Stories from Wednesday, December 3, 1997

To the editor: The 105th Republican Congress seems to be out of touch with reality. Members are making many statements about how they have made government smaller and smarter since the Republicans gained control of Capitol Hill in 1995. However, the Republican Congress seems no more willing to cut the budget than the Democrats did when they held the majority in Congress...

They're making their lists and checking them twice, and the toy requests keep coming in. Gigi pets, Beanie Babies, Tickle Me Elmo and other Sesame Street toys rank at the top of many Toybox wish lists. But these "hot" toys are in demand and will become harder to find as Christmas draws closer, said the Cape Girardeau Jaycees...

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson gave Congress a passing grade for the recently completed session. "I probably would have given us a C plus or a B minus," Emerson said Tuesday in a telephone interview from her Virginia home. "I think we did some good things," the Cape Girardeau Republican said...

To the editor: We would all like to live in a world in which their are no problems, and everything goes as we wish. Unfortunately this rarely happens. Too often we, or someone we love, undergoes a medical exam to explore some minor symptoms only to be told by the physician that a life- threatening condition is suspected. ...

1st place: Santa's Whiskers 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 2 tbsp. milk 1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups flour 3/4 cup finely chopped red candied cherries 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans 3/4 cup flaked coconut Cream butter and sugar in bowl until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla; mix well. Stir in flour, cherries and pecans. Shape into 8-inch rolls. Coat with coconut and wrap in waxed paper...

Some people spend the holidays with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads. We like cookies. And so did 119 other people who sent in their favorite recipes for the Southeast Missourian's Colossal Cookie Contest. Our celebrity panel of cookie connoisseurs included Tom Harte, food columnist for the Southeast Missourian and co-founder of My Daddy's Cheesecake in downtown Cape Girardeau; Susan McClanahan, director of the Cape Girardeau Senior Center and cookbook aficionado, Wes Kinsey, current owner of My Daddy's Cheesecake and Judy Lueders, nutrition columnist for the Southeast Missourian and a nutritionist for the University of Missouri Extension Service.. ...

THE HABITAT for Humanity article in the paper was a very nice article about a wonderful group. How can we get involved, how can we help? I've helped build churches before. I'd like to help build some houses now. REPLY: To find out more about Habitat for Humanity, please call Bill Cheeseman in Cape Girardeau at 651-0122. Your interest will be appreciated...

It is all a matter of fairness. Since its inception, Cape Girardeau's restaurant tax has stirred hard feelings among those who pay or don't pay. The problems stemmed both from the wording of the original ordinance and the changing eating patterns of Americans...

Southeast Missouri State University's football Indians had a disappointing year. The team finished 4-7 overall and 1-6 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Speculation was heated: Would John Mumford return for a ninth season as Southeast's football coach? Yes, said the administration, which extended Mumford's contract one year...

ULLIN, Ill. -- The old Illinois Central Depot at Ullin, a wooden structure identified during the heyday of passenger railroads, as "344 miles south of Chicago and 568 miles north of New Orleans, was moved "across" the tracks Monday. The structure, abandoned when passenger service was discontinued in this small community of 500, has been saved from demolition by the Ullin Civic Club and the Village of Ullin...

Universities and colleges are giving students some unexpected advice this month: Don't pay tuition early. In fact, students and their parents are urged to make payments after Jan. 1 in case families are eligible for two tax credits contained in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997...

A city subcommittee reviewing Cape Girardeau's hotel, motel and restaurant tax tinkered a little further with the language for a proposed revision in the tax Tuesday. One of the changes agreed on Tuesday would make the 1 percent tax applicable to fountain drinks purchased at convenience stores or other sites not traditionally considered restaurants...

Three Republican lawmakers Tuesday questioned a Democratic proposal that would give Missourians a state tax credit on the property taxes they paid. The proposal was listed by House Speaker Steve Gaw, D-Moberly, and Senate President Pro Tem Bill McKenna, D-Barnhart, as a top priority for the legislative session that begins Jan. 6...

