Stories from Thursday, July 24, 1997

There is something unbalanced about a country that compares cigarette manufacturers to Nazis but refuses to pass judgment upon child abusers (provided they are the child's biological parents). The war on smoking seems to consume all of the moral energy our society cannot muster on subjects like crime, unwed parenting and vulgarity...

Two senior state senators, one from each party, took the extraordinary step of writing to Attorney General Jay Nixon a couple of weeks ago to ask that he appoint a special counsel. Sen. John Schneider, D-Florissant, and Sen. Steve Ehlmann, R-St. Charles, asked Nixon to take himself out of the representing the state in the case where a federal judge struck down the appropriations bill passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor. ...

Andy Poyner knew at a young age. "When I first picked up a pencil or crayon I knew exactly what I was. Before any cultural influences or constraints were put on me. This was always what I was going to do." In high school, he built himself a studio with a pot-bellied stove. It was on the other side of the barn on the family farm outside Joplin. Then Poyner was on to the Kansas City Art Institute and a peripatetic career as a commercial artist and illustrator...

The first GREAT summer came to an end Wednesday. At a graduation ceremony at Greater Dimension Church, about 20 children ages 8 to 13 had their final day of the Gang Resistance Education and Training program. While GREAT has been taught in area elementary and middle schools since the Cape Girardeau Police Department started it in 1994, this is the first year it was offered during the summer...

More than 175 students are putting their creative skills to work during the 1997 Summer Art Workshops sponsored by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri. The Arts Council has sponsored a number of specialized programs this month that expose children ages 6 to 17 to art mediums they may be unfamiliar with. Most of the classes have been held at Southeast Missouri State University's Memorial Hall...

A benefit event for the family of 9-year-old accident victim Ricky Hale will be held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at Western Sizzlin' parking lot in Cape Girardeau. A rummage sale will begin at 10 a.m. with an auction at 1 p.m. Hale was killed last week on a backyard swing. Proceeds from the benefit will go toward funeral expenses...

JACKSON -- A three-time sex offender was arrested in a bathroom of Wal-Mart after allegedly invading the privacy of a 12-year-old boy. Lloyd Carroll Jr., 38, of Chaffee was arrested July 17 after he allegedly peered over a wall into a bathroom stall the boy was using. Carroll, who has a history of inappropriate behavior with 12-to-14-year-old boys, was charged with misdemeanors of invasion of privacy and trespassing...

The search for a Cape Girardeau man who drowned while swimming in the Mississippi River last week is at a standstill. "We have notified counties south of Cape Girardeau to be on the lookout for a body," said Max Jauch, assistant fire chief of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department. It usually takes three to four days for a body to surface, said Jauch...

Callout: A General Services Administration official said the GSA expects a full-time federal judge will be assigned to Cape Girardeau. Unless that occurs, the courthouse "likely won't be built," he said. The government still plans to build a $30 million federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, assuming Congress comes up with the money...

One lucky bidder could take home Detroit Piston Joe Dumars' basketball shoes at the "Go for the Goals" auction to be held Saturday at the Cape Girardeau Civic Center. The shoes are just one of the many unique items that will be auctioned off at the 8 p.m. auction. The auction will help raise immediately needed funds for the center's operational expenses...

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston power plant was evacuated after a fire filled the building with smoke. Sikeston Department of Public Safety personnel were called to the plant at 7:10 p.m. Tuesday after a failure in the 4,160-volt electrical switch gear created a small fire...

PERRYVILLE -- Sabreliner Corp. has completed a $42.5 million sale of aircraft training equipment to the Navy. Included in the purchase are 17 T-39N aircraft and associated simulators equipped to conduct the Navy's Undergraduate Naval Flight Officers (UNFO) training program at Pensacola, Fla...

July 24, 1997 Does a doorbell ring in the night if nobody can hear it? Dear Patty, When you sign your name on the line that binds you to a house for 30 years, you can't imagine the ways your life will be broadened. You don't know, for instance, that sooner or later you'll have to assume the ways of a burglar breaking into your own home. Or that bees will ring your doorbell one night...

American Legion District 14 Tournament (in Sikeston) Wednesday's Results (Game 1): Sikeston vs. Van Buren (Game 2): Chaffee vs. Poplar Bluff (Game 3): Dunklin Co. vs. Jackson (Game 4): Cape Ford & Sons vs. Game 1 winner Today's Schedule 10 a.m. (Game 6): Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser...

Junior American Legion State Tournament (at Capaha Field) Today's Schedule 5:30 p.m. (Game 1): Jefferson City vs. Springfield Glendale 8:30 p.m. (Game 2): Cape SEMO Bank vs. Imperial Friday's Schedule 10 a.m. (Game 3): Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser 1 p.m. (Game 4): St. Joseph's vs. Game 2 winner...

A team made up of Cape Girardeau youngsters will compete in the 14-year-old Babe Ruth State Tournament that begins Thursday in Chillicothe. Cape earned a berth in the state tourney by beating Mineral Area 7-5 during last Sunday's district finals in Leadwood. Cape won three of its four games in the district tournament...

eakins obit w-pix Cecil Eakins Cecil Eakins Funeral service for Cecil Earl Eakins, 1507 N. Henderson, will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel, with the Rev. Ernest Jordan officiating. Entombment will be in Memorial Park Mausoleum, with services by VFW Post 3838...

Daughter to Patrick and Amy Haenni of Springfield, St. John's Regional Health Center there, 5:19 a.m. Sunday, July 13, 1997. Name, Rachel Alexandra. Weight, 8 pounds 3 ounces. Mrs. Haenni is the former Amy Platt, daughter of Rise Levine of Denton, Texas, and Jim Platt of Kansas City. Haenni is the son of Eugene and Patricia Haenni of Cape Girardeau...