Stories from Sunday, July 9, 1995

To continue my coming of age along the devil's backbone episodes, several years ago, late at night, Boulware and I headed north along the Natchez Trace from Jackson to Tupelo. As our engine began to over-heat, we thought it best to exit and find help. Much to our surprise, about three miles off the Trace, we found a garage in the middle of nowhere. Several men were "hanging out" there, working on cars, and we stopped to ask for help...

As many as 1,000 people are expected to take part in this week's conventions of The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge F. & A.M. and the Harmony Grand Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star, being held in Cape Girardeau. The Holiday Inn and Victorian Inn are convention headquarters for the groups, which convened here Saturday with a Grand Court Order of Cyrenes Board meeting...

Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond's Washington office is still awaiting a written response from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a routine recommendation that Bond interprets as a possible closing of the upper Mississippi River to barge traffic. "We have been told that a written answer is being prepared in response to the senator's letter to the FSW," said Catherine Kaliniak of Bond's office...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Much of Missouri's state government is driven by computers. Some 37,325 of them, to be exact. Each year the Division of Data Processing and Telecommunications issues a report to the governor's office detailing the extent of its operations and the millions of dollars that are annually spent to bring state government into the electronic age. ...

Tom Rickard will tack, jibe and hoist sails in the world's largest international sailing event, The Tall Ships' Race, which features a fleet of about 100 tall ships from around the world. Rickard, formerly of Cape Girardeau, won a spot on the crew by writing an essay about his love of adventure...

Patrick J. Nesbit Patrick J. Nesbit, a resident of Oak Ridge, recently entered the United States Navy. Nesbit, a 1996 senior at Oak Ridge High School, enlisted under the Navy's delayed entry program. This program alloys young men and women to enlist up to a year in advance of their actual entry onto active duty...

Gregory owns two Vietnamese pigs, Ho-Chi (after the Ho-Chi Minh Trail in Vietnam) and Mama. At one time Gregory owned over 50 of these pigs. Gregory also owns three horses and a pony. He says that owning so many animals can be pretty expensive. Jim Gregory of Oak Ridge has seen it all...

Relics of the Civil War conjure visions of the great struggle over states' rights in Gary and Sarabeth Repp's antiques shop. The photo at center is of Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet. Sarabeth Repp arranges pamphlets and brochures in her antiques shop. Although the shop specializes in Civil War artifacts, other items of historical significance can be found...

Jamie Wills, front, and Marshall Steen look over a 1972 Chevy Chevelle SS during the car show. Mud Volleyball participants shower off the mud after a match. Rhonda Johnson, left, holds a mirror while Monica Myers looks at her painted face. Bob Feemster takes a dunking at the Beta Sigma Phi and Jackson Jaycees dunking booth...

Early pioneer of Amateur Radio in Southeast Missouri Phil Leible communicates across the country in Morse Code. More than 60 years in Amateur Radio, Leible has trained and communicated with thousands of operators throughout the U.S. A number of local radio operators worked recently contacting other radio operators throughout the U.S. to fine tune their radios so they are up and ready in case they are needed under difficult emergency situations...

For many of us, three years' harrowing experience with Senate Bill 380 have confirmed the wisdom of Kristol's First Law of Education Reform. Penned by Irving Kristol, the brilliant neoconservative author and editor of a quarterly issue publication called The Public Interest, here it is: "Any reform that is acceptable to the educational establishment, and that can gain a majority in any legislature, federal or state, is bound to be worse than nothing."...

Most Americans want a federal government that is benign when times are good and proactive when times are tough. Unrealistic? Of course, but like many expectations, these have a tendency to get overblown at times. Like today. All of us are taught, from first grade through college, that the American federalist system of government is the best that has yet been designed by man, with a hint of the Creator's input thrown in to give it more validity. ...

Britain is poised to move to the left. The United States has moved to the right. It may seem hard to reconcile the political tea leaves in the two English-speaking, best-friend nations, but there are similarities. One common thread is that voters get fed up with any political party that has been in power a long time -- as the Conservatives have been in Britain (16 years) and as the Democrats were in the House of Representatives in the United States (40 years)...

A constitutional amendment to ban the burning of the American flag passed the House of Representatives a few days ago by an overwhelming vote, easily surpassing the two-thirds margin required to approve a proposed amendment. Its prospects for Senate passage are far less certain, as most observers doubt that the requisite two-thirds majority can be obtained in that chamber...

There has been real progress on plans to reduce the rate of growth of planned federal spending increases and so to balance the budget. The Republican House-Senate version claims to get us to a balance within seven years. Too fast, says President Bill Clinton, who has rolled out a plan that he says will get us to balance in 10 years. ...

