Stories from Tuesday, October 10, 1995

Cherri Bertrand teaches the educable mentally disabled at Washington, and Angela Snider is in her class. Angela Snider is an expert at coloring in the lines, but she does well in science and other subjects, too. Mainstreaming. Least restrictive environment. Inclusion...

Students at May Greene Elementary School are learning reading, writing and~ ... computers. Toni Ryan Dement, a fifth-grade teacher at May Greene, says she uses computers to motivate students in their reading and writing studies. Every classroom at May Greene is equipped with Accelerated Reading, a literature-based reading program, Dement said...

A Federal Aviation Administration official has concluded that the control tower at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport is "mission essential." That conclusion leaves city officials and airport advisory board members optimistic that the FAA will continue to fund the airport tower. The city expects a final decision from the FAA this month...

JACKSON -- After a yearlong dispute over County Road 507, the Cape Girardeau County Commission has made its final decision: The road is abandoned and soon will legally belong to adjoining landowner Nelson Thompson. Richard Schmidt is leading a fight to keep the road open and contends the county's decision is illegal. Last fall he was arrested for trespassing on the road after the prior commission of Gene Huckstep, E.C. Younghouse and Larry Bock declared it abandoned...

Don't let anyone at the National Hurricane Center name your baby. Those meteorologists can track a storm, but they sure can't name them. Take Hurricane Opal, for example. What kind of name is that for a deadly storm? It's just not a threatening name. It's like naming a storm Fred...

SINCE the O.J. trial is over, all we will see and hear about is how it was racist. In my opinion, whites are the ones who are victims of racism. For one thing, the United Negro College Fund. Is there a white college fund? My son needs enough money to go to college just like a black person. ...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Catherine Johnson, 67, of Harvey, died Saturday, Oct. 7, 1995, at McNeal Hospital in Cicero. She was born Oct. 27, 1927, in New Madrid, Mo., daughter of George and Georgia Pattin Lynn. She and Fred Johnson Sr. were married Dec. 11, 1943, in Charleston, Mo...

Road construction in Cape Girardeau isn't just a hassle for drivers, but for students who must walk to school every day. Cape Girardeau School District policy prohibits students who live within a mile of a school from riding a bus. But with hazardous road conditions and construction, 52 students who live within a mile of the school they attend are riding buses...

Last week, Willie Mecham, 78, received an unexpected phone call from a friend he hadn't seen in a long time -- 50 years to be exact. Mecham was reunited with Arthur Gruber, a former Army buddy, on Wednesday. Both were stationed in Okinawa during World War II and hadn't seen each other since 1945...

He was born Dec. 17, 1941, in Sikeston, son of James David and Wilma Morgan McClung. He and Hilda Park were married Nov. 17, 1963, in Sikeston. McClung was a mechanic with Sikeston Light and Water Department. He attended Clayton Avenue Missionary Baptist Church...

To the editor: Only God knows and O.J. Simpson knows whether or not he is guilty of one of the most talked-about and watched-over crimes in history. Many and varied are the opinions of the media. Many of us will have a vision of the white care with Simpson driving down the road. Many will have a picture of that face on television every day...

Exporting our U.S. agricultural products to the rest of the world is critical for America's farmers and ranchers. Almost 40 percent (some products are higher and some lower in percent exported) of the farm commodities raised in this country are shipped into other countries of the world...

Greed, it turns out, is a great motivator for individuals who are wanted by the law. That's why 101 accused lawbreakers showed up in Cape Girardeau from 12 states to claim phony prizes of $2,500 apiece. After verifying their identity, ostensibly to claim the money, they were unceremoniously arrested...

A cable television committee in Cape Girardeau would like to see more local programming on the city's public-access channel. Currently the channel airs local programming such as church services, a medical program, a legal-issues program, some programs from Southeast Missouri State University. The channel, however is mostly devoted to C-SPAN, which covers politics and government in Washington, D.C...

To the editor: Written upon hearing of the acquittal of O.J.: Readers of "Don Quixote" will recall a passage when the knight and his squire meet a gang of prisoners in chains with guards. The knight talks briefly with the unhappy visitors, each of whom proclaims his innocence. Then he sets upon the guards with his sword, and as they retreat he quickly unchains the prisoners. His reward is that the newly unchained rob their liberator and others who are nearby, beat up everyone and scamper away...

To the editor: Looking back of the past year at the O.J. Simpson trial, I can see several fatal flaws in the American legal system. The first and foremost is that if your are involved in a political case or even a highly publicized case you might as well not even go trial...

To the editor: I must take this opportunity to express my appreciation for your Oct. 6 editorial on the O.J. Simpson trial. Not a day has gone by over the past year when I haven't been asked my opinion about that case. I'm afraid that it has left many people with the unfortunate perception that the entire criminal-justice system must operate in the same fashion. ...

DEXTER -- L.G. Caldwell, 67, of Brownwood died Sunday, Oct. 8, 1995, at the Crowley Ridge Nursing Home. He was born Oct. 29, 1927, at Brownwood, the son of Cecil and Verda Dunivan Caldwell. He and Wanda Clippard were married in 1964. She preceded him in death on May 27, 1981...

