Stories from Wednesday, December 27, 1995

The General Services Administration has rescheduled a public hearing on a preferred downtown site for a new federal courthouse and moved the meeting to make it accessible to the handicapped. The meeting has been moved from Jan. 25 to Feb. 1, and will be held at the Show Me Center. Registration will begin at 6 p.m., with the hearing slated to begin at 6:30 p.m...

Winter weather won't stop road construction projects in Southeast Missouri this year. The Missouri Highway and Transportation Department announced contract awards for bridge projects in Scott and Perry counties. The two projects will cost about $2 million combined...

A state law going into effect Jan. 1 may be a hassle for some sewer installers but should protect Missouri's rural residents. Senate Bill 446, passed this year, forces sewer installers to work with local health departments before digging. If the lot is deemed to be safe, contractors may obtain a $90 permit to do the work, which must comply with state guidelines...

SCOTT CITY -- When students return to Scott City High School after their holiday break, there will be some new classes available to them. High-school students or graduates interested in earning college credit now can enroll in two courses sponsored by the Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff...

This was received too late to publish prior to Christmas. Christmas is here. It's evident everywhere: on television, radio, in shops and malls and especially in our homes. As I watch this spectacle, I am struck by how odd it all seems. We espouse the importance of the true meaning of Christmas, but we buy, buy, buy and then anticipate the perfect holiday because we got the right gift for Aunt Mae...

The $1 movie will return to the Broadway Theatre Jan. 5. Theater management had to raise its prices to bring the first-run movie, "Dracula: Dead and Loving It," to the Broadway in Cape Girardeau. "The Dracula movie was not available as a discount movie," said John Miller, general manager of Kerasotes Theatres, headquartered at Springfield. ...

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- Witz Village Bar-B-Que and Restaurant is closing this weekend. Betty Colyer and her husband, William M. "Witz" Colyer, opened the family restaurant in March 1982. During the past 13 years, the restaurant has become renown for its home-style cooking...

Vocational-technical education has been much in the news lately. This fall, a delegation of members of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce traveled to Paducah to study West Kentucky Tech, that community's successful vo-tech school. Businessman Jim Drury, who employs approximately 1,200 people in the motel and restaurant industry, and who has helped turn a spotlight on Paducah's institution, has for years urged more funding and a greater focus on vo-tech education...

A recent automobile collision with a deer along Highway 21 in remote, rural Reynolds County ordinarily wouldn't be worthy of much comment. When the driver is Rep. Mark Richardson of Poplar Bluff, House minority leader, it is enough to receive major treatment in one of our state's metropolitan daily newspapers...

JEFFERSON CITY -- For the first time since riverboat gambling began in Missouri in May 1994, both monthly admissions and profit registered declines in November. Only one of the seven casinos in the state showed an increase in both categories. A computer-generated analysis of November reports filed with the Missouri Gaming Commission shows admissions in November were 148,806 fewer than the year-to-date monthly average. ...

NEW MADRID -- It started with some letters written by a Civil War soldier and ended with H. Riley Bock being named president of the State Historical Society of Missouri. Bock was elected president of the society's board of trustees earlier this year, a post he will hold until 1998. He succeeded Avis Tucker of Warrensburg...

Christmas has come and gone, and New Year's is coming on. The holidays, which always seem to come and go all too quickly, are rapidly disappearing, and residents soon will be facing the chore of dismantling and disposing of the family Christmas tree...

It's interesting how we intelligent, carbon-based lifeforms like to segment our lives into definitive blocks of time. Almost every endeavor is divided up into a beginning, middle and end. I suppose it is reflective of our mortality -- you're born, you live for a while, you die...

I THINK the federal government needs to grow up and go back to school and learn how to communicate instead of shutting down everything. I MAY have what would be a quick and easy solution to the budget crisis. Let all the elected and appointed federal government officials who make over $150,000 a year take a 10 percent pay cut in their salaries. I think that would just about do it...

JACKSON -- The Christmas season could have been hellish for Country Mart's store manager. Instead, it was heavenly. Manager Jim Kincey oversaw the building of a new store for months, then supervised the delivery of thousands of boxes carrying merchandise. For six days, both Town & Country, the old store, and Country Mart, the new store, were open together...

JACKSON -- The Tsalagi Service Unit of the Girl Scouts will conduct a recycling drive from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Jan. 6 in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Jackson. The girls encourage people to bring magazines, catalogs and newspaper for recycling, along with all types of aluminum. Papers should be packed in paper grocery bags or cardboard boxes. Plastic bags, phone books and strings or rubber bands won't be accepted...

