Stories from Saturday, December 26, 1998

To the editor: I read the recent letter from Mr. Degenhardt about his solution to the Social Security problem. I see that some people are big believers in redistribution of wealth. As long as they are spending the money that belongs to someone else, they see nothing wrong with it...

ORIOLE -- The Happy Hollow Tavern at Oriole in Cape Girardeau County burned Thursday morning. James Hanks, fire chief for East County Fire Protection District, said the building was a total loss. Firefighters were able to save a mobile home next to the building...

PERRYVILLE -- When Pope John Paul II visits St. Louis next month, it figures to be a banner day for St. Vincent High School juniors Angela Carron and Jessica Lakenan. The two Catholic high school students made two banners for the pope's visit. He is expected in St. Louis Jan. 26-27...

LET'S HEAR it for the Republicans. Our future speaker, Mr. Livingston, was going to be outed by the media for up to four different affairs during his marriage, so he came out and told his Republican constituents, and his colleagues gave him a standing ovation. So much for family values...

Wanted: 90,000 poor children. Missouri has struggled to locate the 90,000 children who the state claims have become eligible for expanded health-care coverage, thanks to a generous program with even more generous standards. After three months, 22,396 children have been enrolled in the program despite widespread publicity and a toll-free number...

The IRS has shifted the burden of proof in tax cases from the taxpayers to the agency. It was a long overdue change for an agency that had let power go to its head. The stories of agents hounding taxpayers were downright frightening. State legislators are considering similar guidelines for Missouri's Department of Revenue. It's a logical step...

To the editor: Scrooge is at his worst during this special holiday. He has burned people's homes, trashed their dreams and lied to themt o the extent that they have come to believe it. Scrooge comes in many forms. He is the short in the wiring, the thief who steals our dreams, the vandal who needlessly destroys for pleasure and, worst of all, the spinner of lies that separate family and friends. ...

The City Council plans to spend much of 1999 gathering public support for continuation of Cape Girardeau's extensive street improvement effort. Voters may be asked to extend the half-cent sales tax that funds the city's Transportation Trust Fund. Mayor Al Spradling III said the issue could appear on the November ballot...

The man who has managed Cape Girardeau's water system since the city took over the service in 1992 will step down early next month. During his tenure, Tom Taggart guided the water system through the ownership transition, two major Mississippi River floods and a major fire at the primary water treatment plant. All without residents ever losing service...

JACKSON -- It started as a simple plan for creating luminaries at a Christmas Eve service and has turned into a tradition at New McKendree United Methodist Church. Members of the congregation and the community gather on the morning of Christmas Eve to create luminaries that are used for the evening services. The luminaries are dedicated in honor of a relative or loved one who has died...

Traveler's Garage-Gas, a service station at 104 N. Sprigg for more than 35 years, is taking on a greenhouse look. "We've constructed some greenhouses on the property," said Mike Obermiller. "We're in the lawn and garden business." Traveler's closed its gasoline pumps and had the underground tanks removed more than a month ago...

Anyone could use a $1,000 windfall, and giving up smoking at the start of the new year could put that much or more into a former smoker's pocket every year. That amount is for the cost of cigarettes only for a pack-a-day smoker. Toss in the cost of medical and life insurance premiums, and the economic boon for non-smokers takes on even more significant proportions...

Smoking increasingly has become a socially unacceptable habit. Since the first surgeon general's warning in 1964 that smoking is hazardous to one's health, the number of Americans smoking has dropped. But still, more than 50 million people light up every day in the U.S., and the smoking-vs.-non-smoking debate continues...

For a few Southeast Missouri State University basketball players, Monday's game against Southern Illinois at the Trans World Dome in St. Louis will no doubt hold special significance. Two of the Indians' key players, forwards Mike Branson and Demetrius Watson, grew up in St. Louis and attended high school there, Branson at Lafayette and Watson at Roosevelt...

The Show Me Center will be buzzing with activity from early this morning until late tonight as the 54th annual University High School Christmas Tournament gets under way. Sixteen area boys basketball teams will take part in eight first-round games today. After a day off Sunday, the tournament resumes Monday. The semifinals are set for Tuesday, with the finals Wednesday...

The University High School Christmas Tournament isn't the only traditional holiday boys basketball tournament that will be played in Southeast Missouri. Sixteen teams will gather in Bloomfield for that school's 42nd annual Christmas tourney. Doniphan is the No. 1 seed, with Dexter second, Kennett third and Portageville fourth...

Etta Lee Fox, 80, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born March 28, 1918, at Devol, Okla., the daughter of Tilbert B. and Maude Winton Kimes. She married Thomas U. Fox July 31, 1937, at Franklin, Ky. He preceded her in death May 30, 1991...

