Stories from Sunday, April 20, 1997

25 years ago, 1972 State Rep. Marvin E. Proffer, D-Jackson, has announced his candidacy for re-election to sixth term as representative of 155th District; while he has no opposition for Democratic nomination, he will face Republican candidate Melvin D. Lichtenegger, Jackson businessman, who announced his candidacy a month ago; Lichtenegger is also without opposition in the primary...

To the editor: Sports reports released lately remind us of the event 50 years ago when Jackie Robinson became a major league baseball player. It was a major step in the matter of race relations, which is still far from being resolved. In all the news, however, one name has not been mentioned. I refer to Branch Rickey, who helped to make the move possible...

Throughout the 50 days following its celebration of the Lord's Resurrection, the church reminds its baptized members that they are called to be witnesses in their world of Jesus' victory over death. Through Baptism we have been joined to Jesus and have been made members of God's household...

The congregation of New McKendree United Methodist Church, located at 225 South High Street in Jackson, will be celebrating a homecoming this April 23-27 with a series of special services led by former pastors of the congregation. On Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. the message will be delivered by the Rev. J.C. Montgomery Jr. whose father was the pastor of New McKendree from 1934-1940. Rev. Montgomery has served as a district superintendent in the United Methodist Church...

In conversation Wednesday morning with Missouri Department of Economic Development director Joe Driskill, we visited about Cape Girardeau's exciting news of the week, or make that the year, or perhaps the decade? That, of course, would be the decision by Procter & Gamble to locate a new $350 million plant here employing at least 350 people. ...

ED MEESE said Ronald Reagan had a blueprint of the government. Well, he sure did with the help of Ollie North, along with Meese, who was the attorney general at the time, George Bush and Weinberger, who blew the whistle on all of them. In my estimation, they showed poor taste in bringing a man like Meese here. ...

Over the past decade or so, it has become increasingly difficult for citizens to understand (a) what their governments were doing to them, (b) what those in charge of the governmental store, either in Washington or Jefferson City, were actually saying, and (c) what connection existed between what the government said it was doing and what it was actually doing...

A law passed by Congress last year granting the line-item veto to the president is unconstitutional, according to the federal judge who struck it down a few days ago. First, a little background. The great majority of state constitutions grant to their chief executives, in one form or another, the power to veto individual spending items contained within the budgets passed by legislative bodies. ...

Local auto auction owner Stan Lowery and two of his fellow auction owners won a major victory last month. Along with the others, Lowery -- who owns Cape Girardeau Auto Auction -- was awarded a temporary injunction restraining the Missouri Motor Vehicle Commission from further action against such auctions. ...

The rising Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau is expected to crest Tuesday night, the National Weather Service said Saturday. The river is expected to crest Tuesday at 35.3 feet on the gauge, more than three feet above food stage, said Chris Albers, a meteorologist with the service at St. Louis...

Money, and lots of it, drive political campaigns. State lawmakers lament the high cost of election campaigns, but most oppose efforts by the Missouri Alliance for Campaign Reform for public financing. Missourians don't want tax-funded political campaigns, said state Rep. Larry Thomason, D-Kennett. "They view that as a waste of tax dollars."...

The first annual Regional Health Care Directory is included in this edition of the Southeast Missourian. The directory also appears in today's edition of the Standard Democrat in Sikeston and the Daily American Republic in Poplar Bluff. Fifty-three thousand issues of the 72-page, color-enhanced directory have been printed. Produced by staff at the Southeast Missourian, the directory is a comprehensive publication that provides vital medical and health-related information...

Although school uniforms have a long history in parochial -- and especially Catholic -- schools, that isn't true in the Cape Girardeau area. Parochial school administrators said there are decidedly few schools between St. Louis and Memphis, Tenn., that require their students to wear uniforms...

Kindness is spreading. Forty-seven schools, churches and businesses have signed up for Random Acts of Kindness Week, which is scheduled May 11 through 17. Many groups are already making plans. For example, the Scott City Elementary Student Council plans to clean up the school grounds next week...

The smell of flowers and the sight of 500 people cleaning, mulching and raking city parks can only mean it is springtime. The largest group of "Friends of the Park" volunteers in the program's 12-year history turned out Saturday at Cape Girardeau's city parks. Capaha Park saw the largest group, more than 400 people; 50 more tended Arena Park. Groups of 20 worked at the Jaycee Municipal Golf Course and Washington Park, while another 15 put a shine on Dennis Scivally Park...

