, of Sikeston, died Thursday, May 26, 1994, at Lanton. Amick-Burnett Funeral Home here is in charge of arrangements.

CAIRO, Ill. -- Graveside service for Lorene Farrow of Cairo will be held at 3:30 p.m. today at Beechwood Cemetery in Mounds. The Rev. Encil Edmonds will officiate. Barkett Funeral Home at Cairo is in charge of arrangements. Farrow, 83, died Thursday, May 26, 1994, in the emergency room at Community Health Services...

Hubert A. "Hugh" Estes, 86, died Wednesday, May 25, 1994, in Bend, Ore. He was born Dec. 22, 1907, in Cape Girardeau County, son of Ranson E. and Lula McCullough Estes. He married Wanda Webb Hitt, who preceded him in death. Estes lived on the West Coast, returning to Cape Girardeau where he resided during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He had been a carpenter at Southeast Missouri State University, and was a member of Carpenters Local...

CHAFFEE -- Ralph V. Penrose, 68, Chaffee Route 1, died Thursday, May 26, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 9, 1925, at Benton, son of Harry and Maggie Ethel Payton Penrose. He and Marceline Hatley were married May 17, 1946...

COBDEN, Ill. -- William Matheney, 50, of Cobden, died Friday, May 27, 1994, at Union County Hospital in Anna. Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Cobden is in charge of arrangements.

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Chris Brewer of Zalma, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:07 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, 1994. Name, Chelsea Paige. Weight, 7 pounds 9 ounces. Mrs. Brewer is the former Sheila Thomas, daughter of Dewey and Linda Thomas of Puxico. She is a registered nurse with Scott County Health Department. Brewer is meat department manager at Town and Country Supermarket, and is the son of Danny and Deanna Brewer of Advance...

The License Bureaus in Cape Girardeau and Jackson will be closed today and Monday, in observance of Memorial Day. In addition, the Cape License Bureau will close at noon Friday, June 10, and will be closed Saturday, June 11 due to Riverfest. The Jackson office will be open its regular hours during Riverfest, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, and 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturday...

Every six weeks, Candice Pitcock must take her 2-year-old daughter Savannah to St. Louis for chemotherapy treatments. That's a problem for Pitcock, a single, unemployed mother who doesn't have a car. Instead, she must borrow a car from friends. The Cape Girardeau woman said she had been given a used car after her plight was first disclosed in a Southeast Missourian article last October...

Six local girls have been selected to attend Missouri Girls State June 19-25 at William Woods University in Fulton. Girls State is sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary and is designed to educate young people on the duties, privileges, rights and responsibilities of American citizenship...

Could Riverboat gambling and Cape Girardeau's annual Riverfest coexist in complete harmony? It would take some work and the willingness of both parties to compromise to get the job done. At least this is the opinion of Ron Jagels, who conducted a traffic impact study for Horner and Shifrin, a company selected by the city of Cape and hired by Boyd Gaming Incorporated...