Stories from Saturday, December 27, 1997

To the editor: 'Twas the night after Christmas when all through the house Every creature was stirring, yes, even a mouse. The stockings once hung from the chimney with care Lay now on the floor so empty and bare. The children were bouncing off of the beds...

Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, looks like a cold and acts like a cold, but in children younger than 4 it can be a lot more dangerous than a cold. RSV is a common virus that infects nearly every child in their first year. The virus is spread from person to person, usually during between October and March...

I SAW on the news where an artist had drawn Santa Claus on a cross with presents underneath. They were trying to make him take it down. But is he very far from being wrong? Are the stores in the malls becoming the biblical money changers? I believe we really need to think about the meaning of Christmas. God bless you, and have a nice New Year...

The news was disappointing. Cape Girardeau must wait even longer for a new Mississippi River Bridge. The Missouri Department of Transportation last week terminated its $50.8 million contract with the bridge builder, Flatiron Structures Co. of Longmont, Colo...

Each year, Kids Count provides a yardstick to measure the health and well-being of Missouri's children. The good news of this report is that some improvements have been made. -- The infant mortality rate continues to improve. But the numbers are still too high. About 558 Missouri children died before their first birthday, enough to fill 25 kindergarten classes in 2001...

To the editor: Jan. 22, 1998, will mark the 25th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision legalizing abortion. Each year 1.5 million babies are aborted surgically. This amounts to 37 million babies killed surgically since 1973. Did you know that between 8 million and 12 million babies are aborted during their first week of life every year due to the use of the pill, Norplant, Depo-Provera and the IUD? This means that since 1973, more than 200 million have died due to the use of these devices. ...

To the editor: It is so easy to make a resolution at the end of a year or at the beginning of a year. Still, at this time it is salutary to measure where one is and to make declarations of one's intentions, either to get rid of bad habits and to try to make certain corrections as one tries to improve oneself or may try to set new goals...

The first good snowfall of the winter season often inspires some winter frolicking. Although most adults prefer to sidle up to a roaring fire with a mug of hot chocolate or hot spice cider, the children waste no time getting out the sleds and scurrying for the hills. ...

Unity within and without the individual will be the theme of a citywide Kwanzaa celebration sponsored by the NAACP on New Year's Day. Jan. 1 marks the last day of the weeklong African-American cultural holiday called Kwanzaa. This is the third year the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will host festivities. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Cape Civic Center, 232 Broadway...

When the excitement surrounding the holidays begins to wane, children on Christmas vacation often voice that all-too-familiar complaint that "there's nothing to do." The complaint may seem louder to mothers and fathers this year as most area schools are out for an entire two weeks, leaving frazzled parents nervously wondering what to do with their children that will keep the kids out of trouble, but that they will enjoy...

At 10:30 a.m., Henrietta Bartels plopped down in a West Park Mall chair for a rest. She had been up since 5:40. Shuffling her shopping bags, she stared out at the crowd and waited for her husband, Bob, to pick her up. Bartels, like thousands of other area shoppers, spent her morning weaving in and out of red-tagged aisles hunting for after-Christmas sales...

Okay, so Christmas Day has passed. As usual, it was a wonderful holiday for me with lots of sentimental Kodak moments and plenty of good gift-giving going around. There was also a Little House on the Prairie movie marathon on WTBS, and yes, my family watched all six movies. Christmas can't get any better than that...

Looking over the bottom half of the University High School Christmas Tournament bracket, one game -- No. 7 Notre Dame verses No. 10 Scott County Central -- looked like it could be close. It wasn't. Notre Dame rolled past the Braves 77-58 in opening-round action Friday night at the Show Me Center...

After a long day of customary first-round blowouts, the fans at the Show Me Center must have been YEARNING for a close contest to cap the first day of the 53rd annual University High School Christmas Tournament. Oran and Woodland obliged -- and provided what may be one of the best games of the tournament...