SCOTT COUNTY Paula Jean Miller to Billy Gene Miller; Thomas Michael King to Kenzco Investment Co., Inc.; Theodore A. and Nola M. Elliott to Kenzco Investment Co, Inc.; Donald L. and Bonnie C. Newton to Kenzco Investment Co, Inc., two tracts; Lee Andrew Nabors and Mayola Foster Nabors to Bobby Joe Williams...

Harold L. Summers, 50, of Farmington, Ill., formerly of Cape Girardeau County, died Saturday, July 8, 1995. Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by Cracraft-Miller Funeral Home at Jackson.

SIKESTON -- Marie Penrose, 80, of Cedar Hill, formerly of Morehouse, died Friday, July 7, 1995, at Cedars Health Care Center in Cedar Hill. She was born Nov. 22, 1914, in Star City, Ark., daughter of James Luther and Dora Kate Bradley McCarty. She married Virgil Paul Penrose Sr. on Oct. 15, 1928. He preceded her in death on Oct. 18, 1966...

ANNA, Ill. -- James F. Hunt Sr., 67, of Creal Springs, Ill., formerly of Anna, died Friday, July 7, 1995, at his home. He was born July 8, 1928, in Washington County in Indiana, son of Warner Franklin and Rosa Short Hunt. He married Eileen Peeler on Feb. 20, 1940. She preceded him in death on Jan. 31, 1965...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Gary Alan Mayabb, 45, of East Prairie, died Friday, July 7, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 4, 1950, in Wyatt, son of Harry and Imogene Childers Mayabb. He married Paulette Parker on July 26, 1969. She survives...

BLOOMFIELD -- Ivah Lee Launius, 88, of Dexter, formerly of Bloomfield, died Friday, July 7, 1995, at Dexter Memorial Hospital. She was born at Bloomfield April 27, 1907, daughter of Samuel and Nancy Walker Caldwell. She married Raymond Launius. He preceded her in death on Jan. 8, 1969...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Ward W. Osman, 79, of Dongola died Saturday, July 8, 1995, at his home. He was born Nov. 7, 1915, at Dongola, the son of Elmer E. and Iva Adams Osman. He married Geneva Fuller on April 9, 1938. She survives. He was a member of the Mount Olive Baptist Church and a trustee of the Meisenheimer-Mount Olive Cemetery...

BLOOMFIELD -- Jeffery Brian Webber, 32, of Jackson, formerly of Bloomfield, died Saturday, July 8, 1995. He was born Oct. 9, 1962, in Albuquerque, N.M., son of Raymond Webber Jr. and Therma Harget Webber. He married Romona Hewitt on Sept. 19, 1986. She survives...

CHARLESTON -- Floy E. Hess, 81, formerly of Charleston, died Friday, July 7, 1995, at the Spring Lake Guest Care Center at Shreveport, La. She was born March 17, 1914, at Kirby, Ark., daughter of Ella Jay and Ophelia Moran Thrash. She married Andrew C. Hess in 1931. He preceded her in death Dec. 25, 1988...

CHARLESTON -- Leroy Shew, 84, of Charleston died Friday, July 7, 1995, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Feb. 23, 1911, in Wyatt, son of Eldridge and Emma Mehler Shew. He married Eunice Vowels in 1932. She preceded him in death. He then married Emma Burk in 1974. She survives...

ANNA, Ill. -- Roy R. Tripp, 65, of South Fulton, Tenn., formerly of Jonesboro, Ill., died Friday, July 7, 1995, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Marion, Ill. He was born March 2, 1930, at Jonesboro, son of Russell and Ethel Frick Tripp...

Gilbert A. Reineke, 82, of 2807 Quince died Friday, July 7, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born May 21, 1913, at Waseca, Minn., son of Albert and Sarah Remund Reineke. He and Betty Lou Dowling were married Sept. 11, 1943, at Cape Girardeau...

DEXTER -- Ina B. Hill, 88, of Dexter died at her home Saturday, July 8, 1995. She was born at Dexter on Dec. 1, 1906, daughter of Snowden and Maggie Carter Bailey. She married Ollie Denver "Skeet" Hill on June 13, 1925. He preceded her in death Nov. 23, 1977...

Deloma (Moore) Schade, 76, of 1916 Montgomery, died at 6:50 p.m. Saturday, July 8, 1995, at the Lutheran Home. Her husband, Clarence C. Schade, survives. Arrangements were incomplete at Cracraft-Miller Funeral Home.