School uniforms have long been associated with parochial schools, but in an age when baby shoes cost more than some adult clothing, the school uniform debate has entered the public sector. The idea of requiring public school students to wear school uniforms is increasing in popularity throughout the nation. Supporters cite safety, economic savings and eliminating social barriers as major reasons for adopting uniforms...

Missourians could keep tabs on candidates' campaign finances from their home computers within a few years. State law calls for on-line financial disclosure to be in place by the 1998 election cycle. But the House recently voted to give the state until 2000, if necessary, to get the system up and running...

Moms and dads are flocking to McDonald's these days. We just can't help ourselves. It's not the food we crave, but those cute, little Teenie Beanie Babies. Of course, we tell everyone that we're buying them for our children or grandchildren. No self-respecting adult wants to admit to collecting those fuzzy bean bags for themselves...

As William Shakespeare watched his plays being performed, he could not have dreamt that 400 years later Southeast Missouri State University would own a part of London's Globe Theatre. Throughout 1996, the Southeast's University Players raised enough money to make Southeast a "Globelink" school, earning a time capsule which will be buried beneath the theatre. The local group also purchased part of a figure of Atlas which supports the "heavens," or the cover above the theatre stage...

PERRYVILLE -- Is a county commission in violation of Missouri's open meetings and records law if it doesn't have set meeting times and specific agenda items? "Yes," said Jean Maneke, legal hotline counselor for the Missouri Press Association. She answered questions from journalists Friday during the 105th annual meeting of the Southeast Missouri Press Association in Perryville...

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, will keynote Southeast Missouri State University's spring commencement May 17. Commencement exercises, during which 845 undergraduates and 286 graduate students will receive diplomas, is scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Show Me Center...

Marc and Becky Fulgham will perform a recital at 8 p.m. Monday at Old St. Vincent's Church. Marc Fulgham is assistant professor of trumpet at Southeast, and Becky Fulgham is the director of the Southeast Music Academy in Cape Girardeau. The recital will feature works by Telemann, Hindemith, Enesco and Robbins...

Rep. Pat Naeger will speak at the next meeting of the Southeast Missouri Area Pachyderm Club. The club will gather at noon April 28 at Port Cape Girardeau Restaurant. Naeger was first elected in 1994 as state representative of the 155th District, which includes Perry and Ste. Genevieve counties...

TULSA, Okla. -- Southeast Missouri State University's baseball Indians bounced back here Saturday to salvage a doubleheader split against Oral Roberts. ORU (22-21) won the opener 12-4 but Southeast (16-21) claimed the nightcap 7-2. The teams will close out the three-game non-conference series at 1 p.m. today...

You think Charleston's Blues Jays wanted to duck anybody on their way to one of the nine Class 3A state boys basketball championships they've won over the years? You think Scott County Central's Braves didn't want to play the best the state had to offer when they were winning a record seven consecutive 1A championships through the 1980s and '90s on their way to a record 12 titles in all?...

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's track team made it a clean Ohio Valley Conference sweep here Saturday. The Otahkians, who won the OVC indoor meet in February, captured the OVC outdoor meet that was hosted by Eastern Illinois over the weekend...

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a United States Department of Agriculture program that is administered by the Farm Services Agency. This popular agricultural conservation program pays willing landowners an annual rental payment to retire agriculture land and maintain vegetative cover for 10 or 15 years...

LAKES Bull Shoals: Clear, high; all species slow. Bull Shoals (East): 6' above normal, dingy; black bass fair on spinnerbaits and suspended rogues; white bass fair on spinnerbaits and jigs; crappie fair on minnows and small jigs; all other species slow...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Middle Tennessee State captured the Ohio Valley Conference women's tennis championships Saturday, placing four members on the All-OVC team. Middle's Clare Seveir was also honored as the OVC player of the year. Southeast Missouri finished sixth in the final team standings...

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's softball team needed seventh-inning heroics, but emerged with a sweep of Austin Peay Saturday to remain atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings. Chris Shetley's one-out, two-run homer in the seventh inning of game two lifted Southeast to a 3-1 victory. Earlier, the Otahkians had defeated the Lady Govs 7-1...

