Stories from Wednesday, January 27, 1999

During the months of October, November and December, I often get asked the following question:"I kept my plants outside all summer and they did just fine. I brought them in this fall when it began to get cold. Now my plants don't look good. What am I doing wrong?"...

ST. LOUIS -- They came carrying banners proclaiming "Viva Il Papa" and colorful flags representing their schools and churches. More than 40,000 Roman Catholic youths and church leaders gathered under the shadow of the Gateway Arch in the early morning Tuesday for a one-mile Walk in the Light march prior to Pope John Paul II's mid-afternoon arrival...

Southeast Missouri State University is offering a series of mini workshops teaching beginning computer skills and program usage. The spring schedule includes introduction to computers, classes on Windows 95/98, Microsoft Word, Excel and Access, and business writing basics...

The Missouri Association of Republicans will hold its Lincoln Days in Springfield Feb. 19-21 at University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center. U.S. Sens. Christopher Bond and John Ashcroft are among those scheduled to attend. Advance registration can be made by Feb. 12. Contact the Missouri Republican Party at 573-636-3146 or obtain a registration form on the Internet at www.mogop.org/ldayform.html...

IF A school superintendent did what President Clinton did, would you want him fired? Or would you want to go up to him, shake his hand and tell him you support the great job he's doing running our schools? What if it was the police chief or local judge or president of the university who did these things? What would you have to say? If you believe these people in local jobs would no longer be worthy of your trust and support, then how can you support our current president who holds the highest and most honored office in the country? Bottom line, if you can continue to support this president, you are contributing to the decline in morals and values in this country that so many people, maybe even you, complain about.. ...

Awkward moments: President Clinton's State of the Union address spoke of a "new dawn" for America. Given 16 years of economic growth and a decade since the decline and fall of the Soviet Union, events kicked off long before Clinton's ascent, it is hard to see what "nighttime" has preceded the morning to which the president referred...

Southeast Missouri State University is eyeing the golden ring: 10,000 students. But the road to build enrollment has been slow and rather bumpy. Enter: tuition breaks for Illinois students in 35 counties. The plan, which takes effect this fall, could go a long way to building significant numbers for Southeast...

Oh, Kansas City. The public school system there -- still operating under the heavy reins of a court-ordered desegregation plan -- never ceases to amaze. The stories of outlandish overspending and poor test score results are legendary. Now, the district has decided to hire private contractors to deal with some 1,200 of its most unruly and poorly performing students. ...

To the editor: The human race has pulled itself out of things worse than the nowadays problems. We have pulled ourselves through two world wars and a depression. Yet no one has figured out that America pulls itself through one thing, builds its government back up and then lets itself fall back in the same hellhole as before...

To the editor: I am a housewife. Actually, I am privileged to be a housewife. In this day and time, one feels like a dinosaur in that profession. I am not an accountant nor an economist nor a political scientist, though I do have somewhat of an education. I am interested in politics and follow the Washington, D.C., soap every day...

ST. LOUIS -- Pope John Paul II knows how to reach young people in America. His message urging them to make a difference in the world was received with cheers and shouts of joy. His remarks about training for a life of devotion to the church even had references to every major sport from baseball to hockey...

Editor's note: Laura Johnston, Southeast Missourian religion reporter, is in St. Louis covering Pope John Paul II's visit. She filed this report on her impressions of the event late Tuesday. ST. LOUIS -- The images are too deeply embedded in my mind to ever forget:...

JACKSON -- Dr. Ron Anderson of Liberty has been selected superintendent of Jackson schools. The Jackson Board of Education announced its decision during a meeting Tuesday night. Anderson will assume his new duties July 1. He has agreed to a three-year contract for an annual salary of $98,500...

Daniel North has been named executive director of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, a position he says he basically has been in training for since becoming assistant to the director a year and a half ago. The 24-year-old North has been the assistant to the director for the past year and a half. He was chosen to become the executive director during the organization's board meeting Monday. Tuesday was his first official day of work as director...

Not to sound like Andy Rooney, but there are some things really getting on my nerves lately. I think it's the fact that my 30th birthday now is less than 11 months away. There are certain goals a girl sets for herself before she reaches 30. Becoming a homeowner, a mother, a successful career woman whose yearly raises amount to more than 30 cents per paycheck...

Tax help for senior citizens will be available at a number of sites throughout Southeast Missouri, including three in Cape Girardeau and two at Jackson. The American Association of Retired Persons tax-aide group will provide tax preparers starting in early February...

JACKSON -- There has long been a substantial disparity between the rival wrestling programs of Jackson and Cape Girardeau Central high schools. The latter has not defeated the former in a dual meet since the 1960s. Central has yet to completely bridge the gap but, under the guidance of third-year coach Drew Lilledahl and assistant Josh Crowell, the Tigers this season have made indisputable inroads...

PORTAGEVILLE -- Portageville High's boys basketball team scored the game's first seven points and never trailed as the Bulldogs handed visiting Cape Girardeau Central a 64-56 defeat Tuesday night. The Tigers fell to 7-10 while the Bulldogs improved to 9-6...

Jackson High girls basketball coach Ron Cook doesn't know if his team is the best in the state among Class 4A squads. But for a while at least, the Lady Indians can make that claim. They have risen to the top spot in the latest Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association poll that was released today...

It was great to get another Ohio Valley Conference road win Saturday night at Eastern Illinois. I thought our team really played hard. We had great effort by all the starters and the players who came off the bench. Overall, this could have been our best team effort of the season...

The preliminary basketball tournaments for AAU/USA will be held in March in Poplar Bluff. Tournament dates for both boys and girls will be March 19-21 for ages 13 and under and March 26-28 for 14 and over. For more information about entering a team, contact Linda Jacquemain at 686-6851. Entry deadline is March 5...

