Stories from Tuesday, May 4, 1999

In case you haven't heard or live on a deserted island, the newest Star Wars movie opens May 19 at 12:01 a.m. Honest. The countdown to the opening of the "Phantom Menace" has been on for months. There are easily thousands of sites on the Internet not only to learn more about the film but to converse with other Star Wars fanatics...

DELTA -- Martha Mangels views herself more as a go-between rather than the main person when it comes to education. The business teacher and technology coordinator at Delta High School said students are the ones with the keys to the answers, and her job is to teach them how to use those keys to unlock the doors to learning...

Southeast Missouri State University may soon turn the president's home into an alumni center. The home would house the university's fund-raising and alumni services offices. It also could provide sleeping quarters for VIPs on overnight stays. But first the Southeast Missouri University Foundation would buy an off-campus house to serve as the new home for President Dr. Dale Nitzschke...

Kathleen Brown entered college in the 1970s intending to become a physical therapist but couldn't get into the physical therapy college right away, so she tried some classes in a subject then unusual for a woman -- engineering. "Things will happen to you that you don't control," Brown told an audience Monday night that included the cream of Cape Girardeau's graduating seniors. "They just mean one door has closed and another has opened."...

Disgruntled residents and a lack of adequate drivers for the city's taxi service didn't stop council members from requesting $170,545 from the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department. The council Monday unanimously approved a resolution requesting grant funding from the state to help in operating the taxi coupon program. The city must match the grant funding dollar for dollar...

A local Mercantile Bank executive sees the planned sale of Mercantile Bancorporation Inc. to Firstar Corp. as positive. "Firstar Corp. is a good bank," said Lowell C. Peterson, president of Mercantile Bank of Southeast Missouri-Cape Girardeau, which includes three Mercantile branches: two in Cape Girardeau and one at Jackson...

Four area school districts are among 84 Missouri schools selected to expand their services to include preschool-aged children. Cape Girardeau, Oak Ridge, Perryville and Sikeston school districts all are slated to receive funding in the first round of the competitive Missouri Preschool Project...

Somehow I missed the meeting where a drive-in theater, doughnut shop and White Castle restaurant were listed as essential needs for Cape. Nobody knows what the future holds, but we can all offer our dreams and visions for a better world and locally, a better community...

Central High School students honored at the John Blue Academic Excellence Banquet and their parents are: Mark Kevin Anderson, son of Drs. Kevin and Cindy Anderson; Ruth Elizabeth Bechtold, daughter of Scott and Mary Bechtold; Jessica Lane Campbell, daughter of Ken and Barbara Campbell; Kristen Kay Conrad, daughter of Danny and Mary Conrad; Anjuli Dahiya, daughter of Dr. Jai and Leela Dahiya; and Casey Sue Ferden, daughter Susan and David Lindolph and Peter Ferden...

"I never expected to hear in a republic a motion to empower the Executive alone to declare war." -- Elbridge Gerry, Constitutional Convention, Philadelphia, Aug. 17, 1787 Elbridge Gerry would be shocked by Clinton's war in Kosovo. He would have been just as shocked by the unilateral military actions of Presidents Reagan and Bush. ...

There was a special report on a TV news show last week. It was all about this doctor who gave up a lucrative medical office complete with a solid patient base and a good income. The doctor chose to practice his healing arts by going to the homes of patients instead of having the patients come to his office...

Claire McCaskill, Missouri's new state auditor, is a Roman Catholic. She was invited by Chaminade College Preparatory in St. Louis to be the commencement speaker this year. Then the school withdrew the invitation. Why? Because McCaskill favors abortion rights...

To the editor: Lonely, so lonely. No one cared. Afraid, hurting. No one noticed. No one took time to see A heart twisting in pain, a soul tortured with fear. The ball sailed down the field. The crowd cheered. Hands clapped. Faces smiled. No! I can't. I never. I would fall, face in the dirt, miss the ball...

To the editor: Thank you for your April 22 article by Tamara Buck, "Many left speechless by killings," which helped to introduce many readers to Moms in Touch International. MITI is a Christian prayer ministry which has been active in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson areas for at least seven years. ...

JACKSON -- Contractors will have an extra hour of cool temperatures to work this summer, while motorists will have fewer speed limits to memorize. The Jackson Board of Aldermen Monday night approved a bill amending an ordinance relating to nuisances by adding an exception for summer construction. ...

The Army Ground Forces Band will perform a traditional band concert May 16 in Cape Girardeau. The performance is free and will be held at 3 p.m. at Cape Girardeau Central High School auditorium. The Army Ground Forces Band concert is the second military band performance in Cape Girardeau this year...

The elementary schools of the Cape Girardeau School District are now accepting kindergarten enrollment for the 1999-2000 school year. Parents may enroll at their child's assigned school between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. In April, the Cape Girardeau Board of Education approved new attendance area boundaries to coincide with the opening of Blanchard Elementary School in the next school year...

The Area Wide United Way is reviewing all community agencies that have requested funding from the 1999 campaign. Each agency has completed an allocation request packet with financial and program information. In addition, agencies must give a 30-minute presentation to a panel of United Way board members and other community leaders...

Just a few short weeks ago, Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team was struggling along with a batting average in the .240 range. But look at the Indians' offense now. Thanks to a recent hot streak, they're hitting at a .308 clip -- and, not coincidentally, Southeast has surged to the top of the Ohio Valley Conference standings...

