Stories from Tuesday, May 18, 1999

MARBLE HILL -- John Thompson likes to solve problems. That's why he became a teacher. "I decided to go back to school to become a teacher because I was alarmed at the great number of teen-agers that showed a lack of problem-solving skills," said Thompson, a science teacher at Woodland High School for the past three years. "I also was amazed to see how many of them refused to take responsibility for their own actions."...

A student walked past a mural at Washington Elementary School painted by Craig Thomas. The future of the mural, which depicts the history of the area, remains uncertain. An antique IBM bell clock hangs in the hall of the school. The clock is only a display now...

A large portion of the AmernUE building's roof blocked the entrance to the office on Minnesota Street, but the employees inside remained busy with more than 22,000 customers without power after Monday afternoon's storm. Roofing from a newly remodeled apartment building at 45 S. West End Boulevard blew across the street as high winds ripped through Cape Girardeau Monday afternoon...

Falcon Cable TV will raise its rates for basic and extended basic service by 5 percent effective June 20. Falcon Cable also is increasing its rates for its systems in other areas of the nation.. "We haven't had one in 18 months," said Dave Huntsman, regional manager for Falcon Cable in Sikeston...

POPLAR BLUFF -- A Missouri Highway Patrol helicopter pilot and a photographer died in a helicopter crash Friday afternoon near a busy Poplar Bluff intersection. The two had been photographing the Special Olympic torch run through the Bootheel Monday...

Monday afternoon's tempestuous storm blew over tractor-trailer rigs, felled trees, damaged roofs, disrupted phone service and caused power outages across the region but injured no one, according to law enforcement agencies. Winds measured at 90 mph in Chaffee and Oran raked the region. Trees and limbs were scattered, roofs were damaged and power was cut in Stoddard, Scott, Bollinger, Cape Girardeau and Perry counties...

A Little Rock, Ark., company asked the Cape Girardeau City Council to put its condemnation of the Old St. Francis Hospital site on hold. The council unanimously agreed to delay proceedings for at least 90 days. The new owners, the Phillips Company, want to find a way to pay for the estimated $535,000 to demolish the building and remove asbestos...

I am calling concerning the Random Acts of Kindness Week. There is a program that has volunteers who provide services to various agencies throughout Cape and Scott counties. These senior adults do acts of kindness each and every day, 365 days a year, just to help their fellow man. I commend the Retired Senior Volunteer Program for all their random acts of kindness...

A 1997 Dodge minivan that was converted for wheelchair access for people with disabilities has been donated to SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence. The donation was from Sandy McLane and McLane Investment. SADI is a community-based independent living center promoting and assisting people with disabilities...

Southeast Missouri State University's Board of Regents will hold a closed-door meeting today. The regents will meet at 10:30 a.m. in the board room at the University Center. Regents President Don Dickerson said the meeting will focus on unfinished business from last Friday's closed session. That meeting lasted several hours after an open session...

The Cape Girardeau school board meeting was canceled Monday because of severe weather and has been for rescheduled for 6 p.m. Monday in the Central Junior High School cafeteria. Board members were scheduled to discuss the elimination of second preparation period for tenured teachers of grades seven through 12. However, school superintendent Dr. Dan Tallent said the item had been changed from a matter for discussion only to an action item...

There are more farmer markets in Missouri this year. "We expect to see 75 or more markets in the state in 1999," said Lloyd Wilson, a marketing specialist with the Missouri Department of Agriculture. "We're seeing a trend to more direct marketing." Just two years ago, the state had 60 to 65 farmer markets. Dating to the late 1980s, the count was around 50...

The U.S. Department of Justice should reject a proposed merger between two grain companies because it would be bad for Missouri farmers, state Attorney General Jay Nixon said Monday. Nixon said Cargill Inc.'s plan to buy Continental Grain would reduce competition that would hurt grain farmers in the Missouri Bootheel...

