Stories from Sunday, April 21, 1996

To the editor: This is a response to the person who responded to my previous letter to the editor. I agree completely that giving birth does not a parent make. The purpose of my first letter was to stress educating divorced parents in hope of reducing domestic spousal warfare and to protect the children from the agony of parental crossfire...

OLMSTED, Ill. -- Construction of the $1.1 billion Olmsted Locks and Dam is officially under way. Construction of the locks and dam actually started a week ago, but a special ground-breaking, pile-driving ceremony was conducted at the site Friday, to commemorate the beginning of the lock construction...

With a scant four weeks to go in this year's legislative session, so little has been accomplished that no veteran observer I've asked can remember a slower or more unproductive year. Now, it's important to note that this isn't all bad. Missourians not only welcome fewer laws being passed, in most cases, but would also delight in a session that might be devoted solely to repeal of many of the noxious sections of the statute books. ...

DELTA -- People for several miles around Delta could see the fire that leveled a home early Friday morning about three miles southeast of town. Delta Fire Protection District Chief Alvin Frank Jr. said crews were called to the home of Randy Davis about 1:30 a.m. He said the home two miles off Highway EE on County Road 264 was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived...

Gov. Mel Carnahan Thursday named funeral home director Gregory L. Mathis as Stoddard County coroner. Mathis will fill the unexpired term of Ray Rainey, who died April 2. The term expires at the end of this year. Rainey was in his 40th year as coroner at the time of his death...

The Southeast Missourian picked up five awards in this year's Missouri Associated Press Managing Editors News Writing Contest. The paper claimed three second-place and two third-place awards, which were announced Saturday at the APME conference in St. Charles...

Mel Wondel heard the stories about his father's courage and bravery when he died on board a U.S. Navy ship during World War II, but he never knew for many years if the stories weren't embellished for his benefit since he was only six months old when his father died...

Baille, 5, a wirehaired fox terrier, took a drink of water from her owners Garland and Dianna Utech of Belton Sunday at the Missouri High School Rodeo at Flickerwood Arena. The Utech's son Lance was in the bullriding competition and daughter Amy was in the goat tying competition...

Wickham describes himself as a messy painter, getting more paint on rags than the brushes. Jackson artist Herb Wickham says he paints like he's killing snakes -- quickly. "I work pretty fast," Wickham says of his paintings. "You can't sit back; it's work. You stand up at the easel until you get a back ache."...

Brian J. Schumer Brian J. Schumer of Perryville has joined the U.S. Army. Pvt. Schumer has received the Army's written guarantee that he will receive training in the job specialty of his choice, Fire Support Specialist. Pvt. Schumer, who will graduate from Perryville High School in June, will take basic and advanced individual training at Fort Sill, Okla., reporting for duty Sept. 11...

Beth Thomas' demonstrates chalk art at the exhibit. Thomas is an art teacher for the Sikeston public schools. Jackson High School senior Emelie LeFebvre creates with oil paints. Jon Maurer, 13, draws pictures for the event. Sarah Turnbow, left, brought her daughters, Heather Turnbow, 14, and Sarah Beth Turnbow, 4, to look at the many pieces of art...

Alex Harris, 3, right, performed a magic trick with the help of Bubbles the Clown. Brandon Sievers, 5, enjoys a hot dog at the ABWA Spring Funfest last Saturday. Jackson Police Sgt. Howard Hammers, DARE coordinator, chats with 7-year-old Cheryl Lichtenegger...

Over 700 students from 36 area schools, including Jackson, will compete in the annual Math Field Day April 23 on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. Area schools participating are Cape Girardeau Central Senior High School, Fredericktown High School, Jackson Junior High School, Malden High School, Meadow Heights High School, Oak Ridge High School, Notre Dame High School, Portageville High School, Potosi Senior High School, Puxico High School...

FOR ALL who are interested in Happy Hollow, it never was filled up with garbage. That was an open sewer line back there, and that's what caused it all. All the people in those years had chickens, and they used their scraps to feed their chickens, so there was never any garbage dumped into Happy Hollow where you're talking about. It was an open sewer...

If I weren't a Missourian, I'd like to be living in the 1Oth Congressional District of Indiana. It's not that I'm a huge Hoosier fan, although I've known some nice people from Indiana and have enjoyed Indianapolis the few times I've dropped in. I'd enjoy being a resident of the 1Oth District in Indiana because I'd be represented in Congress by Andy Jacobs Jr...

Public and media attention is understandably focused on the presidential race. The upcoming congressional contests almost appear to be an afterthought. A fierce battle is nevertheless under way for control of Congress -- at least half of it. The Republicans hold the Senate by a 53-47 margin. Considering the various seats at risk, the Democrats would be lucky -- very lucky -- to hold to those figures. Chances are the Republicans will pick up seats in the Senate...