You've already got milk. Want some cookies to go along with it? If the answer's yes -- and why wouldn't it be -- check out today's Food Page for more than 100 favorite recipes for holiday cookies from Southeast Missourian readers. Denise Bailey of Jackson won first place in the Colossal Cookie Contest with her recipe for Santa's Whiskers cookies...

Ah, the holidays. Shoppers curse each other over parking spaces. Moms think of ways to serve six-day-old turkey for ANOTHER meal. Our two-foot-tall artificial tree stands proudly atop the entertainment center, its place in our lives secure as long as we co-habitate with ornament-eating cats...

Tuesday night's crosstown clash between the Cape Central and Notre Dame boys basketball teams had the look of an early-season game. There were plenty of mistakes and not a lot of offense, but the game came down to two important ingredients found in most winning teams: defense and free throws...

This is a very important week for our basketball team. We open Ohio Valley Conference play Thursday night with Tennessee State at the Show Me Center and then Austin Peay will be in town Saturday night. Tennessee State was picked to finish second and Austin Peay third in the OVC. I'm anxious to play although I wish we didn't start conference play until January...

Angel Rubio had the kind of football season that most players only dream about. The senior defensive tackle star at Southeast Missouri State University was second in the Ohio Valley Conference in total tackles (114), second in tackles for loss (19) and he tied for fourth in quarterback sacks (7)...

Professional baseball player Steve Bieser will speak and give autographs from 5-6 p.m. today at Kelso C-7 grade school. Bieser, a Ste. Genevieve native and a former Southeast Missouri State University baseball standout, spent part of this past season with the New York Mets and part of the season with the Mets' top minor league team...

Southeast Missouri State University baseball coach Mark Hogan has announced the dates for his 1997-98 winter baseball camps. There will be two hitting camps and two pitching/catching camps. The information on each is as follows: Hitting camp, Dec. 13-14, from 8 a.m.-noon. Ages are eight years to eighth grade...

ST. LOUIS -- Despite losing 38-32 to Gateway Tech in Tuesday's semifinals of the Oakville Tournament, Cape Girardeau Central High girls basketball coach Paula Watkins came away impressed with her team's performance against the defending Missouri Class 4A state champion...

The Cape Girardeau Elks will hold their annual youth Hoop Shoot Dec. 6 at Notre Dame High School. Registration will begin at 8:45 a.m. and the Hoop Shoot will follow at 9. The event is a free throw contest for all boys and girls between the games of 8 and 13. Age groups will be 8-9, 10-11 and 12-13 for both boys and girls. Trophies will be given to the top three places in each age group. Winners will advance to the district contest...

Son to Vernon and Karmen Robertson of Bucklin, University Hospital in Columbia, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, 1997. Name, Dane Jones. Weight, 9 pounds 3 ounces. First child. Mrs. Robertson is the former Karmen Jones, daughter of Janice Jones of Lilbourn and the late Harold D. Jones. Robertson is the son of Clyde and Pat Robertson of Lena, Miss. He is engineering manager at Walsworth Publishing Co. in Marceline...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Roy Clayton Allstun, 78, died at 3 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997, at his residence after an extended illness. He was born Feb. 16, 1919 at East Prairie, the son of Roy and Bertie Calhoun Allstun. He married LaVerne Hubbard on Aug. 18, 1939...

DELTA -- Mildred Elizabeth Crowden, 65, of Delta, died Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997, at her family home. Arrangements are incomplete with Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee.

Betty Phillips, 71, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997. Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. today and from 4-8 p.m. Thursday. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. Burial will be in Pleasant Grove Cemetery near Bloomfield...

Genofeva Deneke, 95, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Arrangements are under the direction of Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel.

MILLER CITY, Ill. -- Eugene Grace, 78, of Miller City died at 6:55 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 17, 1919, in Union County, Ill., the son of Cyrus and Della Cauble Grace. He married Alice Pilkington on April 3, 1945...

SCOTT CITY -- Dale D. Stevens, 93, of Scott City died Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Arrangements are pending at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City.

EAST PRAIRIE -- Richard "Dickie" England, 50, of East Prairie died at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997, at his home. Funeral arrangements are pending at the Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie.

