Stories from Tuesday, March 23, 1999

It may be 20 months until the next presidential election, but the campaign is already heating up. Steve Forbes became the first candidate to announce his intentions via the Internet. He also plans to campaign vigorously online. His strategy elevates the Internet to a whole new role in the next campaign...

Bailey Rust, left, assisted Sarah Schneider with an art project at Alma Schrader Elementary School. Laura Tufts, left, and Jessica Tufts showed the quilt outside the school office which they helped to create with other members of the after-school art club...

NEW HAMBURG -- Sixth-grade teacher Gayle Shaffer thinks anyone can have a good learning experience when they learn in a diverse environment. Shaffer, a 10-year teaching veteran at Kelso C-7 School, applies the diversity principle at school and in her home. Whether she's pairing sixth-graders with kindergarten students to practice reading, or helping her pet dachshund, cat and cockatiel to live in harmony, she thinks diverse environments make the best learning environments...

Local police said speed trap warnings on the information superhighway give Southeast Missouri a bum rap. Patrolmen say they don't mind if the site makes drivers more cautious, but they do take offense to the implication that drivers are being ticketed unfairly...

By the luck of the draw, a Cairo man has become a candidate for Cairo City Council member-at-large. Charles J. Koen survived a six-person field to emerge as one of the top three candidates in balloting during the February primary. Koen and Donald E. Rushing tied for the second position on the ballot, with 215 votes each...

Southeast Missouri State University students can expect to pay more to live on campus next school year. The university's Board of Regents will consider raising room and board charges as well as tuition and other fees when it meets Wednesday. The regents will meet at 10:30 a.m. in the University Center Ballroom...

Ned the yo-yo, his dog, ray-gun toting aliens and flying trapeze artists took students at Alma Schrader Elementary School on a wild, imaginary roller coaster ride during an assembly Monday. Luke Breneman used a rollicking tale full of fun characters as a backdrop to the many tricks he demonstrated using a yo-yo...

JACKSON -- A Mississippi timber hauler escaped with minor injuries Monday after the cab of his truck became impaled by logs on Jackson Boulevard The driver of the truck, David Mooneyham of Randolph, Miss., was following another loaded timber truck when a vehicle pulled into the path of the lead truck. As the lead truck came to a sudden stop, Mooneyham could not avoid striking the lead truck and the timber it was carrying...

To the editor: I am a former military police officer who has been around firearms my whole life. I have been collecting them since high school. I am also in favor of Proposition B.Prosecuting attorney Morley Swingle and others like to paint worst-case scenarios and then add a gun, leaving an impression of mayhem in the streets. ...

Even though U.S. voters will be electing a new president in 2000, the hottest race for Missourians is likely to be the contest between U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft and the man who hopes to unseat him, Gov. Mel Carnahan. Both men are strong campaigners, and both have campaign staffers who know more than a few tricks of the trade. The forecast is the Ashcroft-Carnahan matchup will be one of the hardest fought in the state's recent memory...

Anyone who has watched the partisan divide grow wider and wider in Congress understands how far removed the nation's lawmakers have become from leadership and compromise. Maybe that's why it was so refreshing to see 13 Democrats in the Missouri House bolt from the party line -- and stern warnings from the governor's office -- over the issue of collective bargaining for public employees...

To the editor: In regard to the legislation on being able to carry a concealed weapon, I fel that is improtant for all the citizens of Missouri to really look at Proposition B and not listen to individuals like the assistant U.S. attorney, the Cape Girardeau County prosecutor and especially the chief of police of Cape Girardeau. ...

To the editor: This is a "what if" letter. As a grandfather of a 6-year-old boy and two little girls ages 7 and 13, I feel compelled to write. I beg everyone to consider all the children when they are deciding whether to vote for or against Proposition B.I have heard how the people will be screened and will have to take 12 hours of training before being given a permit to carry their concealed weapons. ...

Erin Vogt, a former standout swimmer at Cape Girardeau Central High School, put an impressive cap over the weekend on a standout freshman season at the University of Arizona. Vogt earned three All-American honors as she helped the Wildcats place fourth in the NCAA Championships held in Athens, Ga...

The new athletic fields at the new Notre Dame High School are fast taking shape, with the baseball and soccer fields ready to host their first official competitions this week. All the new fields -- including a softball field that will be worked on this summer -- were constructed using money raised by Notre Dame Booster Club donations. A variety of individuals and businesses also donated equipment and labor...

Southeast Missouri State University softball player Renee Enos was named to the all-tournament team at the Capital Classic that concluded over the weekend in Sacramento, Calif. Enos went 7-for-19 in the tourney, with a home runs. The Otahkians finished the 16-team tourney that featured some of the nation's top teams with a 2-5 record...

