Stories from Sunday, May 19, 1996

To the editor: The Salvation Army would like to express its appreciation to the U.S. Postal Service and carriers for their willingness to conduct a food drive for the Salvation Army. April and May are our slowest months in receiving donations. This donation will allow us to continue to provide food to families in the Cape Girardeau area...

Senate majority leader and presidential candidate are each full-time jobs. To attempt to do them simultaneously is to ensure an inept performance in both. Sen. Bob Dole finally recognized the obvious and did so in time to begin to rescue his sagging presidential campaign. Dole did it in the most dramatic way possible by resigning from the Senate...

Democrat Rick Althaus kicked off his state Senate campaign Saturday, telling 75 supporters that the state's complex issues can't be solved with partisanship and slogans. Althaus spoke to supporters at a noontime picnic at Cape County Park North. Althaus is seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Peter Kinder in the 27th Senatorial District. Both candidates are unopposed in their respective party's primaries in August...

The board of trustees of Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colo., Friday hired a university professor as the school's new president. The board, meeting in Gunnison, chose Michael Gallagher, a professor of management at Idaho State University in Pocatello...

On a video screen, the light area in the center is what the laser has removed from the cornea. Cape Girardeau is one of five cities nationally to offer a newly-approved laser procedure for correcting nearsightedness and other vision problems. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration approved the VISX Excimer laser for photo-refractive keratectomy (PRK). The laser is used to remove tissue, flattening the cornea to reduce or eliminate nearsightedness, or myopia...

The Gibson Recovery Center of Cape Girardeau is conducting a fund-raising campaign this month to improve services and upgrade its facilities. Persons can make a tax-deductible donation to the center, or pledge from 25 cents to $1 a mile for a Memorial Weekend Walk, to be conducted by Decker...

Coordinators for the mural that will grace a downtown Jackson building hope it will be completed in time for Homecomers, which begins on Aug. 17. "It ought to be a dandy," said Herb Wickham, a Jackson artist who has spearheaded the project. "It should be done by Homecomers unless everything goes wrong."...

Paul Goeshe explains horse anatomy to his group while his fellow student teachers, Tyle Bender and Derek Jenkins, control the pony, Oreo. The youth equine workshop was attended by about 300 sixth-grade Jackson Middle School students at Flickerwood Arena last Wednesday...

The Jackson Jaycees have been putting the final touches on their annual Fourth of July celebration in Jackson City Park. The activities will range from the Fun Run, sponsored by the Jackson Drug-Free Schools and Community Advisory Council; a car show and mud volleyball to the big event of the night, the fireworks...

Those looking for an idea for the Jackson mural need only look to Jackson's rich history. Jackson became Cape Girardeau County's second town early in the 19th century as European and American immigrants came to settle a rich, untamed wilderness. William Dougherty established a plantation in 1798 on Hubble Creek near the present city of Jackson. ...

To the editor: The reading department of Central Junior High School would like to thank you for the newspapers we have received this year (as part of the Newspapers In Education program). Our students have enjoyed and benefited from their being a part of the daily routine. Thank you for providing this opportunity...

Long-range strategic planning is not a new subject in schools of business on hundreds of university campuses around the country. Rather the topic is a regular, integral part of business school training, with graduates well aware of the need and importance of knowing where both small and large corporations are headed and what the business environment for their products will be five, ten and fifteen years from today. ...

Missouri's budget continues its pitiless growth. It has been a rate of growth that outstrips that of most household incomes as well as that of most businesses. Consider that a mere 12 years ago, the state budget was approximately $4 billion. As shown by the chart below, the fiscal 1993 budget, which was the last under former Gov. ...

What a week it was. People all over Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois, either individually are as part of some group, found ways to show their kindness. And they did it again and again and again. It all started with a gentle nudge only a few short days ago from the Southeast Missourian. Why not devote an entire week -- actually eight days -- to a celebration of kindness. That was the idea of Managing Editor Joni Adams. The rest was up to you...

To the editor: This letter was sent May 14 to the Cape Girardeau City Council: Subject: Resignation from Airport Advisory Board effective this date. Here I sit looking at another meaningless pile of paper generated by the airport manager. My first involvement with Cape Girardeau Regional Airport was as a member of the Chamber of Commerce Air Transportation Committee. ...

