Stories from Thursday, June 2, 1994

Dear Editor: I want to thank all the staff at St. Francis Hopsital for taking good care of me. They were all wonderful. Thanks also to all who sent flowers and came to se me and for all the prayers that went up for me while I was in the hospital 16 1/2 days. I will always appreciate and never forget the care I received in Cape Girardeau...

The Olympic flame, carried by 60 runners, wound its way through Cape Girardeau Wednesday, accompanied by five Olympic festival vans and an equal number of police escorts. Olympic gold medalist and torch-run coordinator Ray Armstead wondered why Cape Girardeau has so many hills. For a sprinter, Wednesday's 12-mile course was a tough one. Armstead won the gold in 1984 in the 4x400...

KENNETT -- Professional and amateur barbecuers from a number of states will gather here June 24-25 for the annual Show-Me State Barbecue Cook-off. The sanctioned preliminary to the World Championship Barbecue contest at Memphis-in-May is sponsored by the Kennett Jaycees and a number of businesses. The winner will receive paid entry into the Memphis-in-May Cook-off, $500 and five Magnavox 13-inch color televisions. Additional cash and prizes worth more than $3,500 will be awarded...

NEW MADRID -- The New Madrid Chamber of Commerce will hold its Grand 1860s Southern Ball from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. June 18 at the A.B. Hunter Sr. Mansion. Door prizes will be given away throughout the event, which is a major fund-raiser for the chamber. Guests will get a ride in the gold-and-white Cinderella carriage, tour the Greek-colonial style mansion, be served dinner, dance, and get a complimentary color photo of themselves...

CAMPBELL -- Entries are being accepted for the Miss Missouri Peach Fair Pageant, which will be held July 5 at 7 p.m. in the Campbell Community Building. Contestants must be single, never have been married, 16 to 19 years of age and Missouri residents. A queen and four alternates will be selected...

PILOT KNOB -- A Civil War living history demonstration will be held at Fort Davidson State Historic Site here June 25 under sponsorship of the Ironton Rotary Club in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Missouri Civil War Re-enactors Association...

DE SOTO -- Rail Day '94 will be held here June 18 under sponsorship of the De Soto Historical Society and Union Pacific De Soto Car Shops. Activities include open houses at the Union Pacific Car Shops, Jefferson County Model Railroad, and Columbia Model Railroad; rides on a Union Pacific miniature train, demonstrations of old-time crafts and live entertainment...

MALDEN -- The Chamber of Commerce will sponsor seven pageants during the annual July 4 celebration in Malden. The Tiny Miss Fourth of July pageant is open to girls 2 and 3 and the Little Miss pageant is open to girls 4 through kindergarten. They will be held June 25 at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., respectively The Junior Miss pageant for girls in grades 10 through 12 in the fall and the Miss Fourth of July Scholarship pageant will be held at 7 p.m. June 25. Entry fee for all four is $10...

BENTON -- Sheriff Bill Ferrell rolls into work daily in his patrol vehicle: a Chevrolet Silverado extended cab pickup truck outfitted with a police radio and flashing red light. On this day his dog Pat is riding shotgun on the steel toolbox in the truck bed...

Welfare in this nation stands as a support system for those who can't, for one reason or another, care for themselves or their own. Some would argue that the system, as now constructed, encourages people to deflect any manner of self-administration. ...

An indictment delivered Friday in New Orleans alleges organized crime has gained a foothold in skimming profits from video poker machines. In addition to shedding light on suspected underworld operations, this case provides fodder for those who believe all gambling enterprises accommodate gangsters the way they accommodate spendthrift card players. ...

Cape Girardeau's riverfront will take on a festive air when the Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen steamboats dock July 3. The steamboats will dock about 10 a.m. that Sunday, and depart at 3 p.m. for St. Louis -- the last leg in their annual race up the Mississippi River...

The U.S. Senate now holds the key to designating Cape Girardeau's new Mississippi River bridge as a "demonstration project," a state highway commissioner said Wednesday. The designation is far from being a sure thing, added the commissioner, John L. Oliver of Cape Girardeau...

For $35 anyone can obtain a permit to do electrical wiring in a new Cape Girardeau home or a house that is being remodeled regardless if they know what they're doing. Rick Murray, who is supervisor of the city's building inspectors, has seen some substandard work that has required up to six inspections before it was brought up to proper specifications...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar told a crowd of about 300 Wednesday that he had been to a lot of groundbreaking ceremonies since he was elected, but never did he attend one with so many shovels. Edgar and several state and local dignitaries stood before a row of 40 shovels adorned with bright red bows, delivering words of inspiration to Southern Illinois residents on the eve of construction of the first phase of the Tamms Correctional Center...

