Stories from Wednesday, January 25, 1995

WASHINGTON -- When John Munich, assistant attorney general of Missouri, appeared before the Supreme Court to ask it to end federal court supervision of the Kansas City Metropolitan School District, he pressed two basic arguments. First, he attacked the original findings of Judge Russell Clark that reduced student achievement and white flight were the result of past school segregation. ...

The Community Relations Council of Vision 2000 will present its sixth annual "Awards of Distinction" to 12 organizations and individuals during a breakfast meeting Thursday at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Vision 2000 award recipients this year include Beta Sigma Phi, Boatmen's Bank, Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department, Cape Girardeau Public Library, League of Women Voters, Union Electric, Richard Bollwerk, Karen Carr, Steven Green, Kay Jones, Jeff Krantz and Ron Wilson...

Cape Girardeau County may increase its voter rolls substantially this year under the National Voter Registration Act that went into effect Jan. 1. More popularly known as the "Motor Voter" law, the new federal mandate allows people applying for new drivers' licenses to also register to vote...

"The Clinton Presidency at Midpoint" and "Russia and Its Neighbors: U.S. Policy Choices" are among the topics to be discussed when the Great Decisions program convenes during the spring semester at Southeast Missouri State University. Great Decisions is a national program sponsored by the Foreign Policy Association, a non-partisan organization in Washington that seeks to promote understanding of American foreign policy choices. ...

Brandon C. Baker and Gregory Karl Blattner, both 15, recently were presented Eagle Scout awards. Baker is a member of Troop 16 sponsored by the Elk's Lodge and Blattner is a member of Troop 21 sponsored by St. Andrew Lutheran Church. For his Eagle Scout service project, Baker built a picnic table for the Newman Center on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University, and created a landscape plan for the center...

WASHINGTON -- When John Munich, assistant attorney general of Missouri, appeared before the Supreme Court to ask it to end federal court supervision of the Kansas City Metropolitan School District, he pressed two basic arguments. First, he attacked the original findings of Judge Russell Clark that reduced student achievement and white flight were the result of past school segregation. ...

For the past couple of years, one of the most consistent complaints directed at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport has been poor service by the airport's fixed base operator. An airport's FBO is to general aviation what the convenience store and automobile repair shop is to interstate automobile traffic. The FBO supplies fuel, airplane maintenance and other services for pilots who land in Cape Girardeau...

In what is becoming a too-familiar lament, the Red Cross has issued an emergency appeal for blood donors. Last week, the Red Cross had less than a day's supply of blood available for Missouri and Illinois. Right now the Red Cross is targeting the Cape Girardeau area, where the supply of Type O blood is down 75 percent, Type B is down 60 percent, and Type A is down 40 percent...

The Rev. David Allen thinks Cape Girardeau's redistricting committee needs his input and wants to be part of the process to redraw elementary areas. "The truth is they can't do their job without our input," Allen said. "They need to hear from me." Allen and many of the 60 parents and community members attending Tuesday's meeting felt the committee was trying to shut them out of the decision process...

Residents in Holland have begun a campaign to keep Burlington Northern trains from running 55 miles an hour through town. And, efforts are also under way in other Southeast Missouri communities to halt the railroad's proposal to increase speeds in their towns...

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. -- Burlington Northern could save up to $1,800 a day by increasing its trains speed to 55 mph through several Southeast Missouri towns. And, it would be safer for the communities, a Burlington Northern trainmaster said. Bill Mays, a trainmaster based in Blytheville, manages the railroad from Chaffee to Turrell, Ark., 50 miles south of Blytheville...

Cape Girardeau Central High School band director Ron Nall will take three of Missouri's finest musicians and vocalists to the Missouri Music Educators All-State Concert this week. The event will take place at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Lake of the Ozarks Thursday, Friday and Saturday...

The Institute for Children and Families at Southeast Missouri State University will sponsor a teleconference titled "The Future of American Children." The event will be held Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom. Census data say one in five American children live in poverty...

