Stories from Saturday, August 8, 1998

When Hans Myors last traveled through Cape Girardeau, he couldn't cycle parts of Highway 61. Much of the route was under water. Five years after the Flood of 1993, Myors is cycling through the Midwest, revisiting the places he saw during the flood. His five-year bicycle trek has taken him 73,000 miles. He has been coast to coast seven times and has ridden his bicycle into every state except Alaska and Hawaii...

Items such as these ink pens that bear the WWJD slogan are designed to remind Christians of what approach Jesus might take to everday siutuations. What Would Jesus Do? It's a question posed on everything from nylon bracelets to coffee mugs and bumper stickers. The letters WWJD not only serve as a reminder to Christians but also as a moneymaker for Christian retailers everywhere...

The Marines need a few good men and women to fill some dwindling numbers. The Marine force, more than 200,000 strong during Operation Desert Storm and the Persian Gulf War, is down to 174,000 active troops and 40,000 reserves, a result of severe defense cuts over the past seven years...

Southern Illinois hunters go on a wild goose chase every year, but the hunt may be more intense this year. Waterfowl flight numbers, from shallow potholes on the plains of Canada to the Mississippi Flyway, are expected to be down this winter. As always, the weather is playing a critical role in determining habitat and flight conditions of Canada geese and other migratory waterfowl...

A lawsuit seeking to set aside the closure of a number of public roads and trails in Shawnee National Forest pits horseback riders, bow hunters, campground owners and other users of the lands against the U.S. Forest Service. The lawsuit was filed earlier this week by the Mountain States Legal Foundation on behalf of five organizations. ...

My husband calls me The Warden when it comes to taking care of other people's children. I can make a child do anything according to Patrick, including go to sleep and use the potty when he doesn't want to. I don't consider myself a warden of any kind -- I really think I'm just a working mom who gets tired and doesn't want to hear the whinings of an irritable child who can't think of anything better to do. ...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A 21-year-old Southern Illinois University student from Anna died in an early morning fire at her house Friday. Jennifer Anne Baker died from smoke inhalation, an examination by the Jackson County coroner's office found. Her body was discovered after a blaze on the south side of her house at 701 W. College was extinguished. The fire was called in by a neighbor at 2:22 a.m. Friday...

THANK YOU to Ron Wilson of the American Legion who goes to the Cape Rock Park twice each day to raise and lower the American flags. He is one of the true heroes who help make us proud of our city and it's heritage. I WAS just wondering if anyone had considered renaming the new elementary school that they're building north of town the John A. Cobb School. I think this would be a wonderful memory to this man and all his accomplishments in the Cape area...

Trash. Everyone has it. No one wants it. Neighbors hate it. Cities deal with it. Trash -- and what to do with it -- has been a perennial headache for communities. The challenge got even tougher when Missouri mandated that cities reduce their solid waste by 40 percent through recycling programs by January 1998...

It didn't really rain on Homer Gilbert's parade last week. Appreciative colleagues and die-hard audience members braved a rainstorm to see Gilbert honored for his amazing 70-plus years in the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band. Gilbert's dedication to the city's municipal band is nothing short of amazing...

To the editor: Beginning Aug. 28, Missouri will be a safer place thanks to legislation promoted by the American Heart Association and sponsored by state Rep. Craig Hosmer of Springfield. It isn't a crime bill though. It is a law allowing appropriately trained individuals to use automated external defibrillators to save a victim of sudden cardiac arrest...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University football coach John Mumford is hoping this season's Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll doesn't turn out to be as accurate for his team as last year's was. A year ago, the Indians were picked to finish seventh in the eight-team league -- and that's exactly where they wound up after a disappointing 1-6 conference record and 4-7 overall mark...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- If any team other than Eastern Kentucky wins the 1998 Ohio Valley Conference football title, then it will be a major surprise. At least that was the consensus among the league's head football coaches and sports information directors when the OVC preseason poll was announced Friday morning during the league's annual media day at the Crowne Plaza Hotel...

NEW MADRID -- Funeral for Joyce Patterson of New Madrid will be held at 2 p.m. today at New Madrid Baptist Church. The Revs. Tom Bray and Dean Wallace will officiate, with burial in Mounds Park Cemetery at Lilbourn. Richards Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements...

DUDLEY -- Thelma Britton, 63, of Dudley died Friday, Aug. 7, 1998, at Lucy Lee Hospital in Poplar Bluff. She was born Jan. 25, 1935, at Gray Ridge, daughter of William and Irene Inez Ford Robinson. She and Jesse Britton were married Oct. 2, 1958, in Gray Ridge...

PERRYVILLE -- Graveside service for Clara B. Lakenan of Perryville will be held at 10 a.m. today at Home Cemetery. The Rev. Donald Loesch will officiate. Young and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Lakenan, 99, died Thursday, Aug. 6, 1998, at Perry County Nursing Home...

GORDONVILLE -- Dorothy M. Skelton, 66, of Gordonville died Friday, Aug. 7, 1998, at her home. McCombs Funeral Home at Jackson is in charge of arrangements.

Isabel Y. Varro, 67, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Aug. 6, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

ANNA, Ill. -- Murriel Cruse, 89, of Anna died Friday, Aug. 7, 1998, at his home. He was born June 5, 1909, in Dongola, son of Oliver and Dovie Miller Cruse. He and Mamie L. Lasley were married Dec. 11, 1937, in Jackson. Cruse was a retired farmer. He was a member of First Baptist Church, and charter member of Union County Farm Bureau...

William Fred "Bill" Ledure, 80, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Aug. 7, 1998, at Missouri Veterans Home. He was born Sept. 10, 1917, at Commerce, son of Nicholas and Nellie Arnold Ledure. He and Norma LeTempt were married March 4, 1947. She died Nov. 23, 1994...

Son to James Clayton "Cash" and Sarah Lynn Kinney of Oran, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:24 a.m. Monday, Aug. 3, 1998. Name, Wyatt James. Weight, 7 pounds 11 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Kinney is the former Sarah Sindle, daughter of James and Suzanne Sindle of Oran. Kinney is the son of Leroy and Donna Kinney of Fredericktown. He is a truck driver with Elfrink Transportation in Cape Girardeau...

Wilma Marie Meisenheimer, 80 of Cape Girardeau passed away Wed., August 5, 1998 at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, MO.She was born April 5, 1918 in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Albert W. and Grace Marie Mullins Ervin. She and Robert W. Meisenheimer were married in Cape Girardeau December 24, 1937. He died January 24, 1979...