Stories from Thursday, April 1, 1999

If there's someone you'd like to see disappear, at least for awhile, famed illusionist David Copperfield may have a trick you'll really like. In his new show "U!," Copperfield summons 13 people out of the audience and on stage only to make them disappear...

These life drawings by Lou Varro were completed in the late 1940s while he was studying art in Southern California. Arts Council Executive Director Daniel North was sitting at a desk in the gallery one day when an 82-year-old visitor named Lou Varro began talking to him about art. North soon discovered that Varro had taken many life drawing classes back in the 1940s, unusual for anyone except professional artists. North asked to see the drawings...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Voters in East Prairie will consider extensions for two tax measures and several other contests when they go to the polls Tuesday. The City Council wants to extend a half-cent transportation tax and a 19-cent property tax for additional periods to cover operating costs of the city...

Neither of the buildings look much like a place of worship, but that doesn't really matter to Lynwood Baptist Church or First Assembly of God Church. The two Cape Girardeau churches needed more space to accommodate the crowds expected for Easter worship on Sunday, and the A.C. Brase Arena Building and Osage Community Centre have space to spare...

Preserving Cape Girardeau's historic resources is a daunting task because so many elements of historic architecture and design are scattered around the city. But a historic preservation study recommends creating conservation zones or districts to help preserve the historic sites in Cape Girardeau...

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Price says common sense tells him that Proposition B, Missouri's concealed-weapons measure, is bad news. But Greg Jeffery, a firearms instructor and president of the Second Amendment Coalition of Missouri, says law-abiding Missourians should have the right to protect themselves...

Washington Elementary School kindergarten students learned how a traffic signal works and viewed various road signs during a visit from Missouri Department of Transportation representatives Wednesday. Traffic studies engineer Jason Shafer made the presentation to help students understand the things they see when riding in cars or walking along Missouri roadways. The program was the first in a new outreach effort by MoDOT to teach young students about traffic safety...

Although Cape Girardeau has a city ordinance requiring homes and businesses to be clearly numbered, the law is widely ignored, said Tom Hinkebein, city fire marshal. As a result, Cape Girardeau firefighters routinely experience frustration when they can't find the location of an emergency call...

April 1, 1999 "When I hold you in my arms, And I feel my finger on your trigger. I know no one can do me no harm because: Happiness is a warm gun." -- Lennon and McCartney Dear Julie, My sister and her family left for Cincinnati today after a wee stay. The nieces shopped and helped their grandmother and DC bake pies and cookies, an activity I sadly suspect will cease the day they become teen-agers...

To the editor: In the March 21 St. Louis paper, a retired detective from that city has a letter in which he relates the history of two brothers, Terrell and Cradell Poke. Between them they have been arrested 37 times since the end of 1995, convicted of eight felonies including possession of a sawed-off shotgun, and neither brother has served a single day in prison. ...

HOW MANY other country's civil wars is Clinton going to get the United States involved in? Are we going to occupy all countries then, and afterwards, like in Bosnia? Aren't Italy, Greece, Turkey, and other countries near Yugoslavia getting apprehensive that they may be next if they don't toe the line with Clinton's foreign policies? Clinton has given the U.S. military the chance to make its debut of its $2 billion toys...

In the heat of the debate, both opponents and proponents of Proposition B have gone overboard at times. As the first state in the nation to have a vote on allowing concealed weapons, Missouri continues to be closely watched, even though most other states already have some form of concealed-carry laws on the books...

To the editor: I opposed Proposition B in the early stages of this controversial issue because I strongly feel Proposition B is not good for our state or, most of all, its citizens. It is my belief that allowing more guns into the community can ultimately result in allowing more guns into the hands of school-age children, some of which may turn up in classrooms and on playgrounds...

MARBLE HILL -- Voters Tuesday will decide whether to approve a $400,000 sewer and water bond issue and extend a half-cent sales tax. The measures would fund sewer, water and street improvements. Improvement plans include extending sewer lines to serve Woodland School and the neighboring village of Glen Allen...

PULASKI, Ill. -- There will be some new faces in Pulaski Village Hall this year. Dean L. Rogan Sr., who is serving as interim mayor following the resignation of former mayor Jack Roberts, is unopposed in the mayoral race on the Pulaski ballot for the April 13 elections...

Maundy Thursday Centenary United Methodist Church will host a worship and drama service at 7 p.m. on "Women of Courage." The service will look at the role of women in Jesus' life. It includes communion. A community wide service will be held at First Presbyterian Church Thursday at 7 p.m. Several soloists and members of the church choir will present "Seven Last Words of Christ." The Rev. Alan Oakley will serve communion...

Jackson's Melissa Palmer was probably the best player on one of the state's best girls basketball teams this past season. As a result, Palmer was named to the Missouri Class 4A Sportwriters and Broadcasters All-State first team. Palmer, a 5-foot-10 forward, scored about 14 points per game and five rebounds for the Lady Indians, who ended the season after an overtime sectional loss to John Burroughs with an 23-2 record. ...

Like the old joke says, baseball is God's favorite sport because everything was created in the Big Inning. Baseball is my favorite sport too. Sure football and basketball seasons serve as entertaining time fillers November through March. But there's something about this time of year that lifts my spirits more than warming temperatures, budding trees and growing Easter Lilies...

Two familiar faces will be filling coaching vacancies at Notre Dame High School next season. Chris Neff, an assistant basketball coach for three years and the current head baseball coach, will assume the head basketball coaching position. And former volleyball coach Helen Payne will return to coach Notre Dame's volleyball team. She will replace Janet Buchheit...