Clippard Elementary School students cheered Monday morning after learning their building would be equipped with air conditioning when they returned to classes in August. "They're excited and they have wonderful, wonderful questions," said principal Stan Seiler. "This may be something teachers here only get once, so it's great they'll have a chance to use this as an opportunity to teach."...

To the Editor: Talking about what happened in Littleton, Colo., and what schools can do to prevent it from happening here, I saw a headline that said "They are praying now." And there was a lot of prayer the day the tragedy happened and since then. I also heard some speak of the teen-agers as being spiritually empty...

Forget a penny for your thoughts. A penny shortage locally may make those pieces of copper a lot more valuable. Pennies were in short supply Friday at Schnucks and Mercantile Bank in Cape Girardeau. But an outpouring of community response helped ease the deficiency...

Pomp and circumstance is ringing through area schools. It is graduation time again. It is a time of endings and new beginnings. The Class of 1999 finds itself with plenty of opportunities. For those wishing to pursue a college degree, this is a time of increased competition among institutions of higher learning. The demand is partly due to a smaller graduate pool than a decade or so ago...

Pictures of Missouri legislators celebrating at the end of an annual session are always dramatic but never succeed in capturing the joy of their constituents. --- If all the General Assembly's introduced bills that never saw the light of day were laid end to end, the Department of Transportation could complete the 15-year Road Plan...

The United States has the most highly regarded intelligence services in the world, bar none. In the wake of the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade -- a horrific blunder -- this may seem to be a bold statement. But the statement still holds. The Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the lesser known offices that makes up the U.S. intelligence community, are an unbearable combination when they work together...

AT THE level the United States' intelligence is operating this war, the next mistake may be a nuclear foul up. The spin doctors are alibiing like crazy, but the more they spin, the more stupid they sound. The embassy bombing was probably a covert action meant to relay a message to China to keep hands off of the Yugoslavian war. We know Clinton is a devious liar...

No way was bad weather going to keep the University of Missouri Tiger Caravan from making its appointed rounds in Cape Girardeau Monday evening. Last year, the scheduled stop in Cape of MU athletic department personnel was canceled when weather problems kept the MU entourage from flying out of Columbia...

ADVANCE -- St. Vincent High's baseball team made its Class 1A, District 2 debut Monday and won in impressive fashion with a 14-0 trouncing of Bell City. Fourth-seeded St. Vincent (11-10) moves into the semifinal round where it will face the winner between top-seeded Advance and No. 9 Scott County Central. The Advance-Scott County Central game was rained out Monday...

St. Vincent, the defending Class 1A state champion, is in third place after Monday's opening round of the Missouri High School Golf Championships. Playing in Columbia, the Indians shot a 330 to trail Gallatin (315) and Viburnum (322). St. Vincent's top score was turned in by Craig Schumer, who is tied for 12th at 9-over-par 79...

Beth Mapes shot a 77 to win medalist honors at the Women Golf Association competition last week at Cape Girardeau Country Club. Play of the day was `pink ball and net best ball.' The threesome of Marlena Jones, Laurie Laverentz and Gwen Lampitt won both events with a pink ball score of 63 and a best ball of 50...

Foreign correspondent Charles Jaco, seen on CNN during the Gulf War and reporting from more than 50 countries for NBC, CBS and C-SPAN, will speak Thursday at the Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce annual awards banquet. Jaco is a radio talk-show host for KMOX in St. Louis. He grew up in Poplar Bluff...

Southeast Missouri State University will conduct a variety of camps in various sports this summer. Following is a rundown of the camps. Boys Basketball There will be five camps, for individuals and teams. Day Camp I, for ages 6-17, will be held June 2-5. The cost is $60...

It has been one busy spring for one young gymnast. Kara Crawford, a 12-year old sixth grader at Clippard Elementary in Cape Girardeau, is already making a name for herself around the country and one day she hopes to make a name for herself around the world...

SCOTT CITY -- Glenn Bennett Keesee, 79, of Scott City died Sunday, May 16, 1999. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City is in charge of arrangements.

