Stories from Sunday, October 30, 1994

To the editor: The Nov. 8 election on Amendment 6 is all about overcoming a legal technicality in order for riverboat casinos in Missouri to proceed in accordance with the wishes of Missourians already expressed about two years ago. By passing Amendment 6 and moving forward with riverboat gambling, Missouri's residents stand to gain educational opportunities, increased economic development, more business for the state's important tourism industry and jobs...

The First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau will host a "Pumpkin Patch" celebration on Monday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The program encourages families to celebrate together with friends, and offers an Halloween alternative. The Youth Puppet Team and the Baptist Student Center Band will each perform briefly...

Trick-or-treaters are going to be out and about Monday night, many of them dressed as goblins, witches and victims of gory deaths. This trend of allowing children to portray extreme violence has caused some folks to seek ways to limit or even ban Halloween observances. Some schools have gone so far as to establish guidelines for Halloween costumes that can be worn by students...

Kent McCormick couldn't remember exactly how much he dropped into the United Way milk jug, but the Clippard Elementary second-grader knew exactly how he raised the money. "I mowed lawns and did some jobs after school," McCormick said after receiving a few gentle nudges from his teacher, Dawn Smith. Was it hard work, Kent? "Not really, I do it all the time," he said...

The Salvation Army, 701 Good Hope in Cape Girardeau, will begin a week of evangelistic meetings today that will continue through Thursday. Major and Mrs. Ed Jarvis, territorial evangelist, will use magic, illusions, ventriloquism, clowning and puppetry to present the gospel...

JACKSON -- The 23 students, seated in a circle, focused their attention on their teacher in the middle of the room. It was Capt. Mark Parrish, and he was surrounded by rescue equipment, including harnesses. He picked one up. "So, what's a one-person load?" he asked...

The annual Jail and Bail fund-raising effort Thursday netted $28,586 for the American Cancer Society. The Jackson chapter raised $11,005. "This is the most that Jackson has ever raised in Jail and Bail," chapter president Betty Scheper said. The Cape Girardeau chapter raised a record $17,581...

Honey Marie, one of Leona Webb's pets she adopted from the area Humane Society, easily fits inside of a large basket that has a handle made of elk antlers. Webb uses elk and deer antlers for her most unique creations. Weavers are long strands of wood that Leona Webb uses in weaving her baskets. She can weave a small basket in a few hours...

Lindy sits before the 10-foot tall, plate glass window on the second story of his Gordonville building. He says the process of restoring the stucture is one of combining old and new and explains that while the window may not fit in with the rest of the building, he can't wait to sit in a window seat and watch it snow this winter...

Democratic State Auditor candidate Steve Danner will stop in Cape Girardeau Monday during a swing through Southeast Missouri. Danner will hold a conference at the main entrance to the Common Pleas Courthouse at 44 N. Lorimier in Cape Girardeau. Danner, who is critical of state auditor Margaret Kelly for refusing to take a stand on Hancock II, said he will call on Kelly to take a stand on the amendment...

WOM-ART, an all-female, Cape Girardeau-based art association, will present "Paths to Creativity" from Monday to Monday, Nov. 21, on the first floor of Kent Library on the Southeast Missouri State University campus. The annual art show will feature 25 pieces in art media from photography to oil painting...

To the editor: A very special thank you for the privilege of being a part of your observance of the 90th birthday of the Southeast Missourian. It was an enjoyable and enlightening experience. My congratulations. As with many facets of America in 1994, newspaper publishing has changed dramatically. Yet, the loyalty and creativity of dedicated individuals is the strength of the newspapers of today. I was very happy to see that the vision of excellence is alive and well at the Southeast Missourian...

A new study of birth rates in Missouri shows a couple of interesting trends: Teen-age girls and women in their 30s are having more babies than in 1980 after a significant drop from 1960. And younger black teen-agers are 10 times more likely to have babies than their white counterparts. Older black teen-agers are having babies three times more often than older white teens...

First, there was the Republican "Contract with America." More than 300 GOP candidates for the House of Representatives stood on the Capitol steps and pledged to cut taxes, increase defense spending and balance the budget -- all at the same time. This is the poppycock that George Bush once called "Voodoo economics." Bush was right. It was voodoo then; it's voodoo now...

