Stories from Thursday, March 12, 1998

Hollywood Casino in Tunica, Miss., has announced the acquisition of major memorabilia pieces created for the production of "Titanic," the top-grossing motion picture of all time. The biggest of the acquired pieces is the 28-foot long, 6,000 pound, 1/8 scale model of the stern of the ocean liner. The model was designed and built for the production by Donald Pennington, Inc...

You won't have trouble keeping S.L. and Loretta Pemberton out of the saddle. The trick-riding couple have mastered horseback acrobatics to the point that it's hard to find them just sitting still on a horse. They will be part of the entertainment at the 11th annual Longhorn World Championship Rodeo at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, which begins Friday and runs through Sunday...

Many of the characters in the short stories of Damon Runyon are two-bit gamblers living just this side of the law and looking for a sure thing, a safe bet. They would have found that sure thing, that safe bet, with Cape Central High School's production of "Guys and Dolls," a musical inspired by the characters and stories of Runyon. The production, which opens for three days beginning tonight, is as slick and as savvy as the characters who inhabit it...

Cape Girardeau's Planning and Zoning Commission has approved a request for a sixth floor on an office building under construction, but commission members weren't happy about the timing of the request. The commission Wednesday granted on a 4-2 vote a special-use permit to allow Drury Southwest Inc. to build the additional floor on the building at 3065 William St. The addition was already under construction...

The Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence has begun to see results in bringing law enforcement, social-services agencies, medical personnel and crisis counselors under one roof to handle sexual assault cases. Bettie Knoll, the group's secretary, said she hopes the organization will have funding and a permanent home within the next 12 months. The group's 12-member board meets monthly, and members of the group meet with the board every other month to hear what progress has been made...

March 12, 1998 Dear David, Our friends Karin and John are moving to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico at the end of the school year. He teaches science now but will teach math in Mexico. Karin, who is a dentist, will give up the chair to be his teacher's aide...

To the editor: I would like to respond to a comment made by Dr. Kathleen Conway in a recent letter to the editor, which said, "Since species become endangered most frequently as a consequence of habitat loss, and since the two habitat types that we have most reduced are prairies and wetlands, it is not surprising to find that many of the species on the checklist of rare and endangered species are prairie and wetland inhabitants. ...

MY HUSBAND and I regularly pledge to Southeast Missouri Hospital. Both of us resent Southeast's appearing to cave in to religious pressure to prohibit needed services to area women. We go to Southeast exclusively for that exact reason. It's there to serve the needs of the community, including those who need and prefer a choice. ...

For most of us, this winter has been a pleasant one as far as the weather is concerned. Snow bunnies who shift to sunnier climes in what are supposed to be our coldest months have found themselves often experiencing worse weather than if they had stayed at home. Meanwhile, golf courses in our area have been busy through December, January and February...

Hand it to the residents of the Old Appleton community on the Cape Girardeau-Perry county line. They don't give up, and years of effort are finally paying off. In 1982, the town's century old bridge across Apple Creek was washed out by flooding. The structure is believed to be the oldest iron bridge in the state still at its original site...

To the editor: About a balanced federal budget, budget surplus and privatizing Social Security and-or trust fund, a hideous knot of misinformation prevails. What is being touted as a balanced budget and even a surplus is perpetrated by using money borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund and other trust funds as current income (this will amount to about $184 billion this current year). In real terms, there will be no balanced budget, much less a surplus...

To the editor: On behalf of the board of directors of the Area Wide United Way and all of the people of our community, I am writing to thank you and your staff for your support of the United Way. We are fortunate to live in a community where our local media have such a deep sense of commitment to caring. ...

POPLAR BLUFF -- A hot night of state playoff basketball got a little too warm Wednesday night at Poplar Bluff High School. A fire in a concession stand in the gymnasium caused a change in venue and lengthy delay for Wednesday night's Class 1A Sectional basketball games...

For a year East Carter County High's Kara Phillips pondered bitter memories of her team allowing Notre Dame a game-winning, season-stealing 9-0 run in the Class 2A sectional game. Her chance for redemption came Wednesday night. Consider her redeemed...

Considering a week that saw one of his players sustain a broken nose and dislocated finger and his star player hospitalized with a concussion, Scott City basketball coach Derek McCord should have seen the writing on the wall. But he didn't and that made Wednesday's 56-47 loss to Portageville in the Class 2A Sectional at Cape Central's Tiger Field House all the more painful...

