Stories from Saturday, September 5, 1998

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon will hold a public hearing to gather input on the proposed merger of Cape Girardeau's two hospitals. The hearing will be held this month, but a date and place have not yet been chosen. Plans for the hearing were announced Friday...

BENTON -- Lori Price of Benton was 5 when she won the Little Miss Neighbor Day contest in 1976 and 16 when she won the contest for the big girls -- Miss Neighbor Day -- in 1987. Now the manager of a construction company office in Sikeston, Price was one of the 30 former Miss Neighbor Days invited to appear at the 1998 contest Friday night...

Fans can't get enough of Mark McGwire. They are snapping up everything from baseball cards to jerseys bearing the St. Louis Cardinals slugger's name. McGwire's rookie baseball card, showing him on the 1985 U.S. Olympic Team, can sell anywhere from $135 to $2,500, local baseball card dealers say...

CHARLESTON -- The first round of bids submitted on construction of the Southeast Correctional Center at Charleston has been rejected by the state. State officials denied the rejections had anything to do with a reported federal grand jury investigation into the state's prison sites selection process...

If the war on drugs in Cape Girardeau County is going to be won, it will need more soldiers on the front line, said two of the county's top law enforcement officials. Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan and Cape Girardeau Police Chief Rick Hetzel said this week their departments are now and will be in the future dedicated to fighting the sale and manufacture of illegal narcotics...

Last Christmas, my editor used his weekly column to make a shameless plea for food. I'm about to do the same thing. Everyone in the newsroom laughed at our editor, Joe Sullivan, when he held a fruitcake contest last Christmas. We thought Joe had lost it when he told readers of his love of the stuff and challenged them to send him samples of their favorite recipes for his Look! Your Name Is in the Editor's Column contest...

To the editor: I would like to discuss some issues regarding statistical sampling in response to your Aug. 29 editorial, "Census 2000: Abide by the Constitution." I will not address any of the political implications you discussed in your editorial. I will address only technical issues regarding statistical sampling...

I WOULD like to know, with all this hype about the anniversary of Princess Di's death, I hope there's going to be a lot of news reports about Mother Teresa's death, which will be a year soon. Do you think there will be something on that? I doubt it...

Eight people attended a public forum last week to outline qualities they want in a new superintendent of schools for Cape Girardeau. The lack of attendance demonstrates an obvious lack of interest, right? Not necessarily. It may just be too early in the process for citizens to have much interest in the superintendent search...

The United States is vulnerable. OK, the Cold War has ended and the Soviet Union is not the threat it once was. But missiles pointed at the United States may not come from some super power at all. They may be launched by some two-bit dictator in some Third World country...

To the editor: I'm responding to your Aug. 23 story, "Addicted to meth: Kluesner tells his story." I'm one of those addict buddies of Dewayne Kluesner's who got sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for my addiction. I know Dewayne very well. He is like me, no way a violent person. ...

Friday the 4th had a Friday the 13th finale. In its season opener last night, Cape Girardeau Central came back from a near-death experience to throw a scare into Columbia-Hickman before succumbing 47-39 in a wild game at Houck Stadium. The Tigers trailed 41-19 early in the third quarter but pulled to within eight points in the final minute of the game on Emmanuel Harris' two-yard touchdown run...

Not only was Southeast Missouri State University's football team able to squeeze out a season-opening win Thursday night, but the Indians also received some good news Friday morning regarding an injury to one of their top players. Senior fullback Britt Mirgaux, who suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury early in the second half of the 23-18 triumph over Truman State, is apparently not hurt nearly as bad as originally feared...

JACKSON -- Jackson High's football team treated its fans to some late-game excitement Friday night. What the Indians couldn't deliver their home crowd was a season-opening victory. Sikeston bolted to a 17-0 first-half lead and then held on for a 17-14 triumph...

@$: Otahk spikers fall to Illini CHAMPAIGN, ILL. -- Southeast Missouri State University's volleyball team lost 2-15, 7-15, 10-15 to Illinois, ranked No. 32 in the nation, before 1,420 Friday in the Illini Classic. Southeast's Krista Haukap had 13 kills, Jackie Derwort recorded 10 digs and Amy Henken totaled 30 assists...

