Stories from Friday, January 23, 1998

To the editor: Just a couple of weeks ago I wrote a letter concerning the gambling boats in moats and how their owners were not longer laughing. Well, now they are laughing again, thanks to Cole County Circuit Judge Byron Kinder. It seems Judge Kinder does not want the Missouri Gaming Commission to do its job. He has prohibited the commission from meeting to even consider what should be done until he has decided how they should do their job...

If you just got off the scale, adjusted the dial, and then stepped back on again feeling that the reading just couldn't be right, but up, up, up the numbers went, finally settling on a trio of digits that you thought you would never see between your own two feet, you're not alone. Also, if you are like most, you probably feel miserable, depressed and angry at yourself for your lack of self-control at all those extra-heavy holiday dinners...

SCOTT CITY -- "Hey, who's that vice-president guy?" The answer to the question oft-repeated by Scott City elementary school students was usually answered by Missouri Lt. Gov. Roger Wilson, the "vice-president" in question. Wilson visited the school district to discuss its interest in TechCorps, a volunteer initiative that provides free technology assistance by professionals and retirees to schools. The district is one of the first in Missouri to apply for TechCorps assistance...

The Area Wide United Way celebrated it's past year's successes as it's annual meeting held on Thursday. Board members, volunteers, campaign coordinators and agency directors meet to approve a slate of new directors, review the past year's accomplishments and look to 1998...

Cecilia Kuntz expected to get little more than a handshake from the governor. Instead, the Cape Girardeau Central High School junior and nine other students and their parents spent a half hour chatting with Gov. Mel Carnahan in his Jefferson City office prior to his giving the State of the State speech Wednesday...

JACKSON -- The Jackson Chamber of Commerce is considering an expansion that could include hiring an economic developer, possibly in partnership with the City of Jackson. Noting the city's rapid growth, a questionnaire recently sent to the chamber membership seeks comments on whether the chamber should enlarge its mission and whether any expansion should include employing someone to promote the city...

Gary Underwood, a licensed professional councilor, at The Community Counciling Center, demonstrated a biofeedback machine to Brenda Schniedermeyer, a clinical therapist at the center. The machine measures musclar tension, galvanic skin temperature, peripheral skin temperature, blood volume/pulse and heart rate. The machine is used to help patients learn to recognize and reduce mental and physical stress...

From the Mid-Missouri Business Journal The month of January is one full of optimism and new beginnings. Unfortunately, January also brings moments of frustration. Thanks to the Internal Revenue Service, most folks check the mail this month with dread. In what seems like a cruel joke, one of the first pieces of mail Americans receive each new year is a tax return booklet...

To the editor: The Southeast Missouri Business Group on Health would like to comment on the proposed study by a joint committee of Southeast Missouri Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center regarding the possibilities of affiliation by these hospitals...

It is confusing enough that a new Medicare law which took effect Jan. 1 has some new rules and regulations. But it is simply terrible that an advocacy group is stirring up Medicare recipients by exaggerating or misrepresenting the impact of those new rules on elderly patients in need of health care...

Allegations regarding President Clinton's personal lifestyle, including accusations that he has had affairs with various women, have plagued him since he was governor of Arkansas. This week's news that he allegedly had an affair with a White House intern adds a new dimension...

To the editor: It has been 25 years this month since the legalization of abortion in this country. For 25 years it has remained a controversial and emotional issue for both sides. I believe that abortion has become the defining issue of our humanity as a nation...

A Missouri Conservation Department nature center for the Cape Girardeau area is next on a list for construction; the department just needs a way to fund it. Ronald J. Stites, a commission member, said Thursday that a lease-purchase financing plan proposed by Cape Girardeau County officials may be the answer...

During a training exercise last fall, David Hitt, emergency operations director for Cape Girardeau County, was confident the emergency plan he and others put together would work. Ten minutes into the mock disaster, Hitt stood with a stack of messages in one hand and a ringing telephone in the other, and realized he didn't know what to do next...

Healing has always happened inside the walls of St. Francis Medical Center. Now the hospital wants to take it outside. St. Francis Medical Center's Foundation is building a healing garden for patients and their families. The garden will be between the hospital building and the new Healing Arts Center, and should be open in mid-May, said Bill Kiel, foundation director...

A new cable franchise agreement reached last November between Cape Girardeau and TCI Cablevision of Missouri will mean more cable television stations being available by April in the Cape Girardeau-Jackson area. Plans announced by TCI this week include the addition of 36 channels to its programming when it launches its new digital entertainment system April 1. That will bring the total number of available channels to 77, plus 10 music stations through Digital Music Express...

The White House was home to back-stabbing, young staff members a year ago, a former White House intern from Cape Girardeau says. Christopher Robertson worked as an intern to President Clinton's chief of staff, Erskine Bowles, from January to May of last year. He worked as an intern while a senior at Southeast Missouri State University...

The answer came Wednesday at the Governor's Mansion: Admire the food, say something nice -- and then dig in. Once again, the governor of the great state of Missouri has delivered his State of the State address before a joint session of the General Assembly. And, once again, yours truly was among newspaper editors invited to the governor's house for lunch right after all the hoopla in the Capitol...

A new name, new logo and wider service area were among topics discussed by AmerenUE executives Thursday. "We do have a new name, but we're the same company offering the same services -- low rates and quality services," said William J. Carr, AmerenUE vice president. Carr was in Cape Girardeau to discuss the recent merger between Union Electric and CIPSCO, parent company of Central Illinois Public Service Co. (CIPS)...

BENTON -- Two of the hottest girls basketball teams in the area faced off Thursday night at Kelly High School. State-ranked Jackson kept cooking while Kelly just got cooked. The Lady Indians, ranked third in Class 4A and No. 1 in Southeast Missouri, won their eighth straight to improve to 13-1 with a 70-39 victory over the Lady Hawks. Kelly, one of the top 2A teams in the area which had won six in a row, fell to 12-4...