There are two topics that cropped up this week: letters to the editor and the television listings. Letters to the editor have been largely unlimited in either content or length in the Southeast Missourian. This is a good deal -- until letters writers start stretching the undefined boundaries...

To the editor: Here is a short multiple choice test for those planning on going to the polls Nov. 8. Why does it take Mel Hancock's Amendment 7 3,000 words to say, "Any and all changes in state individual income tax rates, state corporate income tax rates, state sales tax rates, and state local-use tax rates shall be approved by a majority of the registered voters in Missouri?"...

Alan S. Lubert will present "Health Care Decisions" Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Cape Girardeau. The program, which is free and open to the public, is hosted by the River City Business and Professional Women and funded by the Missouri Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities...

JACKSON -- Otto L. Miller, 71, of Jackson died Friday, Oct. 28, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 27, 1923, at Gordonville, the son of Otto T. and Lillie Harmon Miller. On Oct. 30, 1943, he married Clara L. Biri, who survives...

PUXICO -- Mildred Marie Powell, 83, of Puxico died Friday, Oct. 28, 1994, at Lucy Lee Hospital in Poplar Bluff. She was born May 4, 1911, at Leora, the daughter of Lewis O. and Ollie E. Christian Kitchen. On Sept. 3, 1931, she married John Powell at Poplar Bluff. He survives...

Roy E. Ross, 65, died Friday, Oct. 28, 1994, at 1400 S. West End Blvd. Lot 23. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel in Cape Girardeau.

Son to Jerry R. and Julyela D. Knight of Scott City, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:26 a.m. Friday, Oct. 21, 1994. Name, Joseph Lee. Weight, 9 pounds 2 ounces. Third son. Mrs. Knight is the former Julyela Wills, daughter of J.D. and Jeri Wills of Oak Ridge. Knight is employed at Noranda Aluminum, and is the son of Roy Lee and Isabelle Knight of Commerce...

Forrest Gump's story is that of a simple, down-to-earth man who overcomes handicaps and proceeds to make fame and fortune for himself in several segments of American history during the decades of the '60s, '70s and '80s. His story inspires tears of joy mingled with tears of sorrow...

John E. Wilson, 43, of New York City and formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Oct. 21, 1994, at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York. He was born Aug. 27, 1951, in Cape Girardeau, the son of Charles and Margaret Wilson. He was a graduate of Cape Central High School and Southeast Missouri State University. He was also a graduate of Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, as a medical technologist...

PERRYVILLE -- Hester T. Blaylock, 83, of Perryville died Friday, Oct. 28, 1994, at Aspen Forest Care Center in Perryville. She was born Sept. 27, 1911, in Perry County, the daughter of Joseph A. and Hattie Krater Brewer. On June 12, 1937, she married Roy J. Moore, who preceded her in death in 1961. She married Benton Blaylock in 1966, and he preceded her in death Dec. 23, 1975...

Branden Scott Lichtenegger, 2 months, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, October 28, 1994. He was born Aug. 31, 1994, at Cape Girardeau, the son of Thomas and Dawn Brown Lichtenegger. Survivors include the parents of Cape Girardeau; maternal grandparents, Donna Brown of Cape Girardeau and Garry Brown of Bernie; great maternal grandparents, Charlie and Bertie Weinrich of Perryville, Bill Brown of Dexter and Dorothy Compton of Norfolk, Va.; paternal grandparents, Mr. ...

An assortment of scary masks are available for Jaycees to choose from as they "help" the visitors to the Haunted House. Some masks cost about $300. It's an ugly old ghoul that lies in a coffin in a spooky old room in the Jackson Jaycees' Haunted House. Eight rooms in the house are haunted...

JACKSON -- William "Bill" Weston, 35, of Desloge died Friday, Oct. 28, 1994, at his home. He was born Jan. 25, 1959, at Farmington, the son of the late Corbin and Virginia Kelly Weston. Survivors include a son, Billy Weston of Wappapello; four brothers, Mike Weston of Sedgewickville, Joe Weston of Wappapello, Dan Weston of Jackson and Bob Graham of Patton; and four sisters, Shirley Kiehne of Memphis, Tenn., Rae Pohlman of Jackson, and Beverly Seabaugh and Neena McCall, both of Sedgewickville...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Allen Kenneth Knupp, 16, of Anniston died Friday, Oct. 28, 1994, from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. He was born March 11, 1978, at Sikeston, the son of Allen Achter and Rhonda Ramona Knupp Achter of East Prairie. He was a junior at Charleston High School and attended the Baptist Church at East Prairie...

