Stories from Monday, June 24, 1996

SIKESTON -- Martha M. Hodges, 76, of Sikeston, died Monday, June 10, 1996, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Sept. 20, 1919, at Morley, daughter of Charles G. and Fay Shipman Oliver. She and James E. "Mush" Hodges were married Sept. 2, 1937, at Charleston. He died March 19, 1989...

Story's Gourmet Foods can be found on supermarket shelves throughout the nation. One of the big varieties in the Story line, produced in Mississippi County in Southeast Missouri, is microwave popcorn that can be "popped on the cob." Wicker's Food Products at Hornersville, specializes in barbecue sauce, marinade and steak sauce...

Two vehicles aboard the Ste. Genevieve-to-Modoc, Ill., ferry began a 10-minute trip across the Mississippi River from the Missouri side. A sign at the edge of the Mississippi River instructs motorists about the ferry service. On a fall day in 1923, a ferry on the Mississippi River brought 50 passengers to the Cape Girardeau landing for a day of shopping in the downtown business area...

Gov. Mel Carnahan will use his constitutional authority to call a special election to fill the unexpired term of 8th District U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, who died Saturday. No date for the election has been picked, and probably won't be for at least several days, said Carnahan spokesman Chris Sifford on Sunday...

His friends and fellow lawmakers remember U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson as a family man who worked hard to serve his constituents. Emerson, 58, died Saturday of lung cancer after being admitted last Monday to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Md., with a respiratory infection...

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" -- Psalms 133:1. CHAFFEE -- For Chaffee, a town of about 3,000 white people, it was an odd sight. It was Sunday, and black people, lots of them, streamed into People's Full Gospel Church. White people walked in alongside...

JACKSON -- Dave Kinder likes his job so much that he wears a Black Cat tattoo. Black Cat is the brand name of the fireworks industry's best-selling products. Kinder owns fireworks stands in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Poplar Bluff. Since most stands just opened for business Thursday, it is still too early to tell what the best-sellers will be; however, competition is fierce...

I need a new purse. Since there are dozens of retailers out there stocking hundreds (probably thousands) of purses, clutches, totes, handbags, backpacks and other personal luggage items, this shouldn't be a problem. But it is. Let me elaborate. A year or so ago, I decided to take a chance on one of those "wallet-on-a-string" affairs, which were meant to make women's lives more convenient by letting them use this handy-dandy new gadget instead of lugging around a big, heavy purse...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, How do you feel about the curfew in Cape Girardeau?" (It is 11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends for youths under 17 years old.) Stanley Richardson, Cape Girardeau "I think that would be a good law to enforce because I believe it would hold down some of the vandalism. ... I don't know about major crimes, but I believe it would help on juvenile crime."...

"It long has been a popular belief," read this newspaper's story reporting on a certain election outcome in the Nov. 5, 1980, edition, "that no Republican could defeat a Democrat in the ... district, particularly (the then-incumbent six-term Rep. Bill) Burlison." That summation did indeed express the overwhelming consensus, a common understanding rooted in a long historical tradition of Republican frustration and defeat: No Republican had been elected from this territory since 1928 -- a GOP drought of 52 years.. ...

REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA -- An uneasy truce still hangs over this small island-nation, located off the Hinkson Gulf, following a series of pitched battles that thus far have signaled only an uncertain future for democratic reform. Although the duly elected Chancellero is still in office, a spokesman for the army that calls itself the Academica Freedom Fighters says the embattled official is not overly optimistic that he will be able to retain office through his official term. ...

SIKESTON -- Herbert C. Falkoff, 64, of Sikeston died at his residence Sunday, June 23, 1996. He was born April 21, 1932, in East Prairie, son of Israel J. and Jeannette Solomon Falkoff. He had served in the U.S. Navy, was a former member of the East Prairie Kiwanis Club and had owned Falkoff's Department Store in East Prairie. He was a salesman at Falkoff's Men's Store in Sikeston since 1983...