You may have hoped that sufficient progress had been made to banish economic illiteracy from these parts. If so, you would have been wrong. If a left-wing advocacy group has its way, Missouri's minimum wage will rise next year, to $6.25 from the current $4.25, or a whopping overnight increase of 47 percent. ...

The Southeast Missouri Port Authority is on the receiving end of more than $4.1 million in grants that will allow completion of vital improvements in sewers, water lines, grading for roads and railroad tracks as well as some paving. Money came in from the Economic Development Administration within the U.S. Department of Commerce and from the community Development Block Grant program for flood-related improvements, as well as from the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department...

Homeowners plant flowers, trim shrubs and landscape their yards, but who pampers the city parks when spring weather hits? The Friends of the Park, of course. About 400 volunteers cleaned up Cape Girardeau's city parks Saturday during the 10th annual Friends of the Park Day...

PARMA -- Woodrow Dugan, 83, died Friday, April 19, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Oct. 1, 1912, near Malden, to William and Margaret Cotton Dugan. He and Irene Whitworth were married Dec. 13, 1941, at Clarkton. Dugan lived in Parma where he farmed for most of his life. He also operated a cotton gin there for Spitzer Farms. He was a U.S. Army veteran...

SIKESTON -- Val Sharp Sr., 81, died Friday, April 19, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Jan. 26, 1915, at New Madrid, to Harry Garwood and Madge Mitchell Sharp. He and Ruby L. Stoner were married Sept. 12, 1936, at Sikeston. She died April 28, 1970...

DUDLEY -- Lewis W. McGowen, 80, of Dudley died Friday, April 19, 1996, at the Lucy Lee Hospital in Poplar Bluff. He was born April 18, 1916, at Bernie, to William Andrew and Mezella Jane Craft McGowen. He and Mabel Hobbs were married June 10, 1939, at Poplar Bluff...

As it is want to do when you put more than two women in the same place, the topic of feminism came up. It began with the two women present talking about the injustices that they had personally encountered at the hands of sexist men. Throughout horror stories of bosses making passes and salary inequity, I remained curiously silent...

Funeral service for Barbara B. Close was held Wednesday, April 17, 1996, at Redondo Beach, Calif. Burial will be in Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Pales Verdes, Calif. Arrangements for a memorial service are incomplete at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Chapel...

Thurman Hanebrink, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, April 20, 1996, at the Lutheran Home. He was born Feb. 22, 1908, at Cape Girardeau, to Fred and Mary L. Taylor Hanebrink. He and Lillian Steger were married April 14, 1935, at St. Louis. Hanebrink was a retired farmer. ...

DEXTER -- John William Carrier, 91, died Saturday, April 20, 1996, at the Dexter Nursing Center. He was born Jan. 23, 1905, at Advance, to William and Lucy Jane Edwards Carrier. He and Bessie Smith were married March 12, 1931. She died Aug. 5, 1984...

BERTHOUD, Colo. -- Edna Wilson, formerly of East Prairie, died Friday, April 19, 1996, at her home in Berthoud, following an extended illness. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie.

Barbara Jean Headrick, 51, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, April 19, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 1, 1945, at Lexington, Ky., to Charles and Carol Fallow Lunsford. She married Arthur Headrick on Aug. 14, 1981. He survives...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Jewel E. Lubker, 88, of Jefferson City died Friday, April 19, 1996, at Capital Regional Medical Center in Jefferson City. She was born April 25, 1907, in Perry County to John and Frances Weiss Skaggs. She married Henry Lubker in 1924. He died Jan. 30, 1974...

MARBLE HILL -- Willie Elizabeth Schrock, 95, of Marble Hill died Saturday, April 20, 1996, at Bond Nursing Center in Marble Hill. She was born May 15, 1900, to William and Mary Long Henson near Patton. She married Abraham Brotherton in November 1930. He died Nov. 7, 1945...

CENTERTOWN -- Ernest Anton Brendel, 64, of Centertown died Friday, April 19, 1996, at Capital Regional Medical Center in Jefferson City. He was born Nov. 1, 1931, in Vienna to Henry and Agnes Bauer Brendel. He married Margaret Ann Rustemeyer on Oct. 20, 1956, in St. Martins. She survives...

As a 300-voice choir sang the hymn "Wherever He Leads, I'll Go," dozens of people filed down the metal staircases at the Show Me Center Saturday. They were answering a call similar to one heard by the 4,161 people commissioned by the Southern Baptist Convention to spread the gospel around the world...

JACKSON -- Charles Sander was 11 when his family moved into town. His father didn't want to have travel the 10 miles from their farm into work every day. His grandfather and uncle ran the old W.A. Sander and Brother Hardware Co."Most of the business was in the uptown area," he said. ...

