Stories from Friday, May 29, 1998

To the editor: I want to take this moment to pause, reflect and thank B.W. Harrison for the most generous gift he has bestowed to this community and Southeast Missouri State University. I have admired him greatly since my arrival in Cape Girardeau in 1991. We shared a common passion with several other prominent individuals to see St. Vincent's College and Seminary saved for future generations...

When Christin Yamnitz joins the "Great Strides" Walk for cystic fibrosis Sunday, she'll be on a personal mission. The 16-year-old Patton girl and two of her older brothers all have CF, a life-threatening genetic condition that affects the lungs and digestive systems...

Blood pressure, the force created by your heart as it pumps blood through your body into the arterial blood vessels and their resistance to the flow from your heart, is one way to measure the health of your cardiovascular system. Hypertension (high blood pressure), can be diagnosed with a simple and painless test, and it can be controlled to prevent your heart from working progressively harder to pump blood through your arteries...

A former Cape Girardeau police detective will assume the duties of the investigator for the prosecuting attorney's office as the current investigator leaves the position at the end of the day. John Volkerding, a 25-year veteran with the Cape Girardeau Police Department, will become the new investigator when Karen Sullinger Buchheit steps down after 10 years in the prosecutor's office...

Capaha pitcher Richie Phillips practiced his throwing at Capaha Park to get ready for the season opener tonight. Richie Phillips tossed a weighted medicine ball at a rebounder to work his shoulder muscles. Phillips, who plays for the McDowell Ford Capahas, is recovering from a torn rotator cuff muscle...

WHILE MOST dog owners seem to obey the law and keep their dogs on a leash, why is it that people who own cats feel it's just fine to allow their cats to roam the neighborhoods, ruining people's gardens and landscaping? Is there anything that can be done about this?...

Recently, the chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Michael Dombeck, outlined his goals for our country's forestry agency during a speech in Washington. It struck me that many of the things he was trying to communicate at the national level need to be discussed and better understood in our own state and local communities...

Break out the sparklers. Stock up on hot dogs. Cape Girardeau will have a fine Fourth of July celebration after all. Residents were going to observe our nation's birthday anniversary, of course, but for a while it looked as though there might not be any big fireworks display, or patriotic band music, or any of the other activities that have become holiday staples at Arena Park on Independence Day...

The town of Republic, over near Springfield, Mo., isn't a very big place. But it has come up against a very big problem because of a fish. The fish is used on the city seal, its flag (see drawing) and its stationery. But it is not a bass or a trout. ...

Developing a planning and zoning system for Cape Girardeau County has proven to be a balancing act. How much planning and zoning is enough and how much is too much? "We are trying to get some sort of control in the county," said Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones. "But we don't want to regulate every little thing."...

Cape Girardeau city voters could be asked to approve a bond issue and raise the motel tax to help finance Southeast Missouri State University's development of a River Campus. Another possibility is to ask city voters to extend the existing motel and restaurant taxes, which are set to expire in 2004...

Changes are coming in the Social Security and Medicare programs, but both are financially sound, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and a Social Security expert assured senior citizens Thursday. Emerson and Max Richtman, executive vice president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, spoke at a public forum at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center...

Due to a traffic jam in St. Louis, folk singer Bill Staines was hours late to begin Thursday afternoon's taping for the KRCU-FM show "Your Folk Connection." The taping lasted until after 6 p.m., leaving Staines' less than an hour to prepare for his performance at the Forrest H. Rose Theatre...

Watching a movie made nearly 40 years ago on TV for the first time can be both enjoyable and memorable. Talk about a visit to the past. It all started when my wife and I faced the question we ask ourselves almost every evening: Is there anything to watch on TV?...

The Paw newspaper from Schultz Middle School received the Missouri Interscholastic Press Association's highest All-Missouri rating in state competition this spring. The announcement was made in an Awards Day ceremony at the University of Missouri School of Journalism on April 21...