Lola Guffey, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Dec. 24, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

Dorothy M. Beaudean, 76, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born May 24, 1922, at Cape Girardeau to James and Julia Unterreiner Beaudean. She worked at Florshiem Shoe Co. for 46 years, retiring in 1984...

Virginia Meyer Dubs, 72, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Dec. 21, 1998, at McAllen Medical Center in McAllen, Texas. She was born May 10, 1926, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Adolph and Cora Meystedt Meyer. She married Martin Dubs Jan. 5, 1946, in Sikeston. He survives...

BERTRAND -- Bertie Chaney, 80, of Osage Beach, died Tuesday, Dec. 22, 1998, at the University Hospital in Columbia. She was born April 9, 1918, in Bertrand, daughter of Jesse and Daisy Williams Hurley. She had lived in Osage Beach for the past two years, moving from Sikeston. She was formerly of East Prairie. She was a member of the Church of God in Osage Beach...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Linda Faye Boyer, 59, of East Prairie, died Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1998, at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. She was born June 6, 1939, in East Prairie, daughter of the late James W. Moore and Maggie Marshall Moore, who survives of East Prairie...

Clara Minnie Stoll, 78, of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1998. She was born April 27, 1920, at Dutchtown, daughter of John H. and Amanda Springer Frank. On Jan. 19, 1963, she married Walter H. Stoll in Cape Girardeau. He preceded her in death Sept. 17, 1991...

DEXTER -- Nelson Lee Palmer, 77, of Dexter died Tuesday, Dec. 22, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born in DesArc March 4, 1921, son of Walter Lee and Zella Myrtle Hamilton Palmer. He married Jesteen Moss at Sikeston in Nov. 12, 1942. She preceded him in death on Oct. 11, 1997...

GLEN ALLEN -- Otto August Vehrs, 89, of Glen Allen died Thursday, Dec. 24, 1998, at the Cape Girardeau Lutheran Home. He was born June 8, 1909, in Monee, Ill., to Otto and Maggie Gray Vehrs. He married Ila Seabaugh Feb. 3, 1951. She died May 8, 1979...

SIKESTON -- William A. "Bill" Richards, 89, of Sikeston died Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1998, at Sikeston Convalescent Center. He was born Sept. 10, 1909, in Blytheville, Ark., son of Clarence Addison and Martha Ann Long Richards. He married Beatrice Cooksey on May 15, 1962, in Sikeston. She survives...

KELSO -- Mat August Georger, 85, of Kelso, died Thursday, Dec. 24, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 15, 1913, at Kelso, son of Charles and Louise Schoen Georger. He married Rose D. Tuccy on Aug. 20, 1955, at Chicago. She survives...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Julio M. Gonzales, 84, of Jonesboro died Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1998, at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale. He was born Dec. 14, 1914, at Arroyo Nuevo Leon, Mexico, to Santiago and Aniceta Martinez Gonzalez. He married Juana Martinez Martinez Dec. 15, 1952...

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Pearl Marie Weinrich, 76, of Belleville died Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1998, at her home. She was born Nov. 15, 1922, at Silver Lake, Mo., to Ignatius and Ella Duvall Ruch. She was a homemaker. Survivors include one son, Kevin Floyd Weinrich of Austin, Texas; one daughter, Vicky Sue Curtis of Belleville; and five grandsons. Two brothers and a sister preceded her in death...

SCOTT CITY -- Henry Clarence Heuring, 86, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1998, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He was born Jan. 22, 1912, at New Hamburg to Bernard and Regina Glueck Heuring. He married Bertha Alma Peetz Feb. 18, 1936 at Fornfelt. She died July 8, 1980...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Shelby Gene Livesay, 36, of Jonesboro died Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1998, at Union County Hospital in Anna. He was born Feb. 12, 1962, at Anna to James and Nellie Norman Livesay. He married Cindy G. Qualls in July 1980 at Anna. Visitation will be Sunday at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna...

ANNA, Ill. -- Mildred Bishop, 78, of Anna died Thursday, Dec. 24, 1998, at her home. She was born Sept. 17, 1920, at Carbondale to Jessie Otis and Alma Howell Phelps. She married N.D. "Donkey" Bishop Oct. 7, 1944. He died July 16, 1991. She was a member of Anna Heights Baptist Church and a retired co-owner of Bishop Furniture...

Ida K. Polen died Friday, Dec. 25, 1998, at Monroe County Care and Rehabilitation Center in Waterloo, Ill. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

Leonard Dodd of Princeton, N.J., died Friday, Dec. 25, 1998, at the Princeton Medical Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

Like most of you, I had turkey, dressing and all the trimmings for dinner Christmas Day. I was helping Betty, my wife, clean up the kitchen when she announced, "I'm not cooking tomorrow." I knew what that meant: Leftovers. My house isn't much different from yours. This day after Christmas, we have turkey leftovers, presents scattered across the floor left over from a day's hard playing, and some of us may even have a left over mess from Christmas Day...