Tommy Wencewicz School: Notre Dame Sport: Baseball Coach: Chris Neff Week Report: Wencewicz and the Bulldogs opened the season with wins over three Class 4A teams, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and Jackson last week. Wencewicz, the junior leadoff-hitting centerfielder for the Class 2A Bulldogs, scattered six hits in those three games. ...

Amanda Hiler School: Cape Central Sport: Soccer Coach: Tom Doyle Week Report: Hiler, a junior forward, scored three goals in the Lady Tigers' 3-2 win over a tough St. Charles West team. St. Charles -- which went 27-2 last season -- had allowed just one goal in the first three games. Hiler also had one goal in the Lady Tigers' 3-2 win over Fort Zumwalt South in the season opener and another in Central's 4-0 victory over Fort Zumwalt South, giving her five goals in just three games...

The Southeast Missouri State University Otahkinas swept this week's Ohio Valley Confernce honors as Jenny Oermann was named OVC Player of the Week and Debbie Schmelz was named OVC Pitcher of the Week. Oermann, a 5-foot-10 senior shortstop from St. Clair, batted .563 (9-for-16) in games last week with five runs batted in, a double, a triple a home run and a stolen base. ...

PERRYVILLE -- St. Vincent improved to 3-1 on the season with an offensive eruption in a 16-7 win over visiting Fredericktown Wednesday. The Indians scored five in the second inning, six in the fourth and five in the sixth. Dusty Wengert went 3-for-5 with a triple and four runs batted in for St. Vincent...

Scott City's Jon Beck, Marquand's Dusty Stephens and Scott County Central's John Fort, a trio of high-scoring seniors, have been named to the Missouri Sportswriters and Broadcasters all-state teams for Class 1A-2A schools. Beck, a 5-foot-11 guard who will be playing Division I basketball at Arkansas State, averaged 25.3 points per game and repeated on the Class 2A first team. ...

The Southeast Missouri State University women's tennis team began the 1999 season Wednesday with an 8-1 loss to Harding University, which has already played 17 matches this year. Brigette Stotter, the No. 4 singles player who went 7-7 in singles matches last year, picked up the only win for the Otahkians, 7-5 and 6-1 over Harding's Sara Kater...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral for Margaret Ellen Humphreys of Denton, N.C., will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie. Jim Eskew and Lawrence Heckert will officiate. Burial will be in Dogwood Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 6 p.m. Friday...

OAK RIDGE -- Mary E. Haupt, 73, of Tucson, Ariz., died Sunday, March 28, 1999, in a Tucson hospital. She was born Sept. 4, 1925, in Oak Ridge, daughter of Joseph and Frieda Wills Cobble. She and retired Brig. Gen. Raymond L. Haupt were married May 26, 1950...

Evelyn C. Koester, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, March 31, 1999, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Aug. 27, 1914, at Kelso, daughter of Robert and Paula Seyer Messmer. She and Louis J. Koester were married June 29, 1957. He died Nov. 10, 1971...

SCOTT CITY -- Funeral for Dora E. Grueneberg of Scott City will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Eisleben Lutheran Church. The Rev. Joel Sarrault will officiate. Burial will be in Lightner Cemetery. Friends may call at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City from 5-8 p.m. today, and Friday at the church from 9 a.m. until service time...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Robert Frank McMikle, 82, of East Prairie died Wednesday, March 31, 1999, at East Prairie Nursing Center. He was born Oct. 27, 1916, in East Prairie, son of Ernest T. and Alpha Omega Lucas McMikle. He and Pauline Sisk were married Feb. 14, 1948, in Hernando, Miss...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Alma Esther Chanley, 79, of East Prairie died Wednesday, March 31, 1999, at East Prairie Nursing Center. She was born June 21, 1919, in Evansville, Ind., daughter of Henry Ervin and Sarah Jane Deal Flick. She and John Daniel Chanley were married Jan. 3, 1934. He died Sept. 27, 1986...

JACKSON -- Funeral for Gregory W. Elfrink of Jackson will be held at 2 p.m. today at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. The Rev. Mike Harrison will officiate. Burial will be in New Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery near Pocahontas. Friends may call at the funeral home from 1-2 p.m...

Daisy Victoria Wilkinson, 92, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, March 31, 1999, at the home of a daughter in Cape Girardeau. She was born Oct. 28, 1906, at Cascade, daughter of John and Hattie Stroup Dorsey. She and Elba M. Wilkinson were married Aug. 6, 1924, at Marble Hill. He died Dec. 3, 1971...

SCOTT CITY -- Shirley Jean Corn, 63, of St. Louis died Wednesday, March 31, 1999, at St. Louis University Hospital. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City is in charge of arrangements.

Edwin K. Farrow, 31, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, March 31, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center following an illness of several months. Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Martin Son to John Duree and Keely Ann Martin of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 5:10 p.m. Tuesday, March 23, 1999. Name, Brayden Duree. Weight, 7 pounds 15 ounces. Mrs. Martin is the former Keely Donaldson, daughter of Jack Donaldson of Cape Girardeau, and the late Regina Donaldson. She is a family education specialist with Caring Communities. Martin is the son of Jack and Mary Anne Martin of Jackson. He is a teacher/coach at Kelly High School...

UNITY, Ill. -- Funeral for Janice Adell Williams of Unity will be held at noon today at Mt. Tabor Missionary Baptist Church in Sandusky. The Rev. Harvey Prentice will officiate. Burial will be in Spencer Heights Memorial Park in Mounds. Friends may call at the church from 10 a.m. until service time...