Stories from Sunday, June 27, 1999

Dear Dads, Father's Day has come and gone. It's the day when fathers of all tongues and races receive praise, honor and a special place in the hearts of all. Dads certainly welcome such a day. However, during the remaining 364 days, several of the radio and TV promos make us out to be a bunch of misfits, dummies, or somewhat idiotic bumblers...

A future-focused group received a boost of enthusiasm when it paused to look into the community's past Monday night. The Jackson Chamber of Commerce's annual installation banquet had a definite old-time flavor to it -- without losing its focus on continuing the community's growth and vitalization...

Two generations of present Jackson leaders and parents went to school under James R. Nelson. First as a teacher, then as Jackson High School principal for 25 years, Nelson did much to help shape today's Jackson. Nelson, commander of Altenthal-Joerns American Legion Post # 158 and long-time civic leader, was honored Monday night as the recipient of the 1999 R.A. Fulenwider Meritorious Community Service Award by the Jackson Chamber of Commerce...

Do we have a legal system worthy of our aspirations to equal justice under law? The question hangs in the air as we sift through the ruins of this week's news on silicone-gel breast implants. In many areas of the civil law, we have less a system of laws than a gigantic lottery mentality at work, to which honest business people are forced to pay a form of tribute bordering on extortion. Let's take it from a Wall Street Journal editorial entitled "The Law Disfigured":...

Paducah. Jonesboro. Gun Control. N.R.A. Brady Law. Hollywood. Clinton. Littleton. Congress. Smith & Wesson. These and other similar words have taken their place in the American conversation as symbols of our late twentieth century culture. Their images create reminders that something is amiss in our society and that the Great American Dream is subject to horrific interruptions both disturbing and foreboding...

Eighteen individuals have web sites that are linked to the official Jackson web site, sponsored by the city of Jackson and the Jackson Chamber of Commerce. Although a handful are no longer active links -- primarily college students who have apparently taken their sites off-line for the summer, the remainder provide an interesting variation of occupations and interests...

According to former JHS football coach Paul Weber, what did he immediately begin doing upon seeing the football field for the first time after taking the job? Last week's question: Methodist minister William Stewart, a local pastor during the 1920s, spend more than 60 years in various types of ministerial work here and in the Mineral Area. For what achievement is he best remembered in the Jackson area?...

25 years ago: 1974 A 74-page preliminary report regulating development of subdivisions and mobile home courts in county was submitted to County Court Monday by Norman H. Weiss, chairman of County Planning and Zoning Commission; Weiss said commission wants court to review its proposed plan -- first of several that will be drawn up to provide master plan for county planning and zoning -- and meet with commission to discuss any questions judges may have...

Time to put brakes on spending THE LIBERAL socialistic Democrats say federal government does not spend too much and that Americans are not overtaxed. I disagree. Since 1927, every $1 of our taxes which has been raised has been matched by a spending increase of $1.59. ...

"Only a day after pledging to warehouse their weapons and end their fight," read an Associated Press dispatch from Yugoslavia this week, "a top Kosovo Liberation Army leader said Tuesday the rebels never agreed to give up their guns and still hope to form an army. There was also evidence the rebels -- or supporters -- were continuing to take revenge on Serb civilians. Serb houses burned in the ... city of Pec and a Serb power company worker was shot in the capital. .....

Last weekend's Associated Press article, datelined Jefferson City, was one that is best read between the lines: "Gov. Mel Carnahan has no plan to issue an executive order requiring the state to bargain with labor unions representing state workers, his chief of staff said Friday...

Jim Talent, an up-and-coming House Republican and candidate for governor, may think twice before speaking at another Jackson Chamber of Commerce banquet. While Talent, chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, was "preaching to the choir" in advocating the importance of small businesses at the annual installation banquet, he was upstaged by heartfelt tributes to two long-time Jackson leaders who have done much over the years to advance the cause of their community. ...

(Editor's Note: Jeni Zinner of Jackson, will be writing an exclusive column for the Jackson USA Signal this summer, depicting her experiences as a United States Senate page. Zinner, daughter of Chuck and Julie Zinner, is student body president at Jackson High School.)...

"My governor can beat up your governor." So reads the message on some bumpers of Minnesota cars. It reminds me of the bragging we used to do as children about our dads. "My dad is bigger than your dad." "Oh yeah? Well, my dad is stronger than your dad." "Oh yeah? Well, my dad is faster than your dad." "Oh yeah? Well, my dad is smarter than your dad." "Oh yeah? Well, my dad is richer than your dad." "Is not." "Is so." Etc...

David Koeller read a part from the script of "Fools." You have to be stupid to audition for the Neil Simon comedy "Fools." That is the curse upon the Ukrainian village of Kulyenchikov, a general stupidity, so the actresses and actors trying out Saturday at Port Cape Restaurant were doing their best to sound dumb enough to get a role...

Men, all of them white, make the decisions on the Cape Girardeau City Council. The Cape Girardeau Board of Education also is heavily male and white. One black and one woman serve on the seven-member school board. Statistics compiled by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Quality of Life Committee show little diversity in race and gender among elected officials in Cape Girardeau...

The city of Cape Girardeau is considering putting a roundabout or traffic circle at a Sprigg Street intersection where there have been few accidents over the past several years. Over the past eight and a half years, there have been 48 accidents at the Sprigg, Normal and Washington streets intersection...

