Stories from Sunday, December 1, 1996

To the editor: The election is barely over, and here you go again, taking cheap, partisan shots at Secretary of State Bekki Cook. We have ignored your cheap shots in the past in the hopes once the election was over they would end. But the Nov. 27 editorial ("Secretary of state's office still muddled") makes it obvious cheap shots are going to continue, so maybe it is time to set the record straight on a few points...

To the editor: The Southeast Missourian seems to be having trouble accepting the results of the recent election. Peter Kinder still rails against House Bill 380 which reformed and improved education across the state. He, other Republicans and the governor all made the election a referendum on the issue. ...

Early signs from the leadership of the first Republican Congress to be re-elected in 68 years are encouraging. Statements urging the search for common ground and for bipartisanship are mostly for public consumption in the aftermath of a bitterly partisan campaign. ...

During the recent, now unlamented campaign, voters heard on an almost daily basis the words, sayings and ministrations of the thirty-third President of the United States. Harry Truman's words were used to inspire the loyal and faithful by candidates of both parties, usually providing a source of amusement for members of HST's chosen affiliation. Make no mistake about it, the man from Independence was a bona fide partisan, ready to skew the enemy at the drop of a speech...

My last effort told of a laughably deficient algebra textbook in use in the Mesa, Ariz., public schools, and Lord only knows where else. This "textbook" contained lots of pictures, assignments on creative writing and some poetry, but almost nothing on equations, formulae, problems to solve etc. ...

Grace Hoover, retired chair of the Department of Human Environmental Studies at Southeast Missouri State University and an avid Southeast supporter, has endowed a Malaysian student scholarship at the University. The scholarship, which will be awarded for the first time next spring, has been named the "Jane Stacy Malaysian Student Scholarship" in honor of Stacy, who has been active, along with Hoover, for many years in support of Malaysian students at Southeast...

A $50 cash prize will be given to the winner of the Christmas Decorating Contest being sponsored by the Commerce Better Community Club for Commerce and the Commerce area. No entry fee will be charged, and the contest is open to members and nonmembers. Interested parties should register with Lois Ledure at 264-4188 or Mary Vetter at 264-2865. The judging will be on Dec. 16...

The Old Lorberg Mill sits in the back yard of the Lorberg home it will be a part of the tour. The Zion Lutheran Church in Gordonville will be one of the stops on the tour. Here music will be performed throughout the afternoon to entertain the tourists...

Rick C. Shultz of Jackson has joined Maintenance Engineering as an independent lighting consultant. Shultz, a graduate of Missouri Institute of Technology, with a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering technology, has more than eight years sales experience,...

When a parent has one child who has health problems, things can be difficult. But when a parent has two children with special medical needs, those problems can become overwhelming. That is why one mother is asking for help from the Toy Box toy drive this Christmas...

Mrs. G is a widow living alone. She is hard of hearing, and the arthritis in her knees is so bad she cannot stand long enough to do anything for herself. She lives in a small one-bedroom apartment in senior housing. Her rent is subsidized. She has a sister who tries to take care of some of her needs, but she has a son she hasn't seen in years because he lives out of state...

In just four years, the Parade of Lights through downtown Cape Girardeau has grown into a holiday season institution. "Every year it gets bigger and bigger," said Christine Roussel, one of the Christmas parade's primary organizers. The annual event gets under way at dusk, sometime between 5 and 5:30 p.m. The parade route starts at Capaha Park and heads east on Broadway to Main Street where it concludes at Hutson's Furniture...

Ed Rovner believes that for those who understand, no explanation is needed for why he is a kettle worker for the Salvation Army. He also believes that for those who do not understand, no explanation will ever suffice. "If they hadn't put me on the right track and pointed me in the right direction, I wouldn't be standing here today," he said. "The Salvation Army reached out to me in my time of need, and in return, I try to help them."...

ANNA, Ill. -- Holiday Farms is the site of some Christmas activities rarely seen below the Arctic Circle -- reindeer games. Larry and Pam Miles, owners of Holiday Farms, house three reindeer on their 100-acre farm: Dancer, Prancer and Rudy. Not only have the Miles seen the reindeer games, they've seen examples of how all the other Christmas myths came about -- including one famous jingle...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Missouri has been dynamiting homes for rare turtles. It also has been releasing ospreys, prairie chickens, pallid sturgeons, Niangua darters, collared lizards and keeping tabs on endangered Indiana bats, alligator snapping turtles and pondberry. These activities and more are chronicled in the 1994-95 Wildlife Diversity Highlights report from the Missouri Department of Conservation...

Missouri deer hunters enjoyed a productive season, but fell 6,302 deer short of last year's record harvest and nearly 20,000 short of a projected kill of 200,000. Through the 11-day season, completed last Tuesday, Missouri hunters killed 180,395 deer statewide...

The Missouri Department of Conservation has recently opened a new horse riding trail on the Castor River Conservation Area in Bollinger County. The horse trail is a 15-mile loop if ridden it its entirety. There are options to make it shorter -- without doubling back -- if preferred...

CHARLESTON -- Ruby I. Webb, formerly of Charleston, died Saturday, Nov. 30, 1996, at the Minor Nursing Center. Shelby Funeral Home in Charleston will handle the funeral services. Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later.

PUXICO -- Raymond Jackson, 83, died Saturday, Nov. 30, 1996, at the Puxico Nursing Center in Puxico, Mo. He was born May 1, 1913, in Sardis, Miss., son of James and Florence Whitman Jackson. He moved to the Dexter area in 1926, and on Nov. 13, 1935, he married Irene Hoopingarner, who preceded him in death Feb 11, 1994. Two sons also preceded him in death...

PADUCAH, Ky. -- John A. Milford, 84, of Paducah, formerly of Cairo, died Friday, Nov. 29, 1996, at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah. He was born Dec. 11, 1911 in Cairo. Milford was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Cairo, Cairo Knights of Columbus Council 1027 and was a veteran of World War II...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Jane Lee Byrd, 64, of Belleville, Ill., died Friday, Nov. 29, in the Memorial Hospital of Belleville after an extended illness. She was born May 10, 1932, in Osceola, Ark., daughter of Alves and Florence Matthews Ferguson. She lived in East Prairie, where she owned a ceramic shop, until 1995. She also owned a restaurant in Anniston during this time...

The Cape Girardeau County Chapter of American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) will have its Christmas party at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Grace United Methodist Church, Broadway and Caruthers. Members should bring finger foods for the party and gifts, wrapping paper and gift boxes for May Green School Christmas project...

So I come to the last page of my Mary Engelbreit calendar, December. All through the year I've been eager to turn to the new month to see how she has so charmingly and colorfully illustrated it. There is much detail in Mary's work. Almost crowded, some might think. But I like to search out every little flower, heart, animal or almost hidden toy she tucks in around her lovable little characters, which are mostly children...

David Robertson, Carol Robertson and Robin Lynch work on a Star Trek trivia before the start of the movie. "Star Trek: First Contact," the eighth Star Trek movie, is the second movie featuring the new crew. First Contact chronicles a trip back to the 21st Century to stop the Borg...

The Cape Girardeau County Christian Women's Club luncheon and meeting will be Dec. 9 from noon to 2 p.m. at Holiday Inn. The theme is "A Williamsburg Christmas Luncheon." A feature on "Colonial Williamsburg Decorations" will be given by Jeanne Friedrich...