Stories from Saturday, December 23, 1995

To the editor: The Christmas season presents itself in many ways. So different is Christmas observed from years past. I remember its being observed in the home quietly, in more of a religious way, joyful and serene, certainly not the hustle and bustle we see today, losing the real beauty of this special season...

A benefit account for G.G. House has been set up at Capital Bank in Cape Girardeau. Paul and Charlotte House of Fruitland, G.G.'s grandparents, are fighting for custody of the 5-year-old girl. They said her mother, the Houses' daughter-in-law, is an unfit parent. ...

J. Ronald Fischer was a member of the Cape Girardeau County Court when the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority was formed. Now he's a member of the port authority's board of commissioners. Fischer, who recently retired as Cape Girardeau city manager, was appointed to the board by the Cape Girardeau County Commission, formerly called the county court. He replaced Cliff Rudesill. Fischer's term will end in 1999...

For the first time in many years, row-crop farmers may do their next year's planning (the 1996 winter wheat is already planted) with no knowledge of what the Department of Agriculture will require of them in terms of program crop acres and acreage set-aside requirements. The primary reason for this is that the Congress and the president have the 1995 farm legislation tied up in the budget reconciliation package that is still being debated...

Mark this past week down as a turning point in media attention on the Whitewater affair. Two years after the decidedly second-tier Washington Times began feeding its readers a steady diet of revealing fact and comment on the cluster of ethical and financial improprieties collectively known as Whitewater, the trail has been joined by dominant elite media such as the Washington Post and the New York Times. ...

House Speaker Newt Gingrich is Time magazine's man of the year. In years gone by, when the roster of slick, mass-circulation magazines pretty much began and ended with Time, Life, Look, The Saturday Evening Post, The Readers Digest and Colliers, this designation perhaps carried more moment than it does in today's carved-up magazine market of Runner's World, PC User and The Wine Spectator. ...

To the editor: This is in regard to the recent article about requiring community service hours in public schools. I disagree with the proposal. I believe most of our children are already loaded with enough required and extracurricular activities that have them going at a hectic and sometimes frantic pace...

To the editor: You could be right in your Dec. 13 editorial. But as taxpayers we wish the money (to buy out the contracts of the school superintendent and personnel director) could have been used on maintenance. We question the wisdom of hiring a consultant again. ...

After one year, the Tactical Narcotics Team has made an explosive impact on the Cape Girardeau County drug trade, law enforcement officials said. "There are a few people who are very disappointed that the team was formed a year ago," said Cape Girardeau Police Chief Howard "Butch" Boyd Jr. "The word is out: If you are going to say yes to drugs, we are going to be knocking on your door. What you had better do is say no to it."...

Officials at Southeast Missouri State University hope to be able to award honorary doctoral and professional degrees as early as next spring. Dr. Bill Atchley, university interim president, proposed the addition, which was approved this week by the Board of Regents...

Christmas spirit shone brightly Friday as several organizations handed out food and toys to help needy families through the holidays. Members of Craftsman Independent Union Local 1 were busy loading up more than 600 Christmas baskets for distribution throughout the area Friday morning...

It was pay-day once again, bringing a sense of elation followed by a nagging feeling that I should sit down and pay bills. It's best to warm up with a little one -- maybe the $29 to my cellular phone company. Then the utility bill, a tame $65, not bad for keeping the thermostat on a toasty 66 degrees all month. The car payment, a sizable chunk o' change, but at least one I can count on every month...

DELTA -- Minnie Howell, 77, of Delta died Friday, Dec. 22, 1995, at her home. She was born Nov. 22, 1918, at Caruthersville, daughter of James Anthony McGee and Lela Taylor McGee. On Oct. 6, 1933, she married Alvin Howell, who survives. She was a homemaker and a member of the General Baptist Church of Randles...

The Rev. Andrew P. Bullinger, 76, of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, Dec. 22, 1995, at Missouri Veterans Home. He was born April 1, 1919, at Randles, son of Leo and Laura Davis Bullinger. He and Pauline Cox were married Sept. 14, 1940, at Jackson. Bullinger was a General Baptist minister in the area many years. He retired from Missouri Utilities in Cape Girardeau. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II...

Linus E. Angle, 83, 1518 Kurre Lane, died Friday, Dec. 22, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Feb. 27, 1912, at Scopus, son of Jesse A. and Tisha Limbaugh Angle. He and Marie Bates were married Nov. 23, 1938, at Jackson. Angle was a retired carpenter. He was a member of Freewill Baptist Church. He served in the Battle of the Bulge in the European Theater during World War II...

SCOTT CITY -- Funeral service for Claude Ervin Rubel of Scott City will be held at 11 a.m. today at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City. The Rev. Charles Lance will officiate, with burial in Lightner Cemetery. Rubel, 67, died Thursday, Dec. 21, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital...

Michael A. Spraggins, 38, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Dec. 21, 1995, at the St. Louis Regional Hospital Clinic. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

POCAHONTAS -- Ida E. Rauh, 78, of Pocahontas, died Friday, Dec. 22, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 11, 1917, in Wittenberg, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Stueve. She and Herbert Rauh were married Jan. 12, 1936. He died June 18, 1976...

Daughter to Larrissa Morris and Anthony Pulliam of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, 1995. Name, Ebony Brianna. Weight, 7 pounds 11 ounces. First child. Miss Morris is the daughter of Gladys Beal of Cape Girardeau and Larry Morris of Charleston. She is a student. Pulliam is employed at Cottonwood Treatment Center. He is the son of Ann Taylor and Joe Pulliam of Kennett...

PERRYVILLE -- Funeral service for Rita M. Wischmeyer of Perryville will be held at 1 p.m. today at Miller Family Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Gerard P. Kelly will officiate, with burial in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 11 a.m. to service time...

PERRYVILLE -- Notre Dame High boys basketball coach Chris Janet expected nothing less than a close, hard-fought game when his team traveled to face St. Vincent Friday night. And that's exactly what Janet and the Bulldogs got. In a contest that was much closer than the final score indicates, Notre Dame pulled away late for a 73-61 victory...

Teams and players at the U-High Christmas Tournament aren't the only ones that get their shots at a big prize. Fans at the tournament that begins Wednesday will have a shot at $25,000 for making a half-court basket Saturday. The event -- the Halftime Shoot-Out Classic -- is sponsored by KZIM-AM of Cape Girardeau...

Washington University School of Medicine is seeking families who have two or more men living with prostate cancer for a study to identify the gene that causes the disease. Researchers at the university have narrowed their search for one prostate cancer gene to a specific section of one chromosome which appears to be missing a tumor suppressor gene. ...

Dr. Connie D. Simmons will be the speaker for the Thursday segment of "Ask Your Doctor." Simmons' topic will be "Teenage Sexual Problems." The program airs Thursday nights at 8 on Cable Channel 5 and is sponsored by St. Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri Hospital in conjunction with the Cape Girardeau County Area Medical Society and Channel 5...

People with severe scalp problems may end up in a dermatologist's examination room. Dr. Kenneth Dempsey said most of the patients he treats for scalp troubles have dandruff, which can be cured with common, over-the-counter remedies. Rogaine, the brand name for Minoxidil, has had good results for some people who are losing their hair. Although nobody is sure exactly how the drug works, some theorize that it increases blood flow to hair follicles, stimulating them...

Students from Perryville AVTS DECA will sponsor a country line dance Saturday, Jan. 6, to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The dance will be held at the Perryville American Legion Hall and will begin at 7 p.m., and an instructor will be available starting at 6 p.m...