Stories from Friday, July 19, 1996

JACKSON -- About 20 people attended a presentation Thursday night that featured detailed descriptions of improvements the Jackson Board of Education would like to accomplish if a $7.8 million bond issue passes Aug. 6. School Superintendent Howard Jones fielded a variety of questions about the bond issue at a forum at the Jackson Middle School...

Despite heated debate between Cape Girardeau Board of Appeals members and one city councilman, the board likely will remain the same. Councilman Jack Rickard, a Cape Girardeau landlord, suggested a real estate agent and a property owner be added to the seven-member board. He said the additions would give the public a voice...

Jokes are meant to be funny, not literary. Herewith are some examples which you, dear readers, are free to use. One of my colleagues stopped me in the hall and began, matter-of-factly, telling me a story. Before I knew what was happening, I realized I was listening to a joke...

To the editor: I suppose it's nice Sen. John Ashcroft took time out of his busy schedule to labor at a variety of menial jobs such as the produce section of a grocery market. To do something occasionally doesn't equal the drudgery of doing it day in and day out as a living...

To the editor: At a time when more than one in four children under age 12 in our country is hungry or at risk of hunger, a congressional leader on hunger issues like Congressman Bill Emerson, who died last month, will be deeply missed. As chairman of the Nutrition Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee, Emerson was a leader on hunger issues in Congress who was well positioned to challenge congressional threats to sharply cut nutrition programs. ...

Many visitors to Corps of Engineers projects in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois, mainly lakes that provide recreational outlets, have become accustomed to having free access to a variety of swimming, boating and camping opportunities. For more than 40 years, for example, hundreds of thousands of visitors have flocked to Wappapello Lake and Clearwater Lake to the west of here for weekend getaways...

Attracting businesses to locate in a community requires a combination of inducements: Affordable wages, stable work force, good work ethic, competitive construction costs, cooperative governmental agencies, transportation links and available and affordable sites, to name just a few...

As the dog days of summer are upon us, herewith a few random observations, thoughts and tidbits that have interested, moved or amused me: The June 27 funeral of the late Rep. Bill Emerson still lingers in the mind. It was majestic and unforgettable, not least because the hymns were -- like the great man who chose them for the occasion himself -- gloriously, wonderfully, outrageously, politically incorrect...

To the editor: Thank you, Heidi Nieland, for the article about the Little Grand Canyon that appeared in the paper July 11. I went over there and was most impressed by the countryside on the drive over and the canyon itself. I walked through it and was thrilled by how quiet it was and how the Forest Service had made it accessible to everyone. ...

Southeast Missouri State University students training to become counselors and school administrators learned about a statewide plan to encourage job training called School-to-Work. Steve Alexander, assistant director for school to work opportunities at Missouri's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, spoke about the concept during a panel discussion, along with Jackson superintendent Howard Jones, Cape Girardeau Board of Education member Dr. ...

First People of Cape Girardeau will sponsor a dance at the Cape Girardeau Civic Center on Saturday. The public is encouraged to attend. The dance will be a fund raiser for the new organization. First People focuses on disability rights and issues. Several chapters now operate in the region, including Sikeston, Fredericktown and Farmington...

UNIONTOWN -- Wiltrudis M. "Trudy" Kohlfeld, 69, of Murphysboro, Ill., died Wednesday, July 17, 1996, at Jackson County Nursing Home in Murphysboro. She was born Dec. 3, 1926, at Uniontown, daughter of Leo and Gertrude Unterreiner Balsman. She and Wallace "Wally" Kohlfeld were married July 30, 1946, at Apple Creek...

Kenneth E. Dobson, 82, of Cape Girardeau, died Thursday, July 18, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Jan. 3, 1914, in Cincinnati, Ohio, son of Everett and Margaret A. Close Dobson. He and Eileen Philpott were married June 5, 1937, in Elgin, Ill...

PATTON -- Beatrice Jo Green, 82, of Patton, died Wednesday, July 17, 1996, at Bond Nursing Care Center. She was born Feb. 20, 1814, in Mayfield, daughter of Amaziah and Dicy M. Fulton Cook. She first married Marvin "Mickey" Whisman, who preceded her in death. She and Dewey Green were married April 30, 1983...

DEXTER -- Funeral service for Bessie Almond of Dexter, will be held at 2 p.m. today at Second General Baptist Church. The Rev. Terryl Almond, a grandson, will officiate, assisted by the Revs. Vyron Yount and Kenneth Biggs. Burial will be in West Pleasant Valley Cemetery near Bloomfield...

PERRYVILLE -- Eugene Charles Coffelt, 77, of Perryville, died Wednesday, July 17, 1996, at his home. He was born Sept. 30, 1918, at Silver Lake, son of Walter and Clara Henderson Coffelt. He and Ruth Ann Hudson were married June 30, 1952. Coffelt was a retired truck driver. He was a member of VFW Post 4282, American Legion Post 133, and AmVets...

CHAFFEE -- John Lizenbee, 50, of Chaffee, died Thursday, July 18, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Morgan Funeral Home in Advance is in charge of arrangements.

MARBLE HILL -- Memorial service for Lisa Jones of Cologne, Germany, will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist Church in Marble Hill. Her husband, Dr. Terry Jones, will officiate. Jones, 42, died from a heart attack Thursday, June 6, 1996, in Cologne...

SIKESTON -- Mildred Parr Baker, 92 of Richmond, Va., died Saturday, July 13, 1996, at University Park Nursing Home in Richmond. She was born June 6, 1904, in Quanah, Texas, daughter of Earnest Augustus and Ada P. Garner Jones. She first married William L. Parr Sr. in 1922, who died in 1961. She later married William Z. Baker June 1, 1967, in Sikeston. He died July 5, 1992...

ANNA, Ill. -- Ruth E. Barker, 70, of Anna, died Thursday, July 18, 1996, at her home. She was born Jan. 28, 1926, in Wauwatosa, Wis., daughter of Lawrence and Rosella Huss Thibodeau. She first married Robert Archey, who died Oct. 31, 1963. She later married Leonard Barker Aug. 27, 1964, in Chicago...

Son to Rodney Lee and Vicky Gail Buchanan, 480 Mockingbird Lane, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 4:15 a.m. Friday, July 12, 1996. Name, Dalton Garrett. Weight, 6 pounds 3 ounces. First child. Mrs. Buchanan is the former Vicky Gass, daughter of Evelyn Gass of Cape Girardeau and the late Robert Gass. She is a physical therapist at Southeast Hospital. Buchanan is the son of Fran Buchanan of Cape Girardeau and Dwight Buchanan of Scott City. He is a self-employed construction worker...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Weldon Ward Watson, 77, of East Prairie died Wednesday, July 17, 1996, at Methodist Central Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., due to an extended illness. He was born Oct. 11, 1918, in Morley, the son of Leslie and Blanche O'Connor Watson. On Sept. 27, 1940, he married Alfreda R. Shortz...

Training sessions on substance abuse for school counselors will be held at the Masonic Hall, 2307 Broadway on July 25 and 26. Coffee and doughnuts will be served at 8 a.m. and the school will open at 9 a.m. both days. Martha Eddleman, a professor at Southwest Missouri State University, is in charge of the training, which is to help counselors recognize the early stages of substance abuse. For more information, call 335-5436...

The board -- which consists of the county commissioners, assessor, auditor and surveyor -- actually convened July 8, said Assessor Jerry Reynolds, but no one asked for a hearing until Thursday. "This was the first time we had anybody come in," he said. "There's been a few people call and ask about it. There might be one more who comes out. I'm not sure."...