Stories from Sunday, September 11, 1994

HERRIN, Ill. -- Charles Edward Tripp, 79, of Herrin, died Friday, Sept. 9, 1994 at his home. He was born Oct. 31, 1914 in Jonesboro, Ill., the son of Edward and Martha (Meisenheimer) Tripp. On Aug. 12, 1939 he married Eva Kaleta in Ziegler, Ill., and she died on Sept. 5, 1989...

As a first-term state senator from northern Missouri, Steve Danner realizes a lot of Missourians have no idea who he is. He also realizes that most people have given little thought to the state auditor's race Nov. 8. But Danner is confident that his grass-roots campaign approach will bring positive results when voters focus on whether to re-elect Republican Margaret Kelly or turn to him...

JACKSON -- Geoffrey Roth of Cape Girardeau has settled in as new director of the Riverside Regional Library. Roth began his position last month at the main library here, which also has branches in Perryville, Scott City, Benton and Oran. For the last nine years, Roth has worked in computer sales and support in the Cape Girardeau area. His experience includes 13 years with Kent Library on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University...

Jackson civic and business leaders and interested individuals are gearing up to "YELL" for literacy education. Volunteer leaders met Thursday morning at the Jackson U.S.A. Signal office to finalize plans for the annual Youth, Education, Literacy and Learning (YELL) Day, set to take place Tuesday...

When Methodists from throughout the area gather to worship next weekend at a site near Jackson, they will be continuing a tradition that spans almost two centuries. Old McKendree Chapel will mark its 175th year with an anniversary celebration Sept. 18. The church was constructed in 1819 on land that had been the location of countless camp meetings and religious gatherings since the early 1800s...

Charlie Knote will cook today at the St. Louis Friends of James Beard Foundation's second annual "Fall Family Barbecue" tasting and benefit. The Cape Girardeau man is one of only 16 chefs selected to participate in the benefit. He will prepare smoke-cooked chicken. His wife Ruthie's "Coco Cabana Fruit Salsa" will be served as an accompaniment...

Literacy is something to YELL about. On Tuesday, more than 200 volunteers will hawk special YELL editions of the Southeast Missourian to benefit youth, education, literacy, and learning programs in the region. Last year, the effort raised more than $19,000. Organizers have set their sights high this year, hoping to generate more than $24,000 on Tuesday...

Secretary of State Warren Christopher all but tells us that the decision to invade Haiti has been made. October might be the best time politically -- when there will be no annoying voices around town to object or question why. We already know the name of the first casualty of the Haiti invasion: The Constitution of the United States...

The Opinion page, the one you are reading right now, is a special place. It is intended to be a forum for ideas and opinions that represent a community of thought. The editorial at the top of the page represents the opinion of the editorial board, whose members are listed in the box. ...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Although its outward appearance gives little evidence of it, Missouri's state government is in constant change. Whether in the area of programs, personnel or policies, transformation occurs regularly in a city where change seems to be the least of its characteristics...

DELTA -- Verman Blake Slaughter, 80, of Delta, died Saturday Sept. 10, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born June 30, 1914 in Zalma, the son of George and Lizzie Blake Slaughter. He worked as a maintenance man for Wetterau in Scott City before retiring, and was a member and a deacon of the Berrong General Baptist Church near Gipsy...

Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Ashcroft said Saturday that with the Farm Bill scheduled to be rewritten and reauthorization planned on other agriculture legislation he would take office with a strong agenda for agriculture. At a press conference at the Horace Hitt Farm on Highway 74, Ashcroft announced formation of a 41-member farm advisory committee to help him develop a sound farm policy...

COMMERCE -- Funeral services for James Preston Jackson, 65, of Commerce, will be held today at 2 p.m. at the Commerce Baptist Church. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until noon today at Amick-Burnett Funeral Home in Scott City, and from 1-2 p.m. at the church...

In the 1940s, Hilda Mae Abernathy, a 1937 graduate of Jackson High School, modeled fashions and sold products. She was featured in magazines and newspapers, long before starting her second career as a river towboat cook. The former California and St. Louis fashion model -- tall, thin, proper -- sat in the lonely, messy lounge of the towboat company's dispatching office on the bank of the muddy Mississippi at Cairo, Ill., waiting to venture into the marine world as a towboat cook...

Provocative dance hall girls dress the part during jackson's "Good Old Days." There will be plenty of demonstrations of how thing used to be in Jackson on Oct. 1 as the city celebrates its second annual "Good Old Days." People dressed in turn-of-the century attire will stroll the streets of downtown Jackson on Saturday, Oct. 1, during the second annual Good Old Days celebration...

From a cause to promote youth, education, literacy and learning, sprang a local tradition worth shouting about. Volunteers from various walks of life will be stationed at one of 60 street corners on Tuesday, Sept. 13, to launch the fourth edition of YELL...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- The tall, ungainly farm-boy-turned-lawyer was in hostile country when he appeared at the Jonesboro town square in rural Union County, Ill., in September 1858. The area in 1858 was heavily Democratic, and Abraham Lincoln, Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, was in Jonesboro to debate the flashy incumbent, Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, popularly known as the "Little Giant."...

Two Southeast Missouri legislators have distinctly different views on the impact passage of the Hancock II constitutional amendment should voters approve the measure in November. Rep. Larry Thomason, D-Kennett, is majority whip and vice chairman of a legislative committee that said last week that Hancock II would force $1-5 billion in spending cuts. He said it would make Missouri "a third-world country" by forcing massive cuts in services...

Given the choice between finishing his lunch and talking about what it takes to coordinate parking and security at the SEMO District Fair, Dick Knaup opted for the latter. If he is willing to donate a week of vacation time and spend countless hours traveling the fairgrounds on a golf cart watching for trouble, Knaup figured an abbreviated afternoon meal was not even worth mentioning...

ST. LOUIS -- A schedule of nine public forums to be held across Southeast Missouri State University's service region was set by the university's Board of Regents at a meeting here Saturday. The forums, established as part of the development of a university strategic plan, will allow regents to learn more about what people in the university's service region expect from the school, how better service can be delivered, and how to educate a work force for the future...

JACKSON -- Debbie Stockton's commitment to helping the elderly in Cape Girardeau County goes beyond the meals she delivers each day. There have been days when Stockton arrived just in time to avert an accident; other times she has been able to rescue an elderly person who has fallen...

The accessorized hunter usually recognizes quickly enough that his pockets are too small and too few. One thing leads to another. If one's got to have all that gear with him, he needs another accessory: a pack in which to stow all those other items...

The angle of the morning light shadows my viewing side of the shorebirds feeding along the mudflats. Cattails and giant reed (a grass that grows to 12-feet tall) line the V-shaped body of water on this privately-owned wetland. Three lesser yellowlegs wait until I sit down before they fly. As their name suggests, they have long yellow legs. A killdeer screams rapid "kil-deeahs" as it lands...

When you have lived with a certain amount of furniture and accessories positioned in the same place for many years, bring in a new piece and all the old things get testy and upset. I thought I knew exactly where I wanted the new, big, puffy rocker-recliner and so moved a Pennsylvania Dutch painted washstand and two side chairs out of their places so I could put the couch there and the new recliner where the couch was, right across from the TV...

Before Big Bird, Barney and video games, children amused themselves playing marbles and ball and jacks. They skipped rope, spun tops and played hopscotch. Ingenuity was paramount. Most toys weren't store bought. They were homemade. Youngsters played baseball with a broom handle and bottle caps...