Stories from Tuesday, December 31, 1996

One week from today, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote to elect a new speaker for the 105th Congress. House GOP leaders have scheduled the vote for that day, as it always occurs on the first day of a new session following a general election. ...

Teresa Ann Paikeday, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa during the fall ceremony at the university. She is a senior majoring in economics and the daughter of Dr. Joseph and Teresa Paikeday of Cape Girardeau. Phi Beta Kappa is the nation's highest academic honorary society...

Cybertip: Stay tuned in 1997. We plan to start the new year with the weirdest and the best of the Web in 1996. If you have suggestions, e-mail us at movnldd.net It's New Year's Eve and you don't have a date or a baby sitter? Never fear -- cyberspace is here...

Cadet Robert Alexander Barney, son of Judge Robert S. Barney of Dexter and Kathryn M. Skelton of Cape Girardeau, was recently honored at the Missouri Military Academy in Mexico. Cadet Barney, a senior, received the Soldier's Bar for outstanding military courtesy, neatness, bearing, attitude and performance of duty...

The countdown to a new millennium has begun with a high-tech computerized clock ticking away the nanoseconds until the turn of the century. As the countdown grows one year closer, a group of eighth-grade advanced literature students at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School took a stab at predicting the future...

"All I ever needed to know I learned in kindergarten ..." is more than a matted and framed wall hanging in Jean Norman's classroom. For the past 25 years, boys and girls at the Primary Annex in Jackson have been helping her understand what energetic enthusiasts called kindergartners really need to know...

IN THE past I've read Speak Out comments stating anyone who voted for Clinton had to be ignorant. At the time, I thought those comments were a little harsh. That is until I recently read the Speak Out comment that said Bill Clinton was a saint when compared to Newt Gingrich. I can only think of one person who is corrupt enough to make Clinton look like a saint, and that person is non other than his wife...

There's plenty of wailing and nonsense going on about welfare reform these days, especially concerning the block grants coming to the states from the federal government. Amid all the cries, some fascinating facts have emerged. Foremost among these is that many states will get more money, and some are even getting more money for fewer recipients. ...

When area cable subscribers turn on their televisions Wednesday morning, KFVS will be there. It should remain on TCI cable television for at least the next two months. Officials from the cable company said Monday that a 60-day extension on a contract with Cape Girardeau's CBS affiliate was approved verbally. The deadline to reach an agreement was to be midnight tonight...

Missouri's inauguration ceremonies on Jan. 13 will have a Cape Girardeau County flavor. Cape Girardean Bekki Cook will be sworn in as secretary of state shortly before noon on the steps of the state Capitol. Cape Girardeau County Circuit Judge John Grimm will swear her in, and the Cape Girardeau Central High School Marching Tigers will march in the inaugural parade...

Jumping the gun a bit on a decision to realign channels Jan. 1, TCI cable company dropped WGN and the Comedy Channel on Monday. Cable subscribers watching television Monday night found the channels replaced with the Animal Planet and Cartoon Network...

PAY ATTENTION. Inattentiveness usually causes the majority of traffic accidents in the area over the holidays. This year has been no exception. In Cape Girardeau and Scott counties, eight people have been killed in crashes since the weekend before Christmas. Most of the accidents can be blamed on a driver not paying attention...

From the first few bars of "The Star-Spangled Banner," listeners know that the U.S. Naval Academy Men's Glee Club doesn't sing the average rendition. On Monday, six members visiting Cape Girardeau combined their tenor, baritone and bass voices to make the patriotic song their own...

JACKSON -- Procrastinators take note: Today is the last day to pay your real estate and personal property tax bills on time. The Cape Girardeau County collector's offices in Jackson and Cape Girardeau will be open until 4:30 p.m. for those like to wait until the last minute to give the tax man his due...

With new jobs, travel and lottery winnings, some friends of mine are getting a jump on successfully living up to their New Year's resolutions. Some friends of mine are looking to have a happier new year this year than last, leaving me to wonder what changes this year will bring for me...

Military graveside service for George L. "Vinnie" Cox of Cheyenne, Wyo., was held Dec. 23 at Oregon Trail Veterans Cemetery in Evansville, Wyo. Cox, 76, died Wednesday, Dec. 18, 1996, at Mountain Towers Healthcare in Cheyenne. He was born Sept. 1, 1920, in Cape Girardeau, son of John M. and Adell Harris Cox...

