Stories from Saturday, May 31, 1997

Infant morality rates and low birthweight infants have taken a turn for the better in Cape Girardeau County since 1990. Experts said the trend is attributed to better prenatal health care through education and nutrition. The percentage of low birthweight of live infants who weigh less than 5.5 pounds has decreased and leveled out over a six-year period, a Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce study said. ...

Cape Girardeau County is not ready for the intensive-care unit yet. Using health indicators compiled by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, the county looks to have a good bill of health. The most significant indicator of healthy living for Cape County residents is the fact that residents are dying at an older age. Statistics show age-adjusted deaths per 10,000 of Cape Girardeau County population to be increasing. Thus an aging population trend...

Many Streets in Cape Girardeau and Jackson were running with water Friday night after more than 3 inches of rain drenched parts of Cape Girardeau County. The Jackson Police Department reported at 9:30 p.m. that some streets in Jackson were impassible because of water from the heavy downpours...

CHARLESTON -- Lew Polivick knows he is stepping into some pretty big shoes. Polivick, 39, of Sikeston was named executive director Wednesday of Southeast Missouri Legal Services Inc. The decision was made when former Missouri Gov. Warren E. Hearnes, who directed the organization for 16 years, announced his retirement...

CHARLESTON -- When former Gov. Warren E. Hearnes resigns Sunday as executive director of Southeast Missouri Legal Services Inc., he plans to spend a lot of his newfound free time on the fairways. "I'm going to play golf, but I called Tiger Woods and told him not to worry," joked Hearnes, who spent over 40 years in public service, incuding eight as Missouri governor...

Missouri should implement a five-year highway plan rather than try to craft a more long-range plan, state Sen. Danny Staples said Friday. Such a move could lead to a series of five-year plans that could prove more manageable, he said. Staples, D-Eminence, said any proposed tax increase for transportation should be submitted to voters, but only if there is a specific plan that spells out each project that would be funded with the money and the timetable for each...

Health indicators compiled by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce show the city and county health issues receiving a fairly stable bill of health. Infant morality rates and low birthweights for infants are down, residents are dying at an older age, and most are maintaining a healthy lifestyle...

I believe the divorce rate would be a lot lower if everybody would quit trying to help each other tend to our personal business. I have one of those off-the-wall personalities that makes me very likable but extremely hard to love, which is why I thank my lucky stars for Patrick each and every day...

Four area schools will benefit Southwestern Bell technology grants. Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Woodland public schools and St. Vincent de Paul grade school received a combined $15,000 to research or implement technology centers. "I'm really excited because this is just another way for Southwestern Bell to become involved in our schools locally," said Donna Burk, Southwestern Bell external affairs area manager. ...

Glenn Tompkins is a man whose life spans what seems like two different epochs. A 69-year-old retired security guard in St. Louis County, Tompkins grew up on a farm in Dunklin County north of Campbell. He remembers growing up with no electricity or indoor plumbing, with horse-drawn plows and sewing machines with foot treadles. Those were days when people thought lard was good for them...

The Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Missouri, oldest non-profit home care agency in the area, wants terminally ill patients to choose hospice care. "The hospice concept is very old," said Helen Sander, a VNA community liaison. "It is returning to home to live our last days. To have a peaceful and comfortable place, to die, surrounded by our own memories."...

A reception will be held Thursday to congratulate Mitch Robinson for his selection as Missouri Professional Economic Developer of the Year and to celebrate his fourth anniversary as executive director of the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association...

Folk-singing legend Bill Staines has a voice like Motel 6's Tom Bodett's, a gently reassuring instrument made for telling yarns and bedtime stories. In fact, he wryly confides from beneath his floppy leather hat, people tell him they put on his tapes to put their kids to sleep...

The Christian Coalition and its congressional allies have announced plans to push a constitutional amendment aimed at guaranteeing religious freedom. The proposed religious liberty amendment would affirm the right to religious expression on public property such as schools, courthouses, stadiums and the like. ...

There is some good news coming for every television set in your home. In three to five years, your TVs will produce a sharper, clearer, picture than they do now from cable or off-the-air broadcast television sources. No snow, no ghosting nor other undesirable picture artifacts...

Joined by a bipartisan group of three former colleagues, former Sen. Paul Simon of Illinois has weighed into the debate over much-needed entitlement reform. Simon, who now heads up the fledgling Institute for Public Policy at Southern Illinois University, proposes to reduce the cost-of-living index and remove the cap on the taxable amount of income. ...

The search committee for a new head men's basketball coach at Southeast Missouri State University has announced the names of four finalists who will visit the Southeast campus next week. Finalists for the position are Missouri assistant Kim Anderson; Fort Hays (Kan.) State head coach Gary Garner; Iowa State assistant Sam Weaver; and Purdue assistant Bruce Weber...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Cape Girardeau Central High senior Laura Lukens "shot" to the top at the Missouri Class 4A Track and Field Championships Friday. With a throw of 40-9 in the finals of the shot put, Lukens bettered the field by nearly two feet in winning her first state championship in the event...

Kelly High's baseball team has been playing the role of giant-killer ever since postseason play began. Today, the Hawks will attempt to slay the biggest giant of them all when rugged Mansfield makes the long trip to Benton for a 1 p.m. Class 2A quarterfinal game. The winner earns a berth in the 2A Final Four in Columbia...

