Stories from Sunday, April 16, 1995

It was in 1987 that the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department began a new era for the state. That year saw voter passage of Proposition A, a four-cent fuel tax for roads and bridges. The department committed to Missouri voters that if they approved the measure, certain identified Prop A projects would be completed in a timely manner. With voter approval, the department had a bold, 15-year plan declaring how this money would be used for new construction through the year 2002...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- A sawmill operation in the Twenty Crossing area, north of Olive Branch, was destroyed by fire early Saturday morning. The main saw, a chipper and debarker, were destroyed in the fire. The Horseshoe Lake Voluntary Fire Department, headquartered at Olive Branch, sent three trucks -- two pumpers and a tanker -- to the fire scene...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- The sixth-grade class at Egyptian School near here recently conducted a soda sale. Net profits for the event was $70. The students sent their proceeds to the Horseshoe Lake Branch Volunteer Fire Department. Another Egyptian student chipped in $3...

Cape Girardeau County JB Properties Inc. to Larry Smith et al.; Priscilla B. Hunter to Eric L. and Susan R. Shirrell; Garry H. and Jane A. Pirch to Billy M. and Pamela K. Recker. St. Louis Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America to the City of Jackson; Dwight Leo and Joyce J. Baker to James E. and Ruby M. Lane; James T. Adams and Stephanie O. Shreve to the Edvira A. Rhodes Trust...

Two major religious events coincide this year: Easter and Passover. For Christians, Easter is the pivotal event on which their religion is founded. Jesus Christ died on a cross for the sins of the world. The crucifixion would have been little noticed except for the fact that Jesus came back from the dead. The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! For 2,000 years believers have repeated the words that express the fundamental core of Christianity...

CHAFFEE -- Incoming mayor Bill Cannon "knows what's going on," said Ron Moyers, Chaffee's mayor for the past eight years who will give up his seat Monday night. Cannon, a council member the past six years, won the April 4 election by a 3-2 margin over former mayor Bob Capshaw. Moyers didn't filed for re-election...

A telephone check-in service being organized by three local organizations will provide senior citizens in the Jackson area with an added sense of security. Known as the Telephone Reassurance Service, the free program provides regular phone calls to participating seniors who may either be homebound or just lonely and wishing to hear a friendly voice. It relies on volunteers who offer up a portion of their time each day to man the phones...

Diana Culver donated her time Saturday to clean up trash around the swings at Jackson Park during the city's clean-up day. Katheia Foust, a member with the Jackson Noon Optimist, spent her time picking weeds and planting flowers around Jackson Park's new Safety City Sign...

Standing over steaming cauldrons for hours at a time sounds like a job best left to someone else, but for members of the Jackson Jaycees, it's all part of the fun of preparing for an event that has become a Jackson tradition. The Jaycee's annual Easter egg hunt was held yesterday in Jackson City Park. For the Jaycees, the work, and a good bit of the fun, started much earlier in the week...

Poems written by two students at Jackson's R.O. Hawkins Junior High School have been selected for inclusion in a national anthology of student poetry. Seventh-graders Annie Lefebvre and Jennifer Stiegemeyer, both students in Ellen Lukens' language arts class, have been selected from among hundreds of poets nationwide to have their poetry included in "The Anthology of Poetry By Young Americans."...

St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pocahontas was founded by Austrian immigrants in 1868. Standing at the entrance are, from the left, Marvin Ludwig, Dorothy Ludwig and Marjorie Swan. The old church cemetery, where cattle used to graze, is being restored by church members. The last burial there was in 1920. Marvin Ludwig clears brush from the graves of his ancestors, who helped found the church following The War Between the States...

The small communities of the Mississippl River Valley will be decked out and ready to receive guests April 22-23 for the 5th Annual Mississippi River Valley Scenic Drive. Dr. Frank Nickell, director of the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University, which is sponsoring the event, said participants in the scenic drive will have the opportunity to see delicate spring foliage, learn about the region's colorful history, experience special fun community events and taste wonderful food all along the route.. ...

