Stories from Wednesday, April 26, 1995

To the editor: The Missourian's April 19 editorial on the issue of logging in the Shawnee National Forest hit a low point in logic. To my knowledge, no environmental group has suggested banning hiking or outlawing farms. The real issue is twofold. First, as Mike Murphy pointed out in a previous letter, The Shawnee logging is carried out at a major financial loss to me, you and every other American taxpayer. ...

Even though riverboat gambling has yet to arrive in Cape Girardeau, the city continues to be a busy place for tourism. "No vacancy" signs are common at area motels on weekends, especially when major sporting events are in town. In recent weeks Cape Girardeau has been the host city for the SEMotion Relays, collegiate gymnastics National Invitation Tournament and Ohio Valley Track & Field Championships...

Riverboat gambling comes to Southeast Missouri today. At Caruthersville, population 7,400, Aztar Corp. launches its 600-passenger floating casino, which will run eight to 10 cruises daily. The "City of Caruthersville" becomes the sixth riverboat gambling operating in Missouri. It joins boats in Kansas City, St. Joseph, St. Louis and St. Charles...

Sarah J. Long of Poplar Bluff is expected to be sworn in as a member of the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents when the board meets today at 1 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom. Long is to be sworn in by Circuit Judge Robert Cope of Poplar Bluff in a ceremony tentatively scheduled for 4 p.m. The ceremony is contingent upon Long's approval by the Missouri Senate. A confirmation hearing will be held this morning in Jefferson City...

POPLAR BLUFF -- More than 50 years after his death, an area Marine received additional recognition when the Navy named a ship after him. The USS Cole, the eighth Aegis destroyer, was christened April 8, in Pascagoula, Miss. Marine Sgt. Darrell Samuel Cole, a World War II hero, was killed during the invasion of Iwo Jima in 1945...

Kyle B. Hoppmann has earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest award given by the Boy Scouts of America. He is a member of Boy Scout Troop 5 sponsored by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3838 of Cape Girardeau. He is the son of Bob and Lisa Hoppmann of Cape Girardeau...

On April 1, after two April Fool phone calls from someone who hung up before I could answer, my thoughts turned to the news as presented over radio: This university can hope on nationally SAT scores. They have literally choice on euthanasia in the Netherlands...

CARUTHERSVILLE -- Visitors to Casino Aztar's riverboat can expect a variety of slot machines and table games. The "City of Caruthersville," outfitted with three levels of slots, electronic poker machines, blackjack, roulette and craps tables, isn't Las Vegas. Still, the 137-foot riverboat carries expectations far removed from the glitz and glamour of the Vegas Strip. It carries a hope for econmomic growth in this Pemiscot County community of 10,000...

JEFFERSON CITY -- The Missouri Board of Education Tuesday rejected 18 months of work on new educational standards by the Senate Bill 380-mandated Commission on Performance, sending it back to be drafted with basic study areas and clear language. Rep. Harold Caskey, D-Butler, a sponsor of the state's educational reform act, told the group he wanted reform "that the community, the parents and the students can read clearly and understand."...

Cape Girardeau County Commissioners thought Tuesday's interviews with potential school board members would make their job of picking three easier. They were wrong. Twenty-three of the 31 people who are interested in being a school board member came in Tuesday to talk with commissioners...

We are scared, angry and in need of answers following the worst internal terrorist attack in the history of this country. The gripping picture of an entire side of the Alfred P. Murrah building blown away as survivors scurried to safety left a telling image of a nation's underbelly left vulnerable to something horrible and ugly. It also left me wondering about the price of freedom for those who simply want to live in peace...

IT LOOKS like the conservative, right-wing gun nuts have spoken in Oklahoma City. What great Americans they are. IN REGARDS to the airport in Perryville, I am in full agreement with the caller who said let the farms and the wildlife area and the woods alone. ...

Requests for safer streets, traffic-light arrows at strategic locations and a public transportation system -- recurring themes in this forum on transportation needs -- marked the fourth Vision 2000 public meeting Tuesday. The 10 Cape Girardeau citizens who participated in Tuesday's meeting at the First Baptist Church said public transportation is the biggest concern followed by access to West End Boulevard and Independence and William streets from key intersections...

Four of Cape Girardeau's top volunteers contributed more than 3,600 hours of service to the community last year. They were honored Tuesday during a volunteer recognition luncheon, sponsored by Ameritech and the Cape Girardeau Area Wide United Way and attended by more than 90 at the Drury Lodge...

BENTON -- Two Oran area farmers told the Scott County Commission Tuesday that hundreds of acres are inaccessible because of a bridge with a three-ton limit. One of the farmers, Gary Kesler said there is "no way in or out" because of the limit on the bridge that crosses a ditch on County Road 418 about four miles southwest of Oran...

JACKSON -- Teachers should see healthy increases in their paychecks next year if a proposal by the Jackson Community Teachers Association is approved May 9. On Tuesday, the school board gave initial approval to the increase, which would raise a beginning teacher's base salary from $19,800 to $20,300 and add another step to the pay scale for time served with the school district...

BLOOMFIELD -- Lehman J. O'Neal, 78, of Bloomfield, died Tuesday, April 25, 1995, at Dexter Nursing Home in Dexter. He was born March 20, 1917, in Pocahontas, Ark., son of James and Jennie Hibbard O'Neal. He and Mary McConnaughhay were married June 26, 1943. She died Jan. 27, 1994...