Funeral service for Murrell G. "Cotton" Hampton of Anchorage, Alaska, will be held at 1 p.m. today at Kehl's Forest Lawn Chapel in Anchorage. The Rev. David Pierson will officiate. Burial will be in Fort Richarson National Cemetery, with full military rites...

SIKESTON -- Lonie E. Savat, 81, of Sikeston, died Monday, Oct. 9, 1995, at Sikeston Convalescent Center. He was born April 30, 1914, in Belgique, son of Camille and Rosa Cornelius Savat. He and Genevieve Hensley were married in 1934. She preceded him in death...

ADVANCE -- Shirley G. Ladd, 59, of Advance, died Sunday, Oct. 8, 1995, at her home. She was born Nov. 23, 1935, in Advance, daughter of the Rev. Marcus and Mildred Hendrix Ladd. Ladd retired as a computer analyst at Earley, Janssen, Begley and Co. in Cape Girardeau. She was a member of Ladd Chapel General Baptist Church and Bollinger County Genealogy Society...

Ruth Steinhouse, 87, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, Oct. 8, 1995, in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 15, 1907, in Cairo, Ill., daughter of Oscar and Elizabeth Smith Johnson. She and Charles E. Steinhouse were married June 15, 1927. He died Feb. 4, 1989...

KELSO -- Leon Joseph Messmer, 80, Kelso Route 1, died Monday, Oct. 9, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Dec. 1, 1914, at Kelso, son of Edward and Clara Martin Messmer. He and Josephine M. Himmelsbach were married Aug. 23, 1941, at Chaffee...

PERRYVILLE -- Marilyn L. Layton, 47, Perryville Route 4, died Sunday, Oct. 8, 1995, at South Panola Community Hospital in Batesville, Miss. She was born May 2, 1948, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Loomis Dale and Virginia Lucille Smith Strong. She and Frances Dale Layton were married June 5, 1989, in Las Vegas, Nev...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Harold L. "Cotton" Dillow, 67, Jonesboro Route 1, died Sunday, Oct. 8, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 17, 1927, son of Peter D. and Zona Dillow. Dillow was a farmer and had been a rural postal carrier many years. He was a member of Anna Church of the Nazarene, Rural Letter Carriers, and Kornthal Church Board. He was a veteran of World War II...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Eddie Lee Harrison of Sikeston will be held at 2 p.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Larry Arnold will officiate, assisted by Richard Hagen. Burial will be in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Harrison, 42, died Monday, Oct. 9, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center...

DEXTER -- Funeral service for Alvin Barnes of Dexter will be held at 11 a.m. today at Watkins and Sons Funeral Chapel in Dexter. The Rev. Henry Jordan will officiate, with burial in Bloomfield Cemetery at Bloomfield. Barnes, 83, died Saturday, Oct. 7, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

FARMINGTON -- Funeral service for Bessie E. Wilt Amsden of Flat River will be held at 11 a.m. today at Caldwell Memorial Chapel in Park Hills. The Revs. Ronnie Graham and James Barker will officiate. Burial will be in Woodlawn Cemetery at Leadington...

DEXTER -- J. Leon Livingston, 76, of Swinton died Monday, Oct. 9, 1995, at the Dexter Memorial Hospital. He was born Jan. 25, 1919, near Swinton, the son of James and Verda Dunivan Caldwell Livingston. He and Opal Walker were married Feb. 5, 1938, at Swinton. She survives of Swinton...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Wanda Mae Grabow, 82, Cobden Route 3, died Monday, Oct. 9, 1995, at Hillside Terrace Nursing Home. She was born Feb. 3, 1913, at Cobden, daughter of William and Ida Bell Landreth Grabow. Survivors include a brother, Cleatus Grabow, Cobden Route 3...

Delta High School FFA Chapter is holding its annual fruit sales, a major fund-raiser of the chapter. Money earned will be used to support FFA activities such as barnwarming, trips to conventions and camps. Delivery, planned for the first week of December, is guaranteed on quality products. For information call 794-2456...

Mary Estes-Gieselman has been named Hazelwood School District's Teacher of the Year for the 1995-96 school year. She is a 19970 graduate of Cape Girardeau Central High School. She also graduate from Southeast Missouri State University in 1974. She represented the District in state competition in September. ...

Nicole Raglin recently had a poem published in Sparrowgrass' 1995 fall edition, Poetic Voices of America. Her poem "My Earliest Memory," was written while she was a student at St. Mary's School A freshman at Notre Dame High School, she is the daughter of Betty McCart and Chuck Raglin of Cape Girardeau...

The Southeast Missouri Music Academy, affiliated with Southeast Missouri State University, has been awarded a $4,500 technical assistance grant from the National Guild of Community Schools for the ARTs. The grant will provide funds to allow the academy to participate in NGCSA's mentoring and partnership program, part of a broad-ranging effort designed to strengthen the management capabilities of community schools of the arts...

Southeast Missouri State University will offer a review course for area high-school juniors and seniors preparing to take the American College Testing Assessment (ACT) exam. Review sessions will be conducted by Southeast faculty and staff and area high-school teachers. ...

The Cape Girardeau High School Marching Tiger Band will participate in the 24th annual Greater St. Louis Marching Band Festival Oct. 21 at Busch Stadium. There will be 48 bands and four on a waiting list in a continuous festival of music from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Bands will compete for top awards in music, marching, general effect, percussion, drum majoring and auxiliary (flags)...