Stories from Tuesday, October 1, 1996

Fifteen students in Cape Girardeau County have been recognized through the National Merit Scholarship program. Five Central High School students were honored as semifinalists in the 42nd annual scholarship competition. They are Lesley A. Clarke, Elizabeth C. Kunz, David J. Meyr, Elizabeth Shivelbine and Victoria A. Ventrella...

Parents Without Partners Cape SEMO Chapter 519 has two orientations and two open-to-the-public dances planned in October. The orientation for prospective members will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday and again Oct. 17 at the Community Counseling Center. These meetings are for parents who are widowed, divorced, legally separated, or never married. For more information call 335-0797...

Cybertip: Place your cursor on a link, but don't click. Netscape will tell you where you're headed by displaying the URL address on the bottom gray line of the browser screen. In this way, you know where you're going before being flung through Cyberspace. You can also write down the address for a later visit...

Debbie Wortmann, a drum majorette, directed the band. The Jackson Marching Band is made up of 155 students. Joseph Myers played the saxophone during the band's performance. High school sports teams aren't the only ones with rigorous training and practice schedules. Area marching bands spend plenty of time on the field practicing for their performances...

The Republican-led 104th Congress accomplished much despite its constant battles with President Clinton, U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond says. Political observers have described the past two years in Congress -- the first controlled by the GOP in 40 years -- as brutally partisan and a step above a brawl...

Even the direct recipients of the campaign contributions from the Area Wide United Way like to help out with the donations. "We know the importance so we get 100 percent behind it," said Denise Stewart, who works at the Otahki Girl Scout Council. Stewart is coordinating the employee campaigns for the 20 Area Wide United Way agencies...

Happy Hollow remains the preferred site for a new federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau unless Indians are buried there. The government won't build a courthouse on Indian burial grounds, General Services Administration official Jim Ogden said Monday...

The first of the businesses benefiting from Cape Girardeau County's enterprise zone are due to rejoin the normal tax rolls at the end of the year. Almost all the rest will do the same in 1998. But the city of Cape Girardeau and the local school district aren't expecting sudden windfalls of cash. The figures show the enterprise zone is costing both relatively little...

CAIRO, Ill. -- More than 40 percent of Illinoisans have difficulty with reading and math skills. Larry White would like to improve on those numbers. White is director of the Regional Adult Education Center at Cairo, which offers literacy training in the lower five counties of Southern Illinois...

When I talk about walking the dog, I only wish I was referring to cute yo-yo tricks. They say it's a dog-eat-dog world. In the strange, eclectic world of literally "walking the dog," the dictum could be re-worded to say something like "It's a man-walk-dog world," or maybe "It's a dog-meet-dog-so-they-can-sniff-each-other's-butts world."...

To the editor: I wish someone could tell me why they don't make mirrors like they used to. I can remember once when mirrors were honest. When I looked at that mirror, it reflected my handsome, slim body, along with my smooth, soft skin, my dark brown hair, the color of my eyes and my teeth. Have they changed the type of glass or the process for making mirrors? I wonder...

Apparently Missouri is doomed to have a steady stream of dull campaigns until Mel Hancock can dream up another tax-limitation idea. The Washington University debate was cancelled apparently because Ross Perot threatened to buy the school if he couldn't participate...

An open forum was held Friday for Southeast Missouri lawyers and some federal judges. Purpose was to discuss the setting of the court dockets etc. The real question is whether the Cape Girardeau Federal Court will be assigned a full time judge ... which is reportedly supported by the area workload...

A joint committee of the General Assembly has added significant new information to the debate over the minimum-wage proposal that will be on the Nov. 5 ballot. The unanimous vote came after deliberations of the State Legislative Oversight Committee. The bipartisan committee's vote last month added the following words to the ballot language in the form of a fiscal note that attempts to inform voters of the cost of the proposal:...

Another Cole County Circuit Judge, Tom Brown, has decided that a term-limits proposal that Secretary of State Bekki Cook had ruled off the November ballot qualifies to appear there. Cook had earlier disqualified the proposal, claiming fraud in collection of the signatures. Judge Brown ruled after both opponents and proponents agreed that the qualifying number of valid signatures had indeed been achieved...

To the editor: The members of the River Heritage Quilters Guild would like to express our appreciation to the staff of the Southeast Missourian for its excellent coverage of our recent quilt show. We had an attendance in excess of 700, a great turnout for our first show...

I'D LIKE to reply to a Speak Out message. I'm real pleased that there are some people thinking about little kids in this country instead of thinking of themselves. The Division of Family Services takes little kids out of homes that aren't fit for little pigs, and right away they start trying to rehabilitate the kids so they'll accept that kind of life. ...