POPLAR BLUFF -- Beating Holcomb by 17 points is one thing. But beating Ste. Genevieve Valle by 22 is another. It's no wonder, then, that Delta High's boys basketball team was feeling mighty good about itself Wednesday night after routing Valle 73-51 in a Class 1A sectional game...

Despite an easy win over Naylor Monday night, Scott County Central High girls basketball coach Semona Penrod was disappointed in her team's play. But Penrod's disappointment turned to extreme satisfaction Wednesday night as the Bravettes rolled past Ste. Genevieve Valle 71-43 in a Class 1A sectional game...

Andy Blattel School: Delta Class: Senior Sport: Basketball Position: Center Coach: Nate Crowden Week report: Blattel stepped up his play last week with two double-double performances as Delta claimed its first district title since 1976. In an 89-62 semifinal win over Richland, the 6-foot Blattel totaled 20 points and 10 rebounds. In the title game Friday against Scott County Central, Blattel responded with another 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in an 81-66 victory...

NEW ORLEANS -- Southeast Missouri State University's golf team struggled overall but Jason Owen had a strong performance during the two-day New Orleans Collegiate Classic that ended Tuesday. Owen tied for sixth with a 36-hole total of 151, which is 7 over par...

PERRYVILLE -- Kenneth H. Burcham, 70, of Perryville died Monday, March 9, 1998, at Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 14, 1927, in St. Charles, son of Closs and Mary Burcham. He married Mildred Davis. Burcham had worked at Rexall Drug Co. in St. Louis, and at St. Charles Dairy. He was a member of St. Charles Auxiliary Police Department, and lifetime member of VFW Post 2866. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II...

PERRYVILLE -- Ludwina T. "LaVina" Meyer, 87, died Monday, March 9, 1998, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Dec. 1, 1910, at Biehle, daughter of Henry and Julia Lappe Blechle. She and Walter L. Meyer were married May 4, 1940, at Apple Creek...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Funeral for William Robert McCain of Jonesboro will be held at 1 p.m. today at Hileman and Parr Funeral Home. Friends may call at the funeral home from 9 a.m. until service time. McCain, 41, died Tuesday, March 10, 1998, at Union County Hospital in Anna...

SCOTT CITY -- Melvin Choate, 33, of Ramona, Calif., died Tuesday, March 10, 1998, at his home. He is formerly of Scott City. Amick-Burnett Funeral Home at Scott City is in charge of arrangements.

Cecil L. Pletcher, 76, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, March 11, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Jan. 15, 1922, in Stoddard County, son of Leo R. and Wilma Strauser Pletcher. He and Bonnie R. Bollinger were married Aug. 29, 1947, in Piggott, Ark. She died Sept. 21, 1997...

James B. Pierce, 80, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, March 10, 1998, at Missouri Veterans Home. He was born Oct. 29, 1917, at Jackson, son of Victor C. and Lorena P. Wahl Pierce. He and Rosie Koenig were married Sept. 16, 1939, at Jackson. Pierce was a truck driver 35 years. He began work with Kimbel Trucking, which was bought by Delta and later by ABF Truckline...

MILL CREEK, Ill. -- Yvonne Land, 59, of Mill Creek died Tuesday, March 10, 1998, at her home. Hileman and Parr Funeral Home in Jonesboro is in charge of arrangements.

EAST PRAIRIE -- James R. Miller, 75, of East Prairie died Tuesday, March 10, 1998, at Veterans Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. He was born Sept. 18, 1922, in Ridgely, Tenn., son of Nathan and Lona M. Henderson Miller. He and Mary E. Brewer were married March 15, 1946...

Shirley M. Mainord, 61, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, March 11, 1998, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born July 2, 1936, at Sikeston, daughter of George and Edna Modest Reynolds DeRoush. She and Carl E. Mainord were married Nov. 25, 1956, at Poplar Bluff. He died Oct. 8, 1994...

CHAFFEE -- Vernon C. Menz, 63, Chaffee Route 1, died Wednesday, March 11, 1998, at Festus. He was born Jan. 27, 1935, at New Hamburg, son of Theon Henry and Bertha Katherine Hahn Menz. Menz worked in the service department at Dow Chemical Co. in Pevely. He was a member of St. Lawrence Catholic Church...

OAK RIDGE -- Onetta Wipfler, 76, of Oak Ridge died Wednesday, March 11, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 24, 1922, at Mesler, daughter of Louis J. and Florence E. Bollinger. She married Charles Z. Wipfler on Feb. 14, 1942. He survives...