Stories from Friday, March 15, 1996

To the editor: I moved to Cape Girardeau a little over four years ago. It seemed the appropriate place to raise a family, attend church on Sunday and find one's niche in the community. Since then it seems we have been overwhelmed with the need of a new school, the school board's changeover, increases in our sewer and trash rates, the new bypass and eventual bridge over the Mississippi River and, most recently, the decision on where to place the new federal courthouse. ...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Hoping to simplify the complex county salary-setting process, state Rep. Joe Heckemeyer of Sikeston proposed a bill that would mean fewer meetings and less burden on financially strapped counties. The bill, HB 1132, recently made it out of committee and will be placed soon on the House calendar for consideration, Heckemeyer said. He doesn't expect a problem with House approval, but there may be problems in the Senate...

The deputy emergency preparedness director and a National Guard veteran were the first to be interviewed for the job of Cape Girardeau County emergency preparedness director. Martha Vandivort, who has been deputy director since 1979, and David M. Hitt, who served coordinated mobilization and emergency training for the National Guard's 1140th Engineers Battalion, were interviewed Thursday by Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones and Commissioners Larry Bock and Joe Gambill...

From time to time there is a news story that touches the hearts of newspaper readers. Such was the story this week of a 10-year-old boy in Southwest Missouri who strayed from his home during a cold snap and was missing for three days. The boy, who has Down's Syndrome, was found by ecstatic searchers alive and well. The boy's survival is credited to a couple of stray dogs who apparently stayed with the boy and slept with him, keeping him from freezing to death...

Teachers from all over Southeast Missouri are gathering in Cape Girardeau for their 120th annual meeting. A warm welcome to all of them, plus a few words of thanks. Thanks for sticking with your profession as education in general takes such a bashing...

To the editor: On April 2 we will once more be voting for new members of the Jackson Board of Education. Our votes will be shaping the future of our district. Therefore, they should be educated votes. One way voters can make that educated vote is by marking next Tuesday, March 19, on their calendars so they won't forget to attend the Meet the School Board Candidates Forum. ...

To the editor: Enclosed is the response I received to my letter to the governor regarding Coleen Kivlahan. (Kivlahan is director of the Missouri Department of Health. The letter urged Gov. Mel Carnahan to take action in light of reports that department funds were misspent by Kivlahan.) I think the response speaks for itself...

To the editor: "All I know is what I read in the papers," said the great Democrat, Will Rogers, over two generations ago. Although much has come and gone since his time, some things are the same, especially here in southernmost Illinois. Yes, our Democrats still read. Sadly, some may still believe all they see in political print. Of late, Will's party suffers...

Angie Haas has coped with ever-increasing fees at Southeast Missouri State University that will soon approach nearly $100 a credit hour for in-state undergraduate students. Haas, a senior, is glad she will be graduating this spring -- particularly since fees are expected to climb again next fall...

A bus loaded with 45 students heading home from a ballgame at 11 p.m. has a flat tire. Thanks to a pilot program funded by two companies, the bus driver will be able to call for help on a cellular telephone. Ameritech Cellular and Paging Services and Motorola are donating 1,000 cellular phones to school districts throughout Missouri this year and next. This is the first program of its kind in the nation...

PATTON -- About 100 Meadow Heights School District residents attended a school board meeting Thursday night hoping for answers to some questions. They left confused and with the same questions: Why didn't the board renew principal Rick Chastain's contract and what were the reasons for his dismissal?...

HOW STUPID can a person be? A caller said someone who lives in an apartment or duplex pays no tax. I own a duplex, and I bet I pay four times city and state, county real estate tax than you do. The people who rent pay taxes for food, gas, and entertainment. I even have to pay a state and federal income tax on the money I receive in rent. All I can say is for you to wake up...

Wednesday, March 13 Recommended rezoning of property at the southern intersection of Kingshighway and Boulder Crest Drive from R-1, single family residential, to R-4, multiple family residential, and C-2, general business district, and a special-use permit for a residential development...

SIKESTON -- Graveside service for Lorane L. Turner of Sikeston will be held at 11 a.m. today at Garden of Memories Cemetery. Friends may call at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel after 9:30 a.m. Turner, 79, died Wednesday, March 13, 1996, at her home. She was born June 11, 1916, in Portageville, daughter of William Ervin and Dorthey Dowdy Turner...

