Stories from Wednesday, October 11, 1995

SIKESTON -- Eunice R. DuBois, 78, of Memphis, Tenn., formerly of Sikeston, died Saturday, Oct. 7, 1995, at Regional Medical Center in Memphis. She was born March 30, 1917, in St. Louis, daughter of William C. and Bright Caroline Jones Calhoun. She and Barney L. DuBois Sr. were married in 1942 in Poplar Bluff. He died Feb. 25, 1975...

To the editor: Your Sept. 27 editorial, "Hospitals and HMOs," failed to address the central issue. What's at stake in Southeast Missouri is whether or not a free market, and the resulting benefits that accrue to consumers, will be allowed. Nationwide, for the first time in many years, the annual percentage increases in the cost of employee health benefits have actually declined from double-digit to single-digit figures...

Cape Girardeau welcomed 20 new physicians to town in the past year. About 10 doctors left the community last year due to retirement or relocation, leaving a net gain of 10. The new doctors help reinforce Cape Girardeau's position as a medical hub for Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. Physician recruitment efforts by local hospitals and doctor groups are paying off...

AmeriCorps funding is on the cutting table, and proponents are howling. They argue that paying 20,000 participants for community service work is worth the cost. Oh, really? Sen. John Ashcroft calls AmeriCorps a $27,000-per-participant boondoggle for youths trying to find themselves. A lot of people are making a lot of money off AmeriCorps besides the participants the program was designed to help. It is little more than a shell-game sham...

The Cape Central Marching Tigers won second place in the Class B competition at Washington High School in Washington, Mo., Saturday afternoon. The competition came after the band marched in the Southeast Missouri State University Homecoming Parade Saturday morning...

Agenda Wednesday, Oct. 11, 7 p.m. City Hall, 401 Independence Hearings Request of the estate of Frieda C. Meyer and Union Electric for a special use permit for a public utility facility at 1701 Independence. Request of Judith Ann Crow for a historic zoning classification for her home at 323 Themis...

Last year, fire departments responded to 2,054,500, and someone died in a fire every 123 minutes, translating to 4,275 civilian fire deaths. Cape Girardeau averages one fire death a year. This year, an 83-year-old woman died in a February fire in a one-story frame house that apparently didn't have a smoke detector. The fire started in an area heated by a small stove...

Cape Girardeau street crews will install left-turn arrows on the traffic lights at Independence and West End Boulevard beginning today. The work will start about 8 a.m. City officials said the project should be completed Thursday. During both days, stop signs will be used at the intersection. Traffic lights will operate each evening...

SIKESTON -- Steve Millington doesn't really play Monopoly that much any more. He played it a lot when he was a child, he says, and every year when the Sikeston Optimist Club has its annual tournament, he's bent over the board, but that's about it. That was enough, though. The 38-year-old Sikeston man collected the highest score in the state and will go directly to the National Monopoly Game Championship Monday and Tuesday in New York City...

To the editor: In your Oct. 5 editorial you write against the formation of a third party. One of your arguments was as follows: "Clinton's often ineffectual leadership is what results when a president is elected without the benefit of majority public support." If memory serves me correctly, I believe A. Lincoln was elected in 1860 with about 40 percent of the popular vote, Woodrow Wilson in 1912 was elected with about 41 percent and Nixon in 1968 with about 45 percent. Any comments?...

Son to Jeff L. and Lisa Pinkerton of Jackson, St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, 2:58 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29, 1995. Name, Shawn Clayton. Weight, 2 pounds. Second child, first son. Mrs. Pinkerton is the daughter of Stanley and Carolyn Downs of Cape Girardeau. Pinkerton is employed at Lee-Rowan. He is the son of Lilly Newell of Jackson and James Pinkerton of St. Louis...

JACKSON -- Funeral service for Azilee O. Rastl of Jackson will be held at 1 p.m. today at Cracraft-Miller Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Don Covington will officiate, with burial in Russell Heights Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 10 a.m. to service time...

ADVANCE -- Paul H. Wheetley, 62, of Advance, died Tuesday, Oct. 10, 1995, at Dexter Memorial Hospital. He was born July 23, 1933, at Kinder, son of Robert and Ruth Hill Wheetley. He and Evelyn Bailey were married Sept. 2, 1953, at Zalma. Wheetley was a sheetmetal worker, and member of Veterans of Foreign Wars in Advance. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War...

ADVANCE -- Ann M. Robins, 64, of Advance, died Monday, Oct. 9, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 6, 1931, in Advance, daughter of Lawrence and Eula Smith Williams. She and Ray E. Robins Sr. were married Aug. 6, 1949, in Piggott, Ark. He died Oct. 9, 1992...

