Stories from Saturday, April 17, 1999

Jeromy Deibler, lead singer for FFH, sang during the performance Monday night. Smaller concerts, like the one at Lynwood Church, let the band interact with audience members. Ray Boltz sang before a crowd of 2,400 Thursday night at the Show Me Center. Boltz promoted his "Hope and Glory" CD with a tribute to people who have served in the military...

Are you talented? A national talent search for Christian musicians is coming to Cape Girardeau in May. The talent search will be held May 22 in Bavarian Halle, with prizes up to $1,000 and studio time for recording. Only the first 75 people who respond will be entered. From those 75 entries, the number will be narrowed to 10. The 10 finalists wil be asked to perform June 19 at a shoot-out event, which is part of a Homecoming Concert Series with the Gaither video artists...

Calvin Bird has resigned as executive director of Southeast Missouri's federally funded Weed and Seed program. Bird submitted his resignation Thursday to the Weed and Seed board of directors. He previously had been placed on 15 days administrative leave with pay...

A House committee has buried legislation to establish an Indian affairs commission in Missouri. "It's dead," said state Rep. David Schwab, the bill's sponsor. The Jackson Republican said the bill was stuck in the House governmental organization committee and won't go anywhere this year...

Mr. K's Food Center closed Friday, but doors will reopen at 9 a.m. today for a liquidation sale. Less than six months after opening the city's largest grocery supermarket, operators of the 60,000-square-foot store closed, citing financial reasons, said a spokesman for Supervalu, a grocery distributor with a facility at Scott City. It provided the bulk of supplies to the store, which was open 24 hours a day...

A new aquatic center, more fire stations on the west end and additions to City Hall and police station could ease the city's building needs. But the city must weigh needs of the buildings against other budget constraints and improvement projects, city staff said during a City Council retreat Friday at Black Forest Villages...

Nearly a third of the city's employees have reached the top step in the pay scale, and that is both good and bad. Because Cape Girardeau has tried to increase it salaries, all city employees will get a 2 percent increase by July 1. That will bring a three-year pay plan to its completion, and the average city worker will see a 6 percent increase with step and pay raises...

The soothing sound of running water envelopes the wooded area along LaSalle Fork near Cape Girardeau. Standing on the bank of the stream at the edge of the private Dux Landing subdivision off Route W, there is no hint of the changes that would occur if the city succeeds in building a detention basin downstream...

If I were to look up the word "responsible" in the dictionary, they'd define it and slap a picture of my mother and sister beside it. My picture and my dad's, on the other hand, would appear next to the same word ... as an example of an antonym in a thesaurus...

The St. Louis Cardinals have lost their best pitcher for the rest of the season, which came as a surprise to fans who didn't know the club had one. Reducing taxes requires intense strategic planning on the part of politicians whose ultimate goal is to argue long enough that there won't be enough time left to vote...

Smile. Random Acts of Kindness Week is just around the corner. The week celebrates everyday kindnesses that make us pause from the rush and worry of this fast-paced world. It's these small kindnesses that can make a major difference in someone's life. They're easy to do, hard to forget...

Kindness is no stranger to the many volunteers who participate in the annual Special Olympics held last weekend in Cape Girardeau. This feel-good event involved some 400 athletes, coaches and fans from throughout the region. They competed in the Southeast Area Special Olympics Track and Field Meet at Central High School...

To the editor: Since the beginning of the war, I have been in touch with various contacts within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The following two letters have been sent via e-mail. One of my letters to the editor was published in the daily political newspaper, Politika, in Belgrade. It was quite an honor...

An exploratory committee interested in forming an official chapter of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America in Cape Girardeau County will hold two meetings. The first is at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Main Street Fitness in Jackson. The second is at 7 p.m. Thursday at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High cafeteria...

The Cape Girardeau Regional Airport has begun planning for the second annual Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival to be held July 10 and 11. An organizational meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Cape Girardeau Pilots Club at the airport. The festival will include an aerial tribute to U.S. veterans, including an F15 demonstration and a Heritage Flight, which is a patriotic presentation of the F15 and a P51 Mustang flying in formation...

