Stories from Saturday, May 24, 1997

Maybe legislators in Jefferson City have been watching too much of the name-calling on C-SPAN that passes for congressional dialoge these days. So too, apparently, have the editors of some newspapers. And what about the veteran corps of reporters who have watched polticians come and go in Missouri's Capitol? Have they also caught the demogoguery-makes-news fever?...

Well, well, well. Perhaps the editorial writers at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had better sit down and take a deep breath. Make that several. For the second time in a fortnight, they have taken this writer to task, by name, for comments first deemed "excessive" (May 6) and then "supercharged" (May 20). Ordinarily, it takes an arrest to get an outstate lawmaker much ink in the Post, but they've spilled some on my account. A response, sure, but where to begin?...

The following news analysis is from the Kansas City Star: Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan tried to put the best face on the 1997 legislative session that ended Friday (May 16), but the frown he wore on the side gallery of the Senate moments before adjournment told the real story...

The following is an editorial from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: A last-minute break in the logjam last Friday (May 16) allowed the Missouri Legislature to produce a respectable record of achievement. But there was nothing respectable about the snide rhetoric and dirty tricks that permeated the Capitol in the session's closing days. The schoolchildren who packed the galleries for the time-honored springtime trip to Jefferson City didn't get much of an inspiration for a life of public service...

DURING: Diane Cook, left, looked over a book of hair styles with Angie Arnold, a stylist at Special Effects before her makeover. AFTER: At right, Diane Cook after her makeover. When Diane Cook sent in her entry for the Southeast Missourian's Spring Makeover Contest, she got right to the point...

Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School students were recognized for excellence during the annual awards ceremony in Central Auditorium Friday. The Special Service Award went to ninth-grader Angie McFerren. McFerren was a football and basketball cheerleader, a member of the newspaper staff, band, Student Council, and a peer mediator. She is the daughter of Al and Marilyn McFerren...

The nation owes a special salute to Myrtle M. Denfip and the hundreds of women like her who served on the front lines in the nation's defense. Denfip had a memorable introduction into the armed forces. The year was 1942, and Denfip, a member of the Army Nurse Corps at age 39, was en route to Salerno Beach, Italy, on a British hospital ship...

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones stood alone against his colleagues during a recent vote on whether to hire an engineering firm from outside Cape Girardeau County to design a local bridge. The commission hired Smith and Co. engineering of Poplar Bluff to build a bridge on County Road 351. Commissioners Larry Bock and Max Stovall voted to hire the firm; Jones voted against hiring the company...

Southeast Missouri State University hopes to secure $2 million in federal funds to help pay for construction of a technology center. The Missouri Legislature in its just-ended regular session appropriated $2 million for the project. School officials said they won't move ahead with any planning work until Gov. Mel Carnahan approves the spending measure...

FRUITLAND -- North Elementary students put away a little slice of today for future generations during an anniversary ceremony Friday. Students placed 27 artifacts in a small vault to commemorate the 20th anniversary of North Elementary School. The time capsule will be buried under concrete near the cornerstone of an addition to the school. The addition is expected to be completed before school begins in August...

The Southeast Missourian on Sunday begins a special report on the quality of life in Cape Girardeau. Titled "Qualities of Life," the weeklong series is based on findings of a Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce committee that spent a year gathering information about Cape Girardeau. The committee looked at trends in education, economics, public safety, natural environment, health, social environment, government-politics and culture-recreation from 1990 to 1995...

The French will help local residents celebrate Memorial Day this year. La Fete Francaise, a daylong French heritage festival, will take place Monday with activities scheduled throughout the city. The festival, sponsored by Les Amis or "The Friends," a not-for-profit French colonial heritage support group, will begin at 10 a.m. at Crisp Hall Auditorium on the Southeast Missouri State University campus...

Adults cannot expect children to do well when the only feedback they receive is negative. I saw a Boy Scouts recruitment poster last week that centered around the faces of several young African-American males. Those young men wore closed expressions and their eyes seemed to be angry at first...

When the United States passed the first workers' compensation law in 1908, it was meant to be a step in the right direction for workers' rights. However, Gail and Jill Heuschober, two students at St. Vincent de Paul grade school, have learned the original law was a far leap from what workers' compensation is today...

Administrators at Southeast Missouri State University and Friedrich-Schiller-Universitat Jena of Jena, Germany, have completed a direct exchange agreement. The agreement will allow Southeast students to attend the German university while paying Southeast's incidental fees...

It began six years ago with a short peach prom dress. "I thought it was so cute and I wanted to wear it again," said Angela Scherer of Cape Girardeau. "I decided to compete in Miss Riverfest --- and I did horrible. The peach dress was totally inappropriate for a pageant."...

