Stories from Thursday, April 11, 1996

To the editor: In the Southeast Missourian, generally both the editorial-page editorials and the front-page editorials masquerading as news/feature stories (the Bond articles) clearly identify the editorial position of the newspaper in an outer orbit beyond even the lunacy of planet Limbaugh...

CHAFFEE -- The Board of Education at Chaffee met Thursday to certify election results and reorganize. Four school board members were elected to the board April 2. They included Randy Dooley, William McFerron and Wayne C. Pressley. Randy Dooley, who was re-elected to a three-year term, was selected as board president. Other officers chosen were Larry Meyr, vice president and Dale Tierney, treasurer...

Celebration, good food, laughter and games will all be happening at the Family Fun Fair in the Arena. The event will be held on April 21 from to 4:30 p.m. in the A.C. Brase Arena Building. Family Fun Fair in the Arena, formerly known as Sunday in the Park, is an annual event sponsored by the Community Counseling Center Foundation. The purpose of the event is to promote and provide positive family interaction...

Sophomore Jessica Hency plays the female lead Milly. Gymnastic dance sequences are a highlight of the Notre Dame production. As musicals go, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" lacks memorable tunes and there's a waferish plot in which seven uncouth brothers kidnap seven brides with the help of an avalanche...

It's a life story worthy of its own bookstore display. If written, the biography would be about a Catholic schoolboy turned Marine turned drug addict turned prison inmate turned computer technician turned comedian. In the last chapter, the comedian would receive third-degree burns over 35 percent of his body, stage a remarkable recovery and go back on tour, ending up at the River City Yacht Club in Cape Girardeau on Saturday night. The End...

From the days of Thomas Jefferson, presidents have lamented their lack of power to cut specific items from spending bills. Beginning next year, that will change. In an unprecedented shifting of power, the Republican-controlled Congress this month shifted to the White House power to strip individual items from congressional spending packages. President Clinton signed the bill, although he won't be able to exercise his new authority unless he is re-elected in the fall...

Scientists who long have been fascinated with the New Madrid Fault Zone have decided that the fault, which runs through Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois, produces a major earthquake every 300 to 600 years. Never mind that written historical accounts of the fault zone extend only as far back as the last major quake in the area a mere 184 years ago. ...

To the editor: I recently heard a song entitled "Why Should God Bless America?" This song says what I wonder each day as I watch what is happening to our country. Our ancestors fought and lost their lives for our freedom. But I wonder what they would think of this country now and its so-called freedoms...

To the editor: The most detailed, most excellent, most appropriate and most catching to the eye is the new license plate designed by artist William O'Donnell of Eureka available to motorists by next January. The artist was very thorough and very discreet in designing a license plate that never before was so complete and so professionally and thoughtfully designed...

Decrying the lack of spiritual conviction among men, an all-male organization plans to reach America's fathers and husbands and convince them to change their lives. The group is Promise Keepers, comprised of more than 720,000 Christians across the United States. PK saw phenomenal growth in the past five years, beginning with 72 men in 1990...

Tax preparers, Internal Revenue Service employees and postal workers will be putting in some extra hours Monday. That is the final day for placing income tax returns in the mail without penalty, and more than half a million Missourians have waited until the final few days to mail their returns...

Hoping to learn more about life and government in the American Midwest, German political leaders met in Cape Girardeau Wednesday for the start of an annual seminar with their counterparts in U.S. government. The group wanted to see where Americans live and how they react. So they decided to visit a small town, said Volkmar Schultz, a member the German delegation...

April 11, 1996 Dear Julie, This morning was almost warm and lapis blue, the kind of spring day the Northern hemisphere has longed for since January. Buds and white legs are popping out all over. Everybody says summer will be here too soon. Bring on the sweat, I say...

SCOTT CITY -- Fern Hilda Menees, 79, of Scott City, died Wednesday, April 10, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 10, 1916, at Illmo, daughter of Albert August and Carolina Rosena Rubel. She and Elza Earl Menees were married July 12, 1941. He died Aug. 23, 1976...

MCCLURE, Ill. -- Lawrence K. Vick, 88, of Vergennes, died Tuesday, April 9, 1996, at his home. He was born July 21, 1907, in McClure, son of J. Henry and Susie Caldwell Vick. He and Faye Stilfield were married May 14, 1932. She died Dec. 3, 1966. He later married Ann Mathieu...

