Stories from Friday, August 2, 1996

Cape Girardeau Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr. has never quit on life. Not even when he was born prematurely, weighing only three pounds. He spent the first four months of his life in an incubator at Southeast Missouri Hospital. The nurses named him "Butch" because he was a survivor...

The citizens of Miner and Sikeston have an opportunity to bring in more than $200,000 a year in revenue to their community, without spending one cent of their own money. At least that's how Steve McPheeter, director of the Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce (SACC), views a tourism tax that both Sikeston and Miner have on the August ballot...

The recent resignations of Cape Girardeau's fire and police chiefs will leave a sizable hole in city leadership. For City Manager Michael Miller, the timing is a blessing, not a curse. The two jobs are somewhat related, he said, and similar advertising and interviewing processes will make it easier to find replacements...

How many times have I been asked that? Well, the answer now is "No, the repair shop has the time. I am now timeless." For nearly 30 years I have worn a wristwatch that has never been wound and has never had a new battery. It is a self-winding watch that, as far as I can figure out, is the closest I'll ever come to a perpetual-motion machine...

If you listen closely as you drive past the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, you might hear the voices of over 700 cheerleaders from Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois and Arkansas shouting "GO, Tigers, GO!" in unison. Today is the third day of a National Cheerleaders Association camp held on the Southeast Missouri State University campus. ...

Students danced, sang Karaoke, and created monstrous ice cream sundaes around the patio Wednesday night. It was a party -- a fun party without drugs or alcohol. "They were having a great time and it was not with alcohol or drugs," said Sharee Galnore, event coordinator for Team Spirit...

PERRYVILLE -- Thanks to an administrative brainstorm in Perry County, residents can get connected to a severe weather warning system. According to Emergency Management Director Jack Lakenan, the idea for a county-wide system was born during a conversation with a Perry County Nursing Home employee. The employee wanted to know how the nursing home could be notified in the event of severe weather...

LAURA Johnston's series on migrant workers is very revealing in more ways than one. While I can admire these hard-working migrants, I also have to question the work ethics of the local population. The Missouri Bootheel traditionally has the highest unemployment rate in the entire state. ...

Whenever Missourians wonder why their taxes are so high -- or why the governor isn't leading a charge to cut taxes -- they might consider the state's spending on capital improvements. In the current fiscal year that started July 1, Missouri will write checks for some $1.3 billion in construction, repairs and expansions...

To the editor: Cal Thomas, in his July 25 column, has raised the bar on the protection of human life another notch by complaining about the impending use in the United States of the so-called abortion pill, or RU486. These medications cause a woman's body to refuse to allow the retention of a newly formed zygote in her uterus. ...

The Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau has might what be called a "good problem." The thrift store is overflowing with donated items, and ways are being sought to ease the crunch. Part of this good problem is a result of the generosity of area residents who have repeatedly demonstrated their willingness to help other in need. Rather than throw away good used items, more and more residents are delivering these goods to the thrift store in hopes they can help someone else...

MARBLE HILL -- Curbing crime in Bollinger County has prompted four men to run for sheriff in Bollinger County. Voters will chose one candidate from each party to run in the November general election. Polls are open from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Tuesday...

MARBLE HILL -- Jerry Woodfin and Adrian Shell hope to divide and conquer. Woodfin and Shell will divide Republican votes since both filed as candidates for 1st District associate commissioner in Bollinger County. Since there is no Democratic candidate in the primary, the winner will be assured a seat on the commission...

Daughter to Jason Robert and Elizabeth Diane Margetta of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 6:02 a.m. Saturday, May 27, 1996. Name, Samantha Paige. Weight, 7 pounds 4 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Margetta is the former Elizabeth Brase, daughter of Harvey and Beverly Brase of Gordonville. ...

DEXTER -- Funeral service for Reba Mitchell will be held at 10 a.m. today at Watkins and Sons Funeral Chapel in Dexter. The Rev. Kenneth Lambert will officiate, with burial in Old Bethel Cemetery near Dexter. Mitchell, 74, died Tuesday, July 30, 1996, at Dexter Memorial Hospital...

SIKESTON -- Harris Elbert Wright, 82, of Sikeston died Thursday, Aug. 1, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born on March 3, 1914, in Finley, Tenn., son of William and Lula Harris Wright. He married Bessie M. Roach Aug. 25, 1934, in Lepanto, Ark...

PERRYVILLE -- John Francis Blanchard, 67, of Perryville, died Wednesday, July 31, 1996, at Perry Oaks Health Care Center. He was born Nov. 30, 1928, in Castleton, Vt., son of John F. and Alice D. Ames Blanchard. Blanchard had been a truck driver for Wagner. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II...

JACKSON -- Raymond Popp, 85, died Thursday, Aug. 1, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson.

COBDEN, Ill. -- Carol M. Basler, 51, of Cobden, died Wednesday, July 31, 1996, at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale. She was born Jan. 3, 1945, in Union County, daughter of Lester "Buck" and Ethel Wright Arnold. She and Louis J. Basler were married Oct. 4, 1963, in Jonesboro...

Patricia Ann McMasters, 57, of Lovelock, Nev., died Saturday, July 27, 1996, in Lovelock. She was born Dec. 2, 1938, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of James William and Pauline Story Suttles. She first married John Carilli. She later married Larry F. McMasters...

MATTHEWS -- Jodie Chappell, 69, of Matthews, died Thursday, Aug. 1, 1996, at Hunter Acres Caring Center in Sikeston. She was born Aug. 15, 1926, in East Prairie, daughter of Wyatt Jack and Vernice Raines Chappell. Chappell moved to Matthews 21 years ago from East Prairie. She was a member of First Christian Church in East Prairie...

BLOOMFIELD -- In the 10 years Democrat Shirley Carney has been Stoddard County's treasurer, she's never faced an opponent within her own party at the primary. Until this year. Before Carney can even think about taking on Republican Cissy Williams, she has to best, not one, but two Democratic candidates in Tuesday's primary...

BLOOMFIELD -- Greg Mathis and Melvin Staggs, both Democrats, will face off in Tuesday's primary election for Stoddard County coroner. Because there are no Republican coroner candidates, the winner in the primary election will be the only name on the ballot in November's general election...