Stories from Sunday, November 24, 1996

The recent decision by Defense Department officials to award a $100 billion contract for the advanced Joint Strike Fighter to either Lockheed-Martin or Boeing was undeniably a major blow to Missouri's largest private employer, St. Louis-based McDonnell-Douglas. ...

Instructor's Note: This exam will constitute 50 percent of your semester grade, providing you have previously registered and voted on November 5. Students who have not completed earlier assignments should do so before Electoral College semester end. Those who receive a passing grade will not be required to register in this course until the election of November 1998, and to those failing: I will see you next semester...

My first year in office was 1993. That year saw Gov. Mel Carnahan push through huge tax increases. When the dust settled in May of that year, nearly half-a-billion dollars in higher taxes had been dumped on working Missourians, without the vote of the people we had been promised short months earlier, when there was an election to be won and voters to be lied to...

Beautiful sites and sounds will be making people happy during and after the holiday season thanks to the 1996 Lutheran Family and Children's Services Holiday House Tour. The home tours have occurred for nine years, and proceeds from the event will benefit the social service work of the agency...

Tim Maevers (left), general manager at Save-A-Lot is one of Borgfield's many sponsors. Tim Borgfield and his wife Lora with their dog Princess. Princess likes to ride on jet skis, too. She has her own life jacket. Tim Borgfield at the 1996 World Championship at Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Submitted Photo...

Rick Wieser goes over the steps of the E coli O157:H7 test. The testing will be done at the Fruitland business. The beef sample is incubated in a petri dish overnight and if red or blue spots show in the dish the next day then a presumptuous test has been performed. The presumptuous test sample is then sent to Ralston-Purina for a more scientific test to determine if the deadly bacteria is present. Nine out of 10 presumptuous tests come back negative for the bacteria...

Jack Frost has arrived in Cape Girardeau, and Christmas can't be far behind. But for many children and the elderly, Christmas may not come at all without the help of benevolent strangers bearing gifts. Some children may miss out on Christmas because of divorce, while the parents of others may be the victims of downsizing. Other parents may simply not have enough to go around...

It's that time of year, and the Cape Girardeau Post Office is ready to meet the holiday demand. "We're already through the rush of early catalogs," said Postmaster Michael Keefe. "We've been busy delivering circulars concerning sales following Thanksgiving."...

Carol Bill and Lorene Walter, both of Jackson, spent their Saturday looking at angels, dolls, Christmas ornaments and wreaths, hitting one crafts show and then another. They weren't alone. Thousands of arts and crafts lovers descended on various spots in Cape Girardeau and Jackson Saturday to attend one or more of the four craft shows that were going on all day. All of the shows continue today...

Do you remember your favorite Christmas? It probably was the Christmas you received everything you asked for, plus a few things you didn't. Do you remember your worst Christmas? Maybe you didn't receive the one toy you wanted most, but you got everything else you wanted. Unfortunately, there are children whose worst Christmas will be this year, because they will not receive anything...

Opening inside the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport has been the kiss of death for several restaurateurs. Consider the location's history. In the fall of 1994, the city took over operation from Mary Bergen. Trevier Minton began leasing the restaurant in December 1995 and went out of business earlier this year...

I've never been one for romance novels. Maybe it's just my guy mentality. But when you view life through rose-colored glasses, it just doesn't look quite right -- sort of like watching those early-color movies all over again. Then too, it's hard to live up to those images of Mr. Stud seducing women in some fairy tale of a palace...

A swing and birdhouse at the corner of Cape Girardeau and St. Mary Streets are one of the few reminders of the homes that lined the streets of Commerce. COMMERCE -- When the Mississippi River floodwaters receded this spring, 25 families left the town's riverfront view for good, leaving behind a weary, waterlogged community, determined to rebuild...

Hunting seasons are in full swing and more on the way. If you hunt in Missouri, you have probably had a busy month. The list of open hunting seasons in November is a long one. It includes rabbit, squirrel, crow, archery deer/turkey, furbearers, ducks (in some areas) and, of course, firearms deer...

