Stories from Saturday, December 31, 1994

New Year's Eve is a time for celebration. Revelers ceremoniously usher out the old year and embrace the promise of a new year. There are many traditions for New Year's Eve: black-eyed peas, horn blowing and pot banging, midnight kisses, toasts and song, and of course, drink...

As a news junky, it was with some trepidation that I entered into a week-long vacation late last week. Whenever I take a few days off from work, I find myself separated from news -- broadcast and print. Vacations typically are a time of sharing pleasant experiences with some of my closest friends -- rugby tournaments -- or a time for familial fellowship in the land of cheese. With either scenario, there is little time to watch or read the news, let alone to help put together a newspaper...

Law enforcement officers were keeping a wary eye on the weather as they prepared to deal with New Year's Eve drunk drivers. Freezing rain and a chance for snow are forecast for parts of Missouri this weekend. "We did hear we may have some freezing precipitation," Cape Girardeau Police Capt. Steve Strong said Friday...

MARBLE HILL -- At midnight, Bill Hopkins' 20-year career as Bollinger County associate circuit judge will end. But thanks to Gov. Mel Carnahan, he will begin a new career today as county prosecuting attorney. "I'm relieved that it is over," said Hopkins, who was advised of his appointment Friday morning in a phone call from Carnahan...

Missouri has implemented the instate trucking deregulation that goes into effect nationwide at midnight. The new legislation is part of the Aviation Infrastructure Investment Act signed into law in October. Deregulation of instate trucking means states no longer will be able to set rates, issue licenses or routes within their domain...

Underage Missouri drinkers who decide to take their New Year's Eve celebration to Illinois will be subject to stiffer driving while intoxicated (DWI) penalties if they stay past midnight. Illinois will become the 27th state to adopt a zero tolerance law, effective at midnight that takes away the driver's license from people younger than 21, even if just a trace of alcohol is found in their blood...

There isn't anything like it, that mesmerizing, colorful sculpture in the front window of one of Cape Girardeau's newest fast-food restaurants. It's not a sculpture, though. It's a three-story playground exclusively for people under 4 feet tall. Large pipes take the munchkins from one little dome to another, until they finally puke or fall into a sugar coma...

The Southeast Missouri Chapter of the American Red Cross needs volunteers for disaster relief training. Training is free at various sites throughout the area. Disaster relief volunteers assist in community education and preparedness. For more information, contact Ron MacCubbin, director of emergency services, at 335-9471...

Kendra Foster and Teresa Wildman, both of Cape Girardeau, got a taste of the insider political life when they attended a leadership conference in Baltimore. Foster and Wildman, both political science students at Southeast Missouri State University, were selected to attend the Center for the Study of the Presidency's 25th Annual Leadership Conference during October...

Two St. Louis teachers, both Cape Girardeau natives, have received national writing awards at the National Council of Teachers of English Convention. Carole A. Williams was the senior high division winner of the 1993-94 Paul and Kate Farmer Writing Award. Williams, a language arts coordinator, has taught for 26 years in the Mehlville School District in St. Louis...

Parents Without Partners Cape SEMO Chapter 519 will hold an orientation for prospective members Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. at the Community Counseling Center at Silver Springs and Bloomfield roads. Parents who are divorced, widowed, separated or never married may attend...

Area schools can benefit from sales at the Sikeston Factory Outlet Stores during January through a new shopping fund-raiser. Delta, Scott County Central, Oran, Sikeston, Puxico, Dexter, Caruthersville, Campbell, Piedmont, Portageville, Wardell, and Pemiscot County schools are participating...

Deadlines for signing up for spring classes at the Southeast Missouri Music Academy are approaching. Group classes to be offered are "Music, Movement and More" for 4- and 5-year-old children and "Adult Beginning Piano." Private lessons also are available through the nonprofit organization...

Southeast Missouri State University offices will remain closed Monday and reopen Tuesday at 8 a.m. The university announced the change Friday afternoon. University officials were trying to spread the word through the media as there was no way to officially notify all staff members...

The holidays are a busy time for everyone, including the 30 volunteers and staff at the Safe House for Women Inc. in Cape Girardeau. The safe house, which opened in November 1991, offers assistance for abused women and children in the Southeast Missouri region...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Shawnee National Forest dirt and grass-surfaced roads will remain closed through May 10. The regulation is needed to prevent natural resource damage when roads are wet or soft due to rains, said forest supervisor Louise Odegaard. All-terrain vehicles are not permitted on the roads at any time. "ATVs are not licensed in Illinois," reminded Odegaard. "Riding them on public and forests roads is a violation of state law."...

Daughter to Mark and Julie Caplan of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21, 1994. Name, Hope Elizabeth. Weight, 5 pounds, 7 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Caplan is the former Julie Baker, daughter of Richard and Yonne Baker of Aurora, Ill. ...

PERRYVILLE -- Frances Johanna Riney, 91, died Friday, Dec. 30, 1994, at PerryOaks Healthcare Center in Perryville. She was born Feb. 6, 1903, in St. Louis, daughter of the late Joachim and Dina Grave Merkert. She married Clarence H. Collins Aug. 12, 1933. He preceded her in death Sept. 8, 1943. She later married Murphy Louis Riney on May 25, 1950. He preceded her in death Feb. 25, 1992...

SIKESTON -- Wesley Sander, 94, of Sikeston died Thursday, Dec. 29, 1994, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Dec. 16, 1900, in Tilsit to the late Frank J. and Martha Bartels Sander. In 1922 he married Linda Macke, who preceded him in death in 1982...

SIKESTON -- Wilma Charlene Pointer, 65, of Matthews died Friday, Dec. 30, 1994, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born May 28, 1929, in Marshall, Ark., to the late Walter and Ressie Tredwell Eaton. On Aug. 21, 1945, in Canalou she married Ernest Pointer, who survives...

BELL CITY -- Lester Claude Warnecke, 90, died Thursday, Dec. 29, 1994, at his home in Bell City. He was born Oct. 24, 1904, in Vanduser to the late Louis and Amy Gilliland Wornica. He was employed by DuPont and later worked in security at O'Hare International Airport...

JACKSON -- Herbert M. Glueck, 46, died Friday, Dec. 30, 1994, at his home in Jackson. He was born Oct. 10, 1948, in Cape Girardeau to Herbert A. and Betty L. Mehner Glueck. He was a member of the Catholic church. He attended Notre Dame High School in Cape Girardeau. He received a degree from Southeast Missouri State University and taught at St. Vincent's School in Perryville...

SIKESTON -- Jessie David Buchanan, 73, died Friday, Dec. 30, 1994, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Nov. 15, 1921, in Sikeston to the late David Eual and Essie Pearl Rice Buchanan. Survivors include two brothers, Jimmie Buchanan of Globe, Ariz., and Joe Buchanan of Cabot, Ark.; five sisters, Della England of Cabot, Ark., Betty Schaffer of Rockford, Ill., and Essie Willis, Ruth Schaffer and Bonnie Kaminsky, all of Sikeston; and a number of nieces and nephews...

In 1995, medical science will celebrate the centennial of the discovery of the X-ray, or Roentgen ray. On Nov. 8, 1895, Bavarian physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen revolutionized diagnostic medicine by making it possible to photograph the inner organs and bone structures of human beings and animals. ...