JEFFERSON CITY -- State Rep. David Schwab, R-Jackson, has been given an additional assignment to serve on the agriculture committee. When a preliminary list of committees was distributed 10 days ago, Schwab was left off one of the two committees that deal with agriculture. In the last session he had served on agri-business...

Listening Post forums for U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond will be held Feb. 3 in Jackson, Marble Hill, Perryville and Ste. Genevieve. The forums will be conducted by Tom Schulte, director of Bond's district office in Southeast Missouri. Schulte will be at Klein's Medicate, Fourth and Rozier, in Ste. ...

PERRYVILLE -- The Southeast Missouri Solid Waste Management District Board of Directors will meet Thursday at 1 p.m. in the Nutrition Center at Fredericktown. On the agenda are reports about the receipt of dues and the receipt of a district administrative grant from the Department of Natural Resources...

DEXTER -- Dexter honored its proud past and its bright future at the annual Chamber of Commerce Banquet this week. Tapped for the evening's two top honors were Ruby Watson and M.A. Hart, who received the 1995 Woman and Man of the Year awards respectively for their volunteer work and community involvement...

When a map of Missouri showing where gang and gang-related violence prevails flashed on the projector screen, Cape Girardeau wasn't marked. Some 250 teachers and administrators at Tuesday's school violence seminar smiled gratefully or sighed, noting the city's absence. Their comfort was short-lived...

Sylvia Eunice Dillworth, 92, of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, Jan. 24, 1995, at the Lutheran Home. She was born June 9, 1902, at Redford, daughter of George William and Mary Ellen Barfield. She and Earl Dillworth were married Oct. 18, 1919. He died April 5, 1977...

HOWARDVILLE -- Mary Hardin, 84, of Howardville, died Thursday, Jan. 19, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Oct. 28, 1910, in Darling, Miss., daughter of James and Carrie Cushingberry. She and Willie Hardin were married in 1937...

Sara June Zikmund, 2 months old, died Monday, Jan. 23, 1995, in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 2, 1994, in Slidell, La., daughter of Mike and Carol Smith Zikmund. Service is tentatively set for 10 a.m. Thursday. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements...

Son to Jason and Elizabeth Margetta, 1915 Good Hope, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 3:17 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 5, 1995. Name, Jacob Lee. Weight 8 pounds 13 ounces. First child. Mrs. Margetta is the former Elizabeth Brase, daughter of Harvey L. and Beverly Brase of Gordonville. She is employed at Lee Beth Transportation in Gordonville. Margetta is employed at Auffenberg Autopark, and is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Matt Margetta of Cape Girardeau and Mr. and Mrs. Martin Stricklin of San Diego, Calif...

Herb Marion Littleton, 58, 810 Sharon, died Tuesday, Jan. 24, 1995, at his home. He was born Dec. 29, 1936, in Cape Girardeau, son of Joseph and Lela McClard Littleton. He and Pauline Francis Ravenstein were married July 29, 1961, in Cape Girardeau...

Cities and counties could use eminent domain to expand airports outside their boundaries if legislation sponsored by Sen. Peter Kinder passes. Kinder's bill, SB-144, will have a hearing this afternoon before the Agriculture and Local Government Committee...

Human error caused a fire that destroyed a bedroom of a mobile home north of Cape Girardeau mobile home Tuesday night, East County Fire Chief Jim Hanks said. Curtains in the Richard Roark home at 110 East Street on Route W caught fire around 7:45 p.m. after an electric blanket was left on its highest setting and a guitar and clothing were piled on top of it...

According to reports in current garden magazines, trends for future gardeners are smaller lawns, and the use of dwarf grasses that are more resistant to drought, disease and insects, and require less maintenance. This will reduce lawn cutting by as much as 50 percent. New varieties of trees and shrubs are being introduced with improved foliage and flowering, and new varieties of roses are being developed which require less spraying and have better winter hardiness...