DEXTER -- Elaine Marie Hellings, 48, of Puxico died Friday, Nov. 22, 1996, at Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter. She was born in St. Louis on Nov. 9, 1948, daughter of Shirley Nadine and George Clodfelter Jr. She had lived in Puxico since 1990 and was a former resident of St. Louis. She was a registered nurse and director of nursing at the Puxico Nursing Center. She previously worked at Christian Northeast, St. Anthony's and Missouri Baptist in St. Louis. She was a member of the MENSA Society...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Mary M. Elias, 91, of Cairo died Friday, Nov. 22, 1996, at Daystar Care Center in Cairo. She was born Sept. 11, 1905, daughter of Mike and Sara Coury Elias. She was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church and was the owner of Salibas Market in Cairo until her retirement...

CHAFFEE -- Bill Louis Lane, 76, of Chaffee died Friday, Nov. 22, 1996, at his home. He was born June 29, 1920, at Vanduser, son of Agnes Gober and G.W. Lane. He and Lucille Curry Lane were married Sept. 1, 1946. She died May 16, 1994. Lane was a retired welder at Raymond International Steel in Chicago. He was a veteran of World War II, serving in the U.S. Army and was a member of the VFW Post 6407 in Scott City and a Mason in the Chaffee Masonic Lodge 615...

CHAFFEE -- Paul L. Pfefferkorn, 81, of Chaffee died Saturday, Nov. 23, 1996, at the Chaffee Nursing Center. He was born June 12, 1915, at Chaffee, son of William Joseph and Helen Mary Enderle Pfefferkorn. He retired in 1982 as president of the Chaffee Lumber Co...

Erna Mueller, 67, of McClure, Ill., died at Southeast Missouri Hospital Friday, Nov. 22, 1996. She was born June 19, 1929, at Wittenberg, Mo., daughter of James and Mary Elizabeth Mullins Gray. She married Elroy Delbert Mueller July 12, 1945, at Cape Girardeau. He died April 21, 1987...

PERRYVILLE -- Ida Bell Grogan, 99, of Farmington, formerly of Perryville, died Thursday, Nov. 21, 1996, at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center in Farmington. She was born Sept. 12, 1897, at Wittenberg, daughter of Fuerchtegott and Katharina Boehme Weber...

Fay P. Robbins, 89, of Hendersonville, Tenn., formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, Nov. 22, 1996, at Nashville Memorial Hospital. She was born Sept. 19, 1907, at Greenville, Ill., daughter of George and Lula Fisk Peeples. She married Jack Robbins in 1929 at Springfield, Mo. He died in 1961...

Ralph Lee Harris Sr., 73, of Jackson, died Friday, Nov. 22, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born June 22, 1923, at Advance, son of Monroe Freeman Harris and Althea Pixley Harris. He married Vivian Ross at Advance Nov. 22, 1945. She survives...

JACKSON -- Leona Marie Mantz, 89, of Jackson, died Friday, Nov. 22, 1996, at the Monticello House in Jackson. She was born May 18, 1907, near Oak Ridge, daughter of Joe and Emma Ludwig Schoenebeck. She married Leo Robert Mantz on Sept. 26, 1937, at Fruitland. He died Feb. 20, 1974...

Clarence J. Bullinger, 78, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Nov. 23, 1996 at St. Francis Medical Center. Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel.

Ahah! So there were panthers back when Mama and Dad strenuously admonished my sister and me not to linger in the woods after dark or the black panther might get us. It said so, right there in black and white in my favorite newspaper. ". . . state conservationist agent . . . encountered a cougar. . . first sighting in Missouri of a panther living in the wilds in sixty-nine years . . ."...

Debbie Reddick of Scott City Christmas shopped for her daughter Denae, 6 and Mallory, 3, at Toys R' Us. The 1996 Holiday Barbie special edition is one of the hottest-selling Barbie Dolls this Christmas. The Real Talkin' Bubba doll says over 200 things and is one of the top sellers this year...