Stories from Thursday, February 15, 1996

The state of our nation's economy continues to affect every segment of society. One courageous soul, asked for his opinion of President Clinton's State of the Union address, posited a warning for TV audiences: "If we don't take action now, we will collapse the country."...

The birds are back. Blackbirds, starlings, robins, and an unidentified specie or two have taken up residence in a Cape Girardeau area which stretches from North Cape Rock Drive along a line to Independence and West End Boulevard. The annual arrival of the birds seeking nighttime roosting places has resulted in a lot of pan-banging, hand-clapping an other types of noises created by residents hoping to roust the roosting birds from their perches...

CHAFFEE -- Hartmarx Inc. will phase out its manufacturing operation at the Thonrgate Ltd. plant in Chaffee this year. "At this point we're suggesting that the plant at Chaffee close this spring or summer," said Home Patel, president of Hartmarx Inc. headquartered in Chicago...

While touring regions of Cape Girardeau known for gang activity Wednesday, police impressed upon U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft the need for better access to juvenile records. Because younger criminals who move into the area to help set up gangs are often from urban areas -- frequently from out of state -- local law enforcement struggles to scrap together information about them...

MARBLE HILL -- A mother and her son were killed and another mother and her son seriously injured in a two-vehicle accident near Marble Hill Wednesday. The accident occurred at 11:25 a.m. about two miles east of town when one of the vehicles crossed the center line and struck the other head-on, the Missouri Highway Patrol said...

A shift in "government culture" at the federal left has precipitated a move toward less government spending, says Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo. Prior to the 1960s, liberty typically was defined as freedom within the limits of responsibility, Ashcroft said. Since then, liberty increasingly has come to mean the freedom to behave unfettered by consequences...

Feb. 15, 1996 Dear Leslie, The announcement of the Academy Award nominations is always a time of grumbling and faint hopes in these parts. Grumbling because few of the nominees have appeared on our movie screens. And faint hopes that the publicity surrounding the Oscar nominations might give these movies another chance...

Outback Steakhouse will hold a grand opening Monday to benefit the Cape Girardeau unit of the American Cancer Society. The celebration starts at 6 p.m. at the restaurant, 101 Cape West Parkway, and will end at 9 p.m. A $10 donation per person is requested, and complementary hors d'oeuvres and cocktails will be offered...

Christie Johnson of Cooter has been appointed the new student regent at Southeast Missouri State University. She will serve a two-year term, ending Jan. 1, 1998. She is scheduled to be sworn in at the March 18 meeting of the Board of Regents. Johnson appeared Wednesday in Jefferson City before the Senate Gubernatorial Appointments Committee, which then recommended she be confirmed...

SCOTT CITY -- Residents of Scott City are being asked to support the regional economy through a buy local campaign sponsored by the high school's Future Business Leaders Association. The weeklong campaign begins March 4, but club officers are trying to gather support early, said FBLA sponsor Pat Andrews. A club officer and sponsor will answer questions about the program at Tuesday's Chamber of Commerce meeting. A full-page ad also will run in the newspaper before the campaign begins...

Owning a home is part of the American dream but one that some people just can't afford to realize. The Rural Economic and Community Development office in Jackson has a solution -- rural housing guaranteed loans. The RECD program helps buyers secure a loan without a down payment...

Missouri's new speaker of the House will make his first visit to Cape Girardeau Friday since ascending to that position to participate in a public discussion of legislative issues. Rep. Steve Gaw, D-Moberly, who was elected speaker in January, will join seven Southeast Missouri state legislators in the first of a planned series of Public Issues Forums to be held at Southeast Missouri State University...

On April 24, Ernest and Minnie Schuette of Jackson will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary. On Valentine's Day Wednesday, the couple were celebrating as the longest-married duo at a party for people whose marriages have passed the 50-year mark...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Yula Mahoney, 92, of Eden Prairie, Minn., formerly of Mounds, died Wednesday, Feb. 14, 1996, at Presbyterian Home of Minnesota in Arden Hills. She was born Aug. 20, 1903, at Neelys Landing, Mo. She married Ray Mahoney, who died in 1947...

Funeral service for Fred Franklin Englehart, 2010 Thilenius, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. Dr. Larry Gallamore will officiate. Burial will be in Baker Cemetery at Marble Hill, with the Rev. Drew Laudie officiating...

JACKSON -- Ruby Hacker, 85, of Jackson, died Tuesday, Feb. 13, 1996, at Chateau Girardeau in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 5, 1910, at Benton, daughter of Levi Spencer and Irtie Cannon Brock. She and Palmer E. Hacker were married July 10, 1932. He died Nov. 1, 1986...

PERRYVILLE -- Lydia Louise Unterreiner, 95, of Perryville, died Tuesday, Feb. 13, 1996, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. She was born Sept. 7, 1900, in Perry County, daughter of Eugene and Anna Sittner Moore. She and Gilbert L. Unterreiner were married Aug. 23, 1921. He died Dec. 30, 1969...