Some things never seem to change, including successful baseball seasons by Cape Girardeau's Capahas. So don't expect anything different in the 1998 campaign. The Capahas, under a new sponsorship in McDowell Motors and already off to a 3-0 start, will kick off the home season tonight when Valmeyer, Ill., comes to Capaha Field for an 8 o'clock contest...

ORAN -- Oran High baseball coach Mitch Wood has enough confidence in any of his top three pitchers that he's always ready to make an early move that most coaches might never even contemplate. A case in point was Thursday afternoon's Class 1A sectional game between Oran and visiting Holcomb...

ST. LOUIS -- Over and over again, Cape Girardeau Central High goalkeeper Amy Harris gathered a St. Joseph's Academy shot and booted it back to midfield. And over and over again in the sectional soccer game Thursday night at the Anheuser-Busch Conference & Sports Centre, the Angels rushed right back and took another stab at Harris. Twenty-seven in all...

BENTON -- Despite threatening skies late Thursday afternoon, thunderstorms missed the Class 2A sectional between Kelly's Lions and the Senath-Hornersville Hornets at Kelly High School. Although it didn't rain, things still got sloppy on the field as the two state-ranked teams combined for eight errors, five hit batters and a couple of baserunning blunders...

Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons and Chaffee will be attempting to repeat strong seasons while Jackson will be looking for a turnaround as those three local American Legion baseball teams prepare for the start of the 1998 campaign. Cape and Chaffee open their seasons tonight in the Chaffee Tournament while Jackson kicked things off Wednesday with a road doubleheader against the St. Louis Blazers...

ALTO PASS, Ill. -- Zelda T. Widdows, 94, of Alto Pass died Thursday, May 28, 1998, at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale. Arrangements are pending at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Alto Pass.

DEXTER -- Mary Blanche Scates, 77, of Dexter died Tuesday, May 26, 1998, at Central Gardens Residential Care Center. She was born Nov. 17, 1920, in Fairfield, Ill., daughter of John and Rose Masterson Musgraves. She and James Scates were married March 27, 1937, at Dexter. He died in 1979...

ORAN -- Funeral for Leva D. Arbuckle of Oran will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Blanchard Funeral Chapel in Sikeston. Ministers Dan Richardson and Dale Grissom will officiate. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery at Sikeston. Friends may call at Blanchard Chapel after 5 p.m. today...

ADVANCE -- Zilla L. Buehler, 98, of Advance died Wednesday, May 27, 1998, at Advance Nursing Care Center. She was born Aug. 31, 1899, in Bollinger County, daughter of David and Susan Eaker Shiverdeck. She and Joseph D. Buehler were married Aug. 24, 1915, at Glen Allen. He died Dec. 3, 1971...

GREENBRIER -- Funeral for Charles Leland Whitehead of Cottage Hills, Ill., will be held at 1 p.m. today at Balch Chapel Church. The Revs. James Johns and Craig Moore will officiate, with burial in the church cemetery. Whitehead, 71, died Tuesday, May 26, 1998, at St. Anthony's Health Center in Alton, Ill...

PERRYVILLE -- Funeral for Douglas R. Hawthorne Jr. of Perryville will be held at 2 p.m. today at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Crosstown. The Rev. Steve Francis will officiate, with burial in the church cemetery. Friends may call at Young and Sons Funeral Home from 6:30 a.m. to noon...

Son to Randall Lynn and Kindra Sue Herzog of Perryville, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:10 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, 1998. Name, Joseph Lynn. Weight, 6 pounds 5 ounces. Mrs. Herzog is the former Kindra Hayden, daughter of Joseph M. and Marie M. Hayden Jr. of Perryville. She is a teller at Chester National Bank. Herzog is the son of Harold L. and Virginia G. Herzog of Farmington. He is a truck driver with Giesler Brothers Construction Co...

GOREVILLE, Ill. -- Ted Farris, 66, of Goreville, formerly of Olive Branch, died Thursday, May 28, 1998, at Marion Memorial Hospital. Visitation will be 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms and 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Whitnel Funeral Home in Goreville. Funeral will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Whitnel Funeral Home in Goreville. Burial will be in Busby Chapel Cemetery...