The Jackson Area Optimist Soccer Association (JAOSA) will hold its spring signups two more days at Main Street Fitness in Jackson. Signups will be Jan. 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. and Jan. 30 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, contact Tom Sprandel at home (243-4065) or work (243-9533)...

The Cape Area Youth Soccer Association (CAYSA) will be taking signups for the spring outdoor soccer season Jan. 31 from noon to 5 p.m. inside West Park Mall at the JC Penney entrance. Age groups span pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in both co-ed and girls divisions. Registration fee is $20 for kindergarten through eighth grade and $10 for pre-kindergarten...

SIKESTON -- Jackson High's undefeated SEMO Conference boys basketball record went down in flames Tuesday night. Host Sikeston jumped all over the Indians at the outset, building a 35-13 halftime lead on its way to a 65-48 romp. The Indians fell to 11-6 overall and 2-1 in conference play. Sikeston evened its overall record at 8-8 and its league mark at 1-1...

SIKESTON -- -- Nancy Lee Christie, 52, of Walnut Creek, Calif., and formerly of Sikeston, died Tuesday, Jan. 26, 1999, at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek. She was born July 11, 1946, in Clinton, Tenn., to Robert Henry and Nola Mae Taylor Wallace...

Glen Stephen Kinder II died Tuesday, Jan. 26, 1999, at his home. A resident of Oak Ridge, he was born on Nov. 8, 1922, in the same family home in Cape Girardeau County, which has been in the family for seven generations. He was the son of Elmer Detrich and Anice Dove Goodson Kinder...

Nora Ellen of Rossville, GA died Friday, January 15, 1999, at a Nashville, TN hospital. She was 72. She was preceded in death by her son, Paul Edward Hanners. Survivors include her husband, Harvey Bates, Rossville; one daughter, Barbara Ellen Spaulding, Hesperia, CA; two sons, David Leon Edwards, Chino, CA, and Thomas Thornton Edwards, Mesa, CA; three sisters, Bessie Elizabeth Dudley Phelps, Burfordsville, MO., Sarrah Jane James, Chaffee, MO, and Katie Mae Magruder, Kankakee, IL; one brother, Edward Adam Menz, Wilmington, IL; seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.. ...

BLOOMFIELD -- William Thomas Cahow, 65, of Bloomfield died Monday, Jan. 25, 1999, at his home. He was born Aug. 1, 1933, in Bogota, Tenn., son of Casper C. and Tersey Pearl Hester Cahow. He and Rosemary Page were married June 25, 1977, in New York, N.Y...

CHARLESTON -- O.V. Coffer, 72, of Charleston died Monday, Jan. 25, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 12, 1926, in Mississippi County, son of Brad and Lucille Holdness Coffer. He and Dorothy L. McAfee were married March 14, 1946...

PEORIA, Ill. -- Delores H. Casper, 70, of Peoria died Sunday, Jan. 24, 1999, at St. Louis University Hospital. She was born July 7, 1928, in Rosiclare, daughter of Fred and Elizabeth Volkert Humm. She and Ken Casper were married Feb. 21, 1953, in East Alton...

ALTENBURG -- Norbert A. Meyr, 70, of Altenburg died Monday, Jan. 25, 1999, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 7, 1928, at Altenburg, son of Arnold T. and Alida Fischer Meyr. He and Evelyn R. Mueller were married Aug. 20, 1950...

Ila Ann Gray, 94, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Jan. 26, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Jan. 15, 1905, in Berry, Ala., daughter of William Marvin and Rebecca Irene Earnest Handley. She and Marion E. Gray were married in January 1934. He died Jan. 24, 1977...

Clara Ladine Blattel, 80, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Jan. 25, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born March 3, 1918, at Greenbriar, daughter of Robert L. and Saddie Vesta Harris Kern. She and Clarence H. Blattel were married Jan. 2, 1942, at Advance. He died Jan. 29, 1991...

SCOTT CITY -- Betty Jewell Huckabee, 60, of Scott City died Tuesday, Jan. 26, 1999, at Chaffee Nursing Center in Chaffee. She was born June 16, 1938, at Scopus, daughter of John Billy and Ruby Irene Pulliam Burns Angle. She and Gale Warren Huckabee were married July 7, 1968. He died Jan. 7, 1990...

Daughter to Terry Dwayne and Margaret Sexton Sr. of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 2:34 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, 1999. Name, Emma Grace. Weight, 9 pounds 8 ounces. Fourth child, third daughter. Mrs. Sexton is the former Margaret Kasten, daughter of Dr. Melvin and Rep. Mary Kasten of Cape Girardeau. She is an inpatient coder in Medical Records at Southeast Hospital. Sexton is the son of Bobby and Letha Sexton of Benton. He is a foreman with Kirk and Blum...

A new seaion of Story Times at Riverside Regional Library in Jackson begins at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 2. Readers and listenerswill celebrate Groundhog Day with stories and crafts. Featured stories include "Sugar Snow" by Laura Ingalls Wilder, "The Bibbest, Best Snowman," by Margaret Cuyler, and "What Happened Today, Freddy Groundhog?" by Marvin Glass...

To say the least, Debbie was not a cook. To say the most, she should have been banished from the kitchen. But every so often she would convince herself that if everyone else could cook, so could she. This was always a faulty assumption on her part, and one summer afternoon, in 1967, she created the monster frosting...

When the idea of Recipe Swap was first discussed, I had my concerns that people would be too busy to take time to write in or to share recipes. Boy, was I wrong! I am so excited and thrilled that we have had such a wonderful response with this week being our best yet. Congratulations readers on a job very well done! so with that, let's get right to the recipes...