Stories from Wednesday, July 19, 1995

Cape Girardeau teachers unanimously endorsed a salary proposal that is headed to the Cape Girardeau Board of Education for its approval. No percent of increase has yet been calculated, but each teacher will receive an increase of at least $750, if the board concurs...

Occasionally, a new, young instructor comes to lead the Easy Does It exercise class, takes one look at the group with an average age over 60, and decides the group needs a tepid workout. Wrong. The Easy Does It class, which has met for 10 years, isn't a group for grandmas, even though many of its members are in their 60s and 70s. It's a rigorous aerobic class followed by 20 minutes of stretching. Members exercise twice a week, almost never miss and count their exercise attendance in years...

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a photo contest. The winning photo will be made into a postcard for the city. Photographers may submit recent photos taken in the city or photos to be taken at upcoming events. The contest deadline is Oct. 31...

Gov. Mel Carnahan returned from Central and South America Tuesday touting the 10-day trip as a success for Missouri's businesses. The trip through Chile, Argentina and Mexico allowed the governor and 15 business leaders to meet with heads of state and encourage contractual relationships with companies in those countries...

The Salvation Army is requesting people with used air conditioners to contact the organization's office. Many elderly and low-income people are unable to afford air conditioners but need them due to recent intense heat. The Salvation Army is also conducting a loan-a-fan program for families with people older than 55 or young children...

JACKSON -- Residents along Oak Hill Road will be driving up and down concrete instead of gravel soon. The Jackson Board of Aldermen awarded a bid to PR Developers Inc. of Jackson in an open meeting late Monday. Administrative Services Director Larry Koenig said the board had gone into executive session but decided to reopen the meeting to award the bid...

Building plans for Notre Dame High School have come to a temporary halt. Building Committee Co-chairman Tom Reinagel said the project has been put on hold until a site can be selected. "We're still in negotiations for property," he said. "It's not like house hunting."...

The campaign to promote a half-cent transportation sales tax for the city of Cape Girardeau is officially under way. With only 21 days remaining until the Aug. 8 election, members of a new campaign committee have their work cut out for them. It is sometimes easy for voters to become immune to what seems continuous election hype, especially on the national level. But this campaign deserves and requires the public's attention. The outcome is critical to the future development of this city...

Repercussions from readers include sins of omission on my part. Helen Wollan of West Lafayette, Ind., in her response to the columns on "sit/set," informed me that she frequently hears "sat" used for the past tense of "set." For instance, a woman of education may say she "sat" her child in a toy store while she shopped for groceries...

Maybe his relatives were thrilled when they saw the name Marty Garner roll across the screen after "Apollo 13," but Garner only felt satisfaction. For the 25-year-old Sikeston native, the excitement came during the film, when he looked at his own work on the big screen...

Cape Girardeau city staff three years ago badly underestimated the cost of providing sewers to the Twin Lakes subdivision. The city now says Twin Lakes residents would pay an estimated $8,790 an acre for lateral sewers, or more than double the original estimate of $3,424 an acre given in August 1992...

VILLA RIDGE, Ill. -- Water supply is a problem in many parts of Illinois. It isn't uncommon for rural households to pay $80 to $100 for water for residential use, said a USDA Rural Economic and Community Development Services official this week. Wallace D. ...

You know you've been away from work too long when the O.J. Simpson trial seems like compelling theater. Such was the case during the final stages of my vacation last week. I stopped channel surfing as soon as I arrived at CNN and testimony from a witness for the defense...

I'VE LIVED in towns and cities all over this country and all over the world, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Cape Girardeau has to have some of the worst automobile drivers on the face of this planet. I've seen flagrant and blatantly unsafe acts since I started living here. ...

SIKESTON -- Her cheery smile and pleasant voice have been welcoming people at the Rural Economic and Community Development office for at least 60 years. Elvira Metz celebrated her 60th anniversary with the government office on July 1, which gives her the record for longest employment by a government agency on both the state and national levels...

The committee formed to support Cape Girardeau's half-cent sales tax initiative on the Aug. 8 ballot filed its first organizational report with the county clerk's office Friday. The Transportation Trust Committee is the only group to emerge on either side of the sales tax issue...