BENTON -- Kelly High's Brad Kolwyck -- he of the five consecutive home runs last month -- swatted his area-best ninth homer Monday. But Oran's Dustin Dannenmueller smacked the game winner. Oran trailed Kelly 4-3 in the sixth inning, but Dannenmueller's three-run shot lifted the Eagles to a 6-5 triumph...

The Harlem Globetrotters completed a three-game sweep of the 1999 College All-Stars in Cincinnati Sunday, posting a 106-97 victory over some of the nation's top college seniors. Saturday night, the Globetrotters beat the All-Stars 99-93 in Detroit. They had won the series opener 108-87 in Oakland on April 25...

Three local soccer teams captured championships over the weekend during the annual City of Roses Invitational that was deemed a big success by tournament director Howard Aslinger. "We had another very good tournament," said Aslinger of the Saturday and Sunday event that featured 57 teams in a variety of age divisions for both boys and girls. "There was some excellent soccer and everybody really enjoyed themselves."...

JACKSON -- Dexter edged Jackson 8-7 as a tied game changed personalities in extra innings Monday at Jackson City Park. Through seven innings the Bearcats had just four hits to the Indians' two, but the eighth inning saw 11 runs cross the plate as Dexter outscored Jackson 6-5 in the frame...

POPLAR BLUFF -- Notre Dame claimed the SEMO Conference title outright Monday with a 14-1 pounding of Poplar Bluff. The Bulldogs, who utilized a three-run homer and five RBIs by Josh Eftink, improved to 7-0 in SEMO Conference play and 18-3 overall. Eftink and Nathan Essner both finished with two hits in Notre Dame's 11-hit attack. Essner scored four times...

SIKESTON -- Funeral for Ray Hart of Sikeston will be held at 11 a.m. today at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church. Msgr. William Stanton will officiate. Ponder Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Hart, 59, died Saturday, May 1, 1999, at Missouri Delta Medical Center...

Funeral Mass for Gilbert Niles Clinton of Cape Girardeau will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Mary's Cathedral. Msgr. Richard Rolwing will officiate. Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery. Friends may call at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel from 4:30-8 p.m. today. Parish prayers will be at 7, and Knights of Columbus rosary at 7:30...

ADVANCE -- Alyssa Marie Long, 2 months, of Advance died Sunday, May 2, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 2, 1999, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Kristal Long. Survivors include her mother; maternal grandparents, Mitchell and Melana Long of Advance; maternal great-grandparents, Ed and Marjorie Hicks of Advance, James Long of Idalia, and JoAnn Guffey of Dexter...

STURDIVANT -- Robert P. Dalton, 62, of Sturdivant died Sunday, May 2, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 16, 1936, at Sturdivant, son of Russell and Viola Kirkpatrick Dalton. He and Idres Cox were married Aug. 19, 1955, at Marble Hill...

SIKESTON -- Addie Brothers Champion, 81, of Sikeston died Sunday, May 2, 1999, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born May 27, 1917, at Bauxite, Ark., daughter of James Robert and Mellia Sloats Henson. She first married Elmer H. Brothers in July 1936. He died in March 1962. She later married Eugene D. Champion in September 1966. He died in December 1993...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Terry Lee Timmerman, 41, of Jonesboro died Sunday, May 2, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 18, 1958, in Kalamazoo, Mich., son of Eldon and Betty Boven Timmerman. He and Shelia Lynn Campbell were married June 15, 1985, in Alto Pass...

PERKS, Ill. -- Eva Price, 92, of Perks died Monday, May 3, 1999, at City Care Center in Anna. Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak is in charge of arrangements.

EAST PRAIRIE -- Flora May Brantley, 91, of Columbia died Sunday, May 2, 1999, at Boone Retirement Center. She was formerly of Mississippi County. Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie is in charge of arrangements.

Volunteers are still needed to help with the second annual Cape Girardeau Regional Air Show in July. An organizational meeting will be held Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Cape Pilots Club near the east terminal. The show, planned for July 10 and 11, will pay tribute to America's veterans and military personnel...

Son to Steven Charles and Beth Ann Lichliter of Pueblo West, Colo., St. Mary-Corwin Hospital in Pueblo, Colo., Tuesday, March 23, 1999. Name, David Charles. Weight, 7 pounds. Second child, first son. Mrs. Lichliter is the former Beth Ann Robertson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Robertson of Cape Girardeau. Mr. and Mrs. Lichliter are registered nurses at St. Mary-Corwin Hospital. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Lichliter of Vergennes, Ill...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Lois Burpo, 95, of Cobden died Sunday, May 2, 1999, at the home of a daughter in Chebanse. She was born Nov. 17, 1903, in Union County, daughter of Benjamin and Fanny Cox. She and Earl Burpo were married July 14, 1927, in Pinckneyville. He died July 23, 1995...

As summer travel season begins, the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission is offering full-color tourism brochures to travel and visitor centers throughout the region. The "Historic Treasures" brochure looks at the history and heritage of the region, showing the Spanish and French colonial influences as well as the architecture such civilizations inspired...

GRASSY -- Christian musicians, drama teams and entertainers will gather at Arrowhead Campgrounds near Grassy this weekend for Godstock '99. The event is a weekend concert sponsored in part by WGCF radio station in Paducah, Ky. It is the first such weekend concert in the area...

Agenda, Monday, May 3 Council Chambers, 401 Independence Public hearings -- Held public hearing regarding application for funding from the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department to assist with operating the city's taxi coupon public transit program...