MORLEY -- Pearl Gracie Hudson, 79, of Morley died Wednesday, April 10, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born February 13, 1917, in Poplar Bluff to Oscar Wampler and Martha Jane Mitchell. She married Chester Goodman Hudson on July 14, 1934, in Corning, Ark. He died March 6, 1974...

JACKSON -- Funeral service for Robert E. LaRue Jr. of Jackson will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at Zion United Methodist Church in Gordonville. The Rev. Conway Briscoe III will officiate, with burial in the church cemetery. Friends may call at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson from 4-8 p.m. Saturday...

DEXTER -- Virginia B. Swinney, 68, of Dexter, died Tuesday, April 9, 1996, in Dexter. She was born Aug. 23, 1927, in Little Rock, Ark., daughter of Walkey and Susan Kindered McCain. She and Chester E. Swinney were married Aug. 18, 1945, in Sikeston. He died July 12, 1977...

Dorothy Marlin, 70, 2829 Lear, died Wednesday, April 10, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Sept. 16, 1925, at Flat River, daughter of O.M. and Lucy Lewis McLeod. Marlin was a wrapper in the meat department at Del Farm 28 years. She was a member of First Baptist Church...

Thayer L. Lewis, 87, of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, April 10, 1996, at the Lutheran Home. He was born Sept. 4, 1908, at Fredericktown, son of Almon R. and Clara L. Haywood Lewis. He and Patricia Mae Seabaugh were married Oct. 4, 1940, in Cape Girardeau. She died Feb. 1, 1988...

Edna Mae Baker, 82, of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, April 10, 1996, at Ratliff Care Center. She was born July 19, 1913, in Elsinore, daughter of Monroe and Radie O'Howell Rhodes. She and Leeman P. Baker were married Jan. 9, 1937, in Cape Girardeau. He died July 21, 1986...

PINHOOK -- Funeral service for Tennie Adams of Pinhook will be held at noon Friday at Opportunity Church of God in Christ at Charleston. Pastor Steve Betts will officiate, with burial in Oak Grove Cemetery at Charleston. Friends may call at Sparks Funeral Home in Charleston from 7-9 p.m. today...

Funeral service for Thelma Stovall, formerly of Crump, will be held at 1 p.m. today at McCombs Funeral Chapel in Cape Girardeau. The Revs. J.D. Smith and Charles Bowser will officiate, with burial in McGuire Cemetery near Burfordville. Stovall, 83, died Monday, April 8, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center...

PERRYVILLE -- Conway E. Stark, 70, of Perryville, died Tuesday, April 9, 1996, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. He was born Oct. 9, 1925, son of Edgar and Catherine Braun Stark. He and Alice J. Yount were married May 5, 1951. Stark was a former police judge in Perryville, past director of Perryville Country Club, and a retired carpentry instructor at Mingo Job Corps Center in Puxico...

CHARLESTON -- Hazel Odell Cloud, 86, formerly of Charleston, died Tuesday, April 9, 1996, at Bertrand Nursing Facility. She was born March 24, 1910, in Bessie Bend, Ky., daughter of John and Jessie Carter Reynolds. She and James Claud Cloud were married Nov. 9, 1930. He died April 16, 1985...

FREDERICKTOWN -- Lewis Eck, 72, of Fredericktown, died Tuesday, April 9, 1996, at Stockhoff Memorial Nursing Home. He was born May 27, 1923, son of John and Anna Skalak Eck. He and Florence "Betty" Means were married Feb. 16, 1946, at Fredericktown...

HAYWOOD CITY -- Bobbie Deloris Thomas, 44, of Haywood City died Wednesday, April 10, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston following a lengthy illness. She was born July 22, 1951, in Painton to Albert and Ellen Carroll Thomas. In addition to her parents, survivors include two sons, Christopher Teray Thomas and Andrew Thomas, both of Haywood City; two daughters, Lisa Elaine Thomas of Jennings and Carmen Levette Thomas of Cape Girardeau; three sisters, Mary Lewis of Chicago, Annie Marie Scott of Las Vegas and Ruth M. ...