CHAFFEE -- Bertha Louise Finley, 86, of Chaffee, died Monday, Dec. 30, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 18, 1910, at Perkins, daughter of Martin and Anna Vetter Brucker. She and Richard McCabe Finley were married Nov. 22, 1931. He died March 25, 1970...

SIKESTON -- Annie Laura Higdon, 72, of Sikeston died Monday, Dec. 30, 1996, at her home. She was born Aug. 13, 1924, in Parkin, Ark., daughter of Clay E. and Dell Cooper Higdon. Higdon was a member of New Life Full Gospel Church in Sikeston. Survivors include four brothers, Cecil, Jerry, John and James Higdon, all of Sikeston; three sisters, Willie and Kathryn Higdon of Sikeston, and Inez Nolen of Overland...

ANNA, Ill. -- Lowell A. Young, 81, of Anna died Monday, Dec. 30, 1996, at his home. He was born Jan. 30, 1915, at Sims, son of Samuel Grant and Elva Ola McKitrick Young. He and Juanita Wood were married Sept. 14, 1933. Young retired as manager of Associated Lumber. He was a member of First Christian Church, Anna Masonic Lodge 520 AF&AM, and charter member of Anna Moose Lodge...

PUXICO -- Avis Mildred Reiter, 84, of Puxico died Sunday at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 19, 1912, to John Logan and Gertrude Arvella Smith Potter at Dudley. She married Martin Reiter on June 16, 1928. She was a member of Fairview United Methodist Church near Puxico and the Puxico Order of the Eastern Star Chapter 422...

HAYWOOD CITY -- Sadie Campbell, 89, died Saturday, Dec. 28, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Aug. 17, 1907, in Kemper County, Miss., daughter of Jacob and Hattie Howard Patterson. She and Willie Donner Campbell were married in 1923. He died in September 1970...

Thelbert F. Watson, 86, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Dec. 30, 1996, at Missouri Veterans Home. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Mary E. Baker, 93, of Dongola died Monday, Dec. 30, 1996, at Jonesboro Health Care Center in Jonesboro. She was born March 17, 1903, in Lawrenceville, daughter of Fred and Florence Salter Cook. She married William L. Baker, who died in 1946...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for Dorothy Sue Taylor of East Prairie will be held at 1 p.m. today at Shelby Funeral Chapel in East Prairie. Jimmy Allen will officiate, with burial in Oak Grove Cemetery near Charleston. Friends may call at the funeral home after 11 a.m. today...

Son to Craig M. and Elizabeth A. Hahn of Oran, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 3:32 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 18, 1996. Name, Eric Micheal. Weight, 8 pounds 2 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Hahn is the former Elizabeth Mansker, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Mansker of Oran. She is a dietary cook at Chaffee Nursing Center. Hahn is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Morris Hahn of Oran. He is a steel technician at Eftink Construction Co. Inc...

1996 is almost history, and we are moving full steam ahead into the New Year. The 1997 budget has been approved by the council. City staff did a great job in presenting a balanced budget of about $12 million to the council. This budget reflects about a 3 percent increase from 1996 and leaves the city of Jackson in excellent financial condition to assure a bright future for our town...

When Cape Girardeau students return to school Monday, the school buses they ride may be monitored with new video cameras. The school district, along with Ryder Student Transportation, has purchased six video cameras and 11 decoys for the 17 school buses that transport children to and from school each day...

PERRYVILLE -- Federal Emergency Management Agency funds will be used to help construct a $359,000 building to replace Hangar Number 3 at the Perryville Municipal Airport. The City of Perryville, which owns the airport, is currently seeking a flood plains development permit from the Perry County Commission to construct the replacement structure...

Many college students earn extra money over the Christmas break, but few will get the $25,000 Delaine Tanchek won playing the Missouri Lottery's Triple Action Scratchers game. Tanchek, 19, is a Cape Girardeau resident majoring in business at Southeast Missouri State University. She said she went to the store with her mother and used the $5 winnings from a Scratchers ticket her dad gave her to buy more tickets...