ORAN -- Valle High of Ste. Genevieve has an athletic program renowned for its tremendous football teams over the years. Baseball, however, normally hasn't come to mind when Valle is mentioned -- at least not until now. The Warriors won their first district baseball championship Friday afternoon when they beat host Oran in the finals of the Class 2A, District 2 Tournament...

The Cape Girardeau Kohlfeld Capahas got their 1997 season off to a flying start Friday night. Getting three home runs and 15 hits, the Capahas routed Chester (Ill.) 20-6 at Capaha Field. The game was stopped after the top of the seventh inning because of the 10-run rule...

Former Southeast Missouri State University head men's basketball coach Ron Shumate learned of his dismissal through his attorneys and never was given the opportunity to meet face to face with school officials. Shumate, citing an NCAA confidentially agreement he signed and also the advice of his attorneys, said he did not want to comment about the way his dismissal was handled or the ongoing NCAA investigation that led to the Southeast Board of Regents' decision to terminate his contract last week.. ...

Jackie Boudinot of Jackson carded a hole-in-one Thursday at Crystal Highlands Golf Course in Crystal City. Boudinot achieved the feat on No. 17, a 97-yard par 3. She used a 9-iron on the shot.

JEFFERSON CITY -- Kelly High saw two track athletes pull in all-state honors Friday at the Missouri Class 1A-2A Track and Field Championships. Travis Schiwitz ran the 800-meter run in 2:00.51 to place fourth. In a crowded finish, Schiwitz placed just two-tenths of a second out of second place...

CHARLESTON -- Funeral service for Paul Elmer Collier of Des Arc was held Friday at Ruegg Funeral Home in Piedmont. The Revs. Ronald Hughes and Johnny Clements officiated, with burial in Beulah Cemetery at Des Arc. Announcement courtesy of McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston...

BERTRAND -- Maurice Warren, 76, of Bertrand died Friday, May 23, 1997, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born April 9, 1921, in Dothan, Ala., son of A.W. and Eudora Byrn Warren. He and Ethel Richmond were married May 12, 1977. Warren formerly lived in Mateno, Ill., where he was a business agent for American Federation of State and County Municipal Employees of Illinois...

Dola B. Dailey, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, May 23, 1997, at Fountainbleau Lodge. She was born Sept. 28, 1906, in Whitleyville, Tenn., daughter of Asa and Ida Poteet Brown. She and Floyd E. Dailey were married Sept. 27, 1925, in Arkansas. He died April 5, 1963...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Marguerite E. Profilet, 85, of Cairo died Thursday, May 22, 1997, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was born Dec. 24, 1911, in Cairo, daughter of Frank and Catherine Zettler Walder. She married Curtis E. Profilet, who died in 1983...

SCOTT CITY -- Funeral service for Clarence Elmer Dunger of Taylor, Mich., will be held at 11 a.m. today at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Taylor. Burial will be in a Taylor cemetery. Doran Funeral Home in Taylor is in charge of arrangements. Announcement courtesy of Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City...

ULLIN, Ill. -- Two people were killed and three others injured in a vehicle accident yesterday in Southern Illinois. A second vehicle was also involved. Mary L. Lyons, 46, of Chicago was traveling southbound on Interstate 57 at 9:35 a.m. when she lost control of the 1997 Chevrolet Blazer she was driving. Lyons ran into the medium and overturned several times. The Blazer stopped partially in the interstate's northbound lanes...

DIEHLSTADT -- Margaret Lela Brothers, 68, of Diehlstadt died Friday, May 23, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 15, 1929, in Advance, daughter of Jasper U. and Alma Edith McClain Miller. Brothers worked at Brown Shoe Co. in Charleston a number of years, then owned and operated Margaret's Mini Mart in Diehlstadt until retiring in 1986. She was a member of Diehlstadt General Baptist Church...

Son to Timothy James and Michelle Elaine Brant of Scott City, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 1:32 a.m. Wednesday, May 14, 1997. Name, Jacob Anthony. Weight, 9 pounds 13 ounces. Third son. Mrs. Brant is the former Michelle Enderle, daughter of Dora Enderle and William Enderle of Scott City. Brant is the son of Mary Stubenrauch and Eddie Brant of Scott City. He is an operator at ERD Waste Corp...

PERRYVILLE -- Lloyd E. Herron, 70, of Perryville, died Friday, May 23, 1997, at the Ste. Genevieve Memorial Hospital. He was born Feb. 21, 1927, in Illinois, the son of Charles J. Herron and Leona Sarah Schrum Herron. Herron was a World War II Army veteran and a member of the V.F.W. Before retiring he was a custodian for the Perry County School District...