JACKSON -- Navy Seaman Recruit William T. Weber, son of William G. and Katherine Weber of Jackson, recently completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. During the eight-week program, Weber completed a variety of training, which included classroom study, practical hands-on instruction and physical fitness...

JACKSON -- A videoconference on how federal block grants will impact Missouri's human services system will be presented from 1-3 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5, at the Cape Girardeau County Extension Center. The conference is sponsored by Citizens for Missouri's Children, two United Way groups and the University of Missouri Extension. Its purpose is to inform Missourians about changes in human services programs, present department directors' assessments of those changes and discuss the next steps...

The Southeast Missourian asked people for their New Year's resolutions. Lynn Farrow: "I would like to start walking and exercising more. Also, I want to learn more about using computers." Roberta Brown: "I want to be more organized in 1996, especially at home. I'm already organized at work."...

JACKSON -- American Legion Post 158 has selected Music Students of the Month for September, October and November. The program is run by the Americanism Committee of the post and recognizes outstanding music students from Jackson High School. Each student receives a $100 savings bond...

JACKSON -- Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Villis L. Cross, whose wife, Melinda, is staying with her parents, Randy and Carol Ludwig of Jackson, recently was in the Adriatic Sea near Bosnia aboard the ammunition ship USS Butte. Cross is one of 406 sailors aboard the ship who helped support the peace effort in the former Yugoslavia by resupplying naval forces in the Adriatic Sea...

CARRIER MILLS, Ill. -- Bertha B. Felty, 81, formerly of Jonesboro, Ill., died Monday, Dec. 25, 1995, at the Carrier Mills Nursing Home. She was born Jan. 17, 1914, at Pope County, Ill., daughter of Frank and Tessie Burns Miller. She and Wayne W. Felty were married June 10, 1935, at Stonefort, Ill. He preceded her in death Feb. 27, 1982...

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- Melvia Payne, 87, of Tahlequah and formerly of McGee died Tuesday, Dec. 26, 1995. She was born Dec. 23, 1908, at McGee to John W. and Flora M. McKee Burnley. She was married to Vergil D. Payne, who died in July 1990. She was a homemaker and a former member of the Shady Dell General Baptist Church of McGee...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Jane Ely "Chuckie" Masters, 65, of Jefferson City died Monday, Dec. 25, 1995, at the Boone Hospital Center in Columbia. She was born Dec. 27, 1929, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of the late William Douglas and Ruth Ferguson Ely. She married Frank M. Masters on Aug. 14, 1951, at Cape Girardeau. He survives...

DEXTER -- Robert M. Brickeen, 86, of Dexter died Sunday, Dec. 24, 1995, at the Dexter Nursing Center. He was born April 12, 1909, at Bernie, son of James Albert and Della Worthen Brickeen. He has lived in the Morehouse and Bernie communities until moving to Dexter in 1987. He was a retired farmer and was affiliated with the Nazarene Church...

CHARLESTON -- Richard Hart, 78, of Charleston died Saturday, Dec. 23, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Dec. 24, 1916, in Puxico, son of the late Isaiah and Ethel Fannie Harris Hart. He lived in Charleston most of his life and was a member of the Elm Street Baptist Church in Charleston. He was employed by Brown Shoe Co. in Charleston from 1951 until his retirement in 1979. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II...

INDIANAPOLIS -- J.D. Littrell, 73, of Indianapolis and formerly of East Prairie died Friday, Dec. 22, 1995, at the Richard L. Roudebush V.A. Medical Center in Indianapolis. He was born July 19, 1922, in St. Joseph, Tenn., son of the late John Daniel and Kizzie Zore Comer Littrell. ...

MORLEY -- Jiggs Cody, 63, of Morley died Tuesday, Dec. 26, 1995, at Sikeston Health Care. He was born Sept. 17, 1932, at Casa, Ark., son of Zannie and Myrtle L. Moore Cody. He was retired from General Motors in St. Louis, where he worked as a forklift operator...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Lloyd "Tub" Clutts, 93, of Olive Branch died Monday, Dec. 25, 1995, at The Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 2, 1902, in Alexander County, Ill., son of William Henry and Martha Olena Breeze Clutts. He and Retta King were married Sept. 16, 1925...

Beatrice E. Nelson, 84, died Tuesday, Dec. 26, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 21, 1911, in Axtel, Texas, the daughter of Emmett E. and Beulah Lewis. She married Arthur L. Nelson on Nov. 4, 1944, in Durant, Okla...