PERRYVILLE -- Funeral service for the Rev. David John Otto Loesch of Perryville will be held at 11 a.m. today at Trinity Lutheran Church in Egypt Mills. The Revs. Mark Martin and James Kalthoff will officiate, with burial in the church cemetery. Friends may call at Young and Sons Funeral Home from 6:30-8 a.m., and then at the church from 9:30 until service time...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Juanita Neathamer, 88, of Westland, Mich., died Sunday, Feb. 11, 1996, at Annapolis Hospital in Wayne, Mich. She was born July 25, 1907, in Tamms, daughter of Frank L. and Cora D. Smith Tinsley. She married Woodrow "Woody" Neathamer, who died in May 1983...

Funeral service for John Timothy "Tim" Edwards of Valley Park will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at Second Baptist Church, with the Rev. Wiley Reed officiating. Burial will be in Memorial Park. Friends may call at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel from 6-8 p.m. Saturday...

Alvin Anton Krueger, 87, of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, Feb. 14, 1996, at the Lutheran Home. He was born May 30, 1908, in Cape Girardeau, son of Frederick C. and Johanna Lowes Krueger. He and Edith Moore were married July 13, 1933, in Jackson. Krueger was retired from Quality Dairy Co. Inc. He was a member of Hanover Lutheran Church and Teamsters Local 600...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Brandon LaMonte Gilyard of Oak Grove, Ky., died shortly after birth Friday, Feb. 11, 1996, at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital in Fort Campbell, Ky. Graveside service will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at National Cemetery in Mound City...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Bertha L. Campbell, 84, of Cairo, died Saturday, Feb. 10, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Algee Memorial Chapel in Cairo, with Elder Percy Ellis officiating. Burial will be in Spencer Heights Cemetery at Mounds...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Beatrice Forbes, 89, of Mound City, died Monday, Feb. 12, 1996, in Hazelcrest. Funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Friday at United Freewill Baptist Church, with the Rev. Albert Ingram officiating. Burial will be at 11:30 in National Cemetery...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Delores Marie Fields of Sikeston will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Sikeston. The Rev. Bob Burns will officiate, with burial in Portageville Cemetery at Portageville. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Walter H. Austin, 60, of Mound City, died Tuesday, Feb. 13, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Algee Memorial Chapel in Cairo is in charge of arrangements.

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Funeral service for Genie Harvel of Jonesboro will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Hileman and Parr Funeral Home. The Rev. Arnold Ranta will officiate, with burial in St. John's Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

It perhaps is a sign of our times that politicians in Washington feel the need to sign a pledge to conduct the government's business in a dignified manner. A group of conservative Republicans and Democrats recently signed a "Civility Pledge" intended to clean up the image of the U.S. House of Representatives...

As they endured another holiday without their daughter, the parents of Sherry Downey Grass were shocked to learn last December that the man who murdered Sherry was being released to enjoy the New Year's holiday weekend with his parents. A court had ordered the release of Lloyd Grass, who pleaded insanity to the fatal stabbing of his wife, Sherry, after only 14 months of confinement...

Over the years the American Legion Post in Cape Girardeau has sponsored many good causes. Most recently, the Legion raised money to convert a little-used library room into a free-standing chapel at Cape Girardeau's Missouri Veterans Home. Church services had been held in the Veterans Home cafeteria, which wasn't really conducive to religious ceremonies. ...

Daughter to Robert Keith and Teiffney Dawn Tyler of Sikeston, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:55 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, 1996. Name, Amber Nicole. Weight, 8 pounds 12 ounces. Second daughter. Mrs. Tyler is the former Teiffney Davidson, daughter of Marlene Davidson of Matthews and Dwight Davidson of Jacksonville, N.C. ...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Robert Young, 78, of Macon, Ga., died Sunday, Feb. 11, 1996, at the Medical Center of Central Georgia. Funeral service will be at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Algee Memorial Chapel in Cairo. The Rev. J.L. Posey will officiate, with burial in Spencer Heights Cemetery at Mounds...

POPLAR BLUFF -- Joe Bone, 76, of Poplar Bluff died Tuesday, Feb. 13, 1996, at Doctors Regional Medical Center. He was born June 4, 1919, in Mineral Point. He married Dorothy E. Palmer in Hillsboro on June 6, 1942. He was retired from the Floresheim Shoe Co. in Cape Girardeau. He was of the Baptist faith...

A program ranging from straight classical pieces to lighthearted renditions of "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Melodies of Cole Porter" will be presented Monday by the Saint Louis Brass Quintet. Composed of two trumpets, a French horn, a trombone and a tuba, the 25-year-old quintet is known for its humor and musicality...

The problem: How to present a 300-year-old French play in verse, one of the stage's greatest satires, to audiences accustomed to realistic acting. The solution: Transplant Moliere's "Tartuffe" to late 19th century middle America. "I thought it would make it fresh for the audience, that it wouldn't make a museum piece out of the play," said Donald Schulte, the play's director...

Rodeo competition is a celebration of the Old West and the romantic idealism which accompanies that period of American history and lore. As such, organizers of the Longhorn World Championship Rodeo put emphasis not just on men and women demonstrating their proficiency with bronc and bull. Also included is a healthy dose of patriotism...