MARBLE HILL -- Lorraine M. Milhous, 82, of Marble Hill died Saturday, June 22, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 21, 1913, in Pleasant Grove, Calif. She was a retired sales clerk and moved to this area in 1993 from California...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Juanita E. Steckler, 82, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, June 22, 1996, at Jackson Manor. She was born April 22, 1914, in Whitewater, daughter of Leo and Nancy Proffer Steckler. She served as the church custodian of the Nazarene Church in Cape Girardeau...

BALLWIN -- Sylvester Kirn, 77, of Ballwin, formerly of Biehle, died Saturday, June 22, 1996, at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis. He was born Sept. 15, 1918, in St. Louis, the son of August and Katherine Zoellner Kirn. He married Zita Moore on Oct. 31, 1942...

JACKSON -- Jonathan Daniel Mowery, 3 months, of Jackson died at his home Saturday, June 22, 1996. He was born March 15, 1996, in Cape Girardeau, son of Daniel L. and Tammie Cotner Mowery of Jackson, who survive him. He is also survived by three brothers, Joshua and Jacob Mowrey, and Cody Harris, all of Jackson; two sisters, Tiffany Mowery and Ashley Harris, both of Jackson; maternal grandparents, Jim and Mary Ann Cotner of Granite City, Ill.; paternal grandparents, Alfred and Doris Mowery of Bloomfield; and great-grandparents, Dora Koehler of Jackson, Glenda Cotner of High Ridge and Dewy Cotner of Salem.. ...

The Apple Creek Limited, an arts and crafts and gifts shop, will open Friday at 350 N. Kingshighway. Roy Hartle Jr., a partner in the new operation, said the store will feature a number of local crafts, along with matted and framed prints, and other gift items,"...

The beauty salon, owned by Carolyn Rouveiere, will open Tuesday at 42 N. Spanish. The salon, previously at 342 Independence, has three operators, Rouveiere, Sue Phillips and Sharon Farrow. The salon will be open Tuesday through Saturday.

Vicki Frank has joined the Rehabilitation Service staff at Southeast Missouri Hospital to develop and manage cardiac/pulmonary rehabilitation services. Frank, a registered nurse, has 15 years experience in cardiac/pulmonary rehabilitation. She has a nursing degree from Southeast Missouri State University and is certified as a physical fitness specialist by the institute of aerobics research...

Construction started on a new Missouri medium-maximum security prison at Bowling Green last week. The Northeast Correctional Center on 112 acres adjacent to the Bowling Green airport will house 1,975 inmates. The prison is expected to be ready for occupancy in September 1997...

The Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association's new "Speculative Shell Building" at 4901 Nash Road is ready for sale or lease. A Ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the building last week. The 200-by-300-foot, 60,000-square-foot speculative building is situated on an 8-acre tract...

A new Drury Inn has opened at Atlanta. Owned and operated by Drury Inns Inc., headquartered at St. Louis, this is the second of three Drury Inns in Atlanta, with plans for one more, to open this winter. The latest Drury Inn is at Highway 54 and Adamson Parkway, just south of the Atlanta Airport and downtown area...

Hands-on demonstrations of Southwestern Bell VideoConferencing Services and VTEL Products will be available during a videoconferencing seminar, to be held at Cape Girardeau July 17. The workshop will be held at the Drury Lodge, starting with a continental breakfast at 9 a.m. Presentations will start at 9:30...

Sikeston radio stations KMPL-AM and KSTF-FM have joined Withers Broadcasting Group. Russ Withers, owner of the company that has radio and television stations in a half-dozen states -- Texas, Illinois, Iowa, West Virginia, New Mexico and Colorado -- announced the purchase recently...

U.S. industries increased production for a second straight month in May, and businesses showed signs of rebuilding depleted inventories, a move that could mean even greater output and more jobs. The Federal Reserve said output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities rose 0.7 percent in May after an identical advance a month earlier. The April rate was revised down from 0.9 percent, however...