Stories from Wednesday, January 3, 1996

The first segment of the Highway 74 bridge route across Cape Girardeau will be opened next week. Bob Wilson of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department said the four-lane road from Sprigg to Kingshighway should be opened Jan. 8 or 9. Completion of the segment was delayed a week because of cold and snow, he said...

JEFFERSON CITY -- As members of the General Assembly return for the start of the 1996 legislative session, they already have more than 400 bills on an agenda that is expanding daily. By the time they end this year's second session of the 88th General Assembly May 17, the state's 197 lawmakers will have a stack of proposed laws numbering as many as 1,300 bills. They will enact probably no more than 15 percent...

A Kennett man was named Tuesday by Gov. Mel Carnahan to the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission. H. Mark Preyer, an attorney with Crow, Reynolds, Preyer and Shetley in Kennett, was named with two other men to the commission, the governor's office announced...

The snowstorm that dumped up to a foot of snow in some areas of Missouri missed Cape Girardeau during the day Tuesday, but the snow that began falling here about dusk had accumulated to 2 inches by 9 p.m. Don't be too surprised to see a lot of the white stuff on the ground this morning...

Missourians on Thursday will have a chance to tell state education officials what they think of a list of skills the education department says Missouri students should learn. Seven public hearings will be held Thursday across Missouri to gather comments from the public about the Show-Me Standards, a set of 73 academic objectives from six subject areas. The academic performance standards are required under the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993...

Missouri's Coordinating Board for Higher Education wants the state to spend $642 million for general operations at Missouri's 13 public, four-year colleges and universities in fiscal 1997. Southeast Missouri State University would receive $40 million of it or about $3 million more than the fiscal 1996 appropriation, CBHE figures show...

I have been to the Ninth Plane of Disco Hell. Platform shoes. Dookie gold chains with huge, ugly medallions. Women with feathered back, Farrah Fawcett Majors hairdos. Big pants. Leisure suits. Denny Tario, the host of "Dance Fever." The Village People live in concert...

MY DAUGHTER and I want to thank the honest person who found her watch at Wal-Mart around noon on Dec. 27 in Cape Girardeau. This person was very honest and turned it into the customer service desk. There are some honest people in this world, and we want to thank whoever did it from the bottom of our hearts...

Daughter to David and Laura Westrich, Chaffee Route 1, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 10:57 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21, 1995. Name, Jessica Ann. Weight, 6 pounds 9 ounces. First child. Mrs. Westrich is the former Laura Friga, daughter of Al and Rita Friga of Chaffee. She is a respiratory therapist at Vencor Hospital in St. Louis. Westrich is the son of Eugene and Norma Seyer of Chaffee. He is employed at Westrich Paint and Drywall...

MALDEN -- Maxine Imogene Strong, 68, of Malden, died Monday, Jan. 1, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 14, 1927, at Bernie, daughter of Charlie and Vinia Vincent Hampton. She and Troy Woodrow Strong were married Dec. 24, 1944, in Piggott, Ark. He died Jan. 23, 1978...

CHARLESTON -- Fannie Bell Buchanan, 86, of Charleston, died Friday, Dec. 29, 1995, at Bertrand Nursing Facility. She was born March 12, 1909, in Kenneytown, Tenn., daughter of James and Cora Andrews. She married Rube Buchanan, who preceded her in death...

WILSON CITY -- Katherine Douglas, 95, of Wilson City died Monday, Jan. 1, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born July 29, 1900, in Ripley, Tenn., to Alex and Alice Adams Donlow. She had been a resident of Missouri for 60 years...

William A. Prass, 78, of Scott City died Tuesday, Jan. 2, 1996, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City.

VANDUSER -- Funeral service for Kenneth E. Barrick of Chesterfield, formerly of Vanduser, will be held at 2 p.m. today at Watkins and Sons Funeral Chapel in Dexter. The Rev. Dan Richardon will officiate, with burial in Hagy Cemetery at Dexter. Barrick, 74, died Friday, Dec. 29, 1995, at Delmar Gardens Nursing Center in Chesterfield...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Mildred Nevada Goers, 69, of East Prairie, died Monday, Jan. 1, 1996, at her home. She was born Sept. 26, 1926, at Matthews, daughter of Otis and Sarah Penrod Black. She and Arthur L. Goers were married May 28, 1955. He died Sept. 23, 1994...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for Cathryn E. Carden of East Prairie will be held at 2 p.m. today at Shelby Funeral Chapel in East Prairie. Pastors Ted Wimberley and Aubrey Wilson will officiate, with burial in IOOF Cemetery near Charleston. Carden, 81, died Sunday, Dec. 31, 1995, at East Prairie Nursing Center...