Polly Gailus, secretary of the Apple Creek Presbyterian Memorial Association, and Robert Hope, superintendent of grounds, study a Bible that dates to 1898. On the wall are faded photos of reverends who preached at the church over the years. There will be a special service at the church today...

DEXTER -- Frank Perez, 52, of Dexter died Friday, May 17, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Jan. 7, 1944, to Jose and San Juana Corona Perez in Edinburg, Texas. Survivors include two sons, Frank Perez and Tony Perez, both of Conway; a daughter, Christina Mackey of Conway; two brothers, Joe Perez of Jackson and Matt Perez of Dexter; five sisters, Terri Giardina of St. ...

MINER -- Helen Oakes, 68, of Miner died Friday, May 17, 1996, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center at Sikeston. She was born June 20, 1927, in Madison County, Ala., daughter of Albert and Eddie Lee Collins. She married William Daniel Oakes Jan. 31, 1942, at Bassett, Ark. He died March 8, 1989...

JACKSON -- Harry C. Vogt, 80, of Jackson died Saturday, May 18, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements will be announced later by McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson.

LAVALLE -- Homer D. Nordin, 88, of Lavalle died Friday, May 17, 1996, at Dexter Memorial Hospital. He was born July 2, 1907, to William and Cora Ross Nordin in Idalia. He married Cora Glass in 1928. She died in 1954. He married Audrey Wooley at Dexter on April 6, 1961. She survives...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Eugene "Gene" Hayes, 67, of rural Dongola, formerly of Pulaski, Ill., died Saturday, May 18, 1996, at the Bob McIntosh farm near Pulaski of an apparent heart attack. Haynes was born Aug. 28, 1928, at Miller City, Ill., son of Cecil and Della Dosha Jones Haynes...

PERRYVILLE -- Lillian I. Brown, 81, of Perryville died Friday, May 17, 1996, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. She was born Sept. 24, 1914, in Perryville to John and Louise Dippold Bergman. She married Walter Brown on Dec. 12, 1964. He died on July 7, 1981...

The Greek essayist Plutarch once wrote that "life itself decays, and all things are daily changing." Bob Dylan pretty much was saying the same thing when he sang "the times they are 'a changin'." Things are constantly oscillating, blowing our lives around -- and that's the way it's supposed to be. Life is one stairwell of changes, each step hopefully taking us closer to the top, whether our top be religious enlightenment or a promotion at the Southeast Missourian...

"Hey... I wonder what kinda plant this is?" I queried, snatching a glossy, hairy-stemmed leaf from the vine where it was growing. I sniffed. "Hmmmm ... doesn't have a smell." Dropping the leaf, I shifted my attention to another unfamiliar, eye-catching plant sprouting near another tree...

O'Fallon, Ill. -- Clara Belle Dunn Dailey, 89, of O'Fallon, Ill., formerly of Tamms, Ill., died Friday, May 17, 1996, at O'Fallon Medical Care Center. She was born Feb. 6, 1907, in Miner to Frank and Ethel Level Lacey. She married Hershel Lee Dunn. He preceded her in death...

Anna, Ill. -- James R. Jerolds, 68, of Anna died Friday, May 17, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 19, 1928, to Bernard and Lela Christmas Jerolds in Marion, Ill. He married Margaretha Rietz on April 10, 1957, in Fulda, Germany. She survives...

PUXICO -- Basil Dean Smith, 69, of Puxico died Friday, May 17, 1996, at Lucy Lee Hospital in Poplar Bluff. He was born June 11, 1926, in Jackson, Mich., to Wilbur and Estella Burlison Smith. He married Grace Lynch in Piggott, Ark., on Spet. 7, 1949. She survives...

CHAFFEE -- Dovie Williams, 79, of Chaffee died Saturday, May 18, 1996 at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Home in Chaffee.

ELLSINORE -- Charles Robert "Bob" Scaggs, 68, died Thursday, May 16, 1996, at his home in Ellsinore. He was born Nov. 3, 1927, to Albert and Gladys Cole Scaggs in Madison, Ill. He married Esther Loretta Hampton on Feb. 19, 1955, in Grandin. She survives...

