Stories from Tuesday, September 17, 1996

Cybertip: Be careful of imitations on the web. http://www.whitehouse.gov is the official White House page. A parody of the page can be found at http://www.whitehouse.net, and on the surface, it looks very similar. The Jolly Roger flying atop the flag pole tips off visitors...

When students at Washington Elementary School in Cape Girardeau enter the computer lab, teacher Tracy Fetterhoff leads them on an adventure through ice, snow and spelling words. Fetterhoff uses computer programs like "Spelling Blizzard" to reinforce language and reading skills in her classroom...

Students have thje benefit of three televisions, including a big screen television, in the computer lab in Robert a. Dempster Hall, which houses the Donald L. Harrison College of Business. University officials hope that with the completion of the new technologically advanced business building at Southeast Missouri State University comes superior learning, a better education and more students...

Only one fireworks dealer and four citizens spoke their views on fireworks Monday, far fewer than the number the Cape Girardeau City Council expected. It was July when councilmen began discussing a change in the city's fireworks ordinance. Several had received complaints from people in their wards -- those angered or frightened by the constant pops from bottle rockets and other items...

A science fair experiment by a Cape Girardeau high school student has captured national attention from the medical community thanks to a Poplar Bluff doctor. Robert Felker found that the family microwave provides an easy and inexpensive way to sterilize catheters. Poplar Bluff urologist Dr. S.D. Madduri saw Felker's Southeast Missouri Regional Science Fair project and continued the research with his own patients and found that the idea works...

Donald L. Harrison, left, was acknowledged by Gov. Mel Carnahan following Harrison's announcement that he is stepping down as president of the Board of Regents. Dr. Dale Nitzschke couldn't think of a better birthday present. The Southeast Missouri State University president celebrated his 59th birthday Monday with the dedication of the school's new business building...

Dr. Bill Stacy misses Southeast Missouri State University, the school he guided as president for 10 years. Stacy is president of California State University-San Marcos, a job he has held since leaving Southeast in 1989. But Stacy has fond feelings for the Cape Girardeau school...

It has been said that the wise man should be treated with respect, and who among us is wiser than the elderly? The name Charles Keating kept drifting in and out of my mind last week as I was working on the story concerning numerous burglaries that have been occurring in Cape Girardeau since the beginning of summer...

JACKSON -- Aldermen voiced their support for a proposed Tax Increment Financing district that will include a portion of the city limits Monday night. The boundaries of the proposed district have not yet been drawn up, but plans now call for the I-55/Highway 61 interchange to be included, said city administrator Steve Wilson...

The U.S. Office of Civil Rights found no evidence of racial discrimination in the Cape Girardeau School District and has concluded its investigation of the district. The school board unanimously approved an agreement with OCR more than a year after a complaint alleging discrimination was filed by the NAACP...

SCOTT CITY -- A man upset with two Scott City Council members was escorted from the meeting by the chief of police Monday night. Orley Jackson was led out of the meeting by Scott City Police Chief Danny Clubb after Jackson heatedly accused council members J.T. Gulley and Marsha Zimmerman of doing a background search on him. Scott City Mayor Jerry Cummins repeatedly told Jackson to end his discussion and sit down but Jackson refused...

After Mayor Al Spradling III's discourse on too much government regulation, Cape Girardeau city councilmen dismissed a law dealing with teen smoking. Capt. Stephen Strong, interim police chief, proposed the new law in a memo to the council. He said a municipal ordinance prohibits selling tobacco products to people under age 18, but there is nothing prohibiting minors from possessing such products...

In a recent group discussion it was accepted that most business people are greedy and non-religious (an impression fostered by television and movies). However, a recent survey shows that business people rank among the most religious. Here is an excerpt from "The Most Religious Elites":...

President Bill Clinton's most recent proposal in welfare reform is a real doozy. Emphasizing the work requirement in the welfare reform bill sent him by the Republican Congress, he is asking America's churches to hire welfare recipients to work in jobs that would be paid for by state governments...

The initiative proposal to hike Missouri's minimum wage to the nation's highest, and to keep on ratcheting it up from there every year, has qualified for the November ballot. Voters should and, we believe will, overwhelmingly defeat it. Another initiative to re-authorize the one-tenth cent sales tax for soil and water conservation has also qualified for the November ballot. Voters should, and we believe will, overwhelmingly adopt it...

Dear Editor: Have you ever heard the expression "the noisy wheel gets the grease?" This expression can be aptly applied to the report done by KFVS-12 over the "problems" at Delta High School. This so-called problem of students being treated unfairly stems from an incident involving two female students who were sent home for improper dress...

Dear Editor: In a recent "Parade," national "genius" columnist Marilyn Vos Savant featured the silliest questions she's received. She felt they deserved no answer. For example, one reader had asked, "How do they fit all that hot air into blow dryers? Why don't they ever run out?"...

