Stories from Wednesday, January 13, 1999

Paper white narcissus can be started indoors in a pot before spring planting. I'm sitting in my living room at home on a cold and dreary January afternoon. A glance through the patio doors reminds me of landscape scenes viewed on TV in the 1950s. Except for a splotch of red from a cardinal that occasionally flies by a door, all I see are shades of gray in my front yard...

To the editor: Mona Charen's Jan. 10 column, "Who invented politics of personal destruction," was right on. I was wondering when someone might point out this truth. Now if someone would just share the meaning of the word "is." CHARLES LANCE Scott City...

As Gov. Mel Carnahan prepares his budget, what has become a routine item is singularly lacking. The budget includes no money for a new prison in Missouri. It is the first time in five years a new prison has not been proposed in the state budget. Missouri officials may be ready to give a collective cheer. ...

Communication is certainly a key to cooperation. To that end, continued meetings between the Cape Girardeau and Jackson city councils are productive for both communities. The two governing bodies gathered Monday for their second such meeting. The cities agreed on a small land swap at the meeting -- minor in scope but major in terms of the new spirit of cooperation forged between two prospering neighbors...

Joint meeting with Cape Girardeau City Council Monday, Jan. 11 Jackson City Hall Action items -- Approved a joint resolution of the City Council of the City of Cape Girardeau and the Board of Aldermen of the City of Jackson expressing and reconfirming mutual support for planning and construction of three key highway projects of regional importance by the Missouri Department of Transportation...

The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is scheduled to visit Cape Girardeau early next month to officially welcome the city into FEMA's Project Impact program. James Lee Witt will visit the city Feb. 3 and participate in a signing ceremony at the Show Me Center. Numerous state and federal officials and local dignitaries are expected to attend, as well as representatives from Project Impact partners in the business community, civic groups and state and local agencies...

With more than 41 million bushels of corn and about 30 million bushes of soybeans grown in Southeast Missouri, area farmers know these crops are big producers. Farmers will learn more about other agriculture productions at two programs this week. A seminar called New Trends in Crop Productions, will be held Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the K.C. Hall in Jackson. The event is one of the area's largest crop production seminars...

JACKSON -- The Jackson Board of Education approved a make-up schedule for days missed due to inclement weather during a meeting Tuesday night. The district scheduled two more school days this year than the state-mandated 174 days in session. However, there also have been five cancellations with two months left before spring's arrival...

To the editor: Many of those who sing "Joy to the World," the well-known and favorite Christmas carol, will not actually realize they are singing a psalm. The reason for this is the Old Testament is not known for joyous songs. Isaac Watts, who is credited for and wrote that famous carol, is said by J.C. Watson, professor of English at Durham, to be the most inspiring hymn writer of all times who so clearly and truly reaches into the hearts of all people...

JACKSON -- The Communist rebels in Vietnam captured and killed Jacqueline Blaylock's father in 1945 when she was 2 and her name was Jeanne Jacqueline Nguyen Van Nghiem. When her mother disappeared four years later, the family knew she, too, had been taken by the Communists...

Few things in life are free. But for a few hours Tuesday, the Cape Girardeau post office gave away 1-cent stamps, 10 to a customer. The give away was prompted by long lines at the post office and malfunctioning automatic stamp-vending machines. "A lot of people were going through the lines at the counter to obtain 1-cent stamps," said Cape Girardeau Postmaster Mike Keefe. "We've really been swamped the past few days."...

In Cape Girardeau, nearly 40 percent of all traffic accidents involve one motorist rear-ending another. The vast majority of those accidents happen at traffic signals with right-turn ramps. In hopes of catching drivers attention and in turn slowing the number of rear-end accidents, Cape Girardeau Police have placed large traffic message boards at two intersections...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Pulaski County and parts of Alexander and Johnson counties have been named a federal empowerment zone, a designation that will enable them to qualify for more federal assistance and should make them more attractive to business. The region will be eligible for $2 million in federal assistance during the first year of the U.S. Department of Agriculture program. Officials hope $2 million will be made available each of the 10 years the zone is exists, for a total of $20 million...

My latest new experience in this new year: A real live boxing match, with television crews, cash prizes and girls in bikinis in between rounds. Sure, we've all seen the amateur matches. I'm talking AMATEUR amateur, like those impromptu matches that broke out in the quadrangle at Sikeston High. Those fights had it all -- the blood-hungry crowd, the play-by-play commentary and the unanimous decisions by experienced judges, who usually ruled on who kicked whose butt...

There was evidently nothing wrong with Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team that a little home cooking couldn't cure. The Otahkians, saddled with their first two-game losing streak of the season after dropping both games of a recent road trip to Tennessee, bounced back Tuesday night...

Talk about tuning up for a first-place Ohio Valley Conference showdown with an impressive performance. Southeast Missouri State University's basketball team clicked on virtually all cylinders in the first half Tuesday night -- and Austin Peay's Governors barely knew what hit them...