With so many "latch-key" children in today's society, bicycles have become a necessary form of transportation for many. It is important that each child be taught the "rules of the road" and other safety measures that could one day save his or her life...

Every time I read another announcement of a new prison I am enraged. And saddened. And questioning. Enraged because the announcement of a new prison in Missouri means that the tax dollars of average citizens are going to construct new buildings for other citizens who are neither average nor worth what they cost...

There is no way to minimize the impact of Newt Gingrich on contemporary American politics. He and Ronald Reagan stand as the great invigorators of the modern Republican party. Reagan persuasively advocated the Republican creed of lower taxes and less government. ...

In all the reading I have done on Outcome Based Education, one article stands out. It is a paper written two years ago by Dr. Daniel Harden, a professor of education at Washburn University in Topeka. Harden describes heavier burdens for teachers: "As one teacher experienced in the Mastery Learning days of Chicago, `... ...

WARNING: The following dictionary of terms contains explicit material about the true philosophy of trendy public schools. Do not distribute to the public. ABC's. A Eurocentric term referring to an outmoded repetition of letters in a strict, unimaginative order...

Cape Girardeau County Jeremy Ryan Burton, 17, and Holly Anne Werner, 16; Mark Anthony Umbeck, 29, and Renee Shirley Brosius, 40; Robert Frank Nagy, 26, and Melissa LaWanda Hearn, 24. David Lynn Wichern, 25, and Rebecca Lynn Smith, 22; James Michael Olsen, 24, and Toni Marie Borchelt, 22; Kendall Foster Stuber, 35, and Wendy Lee Graham, 29...

Players of the 15th century would surely be shocked to learn that Everyman is a woman. Last weekend, Southeast Missouri State University Theatre presented the late-l5th-century English play at Old St. Vincent's Church. The church was the perfect setting for the play. With a little imagination, I could fancy myself in some great cathedral in England...

Glenn W. Woeltje, 76, of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, April 14, 1995, at Vencor Hospital in St. Louis. He was born April 14, 1919, in Oak Ridge, son of Oscar G. and Dollie Louise Hamilton Woeltje. He married Rosanna C. Fallert Sept. 28, 1941, in Cape Girardeau. She survives...

DELTA -- Truman W. Dysinger, 70, of Jackson died Saturday, April 15, 1995, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. He was born in Delta, Dec. 13, 1924, son of Dave Willis and Dora Elfrank Dysinger. He was a retired truck driver who worked for Joe Spalding Trucking Co. in Benton before retirement...

Son to Terry and DeAnna Conklin of Jackson, 7:32 a.m. Saturday, April 1, 1995. Name, Justin Taylor. Weight, 4 pounds 12 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Conklin is the daughter of Bettye Woodard of Jackson. She is self-employed. Conklin is a diesel refrigeration mechanic with Great Dane at Benton, and is the son of Paul and Kathleen Conklin of Jackson...

STURDIVANT -- Theodore Louis Claussen of Sturdivant died April 14, 1995. He was 64. He was born Dec. 22, 1930, in Chicago to August and Jessica Jewell Claussen. He married Eleanor Fries on Feb. 13, 1954. She survives. Also surviving are two sons, Steve and Edward Claussen of Cape Girardeau; two daughters, Linda Zook of Gypsy and Laura Spies of Cape Girardeau; a brother, Bob Claussen of Worth, Ill.; two sisters, Judy and Audrey Claussen of St. Paul, Minn.; and 15 grandchildren...

Janice E. Mann, 53, of Jackson died April 14, 1995, at her home. She was born May 1, 1941, at Allen County in Indiana, daughter of Virgil and Edna Butler Sherman. She was married to Paul Mann June 30, 1961, at Platte, Neb. He survives. Also surviving is a son, Donald Mann of Blytheville, Ark.; two daughters, Polly Meyer and Jolynn Mann, both of Jackson; nine sisters; four brothers; and two grandchildren...

