Stories from Sunday, June 22, 1997

As talks over a rumored settlement of tobacco litigation proceed toward a climax, it is vital to remember how much this is driven by one narrow special interest: The personal-injury lawyers of the trial bar. This one is trial-lawyer driven from beginning to expensive end. ...

The Fourth of July is just a couple of weeks away and the Jackson Jaycees are making final preparations for the 9th annual Fourth of July Celebration in the Jackson City Park. The celebration is held to honor our nation's Independence and Jackson's 183rd birthday...

Those who donate to the Cape Girardeau Civic Center will feast on wine and cheese. Donors will move from home to home from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday. Three downtown homes will be visited. Evelyn Boardman, co-chairman of the event, said her home, at 221 Independence St., will be one of the featured homes...

Three days of family activities will be held in Arena Park during the July 4 holiday, July 3 through 5. The 1997 celebration will be sponsored by Cape Girardeau VFW Post 3838. "In the past different fragments of the community have taken care of each July 4 event separately," said Roger Brown, VFW community chairman. "The plans for this year's community picnic is progressing with a planned itinerary."...

Don Grossheider, aviation teacher at Jackson High School, gives a demonstration to some attentive elementary students at summer school Thursday. Attendance at Jackson's K-12 summer school has increased by 30 percent since last year. There are 754 students in this year's program, 300 at Orchard Elementary, 160 at Jackson Middle School and the remaining 294 at the high school. ...

Do you remember the wonderful old play "Fiddler on the Roof." My favorite scene is when the father of the family, Tevye, becomes upset about all of his daughters choosing to marry for love instead of in the traditional way and he sings the song "Tradition!" Try as hard as he might to keep things the way that they had always been love proved to be too strong to be cast into a mold...

One quick note from last week before we start. It seems I have misspelled the word Champagne. I spelled it Champaign by mistake and since Champaign, Ill., is a town my computer's spell check didn't catch it. Well, I'm sorry I failed you. So what do we do about this little boy who misspells his words. I say we hang him high! Behead the misspeller! Why don't we just take him out back and shoot him!...

25 years ago, 1972 Cape Girardeau County voters may have plenty of local as well as state issues on their ballots in August primary and November general elections; special local issues that may be submitted to county voters in the two elections include proposals for county planning and zoning system, county health unit and a tax financing a new juvenile detention home...

The House of Representatives has again overwhelmingly passed and sent to the Senate a constitutional amendment banning the act of burning the American flag. In the upper chamber in recent years, it has fallen short of the necessary two-thirds margin it wins in the House. The whole controversy flared in 1989 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that burning Old Glory is "expressive conduct" within the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech...

My last offering described the theory that cycles among America's political parties dictate that one party will enjoy dominant status for a time ("the sun"), while the other party can be understood as though it were "the moon," reflecting light radiating out from the "sun" party, the latter being dominant both electorally and as the source of most of the interesting ideas and debates of the period...

The FBI has come a long way from the days of J. Edgar Hoover. Some of this evolution has been for good, some for ill. Hoover was an autocrat and the FBI was his sacrosanct domain. No one dared to question him about his agency's policy or conduct. During his 48 years as Director, differences that Hoover might have with the presidents he served were settled ever so quietly...

In the eyes of most beholders, one of the least important functions of citizenship is to inspect from time to time just how well or how poorly our governments are meeting their responsibilities to the governed. Historians dutifully record how governments are formed and by whom and for what, but seldom do they write, except in sweeping generalities, how well they perform once they are created. ...

STE. GENEVIEVE -- The yard of the Delassus-Kern House is currently filled with neatly-carved pits, small piles of dirt, shovels, buckets, spades and wire screens made for sifting. A large barrel of water sits in the shade of the house, there for slaking the thirsts those piles of earth produce...

The mystery is whether a vertical log French Colonial house located a few miles south of town was occupied by one Pierre Delassus de Luziere, a figure of some historical importance. The students historic preservation and archaeology majors and graduate students are trying to find artifacts that date to approximately 1793, when Delassus arrived in Ste. Genevieve and was known to have built a house...