Cape Girardeau Central High School is taking nominations for its athletic Hall of Fame. Anyone wishing to nominate a person for the Tiger Hall of Fame should send a complete resume to: Central athletic director Terry Kitchen, 205 Caruthers, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63701...

Southeast Missouri State University will hold its Winter Golf Development Clinics in February and March. The clinics will take place in two sessions on Monday and Wednesday evenings. One session will be from Feb. 1-24 while the other session will be from March 1-24...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department will be hosting its second annual Osage Invitational Co-ed Volleyball Tournament on Sunday, Feb. 7, at the Osage Community Centre. The registration deadline for the 6-on-6 tournament is 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 3...

The Tiger Shootout, which was scheduled for last Saturday but was postponed due to the weather, has been slated for this Saturday at the Tiger Fieldhouse. The Cape Central girls will play Rosary, the defending 3A state champions, at 1 p.m. In boys' action, Notre Dame will play Portageville at 2:30 p.m., Jackson will play Oakville at 4 and Cape Central will play Vianney at 5:30...

DELTA -- Ronald Watson scored 20 points on torrid 10 of 11 shooting from the field as Scott City defeat Delta 87-50 Tuesday night. Jon Beck had 25 points and Ryan Weatherspoon added 16. Scott City (12-2) led 33-19 at halftime. A 35-16 fourth-quarter edge put the game out of reach...

MARBLE HILL -- Jackson may have beaten Woodland 67-57, but the Cardinals probably took more from the game than the Indians did Tuesday night. Woodland (8-3) learned it could stick with and a tough team (Jackson is a Class 4A school, while Woodland is 2A) even when its top offensive weapon has an off night...

MORLEY -- Scott County Central High's boys basketball team got big games from John Fort and Jreece Johnson as the Braves posted an 86-72 win over visiting Kelly Tuesday night. Ford scored 29 points and Johnson had 28 for the Braves, who improved to 9-3. Vincent Stevens added 10 points...

MATTHEWS -- Imogene Vann, 73, of Matthews died Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Aug. 17, 1925, in Pontotoc, Miss., daughter of Arthur Dolphus and Alice Josephine George Morrison. She and R.B. Vann were married Dec. 16, 1949, at Lilbourn. He died Sept. 8, 1990...

MILLER CITY, Ill. -- Gregory M. Patton, 45, of Miller City died Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999, at his home of an apparent heart attack. He is the brother of Dr. Jeffrey Patton of Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements were incomplete at Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo...

ANNA, Ill. -- Leta Fisher, 94, of Anna died Monday, Jan. 11, 1999, at Union County Hospital. She was born Oct. 25, 1904, in Dongola, daughter of William and Rosetta Walls Pender. She and Claude Fisher were married Feb. 14, 1923, at Dongola. He died Sept. 1, 1963...

Funeral for Verda Trickey of Cape Girardeau will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at Cracraft-Miller Funeral Home in Jackson. The Rev. Larry Gallamore will officiate, with burial in Russell Heights Cemetery at Jackson. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-7 p.m. today...

Cletis J. Eakins, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999, at his home. He was born Nov. 5, 1913, at Allenville, son of Robert and Louise Deimund Eakins. He and Leola Winkler were married March 15, 1936, in Murphysboro, Ill. Eakins owned and operated Eakins Cabinet Shop. He was a member of Carpenters Union 1770...

Yvonne June Smith, 69, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Jan. 11, 1999, at her home. She was born March 16, 1929, in Los Angeles, Calif., daughter of David Otis and Cordelia Dudley Pettit. She and Thomas C. Smith were married June 25, 1949, in St. Louis...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Grace S. Fuller, 86, of Cobden died Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999, at Firwood Healthcare Center in Batavia. She was born Feb. 7, 1912, at Cobden, daughter of Oscar and Maude Cook Stroud. She and Kenneth W. Fuller were married Jan. 8, 1929, in Murphysboro. He died Feb. 2, 1994...

KARNAK, Ill. -- Margaret Kean, 83, of Karnak died Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999, at Southgate Health Care Center in Metropolis. Wilson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

MARBLE HILL -- Edna F. Crader, 87, of Marble Hill died Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999, at Bond Nursing Care Center. She was born May 12, 1911, at Potosi, daughter of Stanley and Frances Smith Pipkin. She and Bernard Crader were married in 1947. Crader was a retired salesclerk...

Angie Holtzhouser of Lilbourn loves to cook. Combine that love of cooking with Southern hospitality and family tradition, and you'll discover "Drop Dumplin's and Pan-Fried Memories Along the Mississippi." That's the name of Holtzhouser's best-selling cookbook that weaves together Southern and Irish anecdotes and recipes. It has sold thousands of copies and is going into its third and largest printing to date -- 10,000 copies...

Brrrr! Our weather the past few days has really been soup weather. When I think about planning something for dinner I start thinking about all of my favorite recipes and then I instantly think, Scott probably wouldn't like having soup AGAIN. My dear husband, Scott, is truly a meat, potatoes and bread man. ...