Agnes M. Williamson, 89, 1053 W. Cape Rock Drive, died Thursday, March 14, 1996, at Cape Girardeau Nursing Center. She was born May 17, 1906, in Jackson, daughter of Elijah and Cora Williams Headrick. She and Garnet E. Williamson were married Feb. 9, 1925, in Mound City, Ill...

ANNA, Ill. -- Funeral service for Tressie Henderson of Anna will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Crain Funeral Home in Anna, with the Rev. Brent Gordon officiating. Burial will be in Anna Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 6-8 p.m. today, and Saturday until service time...

ANNA, Ill. -- Opal Smith, 92, of Anna, died Wednesday, March 13, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was born Dec. 9, 1903, in Jonesboro, daughter of Otha J. and Stella Turner Lewis. She and Lloyd A. Smith were married Sept. 19, 1923, in Jonesboro. He died May 18, 1992...

CHAFFEE -- Lillie Irene Watkins, 80, formerly of Chaffee, died Wednesday, March 13, 1996, at Chaffee Nursing Center. She was born April 22, 1915, in Atlanta, Ga., daughter of James Jackson and Laura Adeline McDougal Bowers. She and Oscar Watkins were married March 27, 1931, in Gosnell, Ark. He died March 12, 1957...

JACKSON -- Jack King, 74, of Jackson died Wednesday, March 13, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born March 20, 1921, at Cape Girardeau, son of Noah and Mary Pinkston King. He and Louise Howard were married Dec. 6, 1943. She died Oct. 25, 1986...

Evelyn Berberich, 74, of Oxford, Wis., died Thursday, March 14, 1996, in a hospital in Austin, Wis. She was born Dec. 29, 1921, in Jackson, daughter of Myron and Flora Koehler Eggers. She married Harold Berberich, who died in 1984. Survivors include two sons, Larry Berberich of Grand Marsh, Wis., Harold Berberich of Carpentersville, Ill.; four daughters, Juanita Schlage of Oxford, Jean Meck of Elk Grove Village, Ill., June Vargas of Bensenville, Ill., Kathy Brandt of West Chicago, Ill.; two brothers, William and Joe Eggers of Jackson; three sisters, Elizabeth Szwabl of Florissant, Dorothy Pfeiffer and Madonna Englehart of Jackson; 18 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.. ...

ADVANCE -- Buford E. Lemons, 75, of Advance, died Thursday, March 14, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 26, 1920, at Zalma, son of Harvey and Carrie Skinner Lemons. He and Louise Moore were married Dec. 2, 1994, in Cape Girardeau...

DELTA -- Virgle Ikerman, 90, of Delta, died Wednesday, March 13, 1996, at his home. He was born Aug. 8, 1905, in Allenville, son of Allen and Emily Snider Ikerman. He and Edna Hodge were married April 28, 1928. She died Aug. 8, 1992. Ikerman farmed at Delta all his life, retiring in 1969. He was a life member of First Baptist Church...

SIKESTON -- Mae Manning, 85, of Anderson, Ind., died Wednesday, March 13, 1996, at Countryside Manor Nursing Home in Anderson. She was born June 21, 1910, in Vianne, Okla., daughter of Lee Augusta and Rebecca Susan Ann Hutchison Jones. She and Orbie Manning were married July 13, 1929, in Knoxville, Ark. He died Sept. 15, 1970...

The 8th annual St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday in downtown Cape Girardeau. Participating establishments are Broussard's, the Billiard Center, Griffin's, Jeremiah's, Papa Bear's Daquiris, Port Cape Girardeau and Sharkey's...

Daughter to Paul Dean and Susan Lynne Laurentius of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 11:35 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, 1996. Name, Chelsey Jo. Weight, 7 pounds 5 ounces. First child. Mrs. Laurentius is the former Susan Baker, daughter of S.D. and Kay Baker of Jackson. She is employed at Missouri Veterans Home. Laurentius is the son of Leon and Helen Laurentius of Jackson. He is employed at Wal-Mart in Jackson...