Stories from Sunday, September 25, 1994

Dr. Harold E. Chism, 77, of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, Sept. 24, 1994, at the Missouri Veterans Home. He was born April 11, 1917, in Thebes, Ill., son of Amos and Eva Mabel Chism, and the stepson of Carl Hewitt. He married Clarisse Lueders of Cape Girardeau March 7, 1942...

JACKSON -- The Cape Girardeau County Commission has authorized a letter supporting a new Interstate 55 interchange between the Fruitland and Highway 61 exits. But in the letter, the commission made no reference to an interchange at Route E, near Oak Ridge...

Airman recruit Aaron D. Wunderlich, U. S. Navy, was graduated from Great Lakes Naval Recruit Training Command Sept. 9. He was selected as the honor recruit for his company, 251st Company, 8th Division. This selection is based on individual performance of duty in all phases of basic training, including leadership, initiative, response to orders, qualification of a good shipmate and high overall scholastic standing...

Denver B. Lewis, a native of the Jackson area, celebrated his 90th birthday at an open house Saturday at the Monticello House east of Jackson. Family, friends and well-wishers attended. Born one of nine sons of Edward Richard and Mora Ford Lewis of Cape Girardeau County, he lived on the family's farm northwest of Jackson...

Vera Webb Yount and relatives sit on chairs whose seats have been woven by Yount. She describes the weaving process to Donna Brotherton and Tommy Thele. To some people a good chair is as important as a good cigar. Since most people probably spend half their lives sitting, a comfortable "landing pad" can be a necessity...

The success of last year's Mississippi River Valley Fall Scenic Drive has prompted the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University to coordinate the event again. Last year's scenic drive tour and emphasis on community attractions turned out to be a great opportunity for small communities to promote some of their special fall events...

When Nick Accardo bought the Whistle Stop Cafe recently, he brought a little of Louisiana to the city of Jackson. A native of New Orleans who worked since childhood in Crescent City eateries including four- and five-star French and Italian restaurants, Accardo purchased the Whistle Stop about a month ago and began introducing Cajun and Italian entrees to the restaurant's menu...

The 50th annual Jackson Marching Band Festival will be held Oct. 4. The day's events will include a parade through downtown Jackson at 1:30 p.m. with the field shows starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Jackson High School stadium. This marching festival started in the mid-1940s when Jackson band director Leroy Mason wanted to establish a non-competitive marching event for Southeast Missouri bands. ...

In addition to waterfowl, Schlegel has sculpted a number of other birds including woodpeckers, bluebirds and a bald eagle. In his hand is a large mallard drake. Schlegel uses different carving manuals to ensure that his duckes are the proper scale. The mixed hues of blue, black and green in the head of the mallard drake don't show it. The intent look of a redheaded woodpecker listening to an approaching noise does nothing to betray it...

The giant snowball of colossal mistakes came crashing through the newsroom last week. If you have ever made a snowball during a wet snowfall and pushed the snowball around, you know what happens: It picks up more and more snow until you have a giant snowball...

The warnings have been clear and consistent: Mandatory spending by the federal government is growing at an alarming rate. And unless there are major policy shifts to offset this trend, the government will be spending every dollar it gets on entitlements and interest on the national debt by the early part of the next century...

He was not really a presidential figure. He did not have the charm or grace of a Jefferson. Despite his awkward smile, he tended to be irascible. He was confident of his own intellectual powers and didn't want to waste his time with people of lesser intelligence...

Constitutional Amendment 7, also known as Hancock II, represents a clear and present danger to Missouri's future. Many people believe that Amendment 7 simply limits future tax increases. This is not accurate. Amendment 7 severely cuts current spending and therefore will result in an immediate and severe cut in state services. ...

To the editor: I noticed that Sen. Danny Staples likened the Hancock II proposal to the Natural Streams Act and said that both were the most vile form of political trickery. While the Natural Streams Act is most deserving of that title, I see nothing vile in giving the voters of Missouri the choice of how and when our tax monies are to be spent. ...

SIKESTON -- Clay Vernon Wood, 72, of Sikeston died Saturday, Sept. 24, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 12, 1922 at East Prairie, son of Jesse and Ida Daugherty Wood. A resident of the area most of his life, he was a veteran of the Army during World War II, a member of the Henry Meldrum American Legion post in Sikeston, and the Sikeston VFW post...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Richard B. Wilson, 82, of East Prairie, died Friday, Sept. 23, 1994 at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Sept. 16, 1912 in New Madrid County, son of Warner and Katy F. Chapman Wilson. He was a retired logger. Survivors include three brothers, Clyde Wilson, Paris, Tenn., Thomas Wilson, St. Louis, Sterling "Hunter" Wilson, Illinois; and one sister, Alma Gilliam, East Prairie...

SCOTT CITY -- Herman P. Hitt, 62, of Scott City, died Friday, Sept. 23, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 13, 1932, son of Grover B. and Esther E. Snider Hitt. He and Peggy Gross were married Aug. 8, 1958. Hitt was self-employed as a farmer in the Commerce area for 45 years. ...

DELTA -- Glenda A. Givens, 70, of Delta, died Friday, Sept. 23, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 23, 1924, in Catron, daughter of Frank and Lilly Estes Looney. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Delta. She retired in 1973 as a machine operator at Advance Shoe Co...

SCOTT CITY -- Raymond Reeves, 81, of Scott City died Saturday, Sept. 24, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City.

Paul F. Kitchen, 69, of 517 S. Sprigg died Saturday, Sept. 24, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel in Cape Girardeau.