Her creative spirit embarked on a lengthy trail long before her legs could carry her 1,100 miles. "I remember hearing stories from my mother, Mary Katherine Kirk, about the Cherokee Indian and the Trail of Tears walk that was made by my ancestors in 1838," said Alethea Adams-Wells, brushing back jet-black hair over her shoulder...

William Henry Hester, 69, 325 N. Sprigg, died Monday, July 17, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Sept. 25, 1925, at Malden, son of Robert Allison and Anna Maude Taylor Hester Sr. Hester had been a tow motor operator with Layne Bottling Plant. He was a member of First Southern Baptist Church in Malden...

H.L. Gill, 83, of the Lutheran Home, died Tuesday, July 18, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Nov. 11, 1911, at Bloomfield, son of Samuel and Harriet Harper Gill. He and Velda Mitchell were married April 24, 1932. She died May 24, 1987...

MARBLE HILL -- Memorial service for Louisa "Millie" Brown will be at 6 p.m. today at Jones Funeral Home in Villa Ridge, Ill. The Rev. Ernest Browning will officiate. Graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Owens Chapel Cemetery near Milburn, Ky...

SIKESTON -- Dora Mae Wood, 67, of Sikeston, died Monday, July 17, 1995, in Sikeston. She was born July 12, 1928, in Lambert, Miss., daughter of Felton and Annie Henderson. Wood was a machine operator at National Lock Co. 22 years, retiring in 1992. She was a member of Travelers Rest Missionary Baptist Church and its choir, and Sunday School treasurer...

Paul David Sanders, 29, of Sikeston died Tuesday, July 18, 1995, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Sept. 15, 1965, in Oran to Clarence Harrington of Sikeston and the late Helen Sanders. He attended Kelly High School in Benton...

CHARLESTON -- Elnora Evans, 81, of St. Louis, formerly of Charleston, died Friday, July 14, 1995, at Incarnate Word Hospital in St. Louis. She was born Feb. 26, 1914, in Friars Point, Miss., son of Gilbert and Oliva Caruthers Johnson. She and Goldie Evans were married in 1930. He died in 1994...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Donald Eugene Cruse Sr., 62, of Pocahontas, died Tuesday, July 18, 1995, at St. Joseph Hospital in Highland. He was born Sept. 13, 1932, in Mounds, son of Ralph and Bessie Mize Cruse. He and Dorothy Hafford were married Nov. 22, 1952, in Piggott, Ark...

WILSON CITY -- Vertie B. Dowell, 60, of Wilson City, died unexpectedly Tuesday, July 18, 1995, while walking to Wyatt. She was born June 8, 1935, in Wyatt, daughter of Van and Flora White Fisher. Dowell was a member of Ollie Grove Baptist Church and its Mothers Board, and served as treasurer...

DESTIN, Fla. -- Charles F. Jones, 65, of Destin, formerly of Olive Branch, Ill., died Sunday, July 16, 1995, at his home. He was the son of Frank and Mary Jones. He married Mary Jane Ball. Jones was a retired Marine lieutenant colonel, a general contractor and a graduate of Olive Branch High School...

Twin daughters to Richmond A. and Holly Rust Payne, 1200 N. Henderson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, Tuesday, July 18, 1995. Robyn was born at 7:30 a.m. and weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces. Morgan was born at 7:31 a.m. and weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces. The couple has another daughter. ...

The Cape Girardeau Municipal Band will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Capaha Park band shell. The concert is free. The celebrity guest conductor will be Bob Fox, president of Cape Girardeau's Board of Education. Guest performers will be Steve Schafner and Steve Pirtle playing fiddle and guitar...

JACKSON -- The Jackson Municipal Band will conduct its weekly concert at 8 p.m. Thursday at Jackson City Park. Mike Dumey, a graduate of Jackson High School and Southeast Missouri State University, will be special guest. Dumey currently serves as music instructor at Schultz School in Cape Girardeau and directed its choir in the musical "Lion King" this year...

When the Gallup people made a survey to learn how many families had vegetable gardens, they found nearly half of the families in the United States had vegetable gardens. Nearly four out of five families reported they were successful, and their gardens ranged from window-sill pots to truck farms...

Carolyn Best peeled the last carrot from the morning's harvest and laid it beside the other vegetables soon sealed in sparkling jars. Green beans, orange carrots and reddish potatoes made for a touchable presentation of the likes painters have striven to capture in still life...