Stories from Saturday, August 19, 1995

To the editor: If you can kick the habit of smoking, you are a winner. Better yet, you are even wiser if you never started. Nicotine has a stronger hold on people than the Food and Drug Administration or physicians in warning the people. It is easy to say stop smoking but so hard to quit. I can speak from experience, because I was a victim to cigarettes. Knowing that it became offensive to my family, I made up my mind to kick the habit...

To the editor: The Contract With America is being driven by the argument that the health risk to the population is a cost that society should bear in order to promote economic gain. As one who is combating leukemia, I argue strongly that this is not only unjust, it is immoral. ...

Signs commemorating the historic Trail of Tears will be put up in the region in the near future. The National Park Service is coordinating the project, which will mark the trail from Cleveland, Tenn., to Tahlequah, Okla. In this area, the trail winds through Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties...

Death. It is not an easy subject to talk about, especially if it is your own. But that is exactly what prospective organ donors should do. Nationwide, about 41,000 people are awaiting organ transplants. Every day about eight people die waiting. Sometimes these are people we know. Most are waiting for kidneys. Livers, hearts and lungs are also in great demand...

Country music legend Kenny Rogers will step in Sept. 30 to give a Show Me Center concert originally scheduled to feature Vince Gill and Patty Loveless. The event coincides with Southeast's Family Weekend. Rogers, recipient of three Grammys and five Country Music Association awards, will perform at 8 p.m. at the Show Me Center...

JACKSON -- Seven landowners in Cape Girardeau County applied for buyout assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but that doesn't mean all of them will accept a buyout. County commissioners, along with the landowners, are stepping into the program cautiously, with the understanding that turning in an application doesn't mean they have to accept FEMA's offer...

CHESTER, Ill. -- The Battle of Cape Girardeau will be fought all over again today at Fort Kaskasia State Park. A few hundred re-enactors will recreate the Civil War-era battle as part of the bicentennial activities planned for Randolph County, Ill. The battle, in which Confederate troops attacked the Union garrison from the vicinity of Capaha Park and were repelled, will begin at 3 p.m. today...

The O.J. Simpson trial continues to inch along, day after tedious day, as prosecutors and defense lawyers bicker over insignificant rot that has little to do with the trial and has nothing to do with justice. Now the defense wants to put Los Angeles Police Detective Mark Fuhrman on trial. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the father of murder victim Ronald Goldman this week denounced the proceedings. "Do they take us all for morons?" Fred Goldman asked of the Simpson lawyers...

Dear Abby: I am a 16-year-old girl. About two months ago, I fell asleep while driving home, and my car was totaled. A few pieces were lying here and there in the ditch I ended up in. I was told that I must have rolled over two or three times. When the car came to a stop, I was hanging upside down by my seat belt. If it hadn't been for that buckled seat belt, I would have been seriously injured, or maybe killed...

As the 100-degree dog days of summer linger into the starting dates of area schools, superintendents are panting for cooler days. Cape Girardeau Public Schools Superintendent Neyland Clark said a few cool days and rain would be welcome before classes start Aug. 28. The days have been so hot for so long that district buildings don't have a chance to cool off in the overnight hours, Clark said...

Even a malfunctioning elevator didn't dim the enthusiasm of Southeast Missouri State University officials Friday as a steady stream of students moved into the dorms. Officials trumpeted freshman-enrollment gains and residence hall renovations for the fall semester during a luncheon with the news media in Towers cafeteria. During a tour of newly renovated Towers North later, university officials and reporters were stuck in an elevator for 10 minutes...

For firefighter Randy Morris, the support of his comrades, family and the community helped him get through a long period of recovery after falling in the line of duty. "A lot of people were there for me," Morris said. "Everyone in the fire department was there when I needed them."...

Construction activity during the first 7 1/2 months of 1995 in Cape Girardeau is up more than 20 percent. The city's Inspection Services Division, which issues permits for commercial, residential and other projects, reports construction at more than $31 million through Aug. 15, up from the $25 million figure from the same time period in 1994...

The "Oprah" topic a few weeks back was how silent lessons taught to little girls affect their self-image years later. As an example, there was a 5-year-old who, at her mother's urging, did her own makeup for the show. It was absolutely flawless. I considered calling for tips on eye shadow, but apparently kindergarten and going to the hair salon was consuming all the girl's time...

SIKESTON -- John "Jack" Sides, 62, formerly of Sikeston, died Thursday, Aug. 17, 1995, at Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel at Sikeston is in charge of arrangements.

SIKESTON -- Clarence Bryan Lane, 98, of Sikeston, died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born Oct. 23, 1896, in Greenville, son of John and Nancy Sheets Lane. He married Lena White, who died Dec. 31, 1977. Lane had been a teacher and principal in Kelly, Anniston and Diehlstadt Schools. He was a member of Murray Lane Baptist Church...

Margaret Ellen Edmundson, 76, of Cape Girardeau, died Thursday, Aug. 17, 1995, in Crestwood. She was born Aug. 6, 1918, in Union County, Ill., daughter of David and Katherine Branson Toler. She was reared by Will and Lillian Baker. She and John Edmundson were married Aug. 6, 1953, at Bloomfield. He died Nov. 2, 1994...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Buddy Paul Smith, 60, East Prairie Route 1, died Thursday, Aug. 17, 1995, at his home. He was born July 27, 1935, at Wolf Island, son of George E. and Willa Mae Jackson Smith. He and Pansy Marie Maloney were married March 5, 1964. Smith was a self-employed truck driver. He attended First Baptist Church in Bertrand, and was a member of Masonic Lodge 90 in Lawrenceburg, Ky. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force...

Funeral service for Oma Marie Hoffman of Kennett will be held at 3 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Charles Dreyer will officiate. Entombment will be in Lorimier Mausoleum. Friends may call at the funeral home after 2:30. Hoffman, 96, died Friday, Aug. 18, 1995, at Kennett Health Center...

MARBLE HILL -- Milford C. Runnels, 74, of Jonesboro, Ark., died Thursday, Aug. 17, 1995, at St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was a native of Marble Hill. Runnels received a bachelor of science degree from Southeast Missouri State University, and a master's degree in administration from the University of Wyoming...

Son to Jeffery and Christy Wachter of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 3:18 a.m. Monday, Aug. 14, 1995. Name, Dylan James. Weight, 8 pounds 3 ounces. Third son. Mrs. Wachter is the former Christy Eudy, daughter of Steven and Sue Eudy of Jonesboro, Ill. Wachter is employed by Missouri Highway and Transportation Department in Sikeston. He is the son of Allen and Anna Wachter of Jackson...

Program director Marti Strum talked with Joyce Johnston, chemical dependency counselor, who helps operate the 24-hour helpline. Marti Strum, director of the St. Francis Medical Center for Recovery, standing, met with parole officers of the Missouri Department of Corrections Board of Probation and Parole to discuss drug awareness...

A blood drive will be held between 8 and 11:30 a.m. Sunday at the Cape Naval Reserve Center, 2530 Marie Louise Lane, Cape Girardeau. Also, a blood drive will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1904 W. Cape Rock Drive, Cape Girardeau...

"Ask Your Doctor" will air at 8 p.m. Thursday on cable access Channel 5, with featured speakers John Fidler, president, St. Francis Medical Center; James Wente, administrator, Southeast Missouri Hospital; and Randy Ressel, vice president Mid-State Sales, Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The topic will be Medamerica Healthnet...