JEFFERSON CITY -- This week marks the 40th anniversary of Missouri's worst prison riot. The inmate uprising occurred at the maximum security penitentiary here and caused millions of dollars in destroyed property and facilities. Four decades later, the state is facing a crisis that threatens not only any progress that has been made since 1954, but creates a major public safety headache for officials of the Department of Corrections...

About 6,000 logging industry members wound their way through piles of sawdust Friday and Saturday as the Show Me Center hosted its fourth Midwest Forest Industry Show. Even weekend dampness didn't deter most visitors. Ken Christgen, executive director of the Missouri Forests Production Association, noted the registration desk was busy both days...

Recommendations to establish an ethics commission and to allow people to vote on new fees and taxes will be presented Monday at 7 p.m. at the city council meeting. The Cape Girardeau Charter Review Committee, appointed by the city council, will recommend establishing a seven-member ethics commission appointed by council...

What is outcome-based education, usually called OBE? And does it go by that name or by other names in different states or localities? The answers depend on the source. But some common patterns and terminology appear in Missouri and in other states like Kentucky, where school reform efforts have adopted the OBE approach or ones similar to it...

The Cape Girardeau Charter Review Committee narrowly voted against recommending that the city's top non-elected administrators face a retention vote every four years. In a 4-3 vote last month, the committee rejected the idea of having voters decide whether to retain the city manager, assistant city manager and six to 12 other top administrators. The latter category could have included the police and fire chiefs, committee members said...

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education will discuss policy at a study session Monday night. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the conference room of the school district administrative building at 61 N. Clark. The meeting is open to everyone. Jan Watson of the Missouri School Boards Association will be on hand to answer questions. The Missouri School Boards Association helped the district update its policy manual last year...

Air Evac, which is purchasing the assets of Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport fixed-base-operator Cape Central Airways, has entered into a 15-year lease agreement with the city with the option for a five-year extension. The change of fixed base operators hinged on whether Cape Girardeau City Council agreed on a settlement with Cape Central Airways. ...

The League of Women Voters, Cape Girardeau County clerk's office and Wal-Mart Stores will participate in National Voter Registration Week this week. Registration will be conducted at Wal-Mart in Cape Girardeau from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at both the Cape Girardeau and Jackson stores...

State Reps. Marilyn Williams and Mary Kasten have been agonizing over the prospect of having to consider the impeachment of Secretary of State Judith Moriarty. Both agree that Moriarty's office has some major problems, mistakes have been made, and that Moriarty probably should resign...

DUTCHTOWN -- New air cushions, which work much like a system of balloons, make righting an overturned tractor-trailer faster, easier and safer. A demonstration of the new equipment was held Saturday at Carnell's Garage and Wrecker Service in Dutchtown...

Our very own ducks don't quack. They whoeek.\ Mallards may show up on more post cards, ads and illustrations of generalized waterfowl, but principally the ducks that call middle-America home are the wood ducks. Countless waterfowlers across the eastern and middle United States benefit from the beauty and bounty of the species during regular duck hunting seasons...

I went to a limestone barrens last week looking for prairie dock in bloom and found only stunted leaves. Because of the drought this summer, seeing certain flowers has been a matter of finding the sites which have had the most rainfall. What I call the Eldorado Railroad Prairie is my second-choice location for seeing it...

CLEARWATER LAKE -- Like all safety equipment, life jackets need care, warns the U.S. Corps of Engineers. A little extra time and attention given life jackets when they is not in use pays off in prolonged, dependable service when they are in use. Several rules should be followed to keep your life jackets in good condition:...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- The Illinois Department of Conservation is sponsoring a special shotgun deer hunt at Rock Cut State Park for disabled hunters. This is the third year for the hunt, which is scheduled for Nov. 10-12 and Dec. 8-10. Thirty disabled hunters will be selected by random drawing to participate in one of the three-day hunts. ...

The September Rains are spoken of as if they were a separate and special time of the year, much as one speaks of the Vernal Equinox and Indian Summer. Sometimes the season is spoken of dreamily as if remembering the nighttime sound of it from an upstairs bed close to the roof and at other times in a mild admonitory tone. We must patch the hole in the roof before the September rains, sow the hollyhock seeds, harvest the squash, hunt for the lost umbrella, inspect the downspouts...

Mary Ann Kellerman has made accommodations with history. An interior designer and Southeast Missouri State University professor, she loves the modern look. But she and her husband, Bert Kellerman, a marketing professor at Southeast, live in a 112-year-old, white-painted brick house that sits grandly atop a hill at 6 S. Fountain, just east of the Cape Girardeau City Hall...

Cape County Disabled American Veterans 16 and its auxiliary will meet at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the DAV Building on Bend Road. State Commander Bonita Mitchell will address the auxiliary. Refreshments will be served. Bingo is scheduled at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Missouri Veterans Home, and the Forget-Me-Not Drive is planned for Sept. 30 and Oct. 1...

Dancers from the Royale Ballet dance studio in Cape Girardeau learned new dance steps under the instruction of Los Angeles choreographer Scott Benson recently. He was invited to Cape Girardeau by Royale Ballet artistic director Gaymarie Tomlinson to teach a jazz workshop and help select dancers for the Ballet Royale Midwest performing company...

The annual Phillips family reunion was held Sept. 4 at Arena Park. Families attended from Cape Girardeau, Oak Ridge, Delta, Advance, Bloomfield, Dexter, Aide; Mississippi towns of Jackson, Brandon, Madison and Vicksburg, and from the states of Ohio and Tennessee...