DEXTER -- J.D. Crank, 74, of Dexter, died Monday, April 24, 1995, at Dexter Memorial Hospital. He was born Sept. 19, 1920, at Puxico, son of Jessie Houston and Lucy Jane Williams Crank. He and Essie Trammell were married Sept. 3, 1938, in Poplar Bluff...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Charles R. "Charley" Conn of Sikeston will be held at 2 p.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Charles Buck will officiate, with burial in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Conn, 82, died Monday, April 24, 1995, at his home...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Helen a. Wallace, 79, of Cobden, died Tuesday, April 25, 1995, at Union County Hospital in Anna. She was born Feb. 10, 1916, at Cobden, daughter of William and Annie Flamm Ihle. She married William Robert Wallace, who died in 1989. Wallace was a lifelong resident of Cobden, and member of St. Joseph Catholic Church...

Graveside service for Montie Raye Jones of Cape Girardeau will be held at 10 a.m. today at Lorimier Cemetery. The Rev. Leigh Earley will officiate. There is no visitation. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Jones, 87, died Monday, April 24, 1995, at the Lutheran Home...

GRAY RIDGE -- Norma O. Dillon, 83, of Gray Ridge, died Tuesday, April 25, 1995, at Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter. She was born Nov. 27, 1911, at Gray Ridge, daughter of William Lee and Harriett Elizabeth Harlan Julian. She and John W. Dillon were married May 21, 1938. He died Sept. 10, 1976...

PUXICO -- Elizabeth Looney, 95, of Puxico, died Friday, April 21, 1995, at Dexter Nursing Center in Dexter. She was born Feb. 29, 1900, in Pyatt, Ark., daughter of Ethen and Belle Hudson Tilton. She and Everett Earl Looney were married Nov. 7, 1924. He died Jan. 10, 1975...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Funeral service for James Edward McKenna III of Cairo will be held at 2 p.m. Friday in the Cairo High School gymnasium. Burial will be in Lower Salem Cemetery in Massac County. Friends may call at Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo after 5 p.m. Thursday, and after noon Friday at the school...

Rose Mary Whittard, 91, of Dunedin, Fla., died Tuesday, April 25, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Sept. 7, 1903, in Bronx, N.Y., daughter of John and Mary Casey Caffrey. She and Thomas R. Whittard were married Oct. 12, 1929. He died Oct. 12, 1981...

JACKSON -- Alma Muster, 79, of Jackson, died Monday, April 24, 1995, at Deal Nursing Home. She was born Sept. 2, 1915, north of Whitewater, daughter of Herman and Alvina Dralle Meier. She and Emil Muster were married Aug. 3, 1938. He died March 26, 1987...

E. Christine Hathaway, 77, 3134 Dogwood, died Tuesday, April 25, 1995, at her home. She was born Aug. 8, 1917, in Moulton, Ala., daughter of Preuit and Ora Hodges Simms. She and Dr. Lynn W. Hathaway were married July 12, 1941, in Auburn, Ala. He died May 30, 1988...

Alice L. Reed, 79, 1407 Stoddard, died Tuesday, April 25, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born July 9, 1915, in Waukomis, Okla., daughter of John R. and Zoa Henry Crosswhite. She and Orville Reed were married July 19, 1940, at Camden. He died in 1966...

SIKESTON -- Virginia D. Collins, 85, of Sikeston died Tuesday, April 21, 1995, at her home. She was born Jan. 6, 1910, in Greenfield, Tenn., daughter of Ed and Addie Godwin. She married William Lloyd Collins, who died Dec. 16, 1988. She was a homemaker and member of the Morehouse Church of Christ...

PERRYVILLE -- Alfred H. "Pete" Weber, 84, of Perryville died Tuesday, April 25, 1995, at Perry County Nursing Home in Perryville. He was born April 22, 1911, in Jacob, Ill., son of Adolph and Mary Rodewald Weber. Weber married Ada Marie Schoen May 19, 1936. She died Feb. 25, 1984...

BLOOMFIELD -- Ivan F. DeJournett, 76, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, died Sunday, April 23, 1995, at Eastern Idaho Medical Center there. He was born Jan. 19, 1919, at Essex, son of Cleveland and Edna Bledsoe DeJournett. He and Mary Jennings were married Nov. 10, 1945, in Piggott, Ark...

Daughter to Roy and Connie Chasteen, Chaffee Route 1, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:24 p.m. Thursday, March 9, 1995. Name, Amy Jewell. Weight, 9 pounds 3 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Chasteen is the former Connie Anderson, daughter of Dorothy Anderson of Oran and the late J.A. "Cotton" Anderson. She is employed at Blair Industries in Scott City. Chasteen is employed by Scott County Highway Department at Benton, and is the son of Katie Chasteen and Earl Chasteen of Chaffee...

We have a visitor at our house who has made herself completely at home. Furthermore, she has had the audacity to build her own home without even asking, and has furnished it. You see, we have one of those grapevine decorations on our front door. This visitor is a house finch, a bird that only in recent years has moved into this part of the country. Their numbers are growing like crabgrass in a new lawn. No wonder. Read on...

Linda Pepple keeps two camels at the Schlosser farm, Denver, left, and Crystal. An ostrich greeted a visitor An American bison strolled the farm. Some of the pets are not quite so exotic, like these turkeys that paused in the sunshine. Morning comes early on the farm. Grab a bite of breakfast, head out the back door, it's feeding time...