JACKSON -- Nola V. Clingingsmith, 83, of Jackson died at the Lutheran Home Friday, July 7, 1995, where she had lived since November. She was born Jan. 18, 1912, in Bollinger County, daughter of Louis W. and Emma L. V. Conrad Statler. She first married George Stovall, on Feb. 6, 1938. He preceded her in death March 25, 1964. She then married Elliott Clingingsmith on June 29, 1965. He preceded her in death Nov. 20, 1985...

The plastic skeleton in the bamboo cage is just one sign Stanley "Puff" Adams hasn't forgotten about the Vietnam War. Accompanied by a friend, he spent Saturday pulling the cage on a three-wheeled frame along the shoulder of southbound Interstate 55 in Perry County. The cage is similar to ones that held American prisoners of war in Vietnam...

Dr. Perry T. Roberts closed the doors on a 33-year-old medical practice Friday. At an age when many people are thinking retirement, the 62-year-old Roberts is looking at a second career. He plans to go back to school and become a lawyer. Two of his 10 children are lawyers, including a son who is an assistant U.S. attorney at Oxford, Miss...

On May 6 Americans' incomes caught up with their tax payments to federal, state and local governments. The Tax Foundation named it Tax Freedom Day and proclaimed wages earned over the next six months as the laborers' own. Another government reform group -- the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation -- took the depressing statistics a step further: The group called today Cost of Government Day...

On the morning of Nov. 5, 1988, as Cathy Wilson was rushing out the door on her way to school she told her mother she had something special to tell her when she got home. Loretta Wilson never found out what the news was. A short time later Cathy was dead; killed by a drunken driver...

A photo contest will be held, sponsored by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, for the Balloons & Arts Festival '95, July 21-23, at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. The contest is open to all photographers, and entry forms are available at area photography outlets, and the Arts Council office...

Hundreds of youngsters participated in a street party, conducted in the 300 block of South Middle Saturday. "We had more than 50 persons here at any one time," said Vera Sterling, one of the organizers of the annual event. "They come and go, and some stay."...

SCOTT CITY -- A 32-year-old Jackson man died early Saturday in a one-vehicle accident on Interstate 55 south of Scott City. Jeffery Webber was killed when his northbound pickup truck struck a guardrail, crossed the roadway and struck a bridge. Webber was thrown from the vehicle, the Missouri Highway Patrol said...

Political campaign finance people will be completing reports this week to meet the new deadline for campaign finance reports. All state officeholders must file their quarterly report by Saturday. The law, passed during the last November general election, said candidates for statewide office could only accept $300 from individuals and group contributors, candidates for the state senate can accept $200 and candidates for state representative can accept $100...

RIVERS: Black (upper): Dingy, 4' above normal; smallmouth bass good on crayfish and crayfish colored Shadrap; goggle-eye fair on crayfish; all other fishing slow. Castor (above Zalma): Clear, high, sunfish and catfish good on live bait; bass good on live bait and topwater lures...

The upper West Prong of the Little Pigeon River is trout water that yields to brown bass downstream. When the throngs of visitors to the Smoky Mountains area think fishing, they focus on trout -- and consequently overlook one of the richest stream-stalking options of the Appalachians...

Where do paring knives go after they vacate the kitchen? At my house they disappear in their youth, middle age or even old age, just when I'm beginning to wield them efficiently. Do they go to some Happy Paring Knife Commune and spend their remaining years regaling their metallic brothers and sisters with tales of how they bloodily rebelled when their slave masters tried to use their pointed ends as screwdrivers, ice picks, paint can openers?...

MODELED AFTER HISTORIC PADDLEWHEELER: The American Queen's designers used the classic design features of the J.M. White, right, as a blueprint. Built in 1878 by the Howard Shipyards and Dock Co., the J.M. White, at 321 feet overall length, was a triumph in cotton boat architecture. The 418-foot-long American Queen's fluted smokestacks, decorated pilot house and double landing stages, mirror the design features of the floating palaces of the great steamboat era...

The Cape Girardeau Municipal Band will perform Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Capaha Park Band Shell, under the direction of Dr. Robert Gifford. Special guest entertainment for the evening will be the Faculty Brass Quintet from Southeast Missouri State University...

KELSO -- After eight years of hard work, city officials finally broke ground Thursday for a sewer construction project. About 40 Kelso residents watched as members of the Board of Trustees shoveled dirt near Messmer Street and U.S. Highway 61. Board of Trustee Chairman Georgia Carman said the town has been waiting for this project to begin...

The International Library of Famous Poets is sponsoring a poetry contest. The grand prize in the contest is $1,000. Twenty-eight prizes will be awarded. Deadline for entry is July 29. Winners will be announces September 5. To enter a poem of up to 21 lines, send it to Free Poetry Contest; 421 N. Rodeo Dr., Suite 15-544; Beverly Hills, Calif., 90210...