Stories from Thursday, January 25, 1996

Like a lot of us, Steve Mosley was excited when he got his personal letter, signed by Robert H. Treller, notifying him that he was one of the "finalists" in the Publishers Clearing House $10 million sweepstakes. Mosley, 51, teaches social studies in a high school in Sikeston, Mo. Needless to say, high school social studies teachers generally are not high rollers, so the thought that he might "win a life-changing prize!" had a certain appeal...

Planning is under way for the second phase of a sewer improvement project in Cape Girardeau. During a public meeting at City Hall Wednesday night, engineers with Sverdrup Civil Inc. of Maryland Heights outlined preliminary designs for the second round of projects...

The Missouri Division of Youth Services has initiated a site-selection process for a 30-bed juvenile residential facility in Southeast Missouri. DYS, a division of the Department of Social Services, plans to build the home in the 28-county area that represents its southeast region. Cities with populations of 2,000 or greater have been notified of the project...

GORDONVILLE -- As part of its phased building program, Abundant Life Church soon will begin construction of a new children's home. A ground-breaking ceremony and reception will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday. The project has been in the making for some time...

This is the box art for the video release of "Ghost Riders," McBride's first produced feature. McBride matched his Gracie Jiu-Jitsu skills against his regular teacher, Royce Gracie. CULVER CITY, Calif. -- Americans learn martial arts for one basic reason, says Clay McBride, who has studied judo, hapkido, wing chun, Western boxing, Filipino self-defense systems and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu...

Stiff practices Swedish massage, which uses various hand motions to manipulate the blood flow. Annette Stiff is anything but as she massages customers' aching muscles. People fondly tease the massage therapist about her name, but the Tamms, Ill., woman has been massaging people from head to toe for five years now with Professional & Therapeutic Massage Services at Universal Physique fitness center. She is one of two massage therapists there...

On Monday of this week, joined by six Senate co-sponsors, I introduced the comprehensive workers' compensation reform bill of the 1996 session. Senate Bill 829 is supported by a broad coalition of business groups who recognize workers' comp as the foremost issue facing business in Missouri and a jobs and competitiveness issue of the first magnitude...

Saying he wants to "strike a commonsense balance" between the treatment of the state's criminally insane and the public's safety, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon is seeking to toughen laws that deal with criminal defendants ruled innocent by reason of insanity...

David Ross, director of the Show Me Center, last week candidly admitted the facility is struggling to break even financially. The center lost money in 1995, finishing the fiscal year about $15,000 in the red. Ross said his staff is "at a point where we're watching nickels and dimes" to balance the books...

After a near-fatal car accident on June 21, 1986, Jeff Harms spent 19 days in a coma, then had to re-learn such simple tasks as swallowing and tying his shoes. Today, Harms works to prevent anyone else from having to endure what he went through by spreading the word to motorists to use their seat belts and drive sober. He speaks to civic organizations and schools on behalf of the Missouri Heads Up program...

Two Cape Girardeau schools foundation board members have resigned, one in protest of a plan to close Wednesday's scheduled board meeting. The meeting subsequently was rescheduled for Saturday and will be open to the public. The meeting is rescheduled for 7 a.m. at the school board office. School board president, Dr. Bob Fox, said anyone may attend...

Jan. 25, 1996 Dear Leslie, In "the Artist's Way," Julia Cameron says she used to call the letters from her grandmother "Flora and fauna reports." "The roses are holding even in this heat... The sumac has turned and that little maple down by the mailbox..." Her grandmother had a difficult life with a rogue of a husband but stayed sane and married through the simple act of paying attention...

THIS IS in reference to Cal Thomas' column Sunday, "Where's Tom Landry?" I have to agree. Players and coaches abuse the referees and are not standard role models. Good column. I think everyone should read it. MRS. CLINTON probably wasn't born a liar, but she had a very good teacher. Maybe her teacher lives in the White House with her...

