Stories from Friday, December 8, 1995

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Stella M. Franklin, 93, of Mounds died Thursday, Dec. 7, 1995, at the Carbondale Health Care in Carbondale. Arrangements are incomplete at Barkett Funeral Home in Mounds.

PERRYVILLE -- Children's author Kristin Joy Pratt of St. Louis will visit Perryville Elementary School today. The visit is part of a business-education partnership between the school and the Perryville McDonald's restaurant. The yearlong program is called "Great Authors -- Great Literature."...

A Southeast Missouri State University grievance committee said the five-day suspension of a school staff member earlier this year was "excessive" and went beyond school policy. Debra Mitchell-Braxton, an assistant director of the Campus Assistance Center, was suspended without pay for five days earlier this year...

Prints of an aerial photograph of Cape Girardeau and surrounding area can be purchased at City Hall They are 40 inches by 50 inches and cost $105 each. They can be obtained by contacting the planning services office at 334-8326. The aerial photograph, taken in November, was the third such photograph of the city to be taken since 1987. The last was in 1990...

Lexi Ramsey, 5, will be getting one Christmas present a little early this year. Next week, Lexi's doctors will perform surgery to remove a catheter through which she has received chemotherapy treatments for leukemia for the last three years. Lexi was 2 when she was diagnosed with cancer. ...

Cape Girardeau's public radio station will enter the world of radio theater with its own adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel "A Christmas Carol." KRCU-90.9 FM will air the production, which is entirely written, produced and performed locally, several times during the holiday season beginning Dec. 22. The station's first attempt at radio drama will be recorded live in the studio Saturday...

The fifth annual Holiday of Lights Tour begins today at West Park Mall. Last week the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce coordinated judging of places decorated for the holiday season. Seven teams of judges picked 14 homes, six businesses and a church as most worthy of being on a list kept by the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau. That list makes up a $1 bus tour hosted by the CVB...

About 40 students from eight area high schools will perform a Christmas concert Saturday afternoon. The concert begins at 3 p.m. Saturday at the JCPenny Court of West Park Mall. It was organized by the Southeast Missouri Band Association and Southeast Missouri State University...

The Depressive and Manic Depressive Association will hold its annual Christmas party for all persons who have depression illnesses. The party will be held from 6:30-9 p.m., Monday in Conference Room C of the St. Francis Medical Center Education Department...

In big wars, there are sometimes key victories in small battles. This was the case earlier this week when the Missouri Farm Bureau's resolutions committee did an about-face and decided to oppose academic standards outlined in the state's Outstanding Schools Act...

To the editor: I was amazed to read of "Peg" Meyers' passing from this life. The world has lost a fine gentleman I've known Peg for nearly 50 years. I was just a kid when he used to come to the Salvation Army each week and give of his time to teach a bunch of us poor kids to play horns. ...

To the editor: All of us grow old and eventually are forgotten, but those who knew R.F. "Peg" Meyers will assuredly not forget Meyers' long and interesting life. There is still much left to be said. Peg Meyers touched so many lives that he will be long remembered for his expertise as a musician and as a writer. His close association with the renowned Jess Stacy and his playing in the band with him for many years gave Peg much prominence in the States as well as in England...

To the editor: On Oct. 26 representatives of the Sikeston police department and sikeston schools met with our community to discuss the Weed and Seed Project. The school system sees the hcild as the problem instead of being sensitive to possible struggles at home. ...

Congressman assails new budget plan by president U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson's comments on President Clinton's handling of budget negotiations: "President Clinton apparently thrives on suspense. Again, when it comes to balancing the federal budget, he wants budget negotiations to come down to the 11th hour. ...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Alexis Brooke DeWitt, 3 days, died Thursday, Dec. 7, 1995, at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago. She was born Dec. 4, 1995, in Chicago, daughter of Christopher Lee and Christina Lynn Yates DeWitt of DeKalb. Survivors include her parents; a brother, Ryan DeWitt of the home; maternal grandparents, Charles and Gayle Yates of Cobden; paternal grandparents, Carl and Marchetta DeWitt of Cobden; maternal great-grandparents, Ruby Yates of Cobden, Roy and Helen Hickam of Anna; paternal great-grandparents, Murray DeWitt of Mill Creek and Vurtis Moreland of Mounds.. ...

