Stories from Thursday, May 30, 1996

It took more than 30 years for Tom Sather to find out what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, and it was something he'd been doing all along. Sather, 54, of Cobden, Ill., is a woodworker and a furniture maker. As the owner of South Pass Woodworking, he claims that if it is wooden, and someone will pay him, he can make it...

A Fruitland woman says her application to adopt a cat from the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri was unfairly rejected after she and her husband returned a dog they had adopted through the agency to its original owners. In October 1995, Karen York adopted Jake, a German shepherd, through the Humane Society. The dog's original owners had given Jake up for adoption because they were moving and weren't sure they would be able to keep the animal at their new home, York said...

The four landowners in the 2900 block of Jasmine Lane shouldn't expect their street to be paved anytime soon, but they can check back in three years. By then city officials should know if any transportation sales tax money is left. According to City Manager Michael G. ...

Health officials and biologists agree that this year's floodwater mosquitoes are larger and more ferocious biters. A wet spring and flooding in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois have provided the right ingredients for mosquitoes. "Most common in the floodwater mosquito is the aedes vexans," said Dr. Christina Frazier, professor of biology at Southeast Missouri State University. "They'll go after anything that moves."...

A report from the National Academy of Sciences suggests a link between Vietnam veterans' exposure to Agent Orange and a higher risk of their children developing spina bifida. The report also indicates that the veterans could develop prostate cancer and acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy, which led President Bill Clinton to announce Tuesday that Vietnam veterans with the disorders are entitled to disability payments based on their exposure to Agent Orange...

Cape Girardeau will operate under a $26.7 million budget during the upcoming fiscal year if a proposed budget is adopted. The City Council met for a special study session Wednesday to consider the proposal, which covers July 1 through June 30, 1997...

May 30, 1996 Dear Julie, Just returned from Nashville, where I watched a lovable bunch of broken down has-beens trying to recapture their glory days. I could do that by day during a PGA Senior Tour tournament and at night in the honky-tonks. I had hoped to catch sight of a legend, Arnie or Jack, but they weren't at the tournament. Lee Trevino was, though, and Gary Player and Raymond Floyd and a bunch of guys a lot of people probably don't know about. Gods to golfers...

The Southeast Missourian newspaper won three awards for reporting of education from the Missouri State Teachers Association's annual contest. The Missourian was honored for its weekly "Learning Page," for the photography on those pages and for YELL, the newspaper's annual literacy program...

William H. Walker's resignation from the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport Advisory Board -- because of what he called a lack of aggressive airport marketing -- points to a problem that some board members and others interested in the success of the airport have recognized in recent months. Those concerns are legitimate...

In keeping with Cape Girardeau County's wise fiscal ways, county officials told a state juvenile court panel last week that Missouri must either revise its guidelines for paying juvenile officers or let the counties determine how much they are to be paid. Since the county provides 95 percent of the funding for salaries of personnel in the juvenile-justice system, that seems good advice...

We are engaged in a debate which, in a less confused time, would be considered pointless and even oxymoronic: the question of same-sex marriage. But we are where we are. The Hawaii Supreme Court has discovered a new state constitutional "right" -- the legal union of same-sex couples. ...

Daughter to Earl L. and Diane B. Petzoldt, Frohna Route 1, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:47 p.m. Monday, May 13, 1996. Name, Rachael Elizabeth. Weight, 8 pounds 7 ounces. Third child, second daughter. Mrs. Petzoldt is the former Diane Mahnken, daughter of Armin Mahnken and Mildred Mahnken of Frohna. She is a cashier at Citizens Electric Corp. Petzoldt is the son of Lewis Petzoldt and Louise Petzoldt of Frohna. He is a sawfiler at East Perry Lumber Co...

Funeral service for Eugene Lloyd Southard of Leavenworth, Kan., was held May 14 at Davis Funeral Chapel in Leavenworth. Burial was in Leavenworth National Cemetery. Southard, 84, died Sunday, May 12, 1996, at Eisenhower VA Medical Center. He was born July 6, 1911, at Broadway, son of John Clifford and Minnie Lee Givens Southard. He and Iris Dorine King were married March 1, 1948...

Juanita Rutledge, 79, of Phenix City, Ala., died Sunday, May 26, 1996, at Exodus in Columbus, Ga. She was born Sept. 16, 1916, in Salem, Ala., daughter of Lee and Irene Wilson Davis. She first married the Rev. William Henry Coar in 1935. He died in 1970. She and Dock Rutledge were married in 1977...

BENTON -- Funeral service for Loretta K. Harris, Benton Route 1, was held Wednesday at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel in Cape Girardeau. The Rev. Dennis Gregory officiated, with burial in Memorial Park in Cape Girardeau. Harris, 70, was found dead Sunday, May 26, 1996, at her home...

SIKESTON -- Recia Morrison, 48, of Sikeston, died Tuesday, May 28, 1996, in Sikeston. She was born Aug. 31, 1947, at Morehouse, daughter of Joe and Patsy Trout Gross. She married Bill Morrison, who preceded her in death. Morrison had lived in the Morehouse and Sikeston areas all her life...

ULLIN, Ill. -- Laddie Mowery, 76, of Memphis, Tenn., died Tuesday, May 28, 1996, at St. Joseph Hospital in Memphis. He was born Nov. 14, 1919, at Ullin, son of Clarence Everett and Allie Melvina Barringer Mowery. He and Melba Frances Corbett were married Sept. 16, 1941...

ANNA, Ill. -- Funeral service for Selma Cherrick of Anna will be held at 2 p.m. today at Beth Hamedrosh Hagodol Cemetery in St. Louis, with Rabbi Michael Datz officiating. Crain Funeral Home in Anna is in charge of arrangements. Cherrick, 74, died Tuesday, May 28, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Robert C. Tolbert, 49, of Knoxville, Tenn., died Tuesday, May 28, 1996, in Loudon, Tenn., as a result of an automobile accident. Tolbert was born Sept. 21, 1946, in Cairo, son of Ezra and Dorothy Grable Tolbert. He was a security guard. Tolbert was a former captain with Cairo Police Department, had served on the FBI Drug Task Force, and was a former member of Cairo Auxiliary Fire Department. He was a member of Cairo Baptist Church...

ESSEX -- Louis H. Barber, 75, of Essex, died Wednesday, May 29, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Dec. 19, 1920, in Clarksville, Ark., son of Ike and Stella Mae Stepp Barber. He and Juanita Peppers were married Jan. 16, 1946, in Piggott, Ark...

Chaffee -- Funeral service for Freeman Hubert Choate of Chaffee will be held at 10 a.m. today at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee. The Rev. Arvil Huffman will officiate, with burial in Union Park Cemetery. Choate, 75, died Tuesday, May 28, 1996, at Clearview Nursing Center in Sikeston...

Perry Davis knows what to do in an emergency, so he seemed like the logical person to call when the Olympic Torch Relay committee had a crisis Monday. And since prompt responses are part of his job as an emergency medical technician with the Cape County Private Ambulance service, Davis was quick to accept a temporary job offer from the Olympic Torch Relay committee...

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education hired two administrators and 13 teachers Wednesday during a special noon meeting. About 15 people attended the 10-minute meeting at the Board of Education office. Stan Seiler, a former teacher in the Cape Girardeau district, and Frank Ellis, a current teacher, were among those hired to fill administration positions in the district. Brett Reutzel also was hired as head basketball coach...