He's not the flashiest guy on the team. He's not the quickest and doesn't jump the highest. He's also not the best shooter. But what Demetrius Watson has been so far, according to coach Gary Garner, is Southeast Missouri State University's most consistent basketball player...

Southeast Missouri State University baseball coach Mark Hogan will receive a special honor Saturday when he is inducted into the El Dorado (Kan.) Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Hogan was the pitching coach for the Wichita Broncos team that won the National Baseball Congress World Series in 1989. While working with the Broncos, Hogan was involved in other community events in El Dorado, which is a suburb of Wichita...

SCOTT CITY -- Scott County Central High's girls basketball team kept Scott City in its recent slump by beating the host Lady Rams 49-40 Thursday night. The Bravettes improved to 6-8 overall and a perfect 3-0 in Scott-Mississippi Conference play. The Lady Rams fell to 8-5, 0-2 in the league...

THEBES, Ill. -- Delanie Pearson, 71, of Thebes died Thursday, Jan. 22, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center. Arrangements are pending at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms.

CAIRO, Ill. -- Sue Lipe Wilson, 55, of Cairo died Thursday, Jan. 22, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Arrangements are pending at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms.

PARMA -- Funeral service for Hattie Edge of Parma will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Parma. The Rev. Jody Duncan will officiate, with burial in Dexter Cemetery at Dexter. Friends may call at the funeral home from 6:30-8:30 p.m. today...

SIKESTON -- Charles K. Patterson, 79, of St. Peters, formerly of Sikeston, died Wednesday, Jan. 21, 1998, at his home. He was born Sept. 18, 1918, at Malden, son of W.G. and Martha M. Lane Patterson. He and Mamie M. Farr were married Sept. 27, 1936...

ESSEX -- Orval B. Patterson, 76, of Essex died Wednesday, Jan. 21, 1998, at Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter. He was born Aug. 18, 1921, in Rector, Ark., son of John Wesley and Irene Howe Patterson. He and Mildred Warthen were married July 16, 1941, at Bloomfield...

DEXTER -- Omega Miller of Jacksonville, Ark., formerly of Dexter, died Wednesday, Jan. 21, 1998, at Rebesman Hospital in Jacksonville. Watkins and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

ANNA, Ill. -- Joseph E. Bennett, 89, of Anna died Thursday, Jan. 22, 1998, at Illinois Veterans Home in Anna. Crain Funeral Home in Anna is in charge of arrangements.

Iris Ruth Sparks, 86, 3200 Kage Road, died Tuesday, Jan. 20, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Jan. 1, 1912, in Union City, Ill., daughter of Julius Frank and Mathilda Barringer Karraker. She and Lloyd B. Sparks were married Dec. 24, 1937, at Benton. He died April 18, 1977...

MOREHOUSE -- Margaret Patricia Myers, 56, of Morehouse died Wednesday, Jan. 21, 1998, at her home. She was born Nov. 20, 1941, in Memphis, Tenn., daughter of Pat and Margaret Moriarty Rowell. She and Fred O. Myers were married Aug. 14, 1976. Myers worked at the Bank of Sikeston 10 years, and had owned and operated Tricia's Country Shoppe...

GRAND CHAIN, Ill. -- Gertrude Dover, 94, of Grand Chain died Wednesday, Jan. 21, 1998, at Magnolia Manor Nursing Home in Metropolis. She was the daughter of George and Mamie Dry King. She married Jasper Dover, who preceded her in death. Dover was a member of First Christian Church...

Lester Hayes Null Sr., 73, of East Liverpool, Ohio, died Tuesday, Jan. 6, 1998. He was born May 21, 1924, at Hahn, son of Caria and Bertha Shell Null. Null was a member of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church. He served with the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific and the Philippines during World War II...

CHAFFEE -- Frank F. Arnzen, 94, of Chaffee died Thursday, Jan. 22, 1998, at Chaffee Nursing Center. He was born Jan. 27, 1903, at Leopold, son of William and Josephine Nenninger Arnzen. He and Minnie M. Eftink were married Oct. 25, 1927. She died April 29, 1990...

Georgia E. Hobbs, 80, 226 Albert, died Thursday, Jan. 22, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Feb. 13, 1917, in West Eminence, daughter of George and Minnie Bell Spencer Hamilton. She and Ivan Hobbs were married Aug. 23, 1983, in Cape Girardeau...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Carolyn Jo "Jody" Coffman, 48, of Barnhart, formerly of Cairo, died Thursday, Jan. 22, 1998, in Jefferson County. Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo is in charge of arrangements.

MARBLE HILL -- F. Rae Ward, 68, of Marble Hill died Thursday, Jan. 22, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 25, 1929, at Harrell, Ark., daughter of Beau and Bessie Johnson Hopper. She and Gene Ward were married June 29, 1948...

Daughter to James Ardell and Connie Sue Perry of Chaffee, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:39 a.m. Friday, Jan. 16, 1998. Name, Rachel Sue. Weight, 7 pounds 12 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Perry is the former Connie Donley, daughter of Betty Donley of Chaffee. Perry is the son of Doris Yahn of Chaffee. He is a construction worker...

Herbert Hadley Carr, age 86, of Auxvasse, Missouri, died Wednesday, January 7, 1998 at the Audrain Medical Center in Mexico, Missouri. He was born January 16, 1911 in Crawford County, near Bland, Missouri to A.O. and Cora E. (Sites) Carr. On August 4, 1937 he married Olive Rowena McCarty of Oran, Missouri. She survives at their home...