Stories from Saturday, October 10, 1998

The congregation at Immanuel Lutheran Church near Tilsit has met for more than 150 years in its building along Highway F. Fields and farms surround the church grounds. A lichen-covered tombstone leaned against a pine tree in the Fairview General Baptist Cemetery. Though not connected to the nearby church on County Road 211, the cemetery has tombstones that date back to 1847...

MARBLE HILL -- George Reed loves a good battle. A Civil War re-enactor from Glen Allen, Reed likes to step back into history dressed as a Confederate commander. But this weekend he plans to be above the fray as one of the organizers of the first Dallas Days event in Marble Hill...

The Area Wide United Way has raised 30 percent of its $625,000 goal. So far, $188,407 has been raised. Procter & Gamble Co. is responsible for a significant portion of this week's increase with its corporate contribution of $77,700. Union Planters Bank, Delta Companies and Lone Star Industries also helped raise the total with corporate contributions. ...

Two thousand senior citizens from 18 Southeast Missouri counties will have lunch together next week and celebrate 25 years of the federal nutrition program. The Silver Jubilee Celebration will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at the Show Me Center. Admission is free for people 60 and older and includes a box lunch, games, prizes and dancing to the Jerry Ford Orchestra and music by The Plummers...

The mew Cape Girardeau Community Pride Coalition, which includes representatives from 19 organizations, will hold a public meeting to discuss goals and objectives of the coalition. Members of the coalition, which was formed this year, have been meeting monthly to discuss a number of items...

Dan Rau is tired of the trash and the bumper-to-bumper parking problems created by high school students who have turned Luce and neighboring streets into their personal parking lot. Rau, who lives in the 1700 block of Luce in the shadow of Cape Girardeau Central High School, couldn't get out of his driveway Friday morning. A student had parked in his driveway...

I'm not a very unique person when it comes to naming babies. Sure, I love to hear unique names, I'm just not any good coming up with any. My mom did a good job naming my sister and me (Dad gets no credit in this regard.) She managed to come up with names that flowed very well and gave people just the right amount of pause before they attempted the pronunciations. This generally gave us an edge when it came to standing out in a crowd...

Todd Ice, a convicted killer, has registered, in accordance with Missouri law, with the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. Where he is living in the county is now a matter of public record. This is just the way Missouri's registration law should work...

Missouri's congressional delegation is working to get more money to fight methamphetamine abuse in the state. There's a critical need for the dollars. Missouri is second only to California in the number of meth labs busted. These clandestine labs post a real danger to communities since many of the chemicals are merely dumped into fields or streams. The materials used to make meth are also very volatile. Explosions or fires are very real possibilities...

To the editor: "Evil is nothing but the removal of good until finally no good remains." St. Augustine wrote this passage from his "Confession" 1,600 years ago. Certainly he witnessed this, living a life of sin until his conversion and seeing the decline of the Roman Empire...

To the editor: On the evening of Oct. 8 I had an experience that was nothing short of serendipity. It occurreed after reading another wonderful column by Sam Blackwell. Blackwell ended his column by writing, in part, "everything seems more meaningful when you don't know what people are saying." After reading that, I rushed to the telephone and called Speak Out. It was going to say that Sam's insight, though not directed at Speak Out, was yet another sensible reason for expanding it...

Tony Heckemeyer, 8th District Democratic congressional candidate, will be the featured guest Sunday on KRCU radio's "Going Public" show. The public affairs show airs at 3 p.m. on 90.9 FM, the area's public radio affiliate. James Sexton, president and chief operating officer of St. Francis Medical Center; and Jim Wente, Southeast Missouri Hospital administrator, will be the guests on KRCU's "Let's Talk Business" show at 3:30 p.m. Sunday...

A Cape Girardeau man suffered minor injuries Thursday after the vehicle in which he was riding ran off the road near Oriole. The injured man, Steven Medlin, 20, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Kendra Wallace, 20, of Cape Girardeau. The accident occurred when Wallace's vehicle, eastbound on Route Y, ran off the road and into a ditch. Medlin was taken to St. Francis Medical Center by private vehicle...

Prospective students and their parents can get a closer look at Southeast Missouri State University during Show Me Day today at 12:30 p.m. at the Show Me Center. The day's events will begin with a college fair in which students may browse through informational displays of the university's various colleges and academic departments...

Volunteers are needed to work with adult literacy students in reading and math and with students learning English as a second language. The Adult Learning Center, 301 N. Clark, will sponsor a free training session for volunteers from 1-5 p.m. Oct. 29. Sheri Ford, volunteer literacy coordinator, will lead the session...

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce wants to know how its members feel about the proposed merger of the city's two hospitals. The chamber has mailed surveys to its more than 1,200 members to get their input on the proposed merger of Southeast Missouri Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center...

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Last Saturday, Southeast Missouri State University's football team played its first road game of the season -- and very nearly pulled out an upset victory over Eastern Illinois. Today, the Indians will be looking to finish the job on the road as they take on Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee Tech in a 1 p.m. kickoff at Tucker Stadium...

