Stories from Friday, February 9, 1996

Extreme cold and a blanket of snow and ice canceled most activities last Thursday night. But a hearing scheduled that frigid night regarding a potential site for the proposed federal courthouse drew a respectable crowd of about 170 interested participants...

Cleopatra and King Tut aren't holding the party, but guests to the American Cancer Society Gala will visit the land of pharaohs and pyramids. "A Night on the Nile" is the theme of the 1996 American Cancer Society Gala March 2 at the Show Me Center. It is expected to raise $60,000 for the Cancer Society...

The closing of Eagle Snacks Inc., will have far-reaching effects, including the operation of Eagle I in Cape Girardeau. Eagle Snacks, headquartered at St. Louis, was founded as a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Co. Inc. in 1979, and was the No. 2 snack-food producer in the U.S...

The Cape Girardeau NAACP has asked a member of Cape Girardeau's Board of Education to resign following an alleged threat to a student. Board member Terry Taylor says the complaint is unfounded. "I most definitely will not resign," he said. "I have never done anything to discriminate or be prejudiced to any child in the school district."...

SIKESTON -- Thursday was a coup for Operation Weed and Seed promoters, who defied skeptics and met goals in Sikeston's most crime-ridden neighborhood. The operation, run through the U.S. attorney's office in St. Louis, began in Sikeston last summer. It was promoted as a concerted effort to weed out drug dealers and other criminals and seed in social programs to benefit the community...

Churches in Cape Girardeau are teaming up in an effort to keep marriages from breaking up. The Cape Girardeau Ministerial Alliance recently endorsed a community marriage policy that will require couples to undergo four months of marriage mentorship before they can be married in local churches...

A dog breeder whose kennel was raided last month by federal agents will get out of the business Saturday with an auction. The breeder, Dorpha Evans, will sell the remaining 212 pedigree dogs she had boarded at her kennel in Texas County, near Willow Springs, about 200 miles west of Cape Girardeau. The auction begins Saturday at 10 a.m...

KELSO -- The recent bitterly cold weather froze pipes and water lines in many homes, but it left an entire town in northern Scott County without water this week. A main water line broke Monday afternoon in Kelso, forcing residents to boil water for at least three days. The precautionary boil-water order is expected to be lifted Saturday, officials said...

Senders of these womb-like packages probably don't understand the havoc they can cause on the receiving end. It's about time someone set them straight. Dear Southern Illinois University Press: Thank you for the book I received from you in the mail today. I am sure it will be enjoyable and informative reading...

TO THE 80-year-old who praised Hoover and condemned Roosevelt, consider this. It was a liberal Democrat who got your Social Security check every month plus your much-needed Medicare protection. We all like to work, but who would hire a person of your age...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Volunteer firefighters from three districts were called to battle a motel fire early Thursday morning. Motorists reported the fire at the Garden Inn Motel just after 3:30 a.m. The building is north of Cairo on U.S. 51. Firefighters from the Cairo Auxiliary, Mounds and Mound City districts battled the blaze for about three hours Thursday. It was extinguished by 6:30 a.m...

Myrle G. Pender, 87, of Warren, Ind., died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 1996, at the United Methodist Memorial Home in Warren. She was born Feb. 8, 1908, at Bernie, daughter of James Madison and Minnie Francis Anthony Grayum. Pender and her husband moved to Marion, Ind., in 1939 from Cape Girardeau. ...

BENTON -- Mary R. Miller, 70, of Benton, died Thursday, Feb. 8, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 26, 1926, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Harris D. and Grace Ann English Rodgers. She and Charles Miller were married in September 1951...

Phoebe S. Rowe, 96, formerly of Sikeston, died Thursday, Feb. 8, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born April 23, 1899, at Washington, daughter of Jesse H. and Jessie Martin Schaper. She and Burt H. Rowe Sr. were married Dec. 28, 1926. He preceded her in death March 3, 1969...

COMMERCE -- Graveside service for Rolfe Edward Eldridge of Oak Ridge, Tenn., will be held at 1 p.m. today in Oak Ridge Memorial Park there. Martin Funeral Home in Oak Ridge is in charge of arrangements. Announcement courtesy of Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City...

CHAFFEE -- Charles "Gunner" Grissom, 68, of Chaffee, died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 1996, at East Prairie Nursing Center. He was born Feb. 11, 1927, in East Prairie, son of Charles and Lizzie Terry Grissom. He first married Frankie Grissom. He later married Mable Evans Oct. 7, 1969...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for Mary Brantley of East Prairie will be held at 2 p.m. today at Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie. Larry Smith and Martin Lucas will officiate, with burial in East Prairie Memorial Park Cemetery. Brantley, 94, died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 1996, at East Prairie Nursing Center...

MORLEY -- Graveside service for Mollie Lou May of Columbia, Ill., will be held at 2 p.m. today at Old Morley Cemetery, with the Rev. Dennis Cebulak officiating. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel at Oran is in charge of arrangements. May, 62, died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 1996, at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis...

PERRYVILLE -- Funeral service for Floyd James Duncan of Perryville will be held at 2 p.m. today at Young and Sons Funeral Home. The Rev. Darold Mills will officiate, with burial in Home Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 6:30 a.m. to service time...

JACKSON -- Clayton LeRoy "Roy" Ury, 75, of Jackson, died Thursday, Feb. 8, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept. 12, 1920, in Jonesboro, Ill., son of William Glen and Ruth Irene Lyerly Ury. He and Martha Verble were married Oct. 8, 1941, in Charleston. She died July 14, 1994...

THEBES, Ill. -- Wanda Marie Parmer, 75, of Thebes, died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 1996, at her home. She was born Dec. 21, 1920, in Gale, daughter of Ernest and Eliza Jackson Prather. She and Floyd H. Parmer were married Jan. 22, 1938, in Jackson, Mo. He died Feb. 26, 1994...

URBANDALE, Ill. -- Mary Elizabeth Jones, 66, of Urbandale, died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 8, 1929, in Waterloo, Ala., daughter of Millard and Emma Whittset Scott. She married Roy Jones, who preceded her in death...

ANNA, Ill. -- Visitation for Alma Johnson Doggett House of Anna will be from 4-9 p.m. today at Crain Funeral Home in Anna. Funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. The Rev. Scott Harner will officiate, with burial in Peters Creek Cemetery in Elizabethtown, Ill...