Stories from Wednesday, September 25, 1996

To the editor: In "Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter," 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt wrote, "A deer wild in the woods is worth to the people in the neighborhood many times the value of its carcass, because of the way it attracts sportsmen, who give employment and leave money behind them."...

A breakneak schedule of water bond issue presentations began at H.R.H. Dumplin's Tuesday night. In an effort to educate the public about the need to increase Cape Girardeau's clean water supply, city staff will speak to almost 40 groups in the next month. The first was the West End Merchants Association...

JACKSON -- Instead of duplicating its evaluation tools, the Jackson School District would like to focus more on educating its students. With the similarities between the North Central Association and Missouri School Improvement Program evaluations, the administration spends more time working on reports than on teaching, said Superintendent Dr. Howard Jones...

BLOOMFIELD -- "History of Stoddard County" by Robert H. Forister is available in a third reprint. The book was originally printed by the Stoddard County Historical Society in 1971. "My little pamphlet turned out to be a best seller," Forister said. Forister also compiled the original Stoddard County Cemetery book and printed a Stoddard County Marriage Record Book (1864 to 1881)...

JACKSON -- The 52nd annual Jackson Marching Band Festival will be held Tuesday, Oct. 1. The day's events will include a parade through downtown Jackson at 1:30 p.m., with field shows starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Jackson High School stadium. There will be an admission charge...

JACKSON -- Fall Story Time at Riverside Regional Library, 204 S. Union, will begin Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 9:30 a.m. and continue through most Tuesdays into December. The opening theme will be "Autumn, Apples and School," featuring the stories "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten," "Froggy Goes to School," and "What Use is a Moose?"...

The Southeast Missourian asked people what they thought about the November ballot issue that would raise the minimum wage by $2 in Missouri to $6.25 an hour in 1997, and to $6.75 two years later. Elainna Froemsdorf: "I'm going to vote against it. When we raise minimum wage, then the price of everything else would rise. That is too much to raise it. Maybe a smaller increase would be better."...

There are fine distinctions to be made in the area of civil rights and allegations of racial discrimination. Such a determination has been made regarding claims of discrimination in the Cape Girardeau School District: The U.S. Office of Civil Rights could find no basis for the complaints...

The subject of fireworks in Cape Girardeau apparently isn't a hot topic -- at least now that the official season for firecrackers and bottle rockets is over. The Cape Girardeau City Council held a special hearing about fireworks. There was some concern that the city's ordinance might need revision in order to reduce the number of fireworks-related complaints...

Workers at Dana Corp.'s axle manufacturing plant in Cape Girardeau Tuesday voted against affiliating with the United Auto Workers. The vote was 205 against union representation and 87 for the union. "The Dana style of management encourages open communication, fair treatment and respect for people," said Dave Blanchard, plant manager. "We don't think that kind of management style requires third-party intervention. We're pleased that the people of Cape Girardeau agree with us."...

The future of the Cape Girardeau Civic Center remains on hold while a task force looks at how to get the center back on its feet financially. The Area Wide United Way cut off the center's sole source of funding earlier this year because of concerns about how the center was being managed...

Don't be alarmed. The sound you may hear at approximately 5 p.m. today is the explosive detonation of about 300 pounds of TNT. It will be coming from the worksite of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge and will represent the first of many such explosions that will take place over the initial stage of its construction...

JACKSON -- City officials said Tuesday they will use the state's existing juvenile code rather than enact an ordinance establishing a curfew in Jackson. Mayor Paul Sander said he and the Board of Aldermen couldn't see passing an additional ordinance "when the juvenile code, we felt, adequately deals with the problems that we do have."...

The last chance to watch a lunar eclipse in North America this century happens Thursday. The eclipse will begin around 8:30 p.m. and be completed about 11:30 p.m. Dr. Michael Cobb, chairman of the physics department at Southeast Missouri State University, said the eclipse is visible without binoculars or telescopes, but either would enhance the view...

COLUMBIA -- Missouri has several distinct regions that offer their own special qualities, from large metropolitan areas to rugged Ozark hills to gently rolling bluegrass land to Delta lowlands. A just-published statistical study of the state highlights numerous other differences as well, from personal income to infant mortality to family dependency on governmental transfer payments...