ST. LOUIS -- Perryville High's girls basketball team used a big third quarter to pull away and beat DeSoto 65-41 Friday during a consolation quarterfinal game of the Visitation Tournament. The Lady Pirates, who raised their record to 7-4, were led offensively by April Watts with 14 points. Also in double figures were Laura Ernst with 12, Tiffany Perkins with 10 and Renee Kaempfe with 10...

PERRYVILLE -- Mary "Lil" Moore of Brewer and formerly of Perryville died Friday, Dec. 26, 1997, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. She was 95. She was born Oct. 8, 1902, in Perryville, daughter of Joseph A. and Hattie Krater Brewer. They preceded her in death...

MOREHOUSE -- Lorene Proctor, 82, of Morehouse died Thursday, Dec. 25, 1997, at the Sells Rest Home in Matthews. She was born Sept. 10, 1915, in Atkins, Ark., daughter of O.H. and Vida King Crouthers. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Morehouse. ...

VANDUSER -- Carl F. Gunter, 87, of Vanduser died Thursday, Dec. 25, 1997, at his home. He was born Jan. 13, 1910, at Sikeston, son of James Henry and Mayme L. Wood Gunter. He was retired as an auto mechanic with Peffmerman Motor Co. in Overland. He moved from St. Charles to Vanduser in 1972. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Vanduser...

JACKSON -- Mrs. Velma Chostner Limbaugh, 94, died Sunday, Dec. 21, 1997, at the Brian Center in Goldsboro, N.C. She was born in Marble Hill, daughter of Pinkney and Ellen Chostner. She was married to Webster S. Limbaugh in 1921. He died in September 1967...

JACKSON -- Martha "Margaret" Goodson, 86, of Jackson died Thursday, Dec. 25, 1997, at Heritage Gardens Nursing Home in Jackson. She was born Nov. 10, 1911, in Jackson, daughter of August Henry and Martha Ann Sneider Friedrich. She married Willard Goodson April 16, 1933, in Jackson. He died Feb. 18, 1976...

Edgar Henry Steffens, 83, died Wednesday, Dec. 24, 1997, at The Lutheran Home, 2825 Bloomfield Road. He was born Feb. 8, 1914, in Farrar, son of Louis and Mary Verseman Steffens. On Nov. 19, 1939, he married Olga Fritsche. She died March 8, 1984. He married Mamie Abernathy on June 5, 1993, in Farrar. She survives...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Janice J. Isit, 58, died Friday, Dec. 26, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 12, 1939, in Olive Branch, daughter of Marshall Allen and Mabel Dover Johnson. She worked as a personal care giver and attended the Pleasant Ridge Church...

ORAN -- Paul C. Schlitt, 82, died Friday, Dec. 26, 1997, at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Belleville, Ill. He was born on Aug. 4, 1915, in Randles, son of Leo Schlitt and Clara Essner. He was a World War II veteran and served in the Army Air Corps. He married Marcello Pobst on May 15, 1941. She died March 27, 1989. He worked as a farmer in Oran and was a member of the Guardian Angel Catholic Church in Oran...

JACKSON -- Dana Kelly Pelts, 44, died Friday, Dec. 26, 1997, at his home in Jackson. He was born March 13, 1953, in Rolla, son of Gevell L. and Mary Jamison Pelts. He was a 1971 graduate of Cape Girardeau Central High School and had attended business college for two years. He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church...

Frank O'Howell of Tuscombia, Ala., and formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Monday, Dec. 22, 1997, in Tuscombia. He was 59. He was born March 2, 1938, in Cape Girardeau, son of D.L. and Helen Brown O'Howell. They preceded him in death. He was a truck driver and had served in the U.S. Army...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Hazel L. Tipton, 84, of Jefferson City died Thursday, Dec. 25, 1997, at the Capital City Health Care Center. She was born Sept. 23, 1919, at Eldon, daughter of Joe and Dollie James Tipton. A graduate of Jefferson City Public Schools, Tipton operated a beauty shop in Jefferson a number of years before moving to Cape Girardeau. She returned to Jefferson City in 1987...