Stories from Sunday, December 11, 1994

SIKESTON -- Mary E. Thompson, 87, of Sikeston died Saturday, Dec. 10, 1994, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born on Oct. 3, 1907, in McMullin, the daughter of Sanford and Donnie Merrell Thompson. She was a homemaker. Survivors include four sisters, Thelma Brashears of Festus, Evolee Thompson and Hazel Thompson, both of Sikeston, and Alberta Burress of Morton, Ill...

Notre Dame High School will hold its annual Christmas Concert Sunday at the high school gym. The concert begins at 7 p.m. and features the mixed chorus and the school band. The Concert Choir and Treble Choir will perform Christmas music Dec. 18 at Old St. Vincent's Church at 7 p.m. Soloist is Lori Schaefer...

League changes site for annual holiday tea The League of Women Voters annual Holiday tea honoring elected officials, the media and prospective members will be held on Sunday, Dec. 11 2-4 p.m. at 2450 Fairview Place, the home of Martha Hamilton. The tea was originally scheduled to take place at the home of Sandy Bonner but was changed due to an accident...

A senior citizen dance will be held Thursday, Dec. 15 7-10 p.m. at the A.C. Brase Arena Building. The Bob Rosenquist Band will be the entertainment. Admission is $3.00 and concessions will be available throughout the evening. Senior citizen dances are held on the third Thursday of every month for those 55 and older...

Jackson's merchants are trying to keep their neighbors home for the holidays, at least as far as shopping in concerned. Vanita Jones of the Jackson Merchants Association says the patronage of Jackson citizens is vital to the town's merchants. The merchants have combined forces to fund a newspaper and television ad campaign designed not only to keep Jackson shoppers in Jackson, but to draw those living outside the city in to what Jones feels is a unique shopping area with a homey, personalized atmosphere.. ...

The city of Jackson has been awarded a Pedestrian Safety Citation in the American Automobile Association's 55th annual Pedestrian Safety Inventory. Pedestrian accident summaries and safety activity reports were compiled by the AAA-Auto Club of Missouri and submitted to a national judging panel, according to AAA district sales representative Jim Burke...

A little friendly competition never hurt anyone and this is particularly true for the needy in the Jackson area. A little friendly competition may ensure that they receive a warm nourishing meal at Christmas. Members of Jackson High School's sophomore, junior and senior classes finished a week of competition Friday to see which of the classes could collect the most donated canned goods and money for the needy. ...

Manes looks over some of the many plaques and banners presented him during visits to Rotary chapters around the world. "The journey is the reward," goes a Taoist proverb. Stone Manes agrees. The longtime Jackson resident and businessman says the rewards of his hobby of travel are as numerous as the miles he's logged in the past 20-plus years...

Vel Marshall holds a painting called "Blue Window." In the background is the subject of the painting -- an old house on a winding dirt road in rural Patton. Marshal exhibits her work in art galleries around the state. She lives in a log cabin surrounded by guineas, goats, cattle, cats and a dog, and she paints and sketches in the nearby 120-year-old house where she was born...

Missouri's system of workers' compensation, which is an employer-funded insurance program for employes who are hurt on the job, is broken. Five consecutive years of double-digit rate increases have signalled this troubling reality. An attempt at reform was made nearly two years ago, when Senate Bill 251 was enacted into law...

At a meeting of newspaper folks last week a university journalism professor cited survey results showing that newspaper reporters and editors rank lower than used-car salesmen when it comes to credibility. That isn't fair. To used-car salesmen. When was the last time you read or heard anything about used-car salesmen that reflected negatively on their honesty or their ethics in general? And when was the last time you had reason to question what you read in a newspaper or heard on radio and television?. ...

Newt Gingrich, speaker of the House-elect, is a man of rapid-fire, quotable quotes. Some are horrific. Some are profound. Let's deal with a profound one: "You can never study Franklin Delano Roosevelt too much. He did bring us out of the Depression. ...