MEADOW HEIGHTS -- St. Vincent unloaded 15 hits in its 16-0 season-opening baseball victory over Meadow Heights on Monday. Dusty Wengert and Pat Brown, who both homered, and Derek Kutz each had three hits. Wengert had four RBIs, Brown three and Kutz two. Corey Strattman added two hits...

SIKESTON -- Stella K. Meadows, 89, of Sikeston died Monday, March 22, 1999, at Miner Nursing Center. She was born April 19, 1909, in Defeated Creek, Tenn., daughter of Arthur and Lura Jones Donoho. She married Claude D. Meadows Oct. 16, 1924. He died Dec. 4, 1990...

Robert J. "Son" Mouser, 70, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, March 22, 1999, at his home. Born Nov. 8, 1928, in Sikeston, he was the son of Benjamin F. and Della P. Knighton Mouser. Mouser was a farmer in the Sikeston and New Madrid area and also worked for the sanitation department in Scott City. He moved to Cape Girardeau 20 years ago...

JACKSON -- Cecil B. Lyerla, 95, died Monday, March 22, 1999, at the Jackson Manor Nursing Home where he had been a resident since 1993. Born March 29, 1903, in Alto Pass, Ill., he was the son of Jacob and Flora Nipper Lyerla. On March 27, 1937, he married Evelyn C. Davis. She died April 22, 1976...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Sylvia Smothers, 89, of Olive Branch died Monday at Day Star Nursing Home in Cairo. Arrangements are pending at the Crain Funeral Home in Tamms.

PERRYVILLE -- Funeral Mass for Dorothy Rose Kirn of Perryville will be held at 1 p.m. today at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Rev. Kevin Fausz will officiate. Burial will be in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Friends may call at Young and Sons Funeral Home from 6:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. today...

PATTON -- Lillian E. Lezotte, 54, of Patton died Sunday, March 21, 1999, at her home, following an illness. She was born July 2, 1944, at Kankakee, Ill., daughter of George and Lucille Jarvis Lezotte. Lezotte moved to the Patton area in 1997 from Kankakee. She was employed by Heartland Home Health Co. in Jackson...

Funeral for Marcus David Musgraves of Cape Girardeau will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Wesley Wright will officiate. Burial will be in Lorimier Cemetery. Friends may call at the chapel from 4-8 p.m. today...

SIKESTON -- Alta L. Ellison, 82, of Sikeston died Sunday, March 21, 1999, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Jan. 3, 1917, in Callao, daughter of Clarence Calvin and Dona Jane Taylor Cavins. She and Luther Horace Ellison were married in 1936. He died in 1965...

Funeral for Edward Carl Renfro of Cape Girardeau will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. John Owen will officiate. Burial will be in Dexter City Cemetery at Dexter. Friends may call at the chapel from 4-8 p.m. Wednesday...

PARMA -- Jimmy Adams, 42, of Parma died Sunday, March 21, 1999, at his home. He was born March 13, 1957, at Parma, son of Donald and Doris Knight Adams. A lifelong resident of Parma, he was employed by Ron Owens Construction. Survivors include a daughter, Amanda Adams of Parma; his mother and stepfather, Doris and J.M. Patton of Parma; his father and stepmother, Don and Erma Adams of Osage Beach; three sisters, Pam Norman of Malden, Debbie Smith of Gideon, and Linda Caldwell of Dexter...

PUXICO -- Frank H. Perkins, 85, of Puxico died Sunday, March 21, 1999, at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. He was born March 5, 1914, in Wiona, Minn., son of Homer and Annie Jones Perkins. He married Alice Daniel, who died Jan. 3, 1995...

SCOTT CITY -- Funeral for Idalene Head of Scott City will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City. The Revs. Wayne Gould and Rennie Phillips will officiate. Burial will be in Lightner Cemetery. Friends may call at the chapel after 4 p.m. today...

Daughter to Joshua Greg and Charlene Fay Fritsche of Perryville, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:07 p.m. Saturday, March 13, 1999. Name, Rachel Marie. Weight, 6 pounds 1 ounce. Mrs. Fritsche is the former Charlene Schuessler, daughter of Charles Schuessler and June Schuessler of Uniontown. She is a bookkeeper at Perry County Savings Bank. Fritsche is the son of Willard Fritsche and Kathryn Fritsche of Perryville. He is employed at East Perry Building Supplies Inc...

Lottie O. Hoover, of Advance, Mo., was born August 27, 1905 in Bollinger County, Mo., the daughter of the late Alfred and Eva Silcox Carlton. She passed away Sunday, March 21, 1999 at the Advance Nursing Center at the age of 93. Lottie was a homemaker and of the Baptist faith...