BENTON -- Etta Pauline "Jackie" Brock, 81, of Benton died Monday, May 17, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 27, 1917, at Sikeston, daughter of William and Nellie Pray Channing. She and Wade Spencer Brock were married Nov. 9, 1935, at New Madrid. He died Dec. 31, 1991...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Funeral for Juanita Edging of Mound City will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Jones Funeral Home in Villa Ridge. The Rev. Roger Glasco will officiate, with burial in Beechwood Cemetery at Mounds. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

McCLURE, Ill. -- Raymond Eugene Baugher, 66, of McClure died Sunday, May 16, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 30, 1933, in McClure, son of James E. and Ruth Backus Baugher. Baugher had been city marshal, fire chief, and water plant supervisor. He worked at Procter and Gamble 13 years, retiring in 1981 because of ill health...

JACKSON -- Anna Marie Eaker, 65, of Spencer, Ind., died Friday, May 14, 1999, at Terre Haute Regional Hospital. She was born July 3, 1930, in Harrisburg, Pa., daughter of George C. and Sadie B. Shell Craver. She and Dallas Eaker were married Nov. 12, 1952...

Emma M. Davis, 91, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, May 17, 1999, at the Lutheran Home. She was born May 3, 1908, at Oran, daughter of Willie and Molly Strain. She and Cecil Davis were married Oct. 23, 1927. He died May 22, 1968. Davis had been a sewing machine operator at International Shoe Co. She was a member of Grace United Methodist Church...

CHARLESTON -- Joe Starks, 94, of Charleston died Sunday, May 16, 1999, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Aug. 18, 1904, in Belzoni, Miss., son of Pleas and Lillie Harris Starks. Starks was retired from Union Pacific Railroad. He was a member of Mercy Seat Baptist Church...

Son to Gary Allen and Michelle Dawn Kasten of Uniontown, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:35 a.m. Monday, May 3, 1999. Name, Nicholas Ernst. Weight, 5 pounds 3 ounces. First child. Mrs. Kasten is the former Michelle Proctor, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mike Proctor of Millersville. She is employed at Pocahontas Lumber. Kasten is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Willie Kasten of Uniontown. He is employed at Schreiner-Busch Farms...

MOREHOUSE -- Graveside service for Paul Ferrell of Morehouse will be held at 1 p.m. today at Essex Cemetery in Essex. Friends may call at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Morehouse from noon until service time. Ferrell, 64, died Monday, May 17, 1999, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston...

Third Quarter Honor Roll A Honor Roll 8th Grade -- Emily Amberger, Nicole Bennett, Katrina Bockhorn, Amber Crites, Jennifer Duvall, Gina Evans, Kathleen Frasher, Ross Hemmann, Nathan Laurentius, Lindsey Laws, Zachary Leible, Angela Martin, Sarah Mattingly, Jessica Ponder, Robert Riehn, Natasha Ruesler, Stephanie Schindling, Jenna Schuessler, Ashley Taylor, Afton Thieret, Ashley Thieret, Erin Toney, Heather Venable, Leslie Weinhold, Rachel Yamnitz...

3rd Quarter Honor Roll A Honor Roll 12th Grade -- Hannah Bergman, shelly Berkbuegler, Ryan Besand, Deidre Blandford, Cale Clements, Jennifer Danz, Jill Duvall, Terica Ernst, Duane Fenwick, Jennifer Hadler, Kevin Hoff, Kate Kammler, Kristopher Klaus, Jeremy Koenig, Matthew Lauck, Jessica Lohmann, Patricia Maday, Amanda Masiel, Matthew Mehner, David Messer, Andrea Noennig, Amber Ochs, Laura Ponder, Laurie Pontillas, Nathan Rellergert, Cary Roth, Natalie Roy, Sarah Schindler, Alicha Schneider, Jared Schnurbusch, Kara Steffens, Jared Tanz, Allen Thieret, Richelle Tisher, George Touchette, Jill Triller, Lauren Tucker, Windy Venable, Ryan Verseman, Jeremiah Weinrich, Kimberly Winschel.. ...