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Belleville Althoff collected its second straight win from Southeast Missouri teams Friday night with a 28-0 victory over Jackson. Althoff, which defeated Cape Central 23-20 last week in overtime, improved its season mark to 3-4. Jackson saw a two-game winning streak end and fell to 2-4...

SIKESTON -- For the better part of the last two football seasons, the Cape Central Tigers have taken care of the football like it was made of glass. Last night, their record of safekeeping was shattered. The Tigers (2-4) turned the ball over eight times (five interceptions and three fumbles) and lost at Sikeston 47-17...

Rockwood Summit pitcher Kacie Flinn lugs some imposing numbers -- including an ERA under 0.30 -- into today's Class 4A quarterfinal softball game against Jackson. But Lady Indians coach Becky Riney said Flinn won't bring anything to the table that her team shouldn't be able to handle...

FESTUS -- Though they briefly trailed 7-0, the Pirates amassed 403 yards in 43 carries and sailed to a 42-7 victory Friday night over Festus. Perryville improved its record to 5-1. Senior halfback Joel Heuring ran for 148 yards and three touchdowns in 14 attempts. Matt Jenkins, another senior halfback, totaled 123 yards in nine tries and scored on an 18-yard run...

Funeral for Earl Crites Jr. of Cape Girardeau will be held at 1 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. Burial will be in Memorial Park, with graveside service by VFW Post 3838. Crites, 73, died Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital...

BENTON -- Carra Hunter, 92, formerly of Benton, died Thursday, Oct. 8, 1998, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 5, 1905, at Marble Hill, daughter of Charles and Byrtie Miller Adams. She married Lewis "Ward" Hunter, who died Sept. 11, 1992...

WAPPAPELLO -- Buddy R. Alsup, 66, of Wappapello died Thursday, Oct. 8, 1998, at Lucy Lee Hospital in Poplar Bluff. He was born Aug. 18, 1932, at Sikeston, son of Rufus R. and Nona Mae King Alsup. He first married Ruth Ann Cox March 4, 1947. She died March 2, 1964. He and Gail Tuley were married March 25, 1965, in New Madrid...

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- Charlotte Delores Bensa, 67, of East Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Oct. 8, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was born Sept. 24, 1931, in McClure, daughter of Kenneth and Hazel Reavis Waterman. She married Robert L. Bensa, who preceded her in death...

MCGEE -- Jean Hanner Smith, 74, of St. Peters died Friday, Oct. 9, 1998, at her home. She was born March 9, 1924, at McGee, daughter of Oscar Alonzo and Maymie Bernice Burnley Walk. She first married Curtis Hanner March 11, 1939, at Marble Hill. He died Nov. 15, 1988. She later married Tom Smith...

KARNAK, Ill. -- Graveside service for Edith Summers of Vienna, formerly of Karnak, will be held at 1 p.m. today at Lower Salem Cemetery in Boaz. The Rev. Shawn Wasson will officiate. There is no visitation. Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak is in charge of arrangements...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- William D. Smithey, 68, of Nashville, Tenn., died Friday, Oct. 9, 1998, at his home. Smithey retired as an assistant northeast regional chief postal inspector. Survivors include his wife, Eunice of Nashville; two sons, William Smithey of Temecula, Calif., Daniel Smithey of Hermitage, Tenn.; three sisters, Juanita Manus of Jonesboro, Jewell Gardner of Bloomington, Calif., Ruth Phillips of Houston, Texas; and two grandchildren...

Janice L. Pind, 46, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Oct. 8, 1998, at her home. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

SCOTT CITY -- William E. Hillman, 81, Scott City Route 1, died Friday, Oct. 9, 1998, at Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. -- Mary C. Machen Sadler, 90, of Mountain Home died Thursday, Oct. 8, 1998, at Gassville Nursing Home in Gassville, Ark. She was born Jan. 19, 1908, at Malden, daughter of John Hugh and Ida Nichols Machen. She married Thad Sadler on June 17, 1937, at Bernie. He died Jan. 9, 1990...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Dorothy Jean Wild, 66, of Mounds, formerly of Cairo, died Friday, Oct. 9, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 11, 1931, in Wickliffe, Ky., daughter of Joseph Wesley and Mattie Williams Simmons. She was a member of the First Southern Baptist Church in Cairo, where she was active in the church choir. She was a bookkeeper for the Elias True Value store in Cairo...

Son to Jason and Sara Heather Cooper of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 3:24 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, 1998. Name, Bailey Quinten. Weight, 8 pounds 10 ounces. First child. Mrs. Cooper is the former Sara Jennings, daughter of Greg and Beth Jennings of Cape Girardeau. Cooper is the son of Debbie and Jim Cooper of Marble Hill and Ginny Cooper of Henderson, Nev. He is an executive chef with Sodexo Marriott...

Emma B. Weeds, 94, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Oct. 9, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Sept. 10, 1904, in St. Louis, daughter of Henry and Louise Niermann Wittenbrock. Weeds retired from Blue Shield in St. Louis. She had lived with a daughter in Cape Girardeau since 1991...