Stories from Wednesday, July 1, 1998

Last week I woke up one morning at 3 a.m. thinking about Bermuda grass. I know what you are thinking. I can assure you I am still sane. My wife will vouch for me, I hope. Well, maybe Kelsi, my granddaughter, will. My thinking session was prompted by what I see as the contrast in the role of Bermuda grass. It is both a great sports turf in southern climes and an obnoxious lawn weed. Perhaps I should explain...

To the editor: Too often common sense gets ignored. Recently a group known as Missouri Voters for Clean Elections, proponents of a ballot initiative that would create taxpayer-financed election campaigns in Missouri, announced that it is giving up an attempt to put this initiative before the voters of Missouri this November...

Anyone who has spent a couple of summer weeks doing National Guard duty at Camp Clark near Nevada on the western side of the state knows it is no resort. For years the camp was basically a firing range, which left hundreds of acres of terrain looking like -- well, looking like a battlefield...

The recent announcement that the Missouri Department of Transportation has placed the I-55/Route E interchange, better known as the Oak Ridge interchange, on its construction schedule for 2000 caught quite a few folks by surprise. No one was more pleasantly surprised than the folks who live and work in the Oak Ridge area and have been trying -- since 1969 for some -- to get the interchange built. ...

THE WONDERFUL attention the Southeast Missourian gives to customer service and satisfaction is unparalleled in the history of journalism. YES, FOLKS out there, forget whether you're Republican or Democrat and look at the records of Ashcroft and Peter Kinder. I think if you look at their records, you'll be ready to turn them out when they run for office again...

Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School will be inaccessible to visitors for much of the summer while construction crews work to complete the first in a series of extensive remodeling projects. The Board of Education approved a bid of $1,494,333 in April to perform renovations and additions to the building as part of the school district's three-phase master plan for facilities improvements. ...

To the editor: I read your recently published front-page story about an alleged UFO crash landing near Cape in 1941. Though Peggy O'Farrell's piece was very well written, I worry about the wisdom of publishing such a story on the front page or, perhaps, publishing it period. To me it illustrates very questionable editorial judgment...

JACKSON -- An unanticipated increase in fund balances caused the Jackson Board of Education to begin discussion on future expectations during a meeting Tuesday night. In an end-of-the-year report, administrators told board members the school district's fund balances have been growing steadily over the past two years as a result of conservative budgets and consistent growth in state and local funding...

Boyd Gaming Corp. of Las Vegas is saying goodbye to Missouri. Sam's Town, a casino in North Kansas City that opened in September 1995, will close within two months. Boyd investigated two areas for casinos in Missouri -- at Kansas City and Cape Girardeau -- after voters legalized riverboat gambling in the state in 1992. An operation at Cape Girardeau, where the company still owns property along or near the Mississippi River, never materialized...

A wind-whipped, lightning-laced storm drenched the area early Tuesday. It caused widespread power outages that left more than 4,000 AmerenUE and Jackson municipal power customers without power for several hours. In Jackson, a power outage knocked out the city's computer system that monitors water distribution...

The planning committee for a proposed nature center in Cape Girardeau County North Park will go to the state with their recommendations in September. Officials from the Missouri Department of Conservation met with community leaders Tuesday night to get input on what types of facilities, activities and exhibits the center should offer...

McCLURE, Ill. -- Some families in central and northern Alexander County will start receiving water from a new source today. Homes in the East Cape Girardeau-McClure Water District will be put on line about mid-morning by SouthWater Inc., a not-for-profit water company...

What could be better than a product that made you regular AND increased cup size? It ain't easy being an imperfect woman on the beaches of Florida. Here in the Land of Thongs, there are more tanned, slender bodies than you literally can shake a stick at. Ah, how I miss the Midwest, where only female television news personalities and other masochists order a small bowl of oatmeal when there's biscuits and gravy on the menu...

Six people in a car were injured Tuesday when the car and a tractor- trailer were involved in an accident on Interstate 55 in Cape Girardeau. The accident occurred at 6:30 p.m. about one mile north of the Diversion Channel bridge, city police said. The injured were taken to both Cape Girardeau hospitals. The extent of their injuries was not known late Tuesday...

In a continuing effort to promote gender equity, the Ohio Valley Conference will make women's soccer an official conference-sanctioned sport this fall. And Southeast Missouri State University will closely follow suit as the school plans to field an intercollegiate women's soccer team in the fall of 1999...

Cape Girardeau Central High boys basketball coach Brett Reutzel will hold his second session of camp July 13-16. Grades 3-6 will be held from 10 a.m.-noon while grades 7-9 will be held from 2-4 p.m. Cost of the camp is $30. For more information or to enroll, call Reutzel at 339-1776...

Three Cape Girardeau baseball fields will be buzzing with activity later this week as the Cape Commerce Bank White Sox host the 10-team Firecracker Classic. Capaha Field, Central High School and Notre Dame High School will all be sites for games beginning Thursday and running through Sunday...

The Cape Area Youth Soccer Association (CAYSA) will hold registration for the fall season on July 12 and July 26 at West Park Mall. Sign-up times will be noon to 5 p.m. both days. Registration is for boys and girls pre-kindergarten to eighth grade. Registration fee is $10 for pre-kindergarten and $20 for all others...

