Stories from Sunday, January 11, 1998

To the editor: On the morning of Dec. 8, our parents were traveling through Missouri en route from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to their winter home in Florida, a trip they had made the previous 10 years. Later that afternoon we learned that our parents had been involved in a serious car accident and had been admitted to Southeast Missouri Hospital in a place called Cape Girardeau, Mo. ...

As legislators gathered to begin the 1998 session of the Missouri General Assembly this week, it appeared that "pocketbook issues" will be the prevailing topic of the next five months. On the heels of the State Supreme Court decision guaranteeing tax refunds to income taxpayers, there has been over 30 bills filed relating to taxation in just our opening few days...

The crowd wasn't very diverse, but that didn't dampen the presenters' spirit nor did it curb the crowd's curiosity. Dr. Bernice Coar Cobb, retired professor from Southeast Missouri State University, and Michael Sterling, president of the Cape Girardeau NAACP, are teaching students at West Lane Elementary about Kwanzaa...

25 years ago, 1973 District officials have worked out contract details for purchase of building site for new elementary school building to serve Fruitland-Pocahontas area of Jackson R-2 School District; district will purchase 14.27 acres of land at Fruitland at cost of $15,697 from Mr. and Mrs. Walter Hoffmeister; land adjoins property on which present Fruitland Schools is located, extending to south and east...

TAMMS, Ill. -- A new Head Start facility will be constructed in Tamms. Groundbreaking for the new building will be held at 12:45 p.m. Monday at the site for the new structure. The center will be located on Roundhouse Road, just north of Tamms. State and federal legislators will attend the groundbreaking, and children from the current Southern Seven Health Department Head Start center will participate in the ceremony...

Wolves get a bad rap. Our images of wolves revolve around werewolves and fairy tales about "Peter and the Wolf" and "Little Red Ridinghood." These stories are designed to scare us and have become the banner for wolf hatred. Missouri has, or more likely had two wolves; the red wolf (Canis rufus) and the grey wolf (Canis lupus). Native Americans lack a hatred for wolves, and it wasn't until the immigration of Europeans that the hatred of wolves made it to North America...

To the editor:Century High School would like to thank both your newspaper and Lorrie Christman for the donation to our school of a Magnavox stereo console. Ms. Christman read in your paper about our need and contacted our vocal music teacher, Nancy Robinson.We appreciate your willingness to run our request and are grateful to Ms. ...

This past week saw the return of lawmakers to Jefferson City for what is officially called the Second Regular Session of the 89th General Assembly. In even-numbered years such as this, lawmakers form up for their duties aware that biennial elections will be held this November. ...

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom."(James 3:13) Most of us have recently finished celebrating Christmas, the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ. My favorite Christmas story as a child was the story of the wise men coming to worship Jesus.(You can read this in your Bibles in Matthew chapter 2)...

Early Thursday morning found this writer at Mel Carnahan's prayer breakfast. That would be the annual Governor's Prayer Breakfast, held each year the first week of the legislative session in Jefferson City. Believe me, in your state Capitol, we can all use the prayers. ...

To the editor: The winners laugh and joke, and the losers say shut up and deal. For the last three years, Missouri's gambling-boat operators have laughed and joked, all at the expense of Missouri citizens. Now the Missouri Supreme Court says, "You lose."Previously, when they thought they had the winning hand, the gamblers played fast and loose with the law and the gaming commission. ...

"Target 2005: A World Without Polio." Rotary International, founded in Chicago in 1905, wants to give the world a present in observance of its 100th birthday in 2005 -- freedom from the threat of polio. Rotary officials agree that at one time, it was a naive dream...

Southeast Missouri State University may raise an estimated $25 million in a new capital campaign, including $7.5 million for construction of a performing arts center. The campaign is still in the planning stages and nothing has been finalized, said Wayne Davenport, who heads up fund-raising at the university...