PERRYVILLE -- Frederick John Hoffstetter, 88, of Perryville died at his home Monday, Dec. 25, 1995. He was born Aug. 30, 1907, son of Emmanuel and Mary M. Hansen Hoffstetter. He is survived by two sisters, Flora Hamper of Perryville and Ilma Baue of St. Charles...

BENTON -- Marvin G. Ferrell, 81, of Benton died Tuesday, Dec. 26, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Home in Benton.

WOLF LAKE, Ill. -- Ralph Tweedy, 87, of Wolf Lake died Monday, Dec. 25, 1995, at his home. He was born June 1, 1908, at Pomona, Ill., son of James and Belle Morgan Tweedy. He and Eula Roxie Kimmel were married Aug. 6, 1932, at Jonesboro, Ill. She preceded him in death Sept. 21, 1990...

PERRYVILLE -- Edgar Brown, 82, of Perryville died Sunday, Dec. 24, 1995, at Fairhavens Christian Home in Decatur, Ill. He was born Sept. 30, 1913, in Perry County, son of John B. and Elizabeth Lucretia Graff Brown. He married Ruth S. Sanders on Feb. 25, 1940. She preceded him in death July 5, 1995...

ST. LOUIS -- Doris J. Fehr, 63, of St. Louis died Monday, Dec. 25, 1995. She was the daughter of Charles and Margaret Montgomery. She married Richard A. Fehr, and the couple lived in Cape Girardeau for more than 20 years. Survivors include her husband; her father; two daughters, Diane Fennimore and Bonnie James; three sons, Richard C. Fehr, Robert A. Fehr and Ronald Fehr; a sister, Barbara Kliros; and 18 grandchildren...

ST. LOUIS -- Glennon J. Hunt, 89, formerly of Perryville, died Sunday, Dec. 24, 1995, at the Bethesda Dilworth Retirement Home in St. Louis. He was born July 15, 1906, at Perryville, son of Charles A. and Louise J. Unvenferth Hunt. He and Mabel Emmendorfer were married Oct. 25, 1937...

CHAFFEE -- Mabel Annie Bagbey, 91, of Chaffee died Monday, Dec. 25, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 3, 1904, at Arbor; daughter of Milford and Charity Ann Tilly Tidwell. She was retired from Buckstein's Pants Factory in Chaffee. She was a member of the Church of God at Chaffee...

ADVANCE -- Marjorie Lou Abner, 68, of Aurora, Ill., formerly of Advance, died Saturday, Dec. 23, 1995, at her home. She was born Oct. 4, 1927, at Dongola, Mo., daughter of Homer and Cecil Elledge Murphy. She was a homemaker and a member of the former TNT Club of Advance...

SIKESTON -- Mary Elizabeth Kidd, 91, of Sikeston died Monday, Dec. 25, 1995, at the Clearview Nursing Center in Sikeston. She was born Jan. 31, 1904, in Gatewood, daughter of Samuel L. and Mahalia A. Holcomb Holland. She married Tommy J. Kidd on March 9, 1927, in Warm Springs, Ark. He preceded her in death on Nov. 20, 1983...

CHAFFEE -- Emeline Josephine Menz, 99, died Sunday, Dec. 24, 1995, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 11, 1896, at New Hamburg to John Urhahn and Rosa Glasser. On May 14, 1918, she married Leo Jacob Menz, who died Dec. 28, 1972...

ST. CHARLES -- Ivah Scism, 94, of St. Charles died Monday, Dec. 25, 1995, at her home. She was born Sept. 14, 1901, at Bloomfield, daughter of Thomas and Minnie Moore Baskerville. She and Thatcher Scism were married. Scism was a member of the First United Methodist Church in St. Charles. She also was a 50-year member of the Order of the Easter Star Chapter 137 in Sikeston and was a former president of the Federated Women's Club...

New Year's resolutions usually turn to mush within a few days or weeks after our silky smooth good intentions are laid out in either mind or on paper. Nevertheless, let us plunge onward into this often plowed territory and see what sprouts when gardeners turn their minds toward perfection...

Kay Coleson of Chaffee sewed the quilt together from pieces of old neckties. An old necktie provided three pieces that will begin a new life as a quilt. Remnants of yesterday's style transform into mini works of art in Kay Coleson's hands. Best of all, the styles don't have to be particularly tasteful. Surprisingly enough, the gaudier the better. "The ugliest neckties make the prettiest blocks," Coleson said, chuckling...