ULLIN, Ill. -- Elsie Kesler, 88, of Ullin died Monday, Sept. 16, 1996, at her home. She was born Oct. 23, 1907, in Union County, daughter of Arley and Luetta Karraker Sheffer. She and Lionel "Doc" Kesler were married Dec. 26, 1923. He died Feb. 25, 1977...

CHARLESTON -- Funeral service for Dorothy B. Hathhorn, formerly of Charleston, will be held at 11 a.m. today at McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston. The Rev. Rick White will officiate, with burial in IOOF Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 9:30 a.m. to service time...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Carolyn Kay Kee, 58, of Olive Branch died Sunday, Sept. 15, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 17, 1938, in Elco, daughter of Clyde and Anna May Dillman Tatum Sr. She and Lester Kee were married May 27, 1956, in Elco. He died Nov. 8, 1977...

MORLEY -- Jualdine Cody, 63, of Morley died Sunday, Sept. 15, 1996, at her home. She was born March 17, 1933, at Kennett, daughter of Ira and Maggie Jones Neldon. She and Jiggs Cody were married March 3, 1956. He died Dec. 26, 1995. Cody was a member of Eagles Aerie 4154 at Advance...

Helen Lucille Schwepker Seiler, 87, 1400 N. Sprigg, died Monday, Sept. 16, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Dec. 19, 1908, at Blomeyer, daughter of Charles and Minnie Prosser Fagan. She first married Frederick M. Schwepker Oct. 1, 1934, at Dutchtown. He died Sept. 3, 1989. She later married Ennis Seiler in April 1991 in Cape Girardeau...

PERRYVILLE -- Edgar A. Weinhold, 87, of Perryville died Sunday, Sept. 15, 1996, at Perry Oaks Healthcare. He was born Oct. 2, 1908, in Perry County, son of William and Mary Schmidt Weinhold. He and Sylvia I. Kassel were married Oct. 6, 1940. Weinhold was a farmer, and member of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Imogene Anderson will be held at 2 p.m. today at Ponder Funeral Home, with the Rev. Ed Pangburn officiating. Burial will be in Sikeston City Cemetery. Anderson, 88, died Sunday, Sept. 15, 1996, at Sells Rest Home in Matthews...

CHAFFEE -- Mary Ann Alvey, 84, of Chaffee died Monday, Sept. 16, 1996, at her home. She was born July 21, 1912, at Vanduser, daughter of Huvy and Agnes Stone Malone. She and Earl Alvey were married Nov. 19, 1927. He died March 27, 1989. Alvey was a member of First Baptist Church...

SCOTT CITY -- Paul Wayne King, 69, of Scott City died Saturday, Sept. 14, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 28, 1927, at Flat River, son of William Earl and Virgil Temple Black King. King was a truck driver with Super Valu in Scott City, retiring in 1988. He was a member of Teamsters Local 574, Eagles Aerie and Harold O. Grauel Masonic Lodge 672 in Cape Girardeau. He moved to Scott City in 1962 from Flat River...

Cape Girardeau city councilmen said Monday they have fielded a flurry of questions about work on Lexington Avenue. People want to know why a relatively new street is being "repaved." The answer is that the work isn't repaving, it is sealing, Public Works Director Doug Leslie said. Parts of Lexington have been open to traffic for five years, and the wear and tear is showing...

CHAFFEE -- David Owens, 40, of Chaffee died Monday, Sept. 16, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel at Chaffee is in charge of arrangements.

Kletia Killian, 92, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, Sept. 15, 1996, in New Braunfels, Texas. Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Elmo Cato, 82, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Sept. 16, 1996, at the home of a daughter. He was born April 19, 1914, in Advance, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Cato. He and Della Hendrix were married May 22, 1933, at Kennett. She died Jan. 10, 1995. Cato was an oil field construction worker 45 years...

CHAFFEE -- Mary Irene Pryor, 86, of Chaffee died Sunday, Sept. 15, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 30, 1910, at Malden, daughter of J.P. and Effie Dockins Estes. She married John Ellis Pryor, who preceded her in death...

ANNA, Ill. -- Bobby Gene Ray, 64, of Anna died Monday, Sept. 16, 1996, at Jonesboro Health Care Center in Jonesboro. He was born June 29, 1932, at Anna, son of Oscar and Mae Absher Ray. Ray was a member of Anna-Jonesboro Elks Lodge 1641 and Anna Moose Lodge 1346...

FARMINGTON -- Sylvia Fern Whitener, 80, of Farmington died Saturday, Sept. 14, 1996, at Farmington Care Center. She was born May 28, 1916, in Bollinger County, daughter of Henry Price and Martha Susan Johnson Whitener. Survivors include two sisters, Gayle Archambo of Farmington, and Golda Shell of Florissant...