On the surface, it might look like Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team is in trouble in the Ohio Valley Conference race. But a closer look indicates that the Indians are in not nearly as bad a shape as people might think. At 4-4 in league play, Southeast -- the defending OVC Tournament champion and last year's regular-season runnerup -- is tied for fifth place in the nine-team league...

"It's Southeast Missouri against the world!" bellowed victorious Cape Girardeau Central High baseball coach Steve Williams as he greeted victorious Notre Dame coach Chris Neff in the press box at Capaha Field Thursday night. Actually, it was Central against North County of Bonne Terre and Notre Dame against Horn Lake (Miss.), but both coaches beamed like world beaters after procuring victories in the Tiger Showcase...

CHAFFEE -- Chaffee, Dexter and New Madrid County Central each claimed wins in the first round of the eight-team Chaffee baseball tournament Friday. Chaffee outslugged Perryville 12-11 to improve to 6-1 on the season. G.P. Glueck picked up the win in 3 1-3 innings of relief...

Three-time Missouri all-state basketball blayer Tim Scheer of New Haven High School has signed a national letter of intent to attend Southeast Missouri State University. Scheer, a 6-foot-6 forward, led New Haven to the Missouri Class 1A state championship in 1997 and 1999 and to a third-place finish in 1998. He scored a school-record 2,024 points during his career...

SIKESTON -- Ruby Bridger, 85, of Sikeston died Friday, April 16, 1999, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Sept. 30, 1913, at Poe, daughter of Wiley and Clara Stewart. She and Thomas C. Bridger were married Jan. 7, 1933. He died Feb. 1, 1994...

SIKESTON -- Calista Lumsden, 89, of Sikeston died Friday, April 16, 1999, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Nov. 4, 1909, in Ocean Springs, Miss., daughter of Fred Davidson and Jence Carter Newcomb. She and Donald Kenneth Lumsden were married in 1946. He died June 26, 1996...

ANNISTON -- Willie Belle Coleman Chenault, 95, of Sherwood, Ark., died Wednesday, April 14, 1999, at West Lake Living Center in Sherwood. She was born Nov. 10, 1903, in Anniston, daughter of William N. and Kate Thurman Tatum. She first married George Herbert Coleman Jan. 1, 1921. He died July 1, 1972. She and Garland Chenault were married July 4, 1981. He died April 10, 1995...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Funeral for Harvey F. Knupp of Jonesboro will be held at 4:30 p.m. today at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna. The Rev. Phil Asbury will officiate. Burial will be in Jonesboro Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 3 p.m. today...

Funeral for Francis Jay Schobey of Cape Girardeau will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Mark Carbaugh will officiate. Burial will be in Lorimier Cemetery, with graveside rites by VFW Post 3838. Friends may call at the chapel from 4-8 p.m. today...

ALTO PASS, Ill. -- Loren B. Thompson, 86, of Alto Pass died Thursday, April 15, 1999, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Marion. He was born March 31, 1913, at Carrier Mills, son of Ernest and Anna Russell Thompson. He and Mildred Marie Hale were married Sept. 25, 1973, at Murphysboro...

BERTRAND -- Thomas F. "Tom" McClanahan, 84, of Bertrand died Friday, April 16, 1999, at Bertrand Nursing Facility. He was born Nov. 1, 1914, in Decatur County, Tenn., son of Jesse and Martha White McClanahan. He and Dorothy Marie Willard were married in March 1948. She died May 28, 1994...

GORDONVILLE -- Paul H. Seabaugh, 77, of Gordonville died Friday, April 16, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel in Cape Girardeau from 4-8 p.m. Sunday. Funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Zion United Methodist Church in Gordonville...

BONNE TERRE -- Funeral for Carol J. Hawn of Bonne Terre will be held at 11 a.m. today at C.Z. Boyer and Son Funeral Home in Bonne Terre. The Rev. John Hoos will officiate. Burial will be in Bonne Terre Cemetery. Hawn, 47, died Wednesday, April 14, 1999, at her home...