Southeast Missouri State University president Dr. Dale Nitzschke will pocket a $6,250 pay raise after just one year in office. The Board of Regents met behind closed doors Friday afternoon and voted unanimously to give Nitzschke a 5 percent pay raise...

Imagine you own your home on a street near a rundown house surrounded by tall weeds. That house was once abandoned but you see activity there -- people going in and out at all hours. Occasionally, you hear what sounds like people fighting. You suspect it's a drug house and fear going outside at night, so you call the police. They put it under surveillance but don't have enough evidence to get a search warrant...

Eight regional finalists will win a chance to advance to international judging in the Kodak International Newspaper Snapshot Awards. But all photographs entered will be displayed at the West Park Mall in Cape Girardeau. Today marks the start of KINSA, which sponsored locally by the Southeast Missourian Newspaper...

The fact that we are turning out a whole generation of flat-headed Americans is a scary thought to anyone who has ever tried to find a proper-fitting cap. As a busy dad, I don't have time to read all those news magazines to find out the latest scoop about Bill and Paula...

I don't know Jerry Reinsdorf. Never met the man and probably never will. But if I do ever come across the Chicago Bulls' owner, I would simply tell him this: Please, Mr. Reinsdorf, don't break up the Bulls. Not yet. Not after they've come off yet another NBA championship season, a hard-fought 4-2 victory over the game but out-Jordaned Utah Jazz...

Gary Garner certainly hit the ground running as he took over Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball program. Just a few days after being hired as Southeast's head coach on June 11, Garner had moved to Cape Girardeau. He was in his office and on the job last Tuesday afternoon and spent the remainder of the week putting in some long days, arriving as early as 8 a.m. and staying as late as 10 p.m...

Jess Bolen couldn't think of a better team to get his 1,000th victory against than arch-rival St. Louis O.B. Clark. Bolen, the Kohlfeld Capahas' veteran manager, will get that opportunity today when O.B. Clark visits Capaha Field for a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader...

That well-oiled baseball machine otherwise known as the Kohlfeld Capahas continues to churn along on all cylinders. The Capahas entered Saturday's doubleheader against the Evansville Outlaws expecting a tough challenge from the perennially strong Indiana squad...

Chaffee's Junior American Legion baseball team scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally past Kirkwood Saturday, helping the local squad to both stay undefeated and reach today's championship game of the SEMO Bank Junior Legion Tournament...

PADUCAH, Ky. -- Cape Girardeau's Ford & Sons American Legion baseball team split its two games Saturday in the Paducah (Ky.) Tournament, a round-robin affair featuring five squads. Ford & Sons, now 12-6 on the season, routed Anheuser-Busch 15-1 in a five-inning, run-rule game, then lost to Jefferson City 4-2...

With temperatures soaring and summer officially here, it probably seems like an eternity until cool fall weather signals the arrival of many hunting seasons. That may be the case, but hunters can now make specific plans. A busy agenda at the Missouri Conservation Commission's meeting in May included approval of deer and early waterfowl seasons, liberalization of rabbit hunting regulations and several changes to fishing regulations. ...

Cape Girardeau Central High athletic director Terry Kitchen wants to make area businesses aware of a high school football calender scam that is occurring in the area. Kitchen wants local merchants to know that Central is not involved with any calender program and that the high school gets no portion of the proceeds raised from this calender promotion...

Cape Girardeau Central High graduate Emory Hayes became the fourth member of the Tiger's district-champion basketball team to earn a scholarship when he signed with Forest Park Community College recently. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Hayes averaged five points and five rebounds a game for coach Brett Reutzel in his only year at Central. Reutzel considered Hayes a major factor in the Tigers' success...

PERRYVILLE -- Ida T. Heier, 95, of Perryville died Saturday, June 21, 1997, at the Perry Oaks Health Care Center. She was born Aug. 11, 1901, at Biehle, daughter of Anton and Mary Ronner Wagner. She married Michael Heier. He preceded her in death. Heier was a cook at the Famous Bar Cafeteria. She was a member of St. Maurus Catholic Church in Biehle...