SIKESTON -- Joseph F. Stacy, 84, of Miner Nursing Center in Sikeston, died Friday, April 14, 1995, at Missouri Delta Hospital in Sikeston. He was born Feb. 2, 1911, at Sikeston, son of Jim and Katie Beavers Stacy. He marred Thelma Burris March 7, 1932. She preceded him in death June 9, 1966...

BLOOMFIELD -- Bill M. McCollum, 71, of Bloomfield died Friday, April 14, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born at Topper Town March 19, 1924, son of Albert and Ruth Gambles. He married Victoria Knight Sept. 23, 1941. She survives...

DEXTER -- Rubena Bolin, 79, of Bloomfield died at Bloomfield Friday, April 14, 1995. She was born near Bloomfield May 18, 1915, daughter of John Franklin and Amanda Elizabeth Bryant Hester. She married Ezra Francis Bolin Nov. 1, 1941. He preceded her in death Aug. 14, 1988...

PERRYVILLE -- Pervis William Henry, 78, of Perryville died Saturday, April 14, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 30, 1916, at Lixville, son of Parkes Grant and Helena Behrle Henry. He married Beulah Abernathy June 7, 1941. She survives...

When J. Kensey Russell drives down Melody Lane, a washboard-rough gravel road that passes grazing cattle and pasture, he sees something different. Russell, Cape Girardeau's city engineer, envisions the completion of a master plan to encircle the city with streets that provide better access and avenues for development...

The Cape Girardeau state champion sugarberry tree's longevity and stubborn character can be seen through Bob Mainfield's voice and Terrell Weaver's hands. "That hackberry, or sugarberry, tree has some of the softest wood I've ever cut," Mainfield, a caretaker at the old Lorimier Cemetery, said with reverence...

Although the Missouri Highway Commission said last week it had no authority to do anything with the memorial cross off North Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau, the District 10 legal counsel is preparing to bring it up again at the commission's May meeting...

Brooks & Dunn, David Ball and the Tractors honky-tonked, roadhoused and rocked the world at the sold-out Show Me Center Friday night. A youthful audience of 6,149 attended the 3 1/2-hour concert. Headliners Brooks & Dunn played on a stunning set of glimmering risers festooned with movable faux longhorn skulls and mesas, all set off by purple, turquoise and rose lighting that changed the mood with practically all 18 songs they performed...

read rw Country music sells out Show Me Center Brooks & Dunn is the second straight country music concert to sell out the Show Me Center. Alan Jackson filled the venue last October, drawing 6,414 fans. One year earlier, Reba McEntire sold 6,836 seats...

Cape Girardeau mail carriers will be doing double-duty Saturday, May 13. "We'll be delivering the mail and collecting food for charity," Karl Robinson said. Robinson of the Cape Girardeau Post Office is coordinator for the local food drive. This is the first year for the drive, he said, adding that food drives have been conducted by letter carriers in past years, but only on individual branch campaigns...

Cape Girardeau's newest radio talk show host is a motorcycle-riding 30-year-old father of almost four with a taste for bone-breaking sports, conservative philosophers and rock 'n' roll. Southeast Missourian News Editor Jay Eastlick, writer of a bare-knuckled weekly column called "Right of Center," will begin his new duties at 9 a.m. Monday on radio station KAPE. The news talk station is at 1550 on the AM dial...

"Early Childhood Movement Experiences: Something for Everyone" will be the topic of a workshop Thursday at 7 p.m. in the dance studio in the physical education building at Southeast Missouri State University. The workshop is designed to provide guidelines for teachers in movement experiences for 3- to 5-year-olds...

Kelvin Anderson might not be a high National Football League draft choice, but Dave "Tee" Thomas is certain that Southeast Missouri State University's career rushing leader will getting paid to play on Sundays next season. Thomas runs a scouting information bureau for the NFL and his basic function is providing NFL teams with information on prospects. He also publishes a scouting service for the general public...

Southeast Missouri State University's eight-hit offense Saturday included a three-run homer and a ringing double, but no hit stirred the crowd more than an eighth-inning bunt single in the Indians' 4-1 victory over Austin Peay. The bunt down the third-base line came off the bat of Kerry Robinson and extended his hit streak to an Ohio Valley Conference-record 32 games. It is also the longest current college streak in the nation...