Cape Girardeau Central High's girls soccer team notched the biggest victory in the program's short history Saturday as the Lady Tigers defeated visiting Nerinx Hall of St. Louis 1-0. "It's definitely the biggest win since we've started the program," said Central coach Tom Doyle, whose Lady Tigers are in their second season of existence. "I told the girls this one kind of sets the foundation for the rest of the season...

Ida B. Deimund, 70, of Jackson died Friday, April 18, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Oct. 14, 1926, at Topeka, Kan., daughter of Frank and Loretta Poteroff Barbee. She married Henry Deimund at Jackson on June 13, 1951...

CHAFFEE -- Leo D. Simmons, 88, of Chaffee died Friday, April 18, 1997, at his daughter's home in Fruitland. He was born May 17, 1908, son of Frank and Emmie Davis Simmons. He and Beulah Surface were married March 3, 1928. Simmons was employed by the Chaffee Lumber Co. as a carpenter until his retirement...

Bob C. Gross, 66, 912 S. Benton, died Friday, April 18, 1997, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born May 3, 1930, at Cape Girardeau, son of Otto and Bertha Baker Gross. Gross was employed by Sears as the manager of the lawn and garden and toy departments until he retired in 1974...

Ann Payne Abbott, 68, 30 N. Hanover Apt. 2, died Saturday, April 19, 1997, at Vencor Hospital in St. Louis. A memorial service will be announced later.

SIKESTON -- Wallas R. Adams, 56, of Sikeston died Saturday, April 19, 1997, near Sikeston, from injuries in a horse-riding accident. Adams was born Aug. 6, 1940, at Limestone, Ark., son of James Hearold and Doris Robinson Adams. A lifelong resident of this area, he was employed by Flaire Inc...

ST. MARY -- Emmet I. Schremp, 87, of St. Mary died Friday, April 18, 1997, at his residence. He was born Dec. 9, 1909, in Perryville, son of Aaron and Victoria Huber Schremp. He was a farmer. He is survived by two sisters, Theresa Smith and Elsie Rigden, both of St. Louis; three brothers, Clarence and Lester Schremp, both of Perryville, and Edgar Schremp of St. Louis...

WILMETTE, Ill. -- Robert H. Goehmann, 78, of Wilmette died Tuesday, April 15, 1997. He was born Oct. 17, 1918, in Jackson, son of Henry and Elizabeth Oldham Goehmann. He was an office manager at various companies, including Arrow Petroleum, United Air Lines, Olson Rug Co., Wyler's and Sara Lee Corp...

SPRINGFIELD -- Adelia Emily Weis, 96, of Springfield, died Thursday, April 17, 1997, at St. John's Hospice. She was born Sept. 21, 1900, in Cape Girardeau County, daughter of George and Pauline Weis. Weis was a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University and received her master's degree and doctorate at the University of Missouri...

SIKESTON -- A Sikeston man was found dead Saturday after an apparent accident while riding his horse at a farm east of Sikeston. Wallas R. Adams, 56, was last seen Friday about 6:30 p.m., said Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell. His body was discovered about 8:30 a.m. in a field...

SCOTT CITY -- Tony Ray Beckett, 36, of Scott City died Thursday, April 17, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born at Cape Girardeau June 8, 1965, son of Leonard L. and Donna Marie Rhodes Beckett. Beckett was employed by Havco Wood Products at the time of his death. Previously, he had worked for Tanscrafter in Anna, Ill., Wetterau and SEMO Carpet Cleaning...

Keifer Cox, left, Danny Stone and Mckena Sharp watched the birds after feeding them corn. Jim Lunsford remembers going to feed the peacocks at Memorial Park Cemetery in Cape Girardeau when he was a little boy. Now the maintenance supervisor at the cemetery, Lunsford is still feeding the peacocks and organizing tours for the busloads of visitors who come every spring and summer to see the exotic birds...

Mary Engelbreit's calendar page for April is a delightful picture of a young girl seated in a chair that resembles a throne. Her slippered feet are on a soft footstool. An ice cream cone is in her hand. A book is in her lap. The picture is titled "Princess of Quiet-a-Lot." It is a takeoff, I'm sure, of Princess-of-Camelot."...