Stories from Thursday, May 21, 1998

To the editor: There was a Speak Out comment May 13 that I feel was in very poor taste. Yes, we are all allowed to have our own opinion. But if the person who called in about "Dogs don't deserve human treatment" had seen all that I have in the past five years, they might feel differently. ...

For members of the Zenon River Brigade, history comes to life. Members of this local re-enactment group meticulously detail the clothing, equipment and food of the 1700s and then "live the life" during re-enactments. Group members will provide a narrative about the French influences of the region during Monday's French Heritage Festival. Their program will begin at 11:15 a.m. at the Gazebo on the Common Pleas Courthouse grounds...

Kirk Hanser played guitar in the Jackson High School Jazz Band in the early 1980s and fooled around with rock 'n' roll while an exchange student in Finland. But he stuck with classical music. "I get something out of just about every style of music, but (playing classical guitar) was the one thing I actually had to work at," he said...

The French will rule during Monday's Le Fete Francaise Festival in Cape Girardeau. The French Heritage Festival will be headquartered at the Common Pleas Courthouse, off of Lorimier Street. The free festival will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Judith Ann Lang, event coordinator, invites families to participate in this day of history and song. She encourages people to bring lawn chairs and blankets for a picnic atmosphere...

I WANT to congratulate and compliment you on your pictorial memorial and tremendous write-up on Gene Huckstep. We've never had one like him. We'll never have another one like him, and I'm just very proud the Southeast Missourian recognized his efforts and his achievements. You did a wonderful job. You are to be highly commended for it...

The just-completed session of the General Assembly is being hailed for having passed more major bills than any session in recent years. The only recent session to compare with it would be the 1993 session, which gave us Mel Carnahan's higher taxes without the vote of the people he had promised short months before. As with that year, this year gave us some measures to praise and others to deplore...

To the editor: As a current AmeriCorps member, I would like to address the viewpoint stated in the May 17 editorial. First of all, when reading the opinion, I noticed many references to the Clinton administration and its involvement in instituting the program. I wonder if the viewpoint stated is a reaction to the program itself, or is it based on a political point of view?...

Ameritech technicians were still working frantically Wednesday to link their pager users to a different satellite. "We have deployed manpower to reset all of our towers in the outstate area," said Donna Hanschen of the area Ameritech Communication Center...

The annual Fourth of July festival in Cape Girardeau is back. A one-day event is planned complete with a fireworks display and parade. "We asked people to come forward and volunteer to help, and by golly they did," said Rodger Brown, the event's co-chairman. "We really are just overwhelmed."...

True summer hasn't hit yet, but for many people the heat inside and outside their homes is becoming too much to bear. Warm air from the Gulf of Mexico and high humidity that moved into the area over the weekend have caused people to "feel the heat a little more," said Bob Watson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky. ...

Former Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Norman Copeland presented his Excellence Awards Wednesday. From left, Matt Seyer, Copeland, Cheryl Robb-Welch and Annette Werner. A Cape Girardeau County deputy, who was in on Tuesday's capture of a St. Louis man wanted in a Southeast Missouri manhunt, has been presented the county's highest award for a law enforcement officer -- the Timothy J. Ruopp Award...

Dr. John Hinni has plenty to do in retirement. The retiring dean of Southeast Missouri State University's School of University Studies plans to study tiger beetles, create beaded, Indian war bonnets for his grandchildren, sew some quilts and read a lot of books...

May 21, 1998 Dear Dr. Dawson, I wish the elated graduates who packed the Show Me Center Saturday had seen the university professors and staffers honored the next day at the retirement ceremony. They might have seen themselves 40 years hence in the faces of the retirees...

The Cape Girardeau Public Library will hold its annual Summer Reading Kick-off Carnival from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. May 30 on the library's back parking lot. The carnival will be the first official sign-up time for the summer reading program at the library. This year's theme is "Summer Readers = Adventure Seekers."...

Cape Girardeau now has 17 official truck routes. The City Council and city staff had been working to revise the truck traffic ordinance, which previously listed the streets on which trucks and motorized equipment weighing more than 24,000 pounds were prohibited...

Cape Girardeau's public awareness coordinator has a new title and a new chain of command to follow -- but the job itself remains the same. The new title is public information officer, and the position -- now held by Tracey Glenn -- will report directly to city manager Michael Miller from now on...

Dick Decker, director of the Gibson Recovery Center Inc., will be going for a long walk Saturday. Decker and some of his staff will start walking Saturday morning and keep going until they can't go any farther to raise funds for the center, which provides alcohol- and drug-abuse treatment programs for men...

WICHITA, Kan. -- It will be a classic David vs. Goliath matchup tonight when Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team makes its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament. In one corner is host Wichita State, the No. 1 seed in the six-team Midwest Regional, the nation's second-ranked squad and owner of a national-best .375 team batting average...