Today's annual Jackson Invitational high school cross country meet will feature two defending state champions and nearly 20 teams. Kirkwood's girls won last year's Class 4A state title while Kelly's girls captured the 1997 Class 1A-2A state championship...

HILLSBORO -- Fourteen "free points," as Chaffee coach Brian Horrell lamentedly described them, gave Grandview a 14-13 win over the visiting Red Devils Friday. After scoring on a 93-yard kickoff return, Grandview won the game in the third quarter on a 15-yard scoring run after the center had launched the snap 20 yards through the legs of the Grandview quarterback...

DEXTER -- Roy Bone, 95, of Dexter died Thursday, Sept. 3, 1998, at Crowley Ridge Nursing Center. He was born Sept. 1, 1903, at Clinton, son of Benjamin Franklin and Ida Bone. He and Leona B. Glass were married in September 1924. She died Sept. 14, 1978...

SIKESTON -- Paul Samuel Tolbert, 56, of Sikeston died Friday, Sept. 4, 1998, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born March 12, 1942, at Sikeston, son of Kelly and Bertha Pearl King Tolbert. He first married Sharon Ramsey. He later married Jane Crooks Aug. 23, 1997, in Wickliffe, Ky...

CHARLESTON -- Roy Lawrence Henry, 66, of Charleston died Thursday, Sept. 3, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 10, 1932, at Crosnoe, son of James R. and Esther V. Forrester Henry. Henry was retired from Domtar Gypsum Co. in Antioch, Calif. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War...

ANNA, Ill. -- Elsie Sisk, 80, of Anna died Thursday, Sept. 3, 1998, at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale. She was born Aug. 30, 1918, at Wolf Lake, daughter of William and Nora Skinner Durall. She and William Sisk were married Aug. 20, 1945. He died Dec. 10, 1979...

ANNA, Ill. -- Roy Lee Dillow, 88, of Anna died Friday, Sept. 4, 1998, at City Care Center in Cobden. He was born July 26, 1910, in Anna, son of William and Pearl Lingle Dillow. He and Ruby Tellor were married Aug. 17, 1929. She died Oct. 18, 1988. He and Cleta Mae Neighbors Tellor were married Sept. 6, 1989. She died Jan. 6, 1997...

ULLIN -- Graveside service for Edith Knupp of Ullin was held Friday at Mount Pisgah Cemetery, with the Rev. William Gholson officiating. Crain Funeral Home in Dongola was in charge of arrangements. Knupp, 84, died Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1998, at Union County Hospital in Anna...

Son to Kevin Eugene and Laura Ann Reimann of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 5:40 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 31, 1998. Name, Collin Michael-Wayne. Weight, 7 pounds 6 ounces. Third child, first son. Mrs. Reimann is the former Laura Garner, daughter of Theresa Garner Robbins of Jackson. Reimann is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Reimann of Jackson. He is employed at Buchheit Trucking Inc...

OLMSTED, Ill. -- Nellie Jones, 95, of Olmsted died Thursday, Sept. 3, 1998, at Daystar Nursing Home in Cairo. She was born Feb. 26, 1903, at Brumley, Mo., daughter of Henry David and Mariah Graham Wall. She and Troy Jones were married in 1924. He died in 1967...

Sharon Louise Park, 45, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Sept. 3, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Dec. 9, 1952, in Cape Girardeau, the daughter of Norbert and Viola Exler Schlegel. She was cashier at Western Sizzlin' Steakhouse in Cape Girardeau and a member of Trinity Lutheran Church. She was active in the church volleyball sports league. She attended Washington School and Trinity Lutheran School and graduated from Central High School in 1971...

After nearly three years of inactivity, the Cape Girardeau chapter of the Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International is gearing back up. Bob Nations said there seemed to be much local interest in reviving the group. He said the organization operates in 160 nations and is really growing in membership around the world...

Our new billboard on the corner of Broadway and Pacific offers a good news message: "Our Leader has not changed in 2000 years." Like all Christian churches in our area, we strive to follow the leadership of Jesus Christ at Centenary. Leadership is in crisis. ...