JACKSON -- Amy Knaup arrived in Morocco today to begin a two-year adventure famous as "the toughest job you'll ever love." As a Peace Corps volunteer, the 1990 Notre Dame High School graduate will provide environmental education to small business people somewhere near one of Morocco's national parks. The goal is to encourage environmentally friendly practices...

How do you gauge the quality of life in Cape Girardeau? A Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce committee has tried to answer that question with a statistical report that covers everything from high school graduation rates and job growth to trash recycling and voter turnout...

It's a grand old flag. Our kids are sold on the Stars and Stripes. Recently, they unfurled our American flag for an impromptu parade through our basement family room. Joni and I broke out in song, going through a number of patriotic numbers for our own, informal flag ceremony...

EAST PRAIRIE -- The 1999 East Prairie Junior Miss and Miss Fourth of July pageants have been set for 7 p.m. Thursday at the East Prairie High School auditorium. Contestants may compete in either the Junior Miss 13-15 (Sunday Dress) or Miss 16-19 (Formal Attire) divisions. The contests are open to youths in the age divisions who reside in all of the surrounding areas...

Dr. Dale Nitzschke, outgoing president and incoming chancellor of Southeast Missouri State University, will be the guest Sunday on KRCU's "Going Public" radio program. The program airs at 3 p.m. on 90.9 FM. Nitzschke will discuss his reasons for leaving the presidency and what his role will be as chancellor of the university...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- The old Titus School Building, which housed Mounds Township High School a number of years before the Meridian School District became a reality in the mid-1960s, will be converted into the Pulaski County Community Center. Roy "Buddy" Walls, a Mounds businessman, and Kenneth Moore, of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, who own the building, have donated it to the Mounds in Action for Neighborhood Youth (MANY)...

There wasn't a player in the area last season who could keep Scott City High basketball standout Jon Beck from putting up his points. Even in the North vs. South All-Star game at Richland High School, the 5-foot-11 guard scored 32 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter...

The jury is still very much out on whether Bud Eley has an immediate future in the National Basketball Association. Eley, Southeast Missouri State University's all-time leader in rebounds and blocked shots, will know a lot more Wednesday night. That's when the 1999 NBA draft is held in Washington, D.C. The 6-foot-10 Eley has a chance to be selected in the two-round draft, although there is maybe a better chance that he won't be picked...

I interrupt my fascination for the birds at my new feeder, the rabbits that come at 4 o'clock and the storm-tossed hedgerow to bring news of Project Tomato. This is the tomato plant I put into the big pot, placed on the morning sunshine porch and have talked to kindly and encouragingly almost daily...

POPLAR BLUFF -- The Chaffee Medicap Pharmacy American Legion baseball team had only nine players for its doubleheader with host Poplar Bluff Saturday. But that didn't prevent Chaffee from sweeping the District 14 twin bill, winning 7-6 and 6-2. Chaffee is now 13-3 overall and remained perfect in district play with an 8-0 record...

Scott City High School's football staff will hold a youth camp July 6-9. Camp hours: 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. for elementary; 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. for junior high; and 10 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. for senior high. For more information, contact Scott City High School at (573) 264- 2138...

Well, here we are at the end of June. It's summertime. Both temperatures and humidity are high. Outdoor activities are structured around the weather. Fishing trips are early-morning, late-evening affairs. The cool, crisp days of autumn seem so far away that we hardly give them a thought...

A Delta man sustained serious injuries Saturday morning when his car ran off the road just south of the Cape Girardeau city limits. Tyler Bowers, 21, was taken to St. Francis Medical Center after the 5:20 a.m. accident on County Road 205. A spokeswoman for the Missouri Highway Patrol said Bowers' vehicle ran off the road and struck a tree, causing it to overturn. The driver was ejected...

KENNETT -- One man was killed and another injured early Saturday when a tractor trailer ran into a car they were working on at the side of the road. James Dillard, 49, of Hayti was taken to Twin Rivers Hospital and later airlifted to St. Francis Medical Center where he died. Glenn Pogue, 39, of Hayti also was airlifted to St. Francis Medical Center after the 12:35 a.m. accident...

LEOPOLD -- Martha Mary Nenninger, 90, of Leopold died Saturday, June 26, 1999, at the Ratliff Care Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born on Aug. 18, 1908, in Leopold, the daughter of Jacob and Lucy M. VanDeven Elfrink. She married Henry J. Nenninger on Oct. 11, 1927. He died May 24, 1988...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- John Harold Cauble, 79, of Dongola died Saturday, June 26, 1999, at the Illinois Veterans Home in Anna. He was born on Sept. 5, 1919, in Dongola, the son of Otha and Lela Eddleman Cauble. He was a member of the First Lutheran Church in Dongola and a veteran of World War II...

CAMPBELL -- Travis A. Decker, 50, of Campbell died Friday, June 25, 1999, at Baptist Central Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. He was born July 26, 1948, the son of Charley and Vernon Marie Durham Decker. He married Theresa Gill in St. Louis on May 10, 1974...

On Election Day, many Cape Girardeau voters don't vote. That's been particularly true in April municipal and school board elections. Since 1990, less than half of the city's registered voters have gone to the polls in the April election. The exception was in 1994, when 52 percent of the city's registered voters cast ballots...