Residential and commercial real-estate prices in Cape Girardeau increased dramatically in the last year, a phenomenon agents attribute to low interest rates, scarcity and perhaps a bit to dreams of a riverboat gambling windfall. In the period from January to October 1993, the average price of a residence sold in Cape Girardeau was $71,720...

Nobody is predicting the outcome of Amendment 6 voting on Nov. 8, but a recent statewide poll indicates most voters favor the measure to allow slot machines on Missouri riverboats. The Mason-Dixon Political-Media Research Inc. survey was conducted last week via a telephone poll of 817 registered voters. The overall margin of error in the poll is plus or minus 3.5 percent...

Cape Girardeau businesswoman Judith R. Wilferth was named "Friend of the University" at the annual Copper Dome breakfast Saturday at the Show Me Center. The award is the highest honor the Southeast Missouri State University Foundation bestowes. Wilferth, former chairwoman of the foundation's board of directors, was recognized for her support and close association with the university's mission, purposes, plans and programs...

Riverboat gambling has been a factor -- at least downtown -- in the equation that has increased residential and commercial real-estate prices well over 8 percent in the last year. "I think people are hoping the riverboat might increase the value of their property," said Marta Green, an agent with Classic Real Estate Ltd...

Union and Confederate soldiers met once again during a Civil War reenactment event held in Jackson last weekend. The event was sponsored by the St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railway. Visitors from the area and from St. Louis and Southern Illinois got the opportunity to ride the old-time steam train, tour the authentic campgrounds of the Union and Confederate reenactors and see firsthand a reenactment of a battle which took place at Sedalia during the Civil War...

JACKSON -- When 10-year-old Rodney Ivie received a fancy certificate and Jackson Indians T-shirt, he didn't understand all the fuss. But Ivie's enrollment in West Lane Elementary School was a milestone for Jackson Public Schools. He was the 2,000th student enrolled in the elementary section, which includes kindergarten through sixth grade in seven separate school buildings...

Leaves are their most bedazzling in death. It's ironic that we most appreciate the foliage of deciduous trees -- those that shed their leaves each year -- when that foliage is perishing. It's when the leaves are on their last legs, however, that they best exhibit nature's paintbrush with a gaudy display of colors ranging from smoldering golds to riotous reds...

JEFFERSON CITY -- The Missouri Department of Conservation said more work is needed to develop a Missouri River management policy that accommodates the needs of fish and wildlife. In an issued statement, MDC environmental coordinator Norm Stucky said the corps can develop an alternative that better meets the needs of all who use the river, including fish and wildlife...

I wonder how many species of wildflowers still bloom at Whispering Hills. Asters scatter violet and white between the driveway and the woods. A thoroughwort (Eupartorium) stands as tall as the asters and has white flowers in dense heads. A partridge pea has two drooping yellow flowers...

Effective Nov. 1, nine wildlife refuges in Land Between the Lakes will close to hunting, fishing, boating and other activities. These closures provide undisturbed resting and feeding ares for waterfowl, shore birds and eagles. To serve this purpose, human activity must be minimized while migratory birds are present. LBL staff requests public compliance with refuge regulations designed to provide needed sanctuary...

A few folks are getting into the Halloween spirit by decorating their yards with festive ghouls and goblins. "It's tradition," said Nancy Quigley, who has been decorating the outside of her home at 3726 Hopper Road for three years. "I absolutely loved Halloween as a child, and I love doing this."...

Through the little corridor of low-growing, colorful sumac and sassafras I wended my way northwestward to the hills of home. A fog, at tree-top level, made a ceiling. The just-rising sun, shining behind me, made the brightest of passageways, picture book pretty. At moments I thought, facetiously, I was going the wrong way -- not toward the light at the end of the tunnel...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department will be holding the area's largest garage sale in the A.C. Brase Arena Building on Saturday, Nov. 5. It will be held form 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There is no admission charge. More than 30 booths will be set up with a variety of items. Booths are still available for a fee of $10...