Stories from Friday, January 27, 1995

"The Meeting" is a play about love. The love Malcolm X had for his oppressed brothers and sisters, and the love Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had as well for the enemies of his people. In the end, the love each has for his own family allows the two ideologically-opposed leaders to embrace -- if briefly -- each other as men and fellow warriors in the struggle for civil rights...

Cape Girardeau City Councilman Melvin Gateley wants countywide restrictions on strip-tease bars. Gateley's call for action comes as Regina's House of Dolls, a strip-tease bar, plans to open Feb. 3 in Cape Girardeau. "If they are determined to be around and they can't stay in the city, they will find their way into the county," he said Thursday...

Bobbi Woodard wasn't looking for female dancers, but she fielded about 25 calls from people responding to an advertisement for them in The Capaha Arrow. The callers asked to speak with Jerry Philpott. Trouble is, Woodard didn't place the ad in the Arrow, Southeast Missouri State University's student newspaper. She never heard of Philpott until several women, and one man, called asking for him...

Billboard advertising is a highly competitive and hotly contested industry throughout the state. And the competition isn't just between billboard companies and the towns they advertise. But Scenic Missouri, a group dedicated to protect the state's scenic resources, wants the legislature to pass a law allowing cities to ban new billboards...

There must be hundreds -- maybe even thousands -- of former high school band members around here who learned to count time and chew gum at the same time under the legendary baton of Joe English. Mr. English -- some people will forever merit a title of respect -- is dead now, but for years and years he was the school music director in your favorite hometown in the Ozarks. ...

BENTON -- Scott County voters will decide April 4 if they want to pay a 10-cent property tax for mental health services. Scott County commissioners approved putting the measure on the April ballot Thursday. The county commission has the power to implement or expand revenues for the county's mental health board, which was established in 1992...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Sen. Peter Kinder is making another push in the Missouri Senate for legislation that would give parents a choice in what schools their children attend. A part of the plan, which would require an amendment to the Missouri Constitution, is that parents would be able to receive vouchers to use at private schools that choose to participate in the program...

SCOTT CITY -- A proposed salary schedule for Scott City police officers will help keep officers, Police Chief Danny Clubb said. The city's administrative-finance committee is looking at a starting salary of $14,758, Scott City Administrator John Saxton said...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Sen. Peter Kinder's two school choice amendments sponsored take different paths to the same goal. The longer version, SJR 17, is identical to one considered last year and includes specific details of the amount of scholarships that would be available to parents to use at private schools...

Noel T. Russell, 85, of Cape Girardeau, died Jan. 26, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Aug. 15, 1909, in Swifton, Ark., son of George Thurman and Ollie Mae Chaney Russell. He married Elizabeth Brock on Nov. 30, 1929, in Blytheville, Ark....

Son to Jim and Wendi Sebourn of Sikeston, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 5:09 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11, 1995. Name, Jeremy Allen. Weight, 10 pounds 10 ounces. Mrs. Sebourn is the former Wendi Briggs, daughter of Peggy Briggs of Sikeston. She is employed by Missouri Division Child Support Enforcement. Sebourn is employed by Sikeston Department of Public Safety, and is the son of Margaret Welch of New Madrid...

JACKSON -- Etta E. Thompson, 88, of Jackson, died Wednesday, Jan. 25, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 26, 1906, at Perryville, daughter of Luscious and Augusta Cowan. She and Elmer Thompson were married in 1930 in Jonesboro, Ill. He died in May 1960...

CHARLESTON -- Ollie Mae Jernigan, 86, of Charleston, died Wednesday, Jan. 25, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born July 14, 1908, in Maroney, Ark., daughter of Henry and Sarena Walls Lyas. Jernigan was a member of Mercy Seat Baptist Church, Missionary Society, and Eastern Star...

ALTO PASS, Ill. -- Richard Boone, 55, of Alto Pass, died Wednesday, Jan. 25, 1995, at his home. He was born May 11, 1939, near Cobden, son of Alvin and Cleo Neighbors Boone. He and Janene Marks were married Oct. 30, 1959, in Alto Pass. Boone was a carpenter...

Mary George, 89, of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, Jan. 25, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born June 16, 1905, at Perryville, daughter of Dennis and Christina Zahner Maddock. She and Clyde Virgil George were married June 23, 1930, in St. Louis. He died Dec. 8, 1934...

Portions of this column were published Tuesday as a letter to the editor. Because key points and legal references were omitted, the column is being published in its entirety. The Southeast Missourian's policy limits letters to one double-spaced typewritten page or the handwritten equivalent. ...

Last week, Gov. Carnahan unveiled his Fiscal Year 1996 budget for state government. At a whopping $12.8 billion, Missouri's budget is up 4 percent over 1995. Thanks to a booming economy and the lowest unemployment rate in 16 years, state government will benefit from $257 million more in revenues this year...

The American Cancer Society's annual gala will be held March 4 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. The theme is "A night at the Coppa." This year's co-chairmen are Dr. and Mrs. Rickey Lents, Mr. and Mrs. Rick Blattner, Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Ford and Dr. and Mrs. Paul Thompson...