June 2, 1994 Dear Leslie, I am a lumberjack. Well, I've felled my first tree but it wasn't exactly murder. More like an assisted suicide. Most of the old madrone was already dead but it crashed convincingly down the hillside afterward anyway. I have become a weekend logger at the behest of Bill, a patient of DC's who shares a mountain with a lot of people who grow marijuana for a living. Bill doesn't anymore. Got tired of sleeping out beside his patch to prevent ripoffs...

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education has scheduled a public hearing tonight at 7 p.m. at the Central High School auditorium to discuss the Proposition C rollback waiver. Voters on June 7 will consider waiving the rollback, resulting in a 37 cent tax increase. Local money generated if the increase is approved has been earmarked for building improvements...

Area civic groups continue to keep the injured police officer Dan Niswonger and his family in mind. Niswonger was injured in an April 2 motorcycle accident while working traffic control during a running event near the Show Me Center. Two weeks ago, after fighting infection in his injured right leg for weeks, doctors at a St. Louis hospital amputated the leg and part of his pelvis...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Edith Garner, 58, of Cahokia, formerly of Union County, died Wednesday, June 1, 1994, at Centerville Hospital. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Cobden.

JACKSON -- Jeffery Guilliams, 31, of Austin, Texas, formerly of Jackson, died Monday, May 30, 1994, at South Austin Medical Center in Austin. He was born May 30, 1963, in Denver, Colo., son of Walter B. and Ruth A. Sander Guilliams. He and Danielle Kenty were married July 27, 1991...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Lester F. Wright of Sikeston will be held at 11 a.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Dale McFarland will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park Cemetery. Wright, 73, died Tuesday, May 31, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

BENTON -- Doris S. Welter, 52, of Benton, died suddenly Tuesday, May 31, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 23, 1941, at Blodgett, daughter of John and Thelma Bryant Evans. She and Jerome Welter were married Oct. 3, 1959, at Benton...

CHAFFEE -- John L. Gosche, 75, Chaffee Route 1, died Wednesday, June 1, 1994, at his home. He was born Dec. 1, 1918, at New Hamburg, son of Leo and Alvina Klipfel Gosche. He and Delphine J. Glueck were married Oct. 23, 1951. Gosche was a self-employed farmer and carpenter, retiring in 1964. He was a medic in the U.S. Army during World War II, and received three Bronze Stars...

PERRYVILLE -- Albertine T. Bohnert, 84, of Perryville, died Wednesday, June 1, 1994, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. She was born Sept. 16, 1909, in Cape Girardeau County, daughter of Carl Joseph and Anna Lappe Wibbenmeyer. She and Sylvester A. Bohnert were married March 4, 1935...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Kittie M. Murray, 94, of Cairo, died Wednesday, June 1, 1994, at her home. She was born Oct. 31, 1899, in Ballard County, Ky., daughter of Tom and Mary Long Hall. She married Howard L. Murray, who died in 1985. Murray was a member of Cairo Baptist Church...

SCOTT CITY -- Carl Christopher Odom, 81, of Scott City, died Wednesday, June 1, 1994, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was formerly of Altenburg. He was born July 26, 1912, at Fornfelt, son of Jesse Allen and Amanda Meinz Odom. He and Marvellee Helen Kennedy were married Jan. 27, 1935, at Fornfelt. She died Jan. 19, 1984...

VILLA RIDGE, Ill. -- Joseph C. Barnett, 81, of Cache, Ill., formerly of Mounds, died Wednesday, June 1, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born at Villa Ridge, Ill., on Aug. 15, 1912, son of Berry Royal Barnett and Della Mae Callis Lawler...

Ron Nall has been so busy fulfilling obligations as music director for Cape Girardeau Central High and the Municipal Band, he hasn't had time to pause and reflect on the changing of the guard. "I'm excited about taking over as director of the Municipal Band because I've played in it off and on for 20 years," said Nall, who assumes the role last held by John Fisher. Fisher was director of the Municipal Band, which has been in existence for over 60 years, for the last 15 seasons...

The Capetown Safari Fest will take place this weekend at the 5-H Ranch. On Saturday, June 4, there will be a Little Mr. and Miss Safari Contest beginning at 1 p.m. There is no entry fee. Prizes will be awarded. Entrants, ages 3-6, must dress in safari attire. Registration for the contest will take place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Entrants will be judged on costume, poise and appearance...