ANNA, Ill. -- Funeral service for Geneva Roberts of Anna will be held at 1 p.m. today at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna. Steve Shepherd will officiate, with burial in Anna City Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home until service time...

PERRYVILLE -- Edna Marie "Toots" Fox, 89, of Perryville, died Sunday, Dec. 31, 1995, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Aug. 30, 1906, in Perryville, daughter of Rudolph Bernard and Julia Edna Ross Lueders. She and Lemuel R. Fox were married July 3, 1948. He died April 8, 1969...

CHAFFEE -- Thelma Delores Hendrix, 82, of Chaffee, died Tuesday, Jan. 2, 1996, at Chaffee Nursing Center. She was born Jan. 24, 1913, in Zalma, daughter of King Anderson and Mary Etta Abernathy Gobble. She and Cletis Hendrix were married Nov. 27, 1929. He died Oct. 13, 1990...

Funeral service for Julia Ann Tackett of Cape Girardeau will be held at 10 a.m. today at St. Mary's Cathedral, with Monsignor Richard Rolwing officiating. Burial will be in Memorial Park. Friends may call at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel from 8-9:30 a.m...

The Southeast Missourian asked people if moving the Jackson City Library in April to the new City Hall is the permanent solution to the voters rejecting its merger with the Riverside Regional Library. Lisa Manning: "I think the library issue will come back. We need a bigger library in Jackson."...

Thanks to everyone who participated in the First Annual Jackson Merchants/City of Jackson Christmas Display in City Park. The displays were enjoyed by many who drove by to see them. Rest assured that the display will be expanded in the years to come...

JACKSON -- All five incumbents and two other candidates filed for five seats opening on the Jackson Board of Aldermen. Ward I Aldermen David Ludwig, Ward II Aldermen David Reiminger, Ward III Alderman Glenn Oldham and Ward IV Alderman Fred Leimer all announced their candidacies for re-election Tuesday, filing soon after City Hall opened...

"Honor they father and mother." So says the Lord in the Old Testament. That biblical injunction could gain new meaning for families with an elderly parent in need of nursing home care. Under a little-noticed provision of the Medicare reform proposal under consideration in Congress, states would have the option of requiring grown children to help pay their parents' nursing home bills. ...

In an example of the "law of unintended consequences," legislators and prosecutors now agree that a law that changed careless and imprudent driving from a misdemeanor to an infraction is a mistake that has, understandably, outraged families of victims. A measure passed during last year's session of the General Assembly decriminalized careless and imprudent driving. Instead of a possible $500 fine and a year in jail, the penalty for C&I became a $200 fine, even if someone died in the accident...

After serving eight months on the Cape Girardeau Board of Education, Robert Blank will ask voters to put him on the board for three more years. Blank Tuesday became the first candidate to file for the school board. Filings opened Tuesday morning. Candidates have until Jan. 31 to file...

Schnuck Markets Inc. has agreed to sell 23 stores in the St. Louis area to Family Company of America, which will operate them under the National Markets name. Included in the sale will be 17 former National chain stores and six Schnucks markets currently being operated by Schnucks, Craig D. Schnuck, Schnucks chairman and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement Tuesday...

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. -- Hillary Clinton will visit Blytheville Jan. 16 to help raise funds for the Arkansas Children's Hospital. That Bookstore will be host to the event. Clinton will promote her book, "It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us."...

At inventory time, I always take a breather from writing to compare the ups and downs of my checkerboard career with the outs and ins of previous years. My files have odd labels: Publications, Funny Stuff, Regrettable Stuff and Rejects. The Rejects folder is the weightiest, and I wonder why I keep separating Funny and Regrettable. ...

There are a surprising number of houseplants in bloom now to give color, and often fragrance, to the home. If you have received some of these, other than the poinsettia, their care throughout the year might be helping to extend their blooming period and prolong their lives...

Resolutions are as much as part of January as icy roads and school cancellations. February brings a few warm days and a melting in determination to bring about change. A few weeks later, wintry days, and sometimes resolutions, are relegated to memory...