ANNA -- Mary E. Holden, 73, of Anna died Saturday, June 21, 1997, at the home of her son near Anna. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at the Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna.

Funeral service for Sophia C. Vaughn of Cape Girardeau will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Jeffrey Sippy will officiate. Graveside service will be at 2:30 p.m. at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, with the Rev. Gary Byers officiating. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4-8 p.m. today...

SEDGEWICKVILLE -- Marie Thompson of Sedgewickville, 50, died Friday, June 20, 1997, at the scene of an auto accident in Sedgewickville. She was born Oct. 28, 1946 at Memphis, Ten., daughter of Earnest L. and Minnie Louise Taylor. She and James D. Thompson were marred Jan. 28, 1966. He survives...

Scott County The Housing Authority of the City of Sikeston to Nathaniel and Erma Green Sr.; James and Tammy Robinson to Tammy Abner; William and Connie Dobbs to Charles Dobbs; Steve and Barbara Hadder to Phillip and Alisha Lacy; Chad Fisher to Scott Wilson; Judy and C.L. Morrow to Scott Wilson; Doyle and Cathy Bruce to Darrick and Melissa Bruce; Lillie Kem to Sarah Craig...

Clovis Pearl Eudy, 83, died Saturday, June 21, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born on Sept. 5, 1913, in Reynoldsville. He and Virgie Jewell Cain were married on March 17, 1934, in Reynoldsville. She preceded him in death. Eudy worked as a farmer and owned and operated a grocery store in Ware for many years. He was a member of the Anna Heights Baptist Church and currently attended the Reynoldsville Baptist Church...

JACKSON -- Viola May Wedekind, 92, of Jackson, formerly of Whitewater, died Friday, June 20, 1997, at the St. Francis Medical Center. She was born on Dec. 26, 1904 near Fruitland daughter of Charles F. and Lizzie Shoults Hoffman. She and Julius A. Wedekind were married on Aug. 2, 1925. He preceded her in death...

JACKSON -- A McClure, Ill., man died as a result of a one car accident Saturday. Henry Palmer, 54, of McClure, Ill., died at 6:14 p.m. at the St. Francis Medical Center from injuries he received in the accident. Cape Girardeau County Coroner Carpenter said Palmer was driving on Route Y east of Route W at 4:15 p.m. when he lost control of his vehicle and went off the right shoulder...

Friday, June 20 Cape Girardeau Firefighters responded to the following calls Friday: At 11:41 p.m., a medical assist at 722 Jefferson. Saturday, June 21 Firefighters responded to the following calls Saturday: At 6:40 a.m., a medical assist at 104 Vantage...

UNIONTOWN -- Hilmer Walter Richter, 82, of Uniontown died Saturday, June 21, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born May 17, 1915, in Wittenberg to Otto M. and Lina Schmidt Richter. On April 26, 1942, he married Florence Irene Mueller. She survives...

Several people turned out to enjoy the Cape Municipal Band Wednesday including, front row, from left, Tara Craven, Chelsea Walker and Hannah Walker. Back row, Rodney and Dimple Bridges, and Dave and Julie Walker. Cape Girardeau Municipal Band director Ron Nall conducted several songs made popular by Frank Sinatra during Wenesday night's performance at Capaha Park. Nall has been directing the band for four years...

So beautifully have poets and other writers described trees, and so indelibly have such descriptions been stamped on my mind that sometimes they seem to merge with reality. Haven't I, somewhere, sometime, heard Longfellow's murmuring pines and hemlocks? Stood under the spreading chestnut tree that shaded the village smithy's stand? Seen Kilmer's generic tree that wore bird nests in its hair?...

State Representative David Schwab of the 157th district will speak to the Southeast Missouri Area Pachyderm Club Friday. The meeting will begin at noon at the Port Cape Girardeau Restaurant in downtown Cape Girardeau. Schwab will review legislation from the past session. In addition he will discuss the issues affecting his district...