Extra bags may cost extra bucks this summer for Cape Girardeau trash customers. Residents currently pay $12.13 per month for trash pickup, which covers three bags or three 32-gallon containers. Additional bags are available at the Public Works Department for $2 each...

Cape Girardeau will operate on a $13.5 million budget during the upcoming fiscal year if the City Council approves it. The proposal also includes $800,000 in equipment purchases and debt service payments and provides for a city employee wage increase...

When members of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, AmeriCorps and First Presbyterian Church helped clean up the Cape Girardeau Civic Center last October during Make A Difference Day, they didn't do it for the recognition. They did it to help their community, but the recognition came anyway...

Cape Girardeau Central High senior Jon Younghouse recently signed a letter of intent to compete in swimming at the University of Texas. Now, that fact might not turn the head of the average sports fan, because swimming is regarded as a relatively minor sport on the collegiate level when compared to the likes of football and basketball...

CHATTANOOGA -- The Frost Cutlery Tournament was officially canceled due to rain Saturday, but that did not prevent controversy from surrounding Southeast Missouri State University's nation-leading 32-game win streak in women's softball. As of today, Southeast's streak, three shy of the national record, is in the balance...

It doesn't take long to sense the pride Poplar Bluff superintendent Dr. Mike Johnson has for his school district's track complex, where redrock was transformed to modern rubber. "A lot of people come through and say you must have a college play here," said Johnson...

Cape Girardeau Central High athletic director Terry Kitchen can't remember the last time the Tigers held a track meet on school grounds. It speaks more for the lapse of time rather than Kitchen's lapse of memory. "I don't think there have been any in the last 10 years, not only for the high school, but the junior high," said Kitchen...

The Chicago Bulls might not be the best NBA team of all time, although they put together the best regular season in NBA history. Arguments will now abound as to whether the Bulls indeed are the cream of the crop in the history of the league. Something like that can never be determined, but it sure makes for good conversation...

As far as Southeast Missouri State University gymnastics coach Bill Hopkins is concerned, his three seniors deserve to end their careers on a winning note. Renae Parr, Alicia Thier and Diana Lattimore will all have their final meet as Otahkians tonight when the National Invitational Tournament of Women's Gymnastics is held at the Show Me Center. Action begins at 6 p.m...

No team scores were kept, but Cape Girardeau Central and Jackson both had plenty of reasons to feel good following Saturday's annual Cape Relays at Southeast Missouri State University's Abe Stuber Track & Field Complex. More than a dozen high school track squads competed on a warm, summer-like day that no doubt marked the best weather area teams have enjoyed this season...

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Jon Riley and freshman Bryan Alfultis both won two events to help lead Southeast Missouri State University's men's track and field team to first place in the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Championships. Southeast's women's finished second in the eight-team event hosted by Tennessee Tech Friday and Saturday...

Missouri spring turkey season opens tomorrow, April 22, and runs through May 5. This year, turkey hunters need to take some extra equipment along. In addition to camouflage and calls, they should include an ink pen and knife. Because of the Point-of-Sale (POS) permit system, this will be the first season where turkey hunting permits are separate from transportation tags. ...

Southeast Missouri State University's improving women's tennis team will look to make some noise in the Ohio Valley Conference Championships today and Monday in Nashville, Tenn. The Otahkians came up short during their final regular-season match Tuesday, falling to visiting Harding University of Arkansas 7-2. Senior Valerie Vanderstappen won her match and combined with senior teammate Elena Novikova to prevail in doubles...

BENTON -- Ste. Genevieve Valle and host Kelly took center stage during Saturday's annual Kelly High Invitational track and field meet. Valle finished first in both the boys and girls divisions. The Warriors won the 14-team boys meet with 127 points and captured the 12-team girls meet with 113 1/2 points...

MALDEN -- Courtney Taylor, Kristen Wright, Caroline Haynes and Caroline Taylor, all 11-year-olds from Caruthersville, didn't have any difficulty pinpointing their favorite exhibit at the Bootheel Youth Museum. Their list of favorites includes the bubble room, hologram light show and an optical illusion mirror. But explaining why the 30 exhibits at the museum are so "cool" is a little more difficult...

My address now is HTT/BY:Com./VW. You can't access it on World Wide Web so I'll decipher it for you. Home Terrain Territory. Back yard.Come. Visitors Welcome. Slowly we are getting back to hieroglyphics. The next step backwards will be rebuses without the in between words...

It seemed only fitting that the Bootheel Youth Museum was founded as a place for children because the idea was sparked at a card game. Three Malden women were playing bridge and talking about their recent visits to children's museums with their grandchildren. Eventually, they decided that Southeast Missouri needed its own version of a hands-on learning center like those they had visited in St. Louis and Memphis...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department's Bridge Club met April 12 at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. Tom Wood and Paul Gilbert won first place. Vince and Kitty Rueseler won second place, and Norman McElreath and Everett Haskell won third place...