To the editor: I response to your recent article on students who come from other countries and other states to attend Southeast Missouri State University, I would like to add one bit of information. The article seemed to state that Missouri universities had no special or unique programs that appealed to out-of-state students...

To the editor: I was born and raised in Cape Girardeau but moved away 40 years ago. I lived in Milltown most my childhood. I have happy memories of running barefoot all over down there with neighbor kids in the summertime. Those same kids would gather in our front yard in the early evening to play games with me and my brothers and sisters. We played Red Rover, tax, May I and other games. I shot marbles, played hopscotch, climbed trees and did everything a tomboy would do...

PUXICO -- Funeral service for Lawrence G. Clark of Puxico will be held at 10 a.m. today at Corinth General Baptist Church. The Rev. Ray Placher will officiate, with burial in Rock Hill Cemetery. Watkins and Sons Funeral Home at Puxico is in charge of arrangements...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Joe Dennis Southard will be held at 11 a.m. today at Ponder Funeral Home. The Rev. William Marshall will officiate, with burial in Mounds Park Cemetery at Lilbourn. Southard, 36, died Saturday, Sept. 28, 1996, at Columbia Springview Hospital in Lebanon, Ky...

Memorial service for William "Bill" LeRoy of Henderson, Texas, will be held at 4 p.m. today at First United Methodist Church in Henderson, with the Rev. Roy Biser officiating. Crawford-A. Crim Funeral Home at Henderson is in charge of arrangements. LeRoy, 86, died Sunday, Sept. 29, 1996, at Doctors Memorial Hospital in Tyler, Texas...

OAK RIDGE -- Loyd Statler, 72, of Oak Ridge died Monday, Sept. 30, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 16, 1924, in Cape Girardeau County, son of Dempsa and Emma Biri Statler. He and Viola Bender were married Sept. 11, 1949, in Cape Girardeau. She died Sept. 29, 1990...

PERRYVILLE -- Henry H. "Hank" Murray, 67, of Perryville died Monday, Sept. 30, 1996, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. He was born Nov. 2, 1928, in Bollinger County, son of Jesse and Bertha McGraw Murray. He and Verla Mae Yamnitz were married July 16, 1955. She died Aug. 8, 1988...

SIKESTON -- Dorothy Lorene Ford, 77, of Sikeston died Sunday, Sept. 29, 1996, at her home. She was born May 4, 1919, in Thompsonville, Ill., daughter of Norman and Georgia Henninger Summers. Ford had been a seamstress at a uniform company in Miami, Fla...

DEXTER -- Eugene Bailey, 60, died Sunday, Sept. 29, 1996, in the emergency room at Dexter Memorial Hospital. Watkins and Sons Funeral Home at Dexter is in charge of arrangements.

Son to Jerry Wayne and Tonya Sue Menz, Scott City Route 1, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:09 a.m. Friday, Sept. 20, 1996. Name, Dylan Michael. Weight, 8 pounds 12 ounces. Mrs. Menz is the former Tonya Odom, daughter of John Odom of Scott City and Carol Odom of Jackson. She is assistant manager at Taco John's. Menz is the son of Charles Menz and Judy Menz of Scott City. He is a technician at Lone Star Industries...

When Rhonda Dunham was in sixth grade, her teacher at Franklin Elementary School made learning so much fun that Dunham decided to follow in her footsteps. "Unless you teach, it's probably hard to understand, but there's something about looking in those faces every morning and thinking, `I have to teach them something new today. But I have to do it in a way that they'll never forget," she said...

Derrick Deneke of Jackson has earned the C.R. Johnston Farm Bureau Scholarship for 1996-97. The award was established in 1989 in honor of Johnston, a 20-year director of the Farm Bureau. Deneke, son of Wayne and Faye Deneke of Jackson, is a student at the University of Missouri and a member of the Student Alumni Association Board and the Alpha Zeta Honorary Society...

The Kelso C-7 School District in New Hamburg has joined the National Junior Beta Club. The club is a leadership and service organization for junior high school students. There are more than 6,000 local chapters in 45 states. The club encourages student effort, promotes character and encourages students to continue their education after high school. Debbie Nenninger is the faculty sponsor...

Area students are invited to enter a "Letters about Literature" essay contest sponsored by the Missouri Center for the Book and READ magazine. The contest is open to junior and senior high school students in Missouri. First prize for state winners is $100. The grand prize is a trip to Washington...

Only days after 20 students graduated from the practical nursing program did another class begin at the School of Practical Nursing at Cape Girardeau Area Vocational Technical School. The nursing graduation ceremony was held Thursday at La Croix United Methodist Church. A new class began Monday...