Funeral service for Lena Elizabeth Mize of Cape Girardeau will be held at 1 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel. The Rev. John Gregory will officiate, with burial in Old Morley Cemetery at Morley. Mize, 85, died Tuesday, Jan. 23, 1996, at Ratliff Care Center...

ANNA, Ill. -- Verna V. Williams, 89, of Anna, died Tuesday, Jan. 23, 1996, at City Care Center in Cobden. She was born Feb. 18, 1906, in Johnson County, daughter of James R. and Arta Missa Burgess Bear. She and George Lowell Williams were married April 7, 1928, in Vienna. He died Feb. 2, 1986...

VIENNA, Ill. -- Funeral service for Verda Mae Wild of Vienna will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms. The Rev. Raymond Oxford will officiate, with burial in Rose Hill Cemetery at Thebes. Friends may call at the funeral home after 5 p.m. today...

CHAFFEE -- Ruth A. Gettings, 84, of Chaffee, died Wednesday, Jan. 24, 1996, at Truman Lake Manor in Lowry City. She was born July 17, 1911, at Chaffee, daughter of John William and Rosa Lee Daniels Heeb. She and Elbert D. Gettings were married Sept. 16, 1933. He died July 11, 1981...

PERRYVILLE -- Stanley L. Kelley, 62, of Perryville, died Tuesday, Jan. 16, 1996, at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. He was born Jan. 16, 1934, at Crosstown, son of William and Bessie Rhyne Kelley. Kelley was a former manager of St. Louis Bowling Alley. He was a member of Calvary Baptist Church...

Funeral service for Rufus I. Claspill of Maplewood was held Tuesday at Jay B. Smith Funeral Home in Maplewood, with the Rev. Tom Ripper officiating. Burial was in Valhalla Cemetery in St. Louis County. Claspill, 67, died Saturday, Jan. 20, 1996, at St. Mary's Health Center in Richmond Heights...

JACKSON -- O.B. "Bud" Ayers, 76, of Jackson, died Tuesday, Jan. 23, 1996, at Deal Nursing Home. He was born April 22, 1919, in Cape Girardeau, son of Charles and Mamie Berry Ayers. He and Luellen Hurst were married Jan. 17, 1946. Ayers received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla...

SIKESTON -- Phillip M. Yowell, 88, of Florissant, died Tuesday, Jan. 23, 1996, at Delmar Garden North Nursing Home in Florissant. He was born Jan. 12, 1908, at Goss, son of Henry Eddings and Sarah Elizabeth Woodson Yowell. He and Lillian Marie Ancell were married Aug. 23, 1931, in Sikeston. She died April 4, 1995...

OAK RIDGE -- Ruby Probst, 87, of Oak Ridge, died Wednesday, Jan. 24, 1996, at Deal Nursing Home in Jackson. McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson is in charge of arrangements.

Funeral service for Everett James "Pen" Skiles, 85, formerly of McClure, Ill., will be held at 2 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel. The Revs. Larry Blake and Danny Jones will officiate, with burial in Lindsey Cemetery at McClure. Skiles, 85, died Tuesday, Jan. 23, 1996, at Caseyville Nursing Home in Caseyville, Ill...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Delia Edwards of Sikeston will be held at 10 a.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Jerry Reynolds will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park Cemetery. Edwards, 89, died Tuesday, Jan. 23, 1996, at Clearview Nursing Center...

Daughter to Tracy Parnell and Cathy Lanette Hampton, 2564 Lisa, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:27 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17, 1996. Name, Marissa Dawn. Weight, 6 pounds 11 ounces. Third child, second daughter. Mrs. Hampton is the former Cathy Session, daughter of Marion Session of Lilbourn and Robert Jones of Malden. She is a manager at El Chico. Hampton is the son of Florine Maxwell of Howardville. He is a packer at Lee-Rowan...

For Southeast Missouri State University basketball fans who think South Florida -- which competes in the high-profile Conference USA -- might not be able to take the Indians of the low-profile Ohio Valley Conference seriously, USF coach Bobby Paschal says think again...