Southeast Missouri State University's interim president, Dr. Bill Atchley, believes that higher education will eventually toss out tenure. Atchley has his own ideas about how to replace the system of tenure. Under the current system, faculty members have almost permanent job security once they are tenured, regardless of how well they continue to teach...

While patriotic music played, "Team Emerson" introduced itself in Cape Girardeau Saturday to over 300 people in a room filled with red, white and blue, kicking off the congressional campaign of U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson. And for the first time since February when he began treatment for lung cancer, Emerson returned to his district to say he was doing well and looking forward to being elected to a ninth term in the U.S. House...

Kindness counts. Area residents said so with myriad kindnesses both large and small last week. Some 350 businesses, schools, organizations and individuals participated in Random Acts of Kindness Week. The list included 173 businesses; 56 schools, classes and day-care centers; 47 government and non-profit agencies; 43 churches and Sunday school classes; 26 organizations; and five individuals spread over six Southeast Missouri counties and one county in Southern Illinois...

KANSAS CITY -- Charity Sandvos, the daughter of Carl and Jane Sandvos of Scott City, won first place at the Junior Festival State Competition in Kansas City on May 4. Sandvos represented Encore Music Club, a division of the Missouri Federation of Music Clubs. She won a superior rating for her vocal solos at the district competition in Cape Girardeau in February, when she was selected to represent the district in state competition...

SCOTT CITY -- State Sen. Peter Kinder will speak about proposed changes in the minimum wage at the next meeting of the Scott City Chamber of Commerce. Kinder is opposed to raising the minimum wage, as is the chamber. The group will meet Tuesday at noon at the Milestone 101 Restaurant in the Rhodes Travel Center. Buffet lunch will cost $5.95...

Greg Petrowich, operations director for KRCU-FM at Southeast Missouri State University, has been appointed general manager of the station. The appointment was confirmed Wednesday by Martin Jones, dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Southeast. "We ran a national search for the position and had people apply from all over the country," said Jones. "We interviewed three people, including Petrowich. By all accounts, he was the best of the three, and therefore the best of the national search."...

Union Electric customers northeast of the intersection of Perryville Road and Broadway were without power early Saturday morning for as long as three hours. The cause of the power outage remains a mystery, a UE spokesman said. The spokesman, Darrell Seabaugh, said crews were unable to determine what caused the outage which affected a large section of Cape Girardeau and a few homes in the county. The exact number of customers affected by the outage wasn't available, he said...

Communities benefit greatly from trees. These silent citizens quietly add to our quality of life by providing many of the things we take for granted. They provide our communities with beauty, cleaner air, energy savings, wildlife habitat, noise reduction, improved health, better water quality, increased property values and increased economic stability...

Old Strip is back. Didn't see him (her?) at all last year. And I really think this new wiggly thing must be a grandchild or maybe even a great-grandchild. It was so new and full of life. Waxy, shiny. All three light stripes in place; one down the middle of the back, the other two down the sides. Always...

Ila Niswonger, David Grant and Melanie Rudolph are the 1996 winners of the Area Wide United Way/Ameritech Volunteer Awards, recoginzed for their service to the community Ila Niswonger likes waking up each morning knowing that someone will be counting on her. She volunteers at least five days a week, often more...

Ila Niswonger, David Grant and Melanie Rudolph are the 1996 winners of the Area Wide United Way/Ameritech Volunteer Awards, recoginzed for their service to the community David Grant's goal is to show others just how much a disabled person can accomplish...

Ila Niswonger, David Grant and Melanie Rudolph are the 1996 winners of the Area Wide United Way/Ameritech Volunteer Awards, recoginzed for their service to the community Melanie Rudolph isn't sure what direction life will lead her, but she knows wherever she goes she will be helping others...

Keyboards & Kindermusik Conservatory featured its keyboard students in an annual Spring Recital Sunday, April 21. Instructors are Don and Janet Presson. Each student played a solo piece and an ensemble piece accompanied by digital orchestral background. Instruments were furnished by Shivelbines Music and Sound...

Sean H. Seyer, 17, son of Dennis and Ellen Seyer of Cape Girardeau, recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Seyer has been involved with Boy Scouts for the past nine years. He is a member of Troop 16, which is sponsored by the Elks Lodge. For his Eagle Scout project, Seyer repainted the recreational structures on the playground at St. Mary's Early Education Center...