Cape Girardeau Central High's girls swim team has dealt with more than opposing swimmers the past five weeks. Wind ripped the nylon bubble April 13 that covers the Central Pool. Since then the Lady Tigers have endured 5:15 a.m. practices at Southeast Missouri State University's Parker Pool, which doesn't have starting blocks...

INA, Ill. -- Former Scott City basketball standout, Tara Sanford, continues to make her mark at Rend Lake College. After earning all-conference honors in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference last month, Sanford was recently named most valuable player of the Lady Warriors' basketball team in a vote of her peers...

Matt Underwood School: Scott City Class: Sophomore Sport: Track Events: 100, 200 meters and relays Coach: Terry Flannigan Week report: Underwood won two individual district titles and was on two winning relay teams, qualifying him to compete in four events at this weekend's Class 2A state meet. ...

JACKSON -- Third-seed Perryville got a goal from Amanda Schumer in the final two minutes of its first-round District 1 contest with Notre Dame to prevail 2-1. The victory marks the third time this season the Lady Pirates knocked off Notre Dame, which ends its season at 8-13-1...

Members of the Kelly High School track team who will be competing in state track competition at Jefferson CIty Friday are, front row from left, Chad Melton, Amy Arteme, Holly Slavings, Jennifer Forck, Tiffany Glastetter and Joe Livingston. Middle row, Jenny Riley, Melissa Melton, Laura Ruff, Megan Nelson, April Cousins and Natalie Robert. Back row, C.O. Scheffer, Daniel Mothershead, Luke Choate, Jobi Berry and Nathan King. Not shown, Pam Essner...

Daughter to Gerald L. and Carmen R. Robinson Jr. of Benton, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9 p.m. Thursday, May 14, 1998. Name, Christy Marie. Weight, 8 pounds 3 ounces. Third child, first daughter. Mrs. Robinson is the former Carmen Skelton, daughter of Dorothy Skelton of Gordonville. Robinson is the son of Gerald Robinson Sr. of Cape Girardeau and Wendy Robinson of Kankakee, Ill. He is a truck driver with Crouse Cartage Co...

SCOTT CITY -- Funeral for Henry E. Perr of Scott City will be held at 10 a.m. today at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel in Cape Girardeau. The Revs. Robert Kirite and Joel Sarrault will officiate, with burial in Lorimier Cemetery in Cape Girardeau. Perr, 91, died Monday, May 18, 1998, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau...

BLOOMFIELD -- Funeral for Joyce Ann Patterson of Bloomfield will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter. The Revs. Mike Brown and Danny Marshall will officiate. Burial will be in Bloomfield Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

ANNA, Ill. -- Funeral for Wendi Ann Miles of Missoula, Mont., will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Hough Funeral Home in Raymond. The Rev. Kent Lolling and Pastor Tom Snell will officiate, with burial in West Eden Cemetery at Cypress. Friends may call at the funeral home from 3-8 p.m. today...

POCAHONTAS -- Norma Jean Gilbert, 65, of Pocahontas died Tuesday, May 19, 1998, at her home. She was born Jan. 17, 1933, at Marble Hill, daughter of Orville J. and Lela Pulliam Kirkpatrick. She and Charles S. Gilbert were married April 11, 1973. Gilbert attended Patton Church of God...

CHAFFEE -- W.W. "Bill" Ancell, 82, of Holt Summit died Tuesday, May 19, 1998, at St. Mary Hospital in Jefferson City. He was born July 8, 1915, in Biggers, Ark., son of Walter and Ethel Hooker. He was later adopted by Thornton Harvey and Edna Mae Matthews Ancell. He and Grace F. Shores were married Sept. 30, 1935. She died Sept. 19, 1997...

JACKSON -- Lisa Bullard, 34, of Jackson died Wednesday, May 20, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 16, 1963, in Avon Park, Fla., daughter of Wesley and Linda McClure Newsome. Bullard was a 1981 graduate of Avon Park High School. She moved to Jackson 10 years ago from Avon Park...

Four people were injured Wednesday afternoon in Stoddard County when their vehicle struck a tractor-trailer. The accident occurred at the intersection of Route 153 and Route Z when the driver of the tractor-trailer, which was westbound on Route Z, failed to yield to a vehicle driven by David Summerton, 61 of Tallapoosa, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The Summerton vehicle was northbound on Route 153 and struck the tractor-trailer...

ORAN -- Germaine M. Schlitt, 82, of Oran died Wednesday, May 20, 1998, at the Chaffee Nursing Center. She was born Feb. 9, 1916, at Oran, daughter of August Jacob and Emma Marie Schlosser Welter. She married Mose L. Schlitt on June 2, 1936. He died Jan. 11, 1979...