FESTUS -- Cape Girardeau Central High's baseball team took advantage of control problems by Festus' pitchers to win its sixth consecutive game, a 6-1 road victory Saturday afternoon. Central (8-2) collected four hits, but was also helped by seven walks and three hit batsmen. The Tigers' first four runs were the result of players either being walked or hit by a pitch and then coming around to score...

For four innings at Capaha Field Saturday, Kerry Robinson wasn't the only Southeast Missouri State University baseball player to have a hit streak in danger. Hit streaks of all proportions were being threatened as Austin Peay starter Jeff Taylor took a perfect game into the bottom of the fifth inning...

Want to get the lowdown on some of the players who might be taken in the upcoming National Football League draft? A quick call to Dave "Tee" Thomas should do the trick. After a 15-minute telephone conversation with Thomas, you get the impression that the NFL draft guru could tell you something about virtually any college football player in America...

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday night to defeat Middle Tennessee State University 3-2 and remain alive in the Frost Cutlery Tournament. The Otahkians (33-13) first split a pair of games with George Mason and Samford in pool play to qualify for the round-robin portion. Southeast blanked George Mason 3-0 before falling 6-2 to Samford in eight innings...

ST. LOUIS -- Jackson High's varsity girls track team turned in two first-place finishes on their way to a sixth-place finish overall in the team standings of Saturday's 10-team Lafayette Invitational. Jackson's victories came in the 800-meter run where Jill Becker won with a time of 2:27.6. The 4x400 relay team was also victorious, as Miranda Hilt, Becker, Sara Randol and Natalie Essner combined for a time of 4:19...

The Southeast Missouri State University women's tennis squad slammed Austin Peay State University for a resounding 8-1 victory on the Southeast tennis courts Saturday. The home team claimed five of six singles matches and swept all three doubles competitions. Southeast improved to 7-9 overall and 4-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play...

MOREHEAD, Ken. -- Southeast Missouri State University's golf team continued its steady climb in the 15-team Morehead University Eagle Classic on Saturday, finishing the three-round tournament in third place. Northern Kentucky captured the title with a an 879 total on the par 72 Kentucky Dam Village course. Cincinnati placed second at 886, followed by Southeast and Morehead at 885...

In the context of the wild, adopting an apparent orphan more accurately may amount to kidnapping -- and in the long run it could represent murder. The natural cycle of things means that, with spring well underway, many species of animals now are beginning to produce offspring. The timing is logical: Baby critters appear at the time when weather conditions are easing and life is most gentle, giving them months to mature and grow hardy before the harsher winter stresses return...

Team Schwep is off to a flying start in its first year as a United States Volleyball Association Juniors 16-under club team. Coached by Southeast Missouri State University assistant Dave Schwepker -- hence the team's name -- and made up of sophomores and freshmen from area high schools, the squad has already won four major tournaments and placed high in several others entering next weekend's Gateway Regional Tournament in St. Louis...

April is the month when the proper temperature, the right amount of sunlight and rain combine to lure morels -- a small, pitted variety of fungus valued for its rarity and taste -- from the ground of Southeast Missouri. For a Scott County couple, hunting for the type of mushrooms is a challenge as well as exercise and fun...

If we could put a coin in a slot and order up the kind of spring season we wanted, I think this year's type would be the unanimous choice. Have the flowering trees and shrubs been given fertility pills, producing two or three blossoms where heretofore there was only one? I think, too, we might start calling our town the City of Bradford Pears instead of the City of Roses. The pears have made a veritable fairyland of our city...

The Muscular Dystrophy Association is seeking applications from those who would like to be volunteer counselors at MDA summer camps. Each volunteers serves as a companion for a child or teen-ager with neuromuscular disease during a five- to seven-day camp session. Volunteers must be at least 16 years old and be able to lift a child, said MDA Chapter President Larry Loos...