Suanne Baker and Amanda Benn listened carefully and followed the directions precisely as they climbed into a canoe floating in Central Municipal Swimming Pool Saturday. The sixth-grade Junior Girl Scouts from Franklin Elementary School didn't want that canoe to flip with them in it...

It was summertime 1949, and the living was easy in Cape Girardeau. But, two big events of that year still provide some vivid memories -- the tornado in May, which left death and destruction in its wake, and a polio epidemic that spread throughout the city, state and nation in July...

Charles Woodford is only slightly worried that he's putting the cart before the mule on his latest project to promote Missouri's official animal. In six years, a new commemorative quarter will be minted for Missouri. George Washington will still be on the "heads" side, but Woodford would like to see the mule on the "tails" side...

Someone once quipped that birthdays are nice to have, but too many of them will kill a person. Birthdays are as inevitable as death and taxes, and a lot more fun -- at least, when you're a kid. Children and adults don't view birthdays the same way. When you're young, you look forward to birthdays. With all those presents, it's practically like a second Christmas...

Southeast Missouri State University's Indians got their intensity back Saturday night, but it didn't matter. Middle Tennessee State was simply too good. The Raiders put on a clinic of textbook basketball at both ends of the floor as they rolled to a 70-55 Ohio Valley Conference victory...

People who have followed Southeast Missouri State University football for a while might remember their names -- or they might not -- but two former SEMO assistant coaches have quickly made their mark in the National Football League. Jon Gruden and Marty Mornhinweg, a couple of guys who spent only a brief time in Cape Girardeau, are certainly more well known around the NFL than they ever were around this area...

Once again Southeast Missouri State University will be hosting golf development clinics during February and March. The clinics are open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis. The two sessions will be Feb. 3-26 and March 3-26. The sessions will be in the evenings from 6:30-8. Cost of $50...

A coed volleyball tournament will be held Saturday Jan. 17 at Southern Missouri Christian School in Poplar Bluff. Entry fee is $50 and T-shirts will be awarded to the top three places. For more information, call (573)998-2978.

A girls fastpitch softball tournament for `B' level teams in four age divisions will be held June 5-7 in Sullivan, Mo. Entry fee is $150 before April 1 and $160 thereafter. For more information, contact Carol Sifford (12 and under) at (573)732-4262; Patty Thurmond (14 and under) at (573)732-4262; Bruce Head (16 and under) at (573)468-3761; and Patti Jo Roberts (18 and under) at (573)468-4363...

The annual Cardinal Caravan will visit the Osage Community Center in Cape Girardeau on Friday, Jan. 16. The program will begin at 6 p.m., followed by a 6:30 dinner and a kids only autograph session. Cost is a $3 donation to Cape Girardeau youth baseball...

The Cape Area Youth Soccer Association (CAYSA) will hold its spring youth soccer sign-ups Jan. 18 and Jan. 25 at the Venture Courtyard at West Park Mall from noon to 5 p.m. The league is open to all youths ranging from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade...

Tickets are now available for Cape Central's 3rd Annual Tiger Shootout at the Tiger Fieldhouse Jan. 17. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $4 at Howards Sporting Goods on Broadway or contact Central athletic director Terry Kitchen at the high school. Tickets will be $5 at the door...

Defense -- or a lack of it -- was the primary downfall for Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team Saturday evening. The Otahkians allowed Middle Tennessee State to get virtually any shot it wanted in a first half that set the tone for the entire contest...

FLORISANT -- The Cape Central Lady Tigers had an easy time with the Lady Hawks of Hazelwood Central, improving their record to 8-4 overall with a 53-36 win Saturday afternoon. Freshman Katie Dougherty was the only Lady Tiger in double figures, totaling a game-high 15 points. Dionna Webb, Courtney Haman and Erica McDonald all added eight points...