To the editor: Ex-Moral Majoritarian, now self-righteous syndicated columnist Cal Thomas can't pass up an opportunity to smear public schools. In his latest salvo Dec. 8 ("Next step: Changing the schools") he invoked the president of a private college who spoke at a seminar in Hawaii. ...

To the editor: Your Thursday issue contains a glaring mistake that will certainly raise charges of blatant partisan slanting of your news coverage. I am referring to the article at the top of Page 5A ("Former Clinton travel chief indicted"). The headline is not an accurate reflection of the content of the article, nor is it an accurate description of the individual involved. ...

Boulware believes that I think too much. This premise may be true, but my thinking brings me to some interesting conclusions. For example, I have determined what allergies and the number "13" have in common. If one has allergies, being in the presence of one allergen might not cause him to have an allergic reaction. ...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Rebecca Jane Worthy Garrett, 35, of East Prairie died Friday, Dec. 9, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 28, 1959, in Charleston, the daughter of A. J. and Annie May Melton Worthy. She married Dennis Garrett on Sept. 25, 1986...

JACKSON -- Ola Crites, 64, of rural Jackson died Saturday, Dec. 10, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. An Order of Eastern Star service will be held Monday at 7 p.m. at the funeral home. A Masonic service will be held at 7:30 p.m...

ADVANCE -- Fern Sherman Francis, 88, of Advance died Saturday, Dec. 10, 1994, at Advance Nursing Center. She was born Dec. 17, 1905 near Advance, the daughter of Charles W. Bess and Oma Elizabeth Shell Bess. She marred W. G. Sherman on April 17, 1926. He preceded her in death. She later married Ollie Frances in July of 1972. He preceded her in death on Nov. 27, 1988...

CHARLESTON -- Willie Wiley Jr., 51, of rural Charleston died Wednesday, Dec. 7, 1994, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Nov. 17, 1941, in Henson, the son of Willie Wiley Sr., and Juanita Miller Wiley. He is survived by three sons, Alonzo Wiley, Thomas Wiley and Westly Wiley, all of Chicago; three daughters, Kimberly Wiley and Varonica Wiley, both of Chicago, and Tosha Coopwood of Charleston; four brothers, Alvie Lee Wiley of St. ...

SIKESTON -- Charlotte D. Matthews, 78, of Sikeston, died at her home Friday, Dec. 9, 1994. She was born Sept. 19, 1916 in Sikeston, daughter of Charles E. Dover and Kathleen Druelinger Dover. She married Glenn A. Matthews Jr. Jan. 1, 1937 in Jonesboro, Ill. He survives...

DEXTER -- Willis Lee Morlan, 63, of St. Louis died Friday, Dec. 2, 1994, at St. Louis. He was born Dec. 21, 1930, at Grubbs, Ark., the son of Roy and Julie Talley Morlan. He owned and operated the Morlan Heating & Air Company at St. Louis, and he was a veteran of the U.S. Army during the Korean War...

EAST PRAIRIE -- B. D. Upton, 91, of rural East Prairie died Friday, Dec. 9, 1994, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Dec. 9, 1903, at Dorena, the son of James and Lucy Doss Upton. He married Edith Sullivan Feb. 13, 1928, at Covington, Tenn. She preceded him in death June 5, 1987...

Fred Scott Copeland, 78, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Dec. 9, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born July 10, 1916, at Clarksville, Ark., the son of Mr. and Fred S. Copeland Sr. He married Comfort K. Austin on May 2, 1987. She survives. There are no other survivors...

Ethel E. Headrick, 78, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Dec. 10, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Sept. 29, 1916, at Sedalia, the daughter of Cameron Saucier and Sina Meyer Saucier. She married William H. Headrick April 7, 1939. He survives...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Vivian Lucille Stanfield Gregory, 84, of the Hunter Acres Caring Center in Sikeston and formerly of East Prairie died Thursday, Dec. 8, 1994, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born March 7, 1910, in Wayne County, the daughter of George and Laura Anderson Stanfield...