Cape Girardeau County The James and Cecil Beal Trusts to Raymond and Wanda Davidson; William and Merry McClary to Larry and Connie McCart; Ronald and Donna Randen to Stanley and Debbie Wicks; Jerry and Darlene Wagner to Lawrence and Tina Bill; Douglas Buchheit to The Douglas Buchheit Trust; Harold and Evon Crosno to Dale and Kathy Wallis; Health Services Corp. of America to George and S. Carolyn Russell...

DEXTER -- Irene Whitaker, 61, of Dexter, died Thursday, Dec. 7, 1995, at Dexter Memorial Hospital. She was born May 19, 1934, in Mt. Vernon, daughter of Enoch and Lena K. Shaw Pedigo. She and Joe Whitaker were married Nov. 23, 1951, in Waterloo, Ind...

Graveside service for Edith Lewis of Cape Girardeau will be held at 1 p.m. today at Beechwood Cemetery in Mounds, Ill., with the Rev. Jerry Herring officiating. Friends may call at Barkett Funeral Home in Mounds from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Lewis, 94, formerly of Mounds, died Wednesday, Dec. 6, 1995, at Chateau Girardeau...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Mary Thelma Calvin, 95, of Ottawa, formerly of Mound City, died Wednesday, Dec. 6, 1995, at Ottawa Community Hospital. She was born July 4, 1900, in Belknap, daughter of Marcus and Ida Huff Burns. She married Charles Calvin, who died in 1975...

SIKESTON -- James Henry Hayden Jr., 85, of Park Ridge, Ill., formerly of Sikeston, died Wednesday, Dec. 6, 1995, at Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview, Ill. He was born July 23, 1910, in Kuttawa, Ky., son of James Henry and Emma Krone Hayden Sr. He and Marguerite Heath were married April 22, 1931, in Wickliffe, Ky...

Daughter to Kevin and Penny Myrick of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 12:19 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 23, 1995. Name, Paige Nichole. Weight, 7 pounds 15 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Myrick is the former Penny Ford, daughter of Nova and Peggy Crawford of Jackson and Mike and Judy Ford of Cape Girardeau. ...

PERRYVILLE -- The Rev. Ambrose A. Dubrin, 87, of Perryville, died Wednesday, Dec. 6, 1995, at St. Mary's Seminary. He was born May 28, 1908, in Portageville, son of Daniel K. and Ida Ellen Durbin. Durbin received a degree in philosophy in 1933 and degree in theology in 1935, both from St. Mary's Seminary in Perryville...

ANNA, Ill. -- Frank Jastrab, 77, of Anna, died Wednesday, Dec. 6, 1995, at Spanish Oaks Center. Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home at Anna is in charge of arrangements.

After hearing both sides of the issue, Missouri Farm Bureau Federation delegates reversed themselves and voted unanimously to oppose academic assessment standards outlined in Missouri's Outstanding Schools Act. The Farm Bureau's opposition to the standards is included in the organization's overall resolution on education issues. The resolution was passed earlier this week during the annual Farm Bureau Convention at Lake of the Ozarks...

When the weather outside is frightful, sales inside are delightful. That's the tune Cape Girardeau retailers hope to be humming soon. With this week's cold snap and a forecast of snow today, retailers expect to see holiday sales gather momentum. Weather has created a shopping slowdown since the Thanksgiving weekend when crowds flocked into stores nationwide for one of the biggest shopping weekends of the season...

Today is the deadline for submitting applications to the 1995 Toy Box toy drive, sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Jaycees and the Southeast Missourian. Applications must be turned into the Salvation Army, 701 Good Hope, by 4 p.m., said Jackie Thieke...

Each Christmas morning, Mrs. M gets out of bed, dresses and then waits. She waits by the telephone for the one holiday call with Christmas wishes from her sister. Mrs. M's sister lives in another state. Her sister also is elderly and unable to travel. But she always calls on Christmas morning...

Where in the history of languages is it writ that Welsh was handed down from Dehli? Sometimes what appears to be fact is little more than a figment of someone's imagination. Anyone who watches "Jeopardy," the popular television show of answers and questions, knows how it sometimes imparts small bits of trivial information. For the most part these nuggets are pretty much useless, except for making the brain work a mite harder...

There will be at least two Cape Girardeau City Council races in the April election. Jay Purcell, who works at Dana Corp., will challenge Councilman Jack Rickard for the Ward 3 seat. In Ward 5, Lawrence Godfrey will challenge incumbent Melvin Gateley...

Drawing Christmas pictures wasn't too difficult for students at Jefferson School. But choosing the right colors was. As part of a PTA fund-raising event, the students entered a drawing contest but could only use color combinations of red and green or blue and green...