MOREHOUSE -- Glenda Woods, 37, of Morehouse, died Tuesday, Oct. 10, 1995, at her home. Ponder Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Time to congratulate teachers in our vicinity again for respecting their charges enough not to refer to them as "kids." One would assume that our nation's educators and educationists who place self-esteem first would realize that "kids" is a self-effacing term. Respect for our Mother Tongue appears to have been lost in the horse-latitudes of educationese. (Mixed metaphors permitted if recognized!)...

Officials said action taken last week by the Missouri Highway Commission created a win-win situation for Jackson, Oak Ridge and Cape Girardeau County. Thanks to a recommendation by the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, Jackson has been placed on the department's 15-year plan with Oak Ridge, a plan that could allow for interstate interchanges to be built near both towns after 1998...

Tapestries come in different colors and designs but they all tell a story. And Cape Girardeau residents are weaving their own with common threads of newer buildings, improved technology and vocational training. Those are the areas participants in the Vision Planning meetings have identified as needs for the Cape Girardeau school district...

Regardless of your feelings or opinion concerning the O.J. Simpson verdict, one thing is certain: The interest generated by that case was so intense that the verdict will stand for some time as a "Where were you when you heard?" question. I was standing in the office of the Cape Girardeau County prosecutor, intently listening to the radio with a clerk as the verdict was read...

PLEASE, PRETTY please, O.J. Simpson, please come back on TV and radio. I miss you so much. IF I could convey a message to O.J., I would say: You can run but you can't hide, and you and your nightmare team are doomed to hell. THIS IS in response to the caller under the heading "Investigate SSI," which said the caller's mother had been dropped from Social Security. ...

JACKSON -- When T. Wayne Lewis, Vicki McDowell and Jeanette Bollinger travel to a school board conference in St. Louis, they don't want to be idle observers. The board members want to be information sponges, covering as many sessions and topics as possible...

JACKSON -- As Rex Limbaugh's family watches him recover from a near-fatal heart attack, it thinks about the what-ifs. What if a family friend didn't notice Limbaugh lying on the ground? What if that friend didn't have a phone handy to call for help?...

JACKSON -- When plants thrive for one person but wilt for another, everyone attributes the failure to the green-thumb theory -- people have it or they don't. Maybe so, but a University Extension program in Jackson might even the odds. The Master Gardener program is for people who have a little gardening or other horticultural experience and want more...

The Southeast Missourian asked, "With the Jackson Board of Education facing the dilemma of too many students for too few classrooms, would a bond issue for another school pass here?" Bob Cope: "Sure. This is Jackson. The schools are a part of our pride and joy. I would vote for it. I wish they would build a new high school."...

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County officials and residents will accept an award from the Groundwater Foundation of Lincoln, Neb., officially recognizing the county as a 1995 Groundwater Guardian Community. The award presentation is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday in the county commission chambers...

JACKSON -- The Jackson Noon Optimist Club will have its annual Chili Day on Oct. 20 at the St. Paul Lutheran Fellowship Hall. Serving times will be from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Advance adult tickets will be $3 and child tickets $2, including chili, dessert and a drink. Tickets purchased at the door will be 50 cents higher...

PADUCAH, Ky. -- Jamie Burgfeld of Jackson recently was crowned Miss Southern Bell 1995. The pageant was conducted in Paducah and is a preliminary to Miss National Calendar Girl, a pageant to be conducted in South Carolina. Burgfeld is a freshman at Southeast Missouri State University and plans to enter the field of law enforcement. She is the daughter of Lawson and Jude Burgfeld of Jackson...

FRUITLAND -- Flickerwood Arena will sponsor the Missouri High School Rodeo Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's performance will begin at 7 p.m. and Sunday's at 1 p.m. Events to be conducted during each performance will be: barrel racing, pole bending, team roping, calf roping, saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, breakaway roping, goat tying, steer wrestling and bull riding...

October is the month we wait for all year. It is ideal for many things, such as beautiful blues skies, pleasant weather and, we hope, rain, all of which make it an ideal time for planting spring flowering bulbs. Although daffodils, tulips and hyacinths provide the most spectacular spring display, there are a number of lesser known bulbs that add to the colorful garden...

"Ask Your Doctor," a special one on one medical show with local doctors answering questions from local viewers calling in will air 8 p.m. thursday on cable access channel 5. guest speaker will be Marybeth Kapp, M.D. Topic with be peiaric eye disorders...

Jean Mocherman and her sons, Jack, left, and Luke, drew pictures with chalk on the driveway at their home. Martha Golden and son Ben listened as daughter Carrie played the piano in their home. Deciding what is best for the family can be a tough call...