SIKESTON -- Ernest Wesley McCain, 79, of Sikeston died Friday, Dec. 9, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 7, 1915, in New Madrid County, the son of the late Della Roseberry McCain and John W. McCain, who survives of Bloomfield...

Kansas communities boasting the homes of Miss Americas, astronauts, basketball champions -- even an international power-lifting champion -- receive official Kansas Highway Department signs commemorating the distinction. Arlen Tappan, state traffic signing engineer, said about half a dozen commemorative signs are made each year for Kansas communities with achievements or notable natives...

Missouri tax dollars are being spent to promote gambling, drinking, outlaws and an atheist as well as a conservative radio talk-show host. Seventy tourism projects for communities from Kimmswick to Kansas City are tapping $1 million in state tax dollars to promote whatever makes a place unusual...

Residents along Cape Girardeau's Melody Lane aren't singing a merry tune these days. Although the area east of Old Sprigg Road and north of Bertling has been in the city limits since the late 1950s, residents aren't served by city sewers or city water...

When the season of giving is bankrolled by Visa, MasterCard and Discover, Santa Claus sometimes goes overboard. MasterCard and Visa have reported record spending since Thanksgiving, increases of up to 25 percent. American consumers already owed $324 billion on their credit cards before the latest binge, an amount that has increased by $4 billion monthly during 1994...

CARUTHERSVILLE -- The "City of Caruthersville" riverboat will be the first floating gambling riverboat on the Mississippi River between St. Louis and New Orleans. Casino Aztar, which is investing more than $40 million in its Mississippi River casino riverboat operation here, has started construction on its land-based pavilion and expects to make its first official gambling expedition in late April or early May...

The $17 million cleanup of the Missouri Electric Works site in Cape Girardeau likely won't begin in earnest until 1996, an Environmental Protection Agency official said. The federal agency has been dealing with the PCB-contaminated site for a decade...

The Cape Girardeau Public Library is one of 20 in Missouri chosen for a pilot project by the Missouri State Library. REAL, or Researching Electronic Access for Libraries, provided a grant for Internet service for the local library. The Friends of the Library purchased the necessary hardware and phone line...

Cash donations have poured in for Christmas for the Elderly, but many specific clothing needs haven't been met. Cape Girardeau County Health Director Charlotte Craig said: "We've received a lot of money, which is good, but we didn't get that great of a response with some of the clothing items requested."...

A 12-year-old Cape Girardeau girl who is blind has grown particularly fond of music. A musical teddy bear would make a difference in her Christmas this year. Her parents are unable to buy such a toy. However, through Toybox, a project shared by the Cape Girardeau Jaycees and Southeast Missourian, the child might still receive the toy she wants...

Continuing Pheasants (Southeast Zone) closes Dec. 12 Deer (muzzleloader) closes Dec. 31 Deer (archery) closes Dec. 31 Turkey (archery) closes Dec. 31 Ducks & Coots (South Zone) closes Jan. 3 Quail closes Jan. 15 Ruffed grouse closes Jan. 15...

I hike to what I call the "mossy slope" on Forest Service land south of Whispering Hills. Walking switch-backs makes it easier to climb up the hill to a rock where I like to sit. Mosses, lichens, dead leaves and rocks patchwork the slope. Showers during the night softened the dead leaves and greened the lichens. Cupped leaves hold mini-pools of water...

Relatively speaking, these are good times for predators, those most scorned critters. Man traditionally has viewed predators as the villains of the animal world. If they are evil, however, they are a necessary evil and an integral part of the scheme of things, the checks and balances of nature...

Donna Komorech knew just how important Christmas was to her husband Robert when they built their home in Cape Girardeau six years ago. "He made sure there were twice as many electrical outlets upstairs to handle all of the Christmas lights he planned to put up each year," Donna said. "Christmas is the biggest holiday season for him."...

I miss the old days when I could call Vandeven's, Fischer's or Werner's, give them my no-minimum grocery order and have it delivered later in the day. Only now in these hectic shopping days do I realize how nice it was. No searching up and down the crowded parking lot for a place to squeeze in your car. ...