Stories from Friday, May 22, 1998

To the editor: I am responding to the April 14 article, "Taxes on Internet sales studied." Your subtitle states, "County officials say fairness key." I would first ask the question, what is meant by fairness? Is fairness a kind of government welfare for local businesses? Do we want the government to intrude more in the free market? Can we not find ways to compete with Internet businesses on our own...

About 25 spots remain for a free bus trip to St. Mary's of the Barrens on Memorial Day. The trip is part of the second annual French Heritage Festival scheduled Monday on the grounds of the Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau. Dr. Michael Roark, a professor at Southeast Missouri State University, will lead the bus trip...

McDonald's most successful Happy Meal program in the company's history begins round two today. A dozen Ty Teenie Beanie Baby designs will be available -- up from 10 last year. The Teenies are miniatures of the regular-sized Beanies, complete with red Ty heart tags...

Area McDonald's restaurants and the Southeast Missourian will be giving away three complete sets of Teenie Beanie Babies in a drawing contest. The contest begins today and runs two weeks. Only children may enter. One complete set will be awarded in the following categories:...

When John Ashcroft, now a U.S. senator, was governor of Missouri, he urged the creation of a special reserve fund that could be used if the state ever found itself in a financial emergency, particularly one caused by some unforseen calamity. As a result, the Legislature passed legislation in 1985 creating the Budget Stabilization Account, popularly known as the Rainy Day Fund...

Never mind the Missouri Supreme Court, which decided last November that riverboat casinos with games of chance -- slot machines -- must be on the main channels of the Mississippi or Missouri rivers, not in artificial ponds. The Missouri Gaming Commission went ahead last week and licensed another boat in a moat in St. Joseph...

To the editor: I would just like to say that I think Missouri never really thought out its requirement to make a felon serve 85 percent of his sentence. This really doesn't do anything by cost the taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars. In the process, it hurts every member of the offender's family, not to mention it gives no incentive to the offender to be sorry for what he did or to get any rehabilitation...

To the editor: I have read with interest an item regarding the best teacher. I have concluded that all teachers are best as far as their skills, knowledge and love for the teaching profession is concerned. All teachers have a love for children and a love of their profession...

To the editor: Curiosity and a little research revealed a startling fact to me that should interest all those who are not brain dead. It was reported in the news media that some, if not all, high schools in Chicago were requiring all seniors to perform some act of community service before they could receive their diplomas. Bear in mind that this was after they had completed all required studies and earned the required credits with passing grades. So they were already entitled to a diploma...

To the editor: About communism, the dictionary says "any system of social organization in which goods are held in common." Another definition which would indicate a capital C refers to a "doctrine and program based on revolutionary Marxian socialism." One example of pure communism is the experience of early Christians who held all things in common until Ananias and Sapphira goofed things up with a capitalistic tendency...

Cleanup of the Missouri Electric Works Superfund site in Cape Girardeau could begin next year, says an Environmental Protection Agency official. Bids are scheduled to be opened June 12 on the project to clean up PCB-contaminated soil on the hilly site on South Kingshighway...

THEBES, Ill. -- Pvt. Horace Lee Caldwell's service to the Union Army during the Civil War will be recognized this weekend, 69 years after his death. A bronze plaque will be placed Saturday at the grave of the Southern Illinois Civil War veteran, commemorating Caldwell's Civil War service, his unit and rank...

The Le Fete Francaise will be celebrated for a second year and will highlight local Memorial Day observances. The French heritage festival begins in St. Louis Saturday, moves to Ste. Genevieve Sunday and concludes in Cape Girardeau Monday. The local celebration offers a mix of French history, food and music...

Petitions to scrap the federal tax code will be presented to lawmakers next month at the National Small Business Summit. The petitions, containing a million or more signatures, call for abolishing the tax code by 2000, said Brad Jones, Missouri state director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses...

Late-afternoon thunderstorms Thursday provided relief from the sweltering heat the Cape Girardeau School District has been battling all week. Students and employees were dismissed from school at mid-day Thursday as heat indexes climbed above 100 degrees in some classrooms. The heat index is the measure of how hot it actually feels to the body. It is based upon the amount of moisture in the air combined with the actual air temperature...

MARBLE HILL -- Three Dexter residents were injured when the truck in which they were passengers overturned on Route Y Thursday afternoon. William Wideman, 27, suffered serious injuries. Two other passengers -- Erica Miller and Robin Stroder, both 19, suffered minor injuries. All three were transported to St. Francis Medical Center...

Former Southeast Missouri State University All-American Kenneth Dement has received the highest honor for college football. On Thursday, Dement was one of six former collegiate standouts named for enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame. "He's really tickled. It's just a nice honor for him," said his son Jerry Dement, head football coach at Cape Central High School and a former Southeast football player himself...

WICHITA, Kan. -- The honors keep rolling in for Southeast Missouri State University pitcher Ryan Spille. The lefthander was Thursday named to the Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I All-American third team. A junior in his first season at Southeast, Spille was the Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year. Prior to Thursday night's game against Wichita State in the NCAA Midwest Regional, Spille was 11-1 with a 2.39 earned-run average...

WICHITA, Kan. -- Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team did not win Thursday night during its first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament appearance. But the Indians certainly gained plenty of respect from Wichita State, the No. 1 seed and host squad for the six-team Midwest Regional...

SIKESTON -- The Cape Central Tiger baseball team will have nearly 24 hours -- and maybe more -- to figure out how to get out of the 3-0 hole they're in after thunderstorms forced the suspension of Thursday's Class 4A, District 1 title game with Sikeston...

JACKSON -- Perryville's girls soccer team is certainly making a big splash in their first-ever district tournament. The third-seeded Lady Pirates got an overtime goal from Stacey Baer to knock off second-seed and tourney host Jackson 1-0 in the late game Thursday. In its first season to field a girls soccer team, Perryville (12-6) will meet defending district champion Cape Central (19-0-1) for the District 1 title Saturday at 11 a.m...

Janice Eckert was recently inducted into the Cape Girardeau Women's Bowling Association Hall of Fame. Eckert has bowled in the local association for 25 years and has served as vice-president of the organization since 1993. She held the office of sergeant-at-arms from 1978-79; was vice-president from 1979-84; and a director from 1988-93. She has also served as president and secretary-treasurer of several leagues...

GOREVILLE, Ill. -- The Rev. Raymond McHugh, 79, of Goreville died Wednesday, May 20, 1998, at Marion Memorial Hospital. He was born Nov. 24, 1918, in Tunnel Hill, son of John and Myrtle Corbet McHugh. He and Mary C. Schierbaum were married Sept. 3, 1936, in Metropolis...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Alice A. Basler, 84, of Cobden died Thursday, May 21, 1998, at Jonesboro Health Care Center in Jonesboro. She was born Sept. 4, 1913, in Cobden, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Stegle Basler. Basler retired from Florsheim Shoe Co., and was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church...

Funeral for Louis A. Schabbing of Neoga, Ill., was held Wednesday at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Sigel, Ill. Burial was in the church cemetery. Bauer Funeral Home in Effingham, Ill., was in charge of arrangements. Schabbing, 83, died Monday, May 18, 1998, at Heartland Christian Village in Neoga...

PORTAGEVILLE -- Richard P. Dial, 78, of Portageville died Wednesday, May 20, 1998, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Sept. 20, 1919, in Tiptonville, Tenn., son of Wright and Addie Nobles Dial. He and Janice Montgomery were married Dec. 27, 1943, at Brokerton...