Stories from Wednesday, October 9, 1996

To the editor: I am responded to the Associated Press article headlined "President to use teens in smoking sting" and the Sept. 24 letter to the editor titled "Government and youth," which implied that President Clinton was implementing a program that used children to misrepresent themselves to businesses in order to entrap and spy...

Vision 2000 will sponsor its second annual "Lunch at the Seminary" from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. today at Old St. Vincent's Seminary. The menu includes grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, potato chips, drinks and light dessert. Tickets will be sold at the event, and proceeds help support Vision 2000 community activities...

Breast cancer awareness will be the topic of the "Ask Your Doctor" program Thursday. Local doctors answer viewers' medical questions during the show. It is sponsored jointly by St. Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri Hospital in conjunction with the Cape Girardeau County Area Medical Society...

"Welfare Reform: What's at Stake for Missourians?" will be the topic of a public forum Friday in Cape Girardeau. The Southeast Missouri chapter of the Missouri Association for Social Welfare will be held from 1-3 p.m. in the Missouriana-Indian Room at the University Center...

A rocking chair sat in a trunk outside the home of Kenneth Griffith at 918 S. Ellis St. Griffith has had three yard sales in the past five years. Toys rested near the curb of North Main Street in the Maglone's yard during a sale. Kenneth Griffith of Cape Girardeau says he would rather hold a yard sale than throw the stuff away: "That's what a yard sale is for, isn't it?"...

HEARD TODAY in a local coffee shop: If Charlton Heston is going to align himself with the Republicans and Jo Ann Emerson, I hope he doesn't win his next chariot race. I WOULD like to make a comment about the minimum-wage hike. Isn't it true that if the minimum wage is up, certain items will cost more to produce? In a month from now, won't President Clinton get on TV and start telling how the economy is growing, people are spending more? But the thing he won't tell people is that they have to spend more to make up for the minimum wage. ...

A response to the citizen's comments in Speak Out about waste of dollars by the Community Caring Council gives me the opportunity to explain in more detail about our council, its mission and briefly its excellent work. More than eight years ago, out of frustration over the lack of communication and cooperation between agencies and institutions working with families and children, we formulated the council. ...

The federal minimum wage rose last week to $4.75, where it will remain until Sept. 1, 1997, when it will go to $5.15. The two-step, 90-cent increase is the result of legislation passed in August by the Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton...

De minimis non curat lex. "The law does not concern itself with trivialities." -- Cole County prosecutor Richard Callahan, a Democrat, commenting on allegations that State Auditor Margaret Kelly, the Republican nominee for governor, had a state employee make arrangements for her campaign's announcement rally, held in the Capitol rotunda...

About 15 officers from Cape Girardeau Police Department's Platoon B spent their free time Tuesday morning picking up trash on the corners of Good Hope and Middle. "It's a mess down here," said Marilyn Klipfel, a police dispatcher. "Somebody needs to get it cleaned."...

It would appear allergy season is here again, and The Other Half isn't happy. For him, this time of year means living with all the symptoms listed on the Ny-Quil commercial. For me, it means listening to the audible manifestations of those symptoms, plus constant whining...

There is no magic dollar amount that the Cape Girardeau School District can afford or people will approve in a bond issue, but an 11-member committee has created a financial plan that could give the district the "biggest bang for its buck." The committee met with Cape Girardeau Board of Education members Tuesday night for a study session on the district's finances...

MARION, Ill. -- All bottled water production at the Marion Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. has been voluntarily discontinued until a contamination problem can be resolved. Questions concerning Crisp 'N Clear bottled water surfaced recently when product samples from a July production run were found to have a bacteria count above acceptable standards...

A centerpiece of the museum is this Grant exhibit, which features the desk used by Gen. U.S. Grant during his command at Cairo in the first six months of the Civil War. CAIRO, Ill. -- Ben Bacon spent a lot of time around one of the centerpiece exhibits at the Cairo Custom House Museum recently. The object of Bacon's attention was a model of the Civil War Gunboat Cairo...

The Southeast Missourian asked students at Orchard Drive Elementary School what it takes to be a good citizen at school. Ashley Stein: "I think everyone should be kind and not push or shove anyone. You should play nice with people and don't make fun of them."...

JACKSON -- Residents may not fully appreciate the city's new transfer station yet, but Mayor Paul Sander is prepared to be patient. City officials and representatives of Allied Waste and its Lemons Waste Systems division cut the ribbon Tuesday for the new solid waste transfer station...

MARBLE HILL -- Dan Hovis doesn't give up easily when he sets a goal and this time his goal is to be elected sheriff in Bollinger County. Hovis ran as a Republican candidate in the August primary election but was defeated by incumbent Dan Mesey. Hovis lost by 39 votes...

Son to Mr. and Mrs. Nick Sachse of Elizabethtown, Ky., Hardin Memorial Hospital there, 5:38 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26, 1996. Name, Caleb Graham. Weight, 7 pounds 5 ounces. Second child, first son. Mrs. Sachse is the former Jan Graham, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Graham of Jackson. Sachse is the son of Joe Sachse and Janetta Sachse of Cape Girardeau. He is a program manager and design engineer with Remington Arms Co. Inc. in Elizabethtown...

MORLEY -- Marion M. Ferrenburg, 79, of Morley died Tuesday, Oct. 8, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 19, 1917, in Kewanee, daughter of James Alvin and Maggie O'Bannon Wescoat. She and Lester Eugene Ferrenburg were married in June 1938. He died Sept. 4, 1962...

MARBLE HILL -- Eugene Wilkinson, 68, of Marble Hill died Tuesday, Oct. 8, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 31, 1928, at Hahn, son of David Elbert and Grace Marie Shell Wilkinson. He and Maxine P. Fisher were married April 18, 1954...

THEBES, Ill. -- William "Pinkney" Allen, 93, of Thebes died Monday, Oct. 7, 1996, at Jonesboro Health Care Center in Jonesboro. He was born April 28, 1903, in Reevesville, Ill., son of William Grant and Mary Jane Allen. Allen retired as a foreman with St. Louis Screw and Bolt Co. in St. Louis. He was a member of AFL-CIO...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Carl Vernell Williams, 59, of Cobden died Tuesday, Oct. 8, 1996, at his home. He was born Aug. 27, 1937, in Cobden, son of Guy L. and Vashti L. Patterson Williams. He and Shirley Mae West were married May 19, 1959, in Jackson County...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Harold D. "Bing" Cozby, 80, of Jonesboro died Tuesday, Oct. 8, 1996, at Illinois Veterans Home in Anna. He was born Dec. 18, 1915, in Jonesboro, son of George Crawford and Mary Hoss Cozby. He and Meta Powell were married July 18, 1942, at Jackson, Mo...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Graveside service for Martha Reed Gillespie of Cairo will be held at 1 p.m. today at Green Lawn Memorial Gardens. The Rev. Jerome Fortenberry will officiate. Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo is in charge of arrangements. Gillespie, 84, died Monday, Oct. 7, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...