CHARLESTON -- Funeral service for James A. Wright Sr. of Charleston will be held at 1:30 p.m. today at McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston. The Rev. Bill Meeks will officiate, with burial in Oak Grove Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 12:30 p.m. until service time...

ADVANCE -- Funeral Mass for Herman R. Weissenborn of Granite City, Ill., was held Tuesday at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Granite City. The Rev. Frances Tebengura officiated, with burial in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. Werner Funeral Home in Pontoon Beach, Ill., was in charge of arrangements...

Funeral service for Norman Edward Bock, 530 Louis, will be held at 1:30 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Jeffrey Sippy will officiate, with burial in Hanover Cemetery. Bock, 87, died Sunday, Nov. 30, 1997, at Jackson Manor in Jackson...

SALCEDO -- Nellie M. Rodgers, 62, of Salcedo died Monday, Dec. 1, 1997, at St. Louis University Hospital. She was born Aug. 31, 1935, in Sikeston, daughter of Audie Lee and Bernice Mott Manley. She and John J. Rodgers were married March 16, 1953, at Sikeston...

FARRAR -- Herbert Eugene Paul Lorenz, 87, of Farrar died Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997, at Farrar. He was born March 9, 1910, in Perry County, son of Emmanuel and Martha Soehl Lorenz. He and Eugenia Burroughs were married Nov. 19, 1933. Lorenz was a retired carpenter. He was a lifelong member of Salem Lutheran Church and its Men's Club...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for James Franklin Haley Jr. of East Prairie will be held at 10 a.m. today at Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie. Pastor Richard Farquhar will officiate, with burial in Dogwood Cemetery. Haley, 32, died Monday, Dec. 1, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Melvin McMackins of Sikeston will be held at 11 a.m. today at Ponder Funeral Home. The Rev. Billie Fair will officiate, with burial in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 9 a.m. until time of service...

SIKESTON -- John W. "Red" Davis, 79, of Sikeston died Monday, Dec. 1, 1997, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born Aug. 17, 1918, in Sikeston, son of Patrick C. and Una Lillian Atherton Davis. He and Zelpha Ann DeWitt were married April 3, 1949, in Piggott, Ark. She died Nov. 9, 1981...

MATTHEWS -- Funeral service for Margaret Elizabeth Lewis of Broken Arrow, Okla., will be held at 2 p.m. today at Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie. Shawn Thomas will officiate, with burial in Dogwood Cemetery near East Prairie. Lewis, 72, died Friday, Nov. 28, 1997, at Broken Arrow Medical Center...

Harold Leon Glasscock, 58, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Dec. 1, 1997, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Sept. 12, 1939, in Cape Girardeau, son of George Washington and Cora Jane Williams Glasscock. He and Amanda Jean Walker were married Sept. 2, 1971, in Poplar Bluff...

JACKSON -- You can't shank a wedge shot at Bent Creek Golf Course without barely missing a Litzelfelner. Patriarch Jack Litzelfelner and his sons Mike and Rob manage the overall operation. Jack's wife, Julia, takes care of public relations. Rob's wife, Michele, runs the pro shop and supervises the golf course's group events...

Jackson City Hall 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1 Action Items Power and Light Committee -- Approved an ordinance authorizing the issuance of $565,000 principal amount of Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System Refunding Revenue Bonds, Series 1998, of the City of Jackson...

l recently appointed a council sub-committee to study the proposed MoDot preliminary highway plans that would improve the existing highway through Jackson or create a new bypass of the City. This committee chaired by Councilman Jack Piepenbrok will study all five proposed options for improvement and make a recommendation to the full council as to which option best benefits the future of Jackson. ...

Holiday Cookies 4 cups flour 2 sticks margarine 1 3/4 cups sugar 1 teaspoon cream of tartar Dash of salt 3 teaspoons vanilla 1 3/4 cups cooking oil, vegetable or sunflower Mix margarine and sugar well together. Add eggs and oil and mix well. Add all dry ingredients and stir until most of the flour is mixed. Add vanilla flavoring...