By the third day without television, our lives were a living hell. I knew we were in trouble the first day the picture on our RCA television sank, leaving a strip of empty blackness at the top. Television is the tie that binds The Other Half and I. He first proposed to me after muting one of the NCAA Final Four games. We broke up during the news. He proposed the second time while watching a "M.A.S.H." rerun...

Tyler Terry already knew some things about his body, but he learned even more about how to be healthy after taking the "Show Me Body Walk" Tuesday. Tyler, a second-grader at Clippard Elementary School, knew blood flows through the veins because he'd learned about it in health class...

SIKESTON -- Roma Duke, 75, of Sikeston died Monday, Sept. 23, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 14, 1921, on Woods Mountain near Hagersville, Ark., daughter of John F. and Nellie Skaggs White. She and E.R. Duke were married Feb. 28, 1940. He died Sept. 13, 1974...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Hazel Woodward of Sikeston will be held at 2 p.m. today at Ponder Funeral Home. The Revs. Daniel Stoffel and Lance Smith will officiate, with burial in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Woodward, 78, died Monday, Sept. 23, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center...

Funeral service for Millicent Ann Dean of Cape Girardeau will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. Pastor Brendan Dempsey will officiate, with burial in Russell Heights Cemetery at Jackson. Friends may call at the funeral home from 10-11 a.m. Thursday...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Cretie A. Schlichting, 83, of Cobden died Tuesday, Sept. 24, 1996, at her home. She was born Sept. 16, 1913, in Grand Chain, daughter of Albert and Ola Eddleman Hiatt. She and Arthur J. Schlichting were married Feb. 16, 1935, in Anna. He died Sept. 16, 1988...

Memorial service for Wealta Hunt, 2852 Independence, will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel. The Rev. Johnny Thomas will officiate, with burial in Fairmount Cemetery. There is no visitation. Hunt, 62, died Monday, Sept. 23, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center...

FRIEDHEIM -- Edgar A. Wibbenmeyer, 80, of Friedheim died Monday, Sept. 23, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born June 15, 1916, in Perry County, son of Joseph H. and Clara Welker Wibbenmeyer. He and Lucille M. Kirn were married Sept. 10, 1946...

ORAN -- Gwanda June Hency, 65, of Springdale, Ark., formerly of Oran, died Tuesday, Sept. 24, 1996, at her home. She was born March 18, 1931, in St. Louis, daughter of Robert Macksey and Rhoda Rose Cook Yokley. She and Dean Hency were married July 1, 1950...

Robert Sommers, 61, of Culver City, Calif., died Sunday, Sept. 22, 1996, in Los Angeles, Calif. He was born in Cape Girardeau, son of Ernest and Mary Summers Ford. He was later adopted by Robert and Esther Sommers. Sommers was a private investigator. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War...

Graveside service for Jean Eva Hutson of Potosi will be held at 11 a.m. today at Memorial Park in Cape Girardeau, with Dr. Neil Stein officiating. Gum and Son Funeral Home at Potosi is in charge of arrangements. Hutson, 81, died Monday, Sept. 23, 1996, at her home...

Joyce Hope Koechig, 65, 2740 County Road 645, died Tuesday, Sept. 24, 1996, at her home. She was born Aug. 28, 1931, at Holcomb, daughter of Harry E. and Bonnie R. Dye Bradshaw. She and Marvin R. Koechig were married Oct. 22, 1949, in St. Francis, Ark...

Son to Thomas Paul and LaRae Whitaker of Wolf Lake, Ill., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 5:24 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, 1996. Name, Thomas Paul Jr. Weight, 7 pounds 7 ounces. Second child, first son. Mrs. Whitaker is the former LaRae Verble, daughter of Kenneth Verble and Barbara Verble of Wolf Lake. Whitaker is the son of Jim Whitaker and Joan Whitaker of Wolf Lake...

JACKSON -- Funeral service for Alice Marie Thompson of Jackson will be held at 11 a.m. today at Cracraft-Miller Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Scott Lohse will officiate, with burial in Russell Heights Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 9-11 a.m...

When people accept their first invitation to Lois Roberts' home, they probably don't realize what a visual treat awaits them. It starts with a step into the foyer, an area dominated by religious art. A bronze bust of Pope John Paul II on a marble pedestal is the first piece. Several small pictures of Catholic churches surround it...