JACKSON -- The Jackson Lady Indians appear ready for another run at the Class 4A championship. Saturday's 68-65 win at home over state-ranked St. Joseph's Academy, coupled with a victory earlier in the week over fourth-ranked Poplar Bluff, should serve as evidence of that...

The Missouri Conservation Commission will hold its next regular meeting Jan. 22 at the Cape Girardeau Conservation Service Center, 2302 County Park Drive. The meeting will begin with a closed, executive session at 8:30 a.m. The open portion of the meeting will begin at 10:15 a.m...

STE. GENEVIEVE -- Arthur V. Schwent, 62, of Ste. Genevieve died Friday, Jan. 9, 1998, at his residence. He was born at New Offenburg, Aug. 17, 1935, son of Frank and Josephine Schwent. He married Dolores M. Hurst June 13, 1959, at St. Louis. She survives...

SIKESTON -- Albert Merrell, 63, of Sikeston died Friday, Jan. 9, 1998, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Sept. 15, 1934, in Qulin, son of Frank F. and Laura Thelma Shirley Merrell. He was a plumbing, heating and air-conditioning technician for many years with William Plumbing and Heating. He also owned Al's Custom Back-Hoe Service...

CHARLESTON -- John Derek Mock, 24, of Route 1, Bertrand, died Saturday, Jan. 10, 1998, at his residence. He was born Nov. 17, 1973, in Sikeston, son of Thomas Mock and Patricia Duckett Jones. He was a welder. He married Sherry Western on Dec. 18, 1997. She survives...

Dr. George Robert Weeks, 71, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 9, 1998, at the Lutheran Home. He was born April 2, 1926, in Eldon, son of Curtis Graham and Freda Walker Weeks. He married Joan Manuel Feb. 3, 1951, in Wichita, Kan. She survives. Weeks was an anesthesiologist. He opened a private practice in Cape Girardeau in 1959 and worked until retirement in 1987...

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and the 8th Congressional District Business and Economic Development Advisory Team will meet with U.S. Rep. Jim Talent, chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Small Business, Jan. 20, for a roundtable discussion. The two-hour session, 9 to 11 a.m., will be held at Glenn Auditorium, Robert A. Dempster Hall on Southeast Missouri State University campus...

Cape Girardeau's public works crews have always known that a little salt helps cut right through snow and ice. But now they're spraying it before the frozen stuff starts. The city's Department of Public Works is using a brine solution, sprayed before inclement weather arrives, to help make snow and ice easier to remove from pavement...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Angel Renee Partain, infant daughter of Jimmy and Lorrean Barlow Partain of Jonesboro, died Thursday, Jan. 8, 1998 at Carbondale Memorial Hospital. She is survived by her parents; maternal grandparents, Carl and Betty Hutchison of Anna; paternal grandparents, Betty Turner of Jonesboro, Ill., and Alvin Partain of Jonesboro, Ark.; and great-paternal grandmother, Zetta Baker of Jonesboro, Ark...

A French press steeps the coffee grounds and enhances the flavor. Melinda Cook, manager of Gospeland Book Store at the West Park Mall, drew a cup of Latte coffee fro a LaCimbail cappuccino machine. Legend has it that when a Ethiopian herder named Kaldi saw his goats frolicking in the wild after eating the leaves and berries of a then-unfamiliar shrub, he tried the berries himself and soon changed the habits of the world. What Kaldi had discovered in the Ethiopian wild was coffee...

Sometimes, after most of a century has passed before you, you can look back and see turning points in your life, some big or little thing that determined the road you would take. The first and dominant one for me was that moment when I realized that God was talking back to me in a manner I chose to believe. ...

Glenn Tompkins, author of the book, "The House on Riddle Hill," will be the guest Sunday on KRCU's "Going Public" program. The locally-produced, half-hour show can be heard at 3 p.m. on the region's public radio station, 90.9 FM. Tompkins will discuss the book, which includes his memories and stories about growing up poor in Southeast Missouri during the Great Depression...