A Missouri men's class D and E world qualifier will be held July 11 at the Dexter Sports Complex. Entry fee is $100. The first place team in both D and E will have NSA World Series entry fee paid. For more information, contact Jimmy Smith at 624-8703 or John Bailiff at 624-8244...

Kelly High will be holding its annual alumni softball tournament July 31-Aug. 2 at Benton Ballpark. Deadline to enter the tournament, sponsored by Project Graduation, is July 17. Cost to play is $15 per person. Contact Teresa DeWitt 471-8859 or Mary Glastetter 545-3924...

Carl F. "Nub" Pulliam, a native of Scopus and resident of St. Louis, died Tuesday, June 30, 1998, at Lutheran Medical Center in St. Louis. He was 62. He was born May 13, 1936, son of Curb and Sally Angle Pulliam. He married Irene M. Beasley May 20, 1978. She survives...

CHAFFEE -- Richard Paul Enders, 68, of Johnston City, Ill., died Monday, June 29, 1998, at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale, Ill. He was born June 10, 1930, in Chicago, son of Joseph and Kinga Enders. He and Ossie Pearl Bonds were married July 10, 1974...

PUXICO -- The Rev. Van C. Johnson, 82, of Willow Springs died Sunday, June 28, 1998, at Cox South Medical Center in Springfield. He was born Jan. 4, 1916, in Stoddard County, son of Sol and Lydia Russ Johnson. He and Bessie Mae Morgan were married Dec. 19, 1934, at Fisk. She died May 15, 1973. He and Irene Parth were married Nov. 4, 1973...

SIKESTON -- Funeral for Exie Galemore will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at Ponder Funeral Home. The Rev. James Trotter will officiate, with burial in Forest Hills Cemetery at Morley. Galemore, 83, died Monday, June 29, 1998, at Clearview Nursing Center...

PERRYVILLE -- Olive Laverne Manche, 79, of Perryville died Monday, June 29, 1998, at Perry Oaks Healthcare Center. She was born Jan. 27, 1919, in Perry County, daughter of August and Anna Brewer Beinlein. She and Roy J. Manche were married Nov. 11, 1939. He died Aug. 25, 1992...

GRANITE CITY, Ill. -- Earl L. Luehmann, 68, of Granite City died Sunday, June 28, 1998, at his home, following an extended illness. He was born Feb. 16, 1930, in Granite City, son of Charles and Katherine Dickmann Luehmann. He married Juanita Jane Portell, who preceded him in death...

CANALOU -- Laura Breedlove, 93, of Canalou died Tuesday, June 30, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel at Oran is in charge of arrangements.

Private funeral for Bonnie D. Schweer of Cape Girardeau will be held Thursday. The Rev. Joe McCullough will officiate, with burial in Russell Heights Cemetery. Friends may call at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson from 4-8 p.m. today. Schweer, 63, died Monday, June 29, 1998, at her home...

Son to Brandon Ray Ward and Catina Lynne Parsons of Grassy, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 5:10 p.m. Friday, June 19, 1998. Name, Braidon Ray. Weight, 8 pounds 11 ounces. Second child, first son. Ms. Parsons is the former Catina Williams, daughter of Deborah McCabe of Grassy. Ward is the son of Debbie Ward of Ohio...

Funeral for Walter T. Sieberg of Cape Girardeau will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. Dr. Larry Gallamore will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park. Friends may call at the chapel from 4-8 p.m. today. Sieberg, 73, died Sunday, June 28, 1998, at his home...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Charles L. DeLashmutt, 81, of Olive Branch died Tuesday, June 30, 1998, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He was born Jan. 28, 1917, in Olive Branch, son of Charles and Edna Bledsoe DeLashmutt. DeLashmutt was a retired carpenter. He was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Cairo, Carpenters Union in Metropolis, member of Olive Branch Chamber of Commerce and had served on its board of directors many years...

JACKSON -- The Jackson Municipal Band will give its weekly concert at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Band Shell in City Park. Special guests will be Mike Dumey and Robyn Hosp, both graduates of Jackson High School The band will play "A Tony Bennett Collection," "Ashokan Farewell," "Salute to Jazz," "A Civil War Collection," "A Mighty Fortress," Sousa's "Thunderer," "Stars and Stripes Forever" and several Irving Berlin tunes...

The Southeast Missourian asked people about their experience riding a train. Cora Musgrave: "When I was about 10 years old, in 1928, I got on a train down by Kennett and went to Memphis where I visited my brother. I lived by the train track, and we had to flag it to stop."...

JACKSON -- Number 5898 weighs 330,000 pounds, is capable of running 120 mph and in its heyday was a well-known first-generation diesel engine that ran between Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. Now the powerful E-8A Unit has found a home in Jackson with the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railway...

Jackson will soon have a new fire truck rescue engine to better protect our residents and their property. A low bid of $ 315,000 was recently accepted to purchase a new state-of-the-art fire engine and all the needed equipment that goes with it. The Council had budgeted $350,000 in the 1998 budget for this important purchase. We can expect delivery of our new fire truck in about 90 days...

Two backyard playhouses were awarded June 27 during a drawing at West Park Mall in Cape Girardeau. The houses were awarded as a fund-raising project for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. David Hammond, 6, of Cape Girardeau won the "Country Charmer" playhouse. The playhouse was built and donated by Flentge Builders, Tom Flentge Painting and Wall Covering, Perryville Doors and More, and Robinson Displays, all of Perryville...