Southeast Missouri State University gymnastics coach Bill Hopkins will have another gymnast from Hawaii next season. Hopkins recently announced that Melanie Krehl from Maui has signed a letter of intent with the Otahkians. Krehl was the 1996 USA Gymnastics all-around regional champion and placed first in the Hawaii state meet on beam, bars, floor and all-around...

Two more former Southeast Missouri State University football standouts will try to make it in the Canadian Football League. The Calgary Stampeders have signed linebacker Brian Burton and wide receiver Jon Riley, who will attempt to make the team when training camp begins Sunday...

Southeast Missouri State University football coach John Mumford has completed his full-time coaching staff for the 1997 season with the hiring of offensive line coach Jeff Richards and running backs coach Roscoe Echols. Richards spent the past six seasons at Arkansas State, where he served as assistant head coach, linebackers coach and special teams coordinator last season...

BERTRAND -- Funeral service for Ruby D. Eimer of Bertrand will be held at 1 p.m. today at Ponder Funeral Home in Sikeston. The Rev. Dewayne Coleman will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park at Cape Girardeau. Eimer, 87, died Friday, May 30, 1997, at her home...

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. -- The Rev. Daniel Hobert Neace, 85, of Murphysboro died Thursday, May 29, 1997, at St. Joseph Hospital in Murphysboro. He was born March 12, 1912, in Ava, son of Noah Hobert and Laura Octavine Dorway Neace. He and Alice Reed were married Jan. 27, 1936, in Murphysboro. She died July 27, 1995...

DEXTER -- Ester Mae Worley, 91, of Dexter died Friday, May 30, 1997, at Dexter Nursing Center. She was born Aug. 3, 1905, at Puxico, daughter of Charles T. and Leora Fowler Wilkerson. She and William S. Worley were married Nov. 11, 1922, at Puxico. He preceded her in death...

Viola Gertrude Carey, 91, of Bridgeton died Thursday, May 29, 1997, at Mark Twain Manor in Bridgeton. She was born Jan. 23, 1906, in St. Louis, daughter of James R. and Martha D. Mitchell Byerly. She and Arthur Stanley "Scotty" Carey Sr. were married Jan. 29, 1927, in Memphis, Tenn. He died June 5, 1973...

Eric D. Brewington, 76, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, May 30, 1997, at Heartland Care Rehab Center. He was born June 7, 1920, at Mill Creek, son of William D. and Arizona Simmons Brewington. Brewington was a retired truck driver. Survivors include a brother, Gilbert Brewington of Wasilla, Alaska; three sisters, Delores Douglas of Mississippi, Christina Brewington of Farmington, and Sister Inese Zaring...

Funeral service for Al Bradley Brown, 436 S. Spring, will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Ron Brown will officiate, with burial in Lorimier Cemetery. Friends may call at the chapel from 4-8 p.m. today. Brown, 55, died Thursday, May 29, 1997, at his home...

KINDER -- William Willard McTurnan, 68, of Kinder died Thursday, May 29, 1997, at his home. He was born May 3, 1929, in Obion, Tenn., son of Samuel and Captolia James McTurnan. He and Rose Adkison were married Sept. 3, 1962. McTurnan was a retired farmer...

BLOOMFIELD -- Virgie Elizabeth Phillips, 94, of Bloomfield died Friday, May 30, 1997, at Bloomfield. She was born April 10, 1903, at Bloomfield, daughter of Levi and Cora Aslin Williams. She and Grover Phillips were married Dec. 24, 1924. He died March 21, 1972...

Shirley Jean Rodin, 62, of Portage, Ind., died Thursday, May 29, 1997, at her home. She was born July 13, 1934, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Joseph Thomas and Linda Marie Pierce Kurre. She and Carl O. Rodin were married Feb. 14, 1959, in Jackson. Rodin was a graduate of a Cape Girardeau high school, and Deaconess School of Nursing in St. Louis...

The Buckle Up -- Avoid the Summertime Blues safety belt check and awareness fair scheduled for today in Cape Girardeau and Jackson has been postponed to June 21 because of bad weather. The event was to take place at Boatmen's Bank at Mount Auburn Road in Cape Girardeau and the Main Street Boatmen's Bank in Jackson...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Mary L. Smith, 73, of Dongola, Ill., died Friday May 30, 1997, at her home. She was born Feb. 4, 1924 in Dongola, daughter of William and Nellie Powles Phalin. She married Harley E. Smith, who preceded her in death. She was retired from Knaust Mushroom Plant in Valmeyer...

Daughter to Charles Joseph and Pam Sue Groshong, 710 Penny, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:31 p.m. Monday, May 5, 1997. Name, Maggie Lynn. Weight, 8 pounds. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Groshong is the former Pam Hess, daughter of Sharon and Kevin Foster and Bill and Linda Hess of Jackson. She is a registered nurse at St. Francis Medical Center. Groshong is the son of Chuck and Marilyn Groshong of Cape Girardeau. He is a paramedic with Cape County Private Ambulance...

FRUITLAND -- A man apparently suffered a seizure just before his vehicle ran off the road Thursday night and struck a parked tractor-trailer truck. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said Kevin L. Moyers, 31, of Marble Hill was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital after the accident on Highway 177 three miles south of Fruitland. The accident happened around 7:05 p.m. when Moyers' vehicle was traveling north...

CHAFFEE -- Funeral Mass for Norman J. Kay of Chaffee will be held at 10 a.m. today at St. Ambrose Catholic Church. The Rev. Ralph Duffner will officiate, with burial in the church cemetery. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel at Chaffee is in charge of arrangements...