Stories from Thursday, August 19, 1999

If I wake before I die I'll never sleep again Eventually I'll voluntarily sign death's oath but between now and then: I'll tattoo a poisonous snake on my back I'll scream unsufferingly when I get mad I'll ride a Harley on a highway wet with rain and never wear anything but tight black denim...

"Because poetry is not marketable, poetry is incorruptible." -- Robert Wrigley. "We eat our stories and starve." -- Kim Barnes "I like poems that take you to the outskirts of town and then kick you out of the car." -- Billy Collins Poetry Night at the Cape Girardeau Public Library begins with a reading of Adrienne Rich's dark poem "Shattered Head." After the poem concludes, someone remarks on the beauty of the images "bloodshot eye, bloodshot mind."...

The start of school Thursday brought an end to the lazy days of summer for students in Scott City and Jackson school districts. Administrators at both schools reported smooth transitions from vacations to classrooms for students and teachers. "The kids just picked right up like they'd been in school for a month," said Fred Jones, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Jackson schools...

Cape Girardeau School District administrators have developed a contingency plan to take the guesswork out of early school dismissals for parents. Most of the district's buildings aren't presently air conditioned. Dr. Dan Steska, superintendent, said heat-related dismissals may be necessary until new air-conditioning systems are operable in all of the district's elementary buildings next year...

State Sen. Peter Kinder lost round one but is taking his message to the people. The senator outlined his lawsuit against Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon to a group of sympathetic listeners at the Wednesday Cape Girardeau Lions Club meeting. The lawsuit involves the attorney general enlisting a group of trial lawyers to assist in the state's case against the tobacco companies. ...

Women have more weapons than ever before to fight osteoporosis, and they are using them to prevent or offset the effects of the bone-thinning disease, local experts say. "Women are more knowledgeable about osteoporosis and its effects, and there's more awareness of the methods for preventing and treating it," said Barbara Crowell, services manager at St. Francis Medical Center's Womencare unit...

Aug. 19, 1999 Dear Ken, If I'd paid half the attention to school or to the saxophone I did to sports as a boy I might be a scholar today or making them forget about Coltrane. Instead, I have a memory bank full of neighborhood hotbox games, Whiffle ball home runs, diving catches and last-second baskets scored with numb fingers...

DEXTER -- A Stoddard County woman who was so close to $1 million that she could taste it, now says she might have to settle for $100 million. Alice McQueen said she is in the process of suing Taco Bell and the "Defeat the Dark Side and Win" Redemption Center because she was refused the $1 million she claims she won...

Project CHARLIE (Chemical Abuse Resolution Lies in Education) is in need of volunteers for the fall school semester. Eligible adults will be able to donate 30 minutes once a week to teaching children about how special they are. A training course will be held Sept. 2 at LaCroix United Methodist Church from 6-10 p.m. Volunteers are trained to teach from prepared lesson plans...

Wal-Mart Super Center, 3439 William, will host the kickoff of the Keebler Kids Safari Tour from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. The tour, held to promote child safety will feature Project KidCare Photo IDs. Parents attending the event will receive free, standardized, high-quality photographs of their children and a KidCare ID booklet in which they can record and maintain current vital statistics of their children...

The proliferation of for-profit hospitals across the country has been tolerated -- and, in many cases, strongly supported by insurers and government agencies -- because of the accompanying cost reductions that were supposed to result from stiff competition...

In just one week, three convicted criminals awaiting the death penalty in Missouri prisons have had their sentences -- not their guilty verdicts -- overturned. While it is reasonable to expect death-row inmates to seek every legal avenue of relief, it is difficult to understand the reasoning of the judges involved in these recent decisions...

To the editor: It is unfortunate that the DARE program is again under fire for failing to prove effectiveness in providing long-term drug resistance skills among its participants. As Mr. Duncan pointed out in an article in this paper, the 17-session DARE program cannot by itself be expected to compete with the thousands of pro-use messages children and adults are exposed to in this society. ...

Technology experts say motorists will soon be able to get their e-mail while driving. Yeah, but who's going to peel their grapes? There are some things you can always count on, like the neighbor who wants to know if the weather's hot enough for you...

ALL I can say is, leave it to the Missourian to write a headline saying "Bush's visit generated $100,000," then later in the article underneath the headline state that 200 people paid $1,000 per person. Now, that would be $200,000, would it not? REPLY: The Southeast Missourian makes its share of mistakes, but this wasn't one of them. First, the headline said "Fund raiser generates $100,000." Second, the story explained that 200 people attended the "$1,000-a-couple" lunch. That comes to $100,000...

"Well, just where is Jackson, Mo.,?" I asked. Just being a big-city fella, I wasn't familiar with lots of the smaller cities in outstate Missouri. From now on, I may hesitate on exactly where Sedalia or Bowling Green are, but I'll never forget where Jackson is...

To the editor: There seems to be an emphasis on restoring the Ten Commandments to our school walls. Although this might be commendable from a layman's viewpoint, God has a different view. God gave Adam and Eve one commandment, and it was not to eat of the fruit of one tree which they did anyway. It has since been a long, drawn-out fight on laws...

DEXTER -- For the first time in four years, taxpayers in the Dexter R-11 School District will see a slight increase in the school tax levy. Members of the Dexter Board of Education approved Tuesday evening a 7-cent increase in the tax levy in an effort to pay off bonds and to get full funding under the state school foundation formula...

Donovan LaViness was looking for a fresh start. Jeremy Atwell was looking to get his old friend back on his side. Both players have had their wishes satisfied, which should greatly benefit Southeast Missouri State University's football team in 1999...

A rebuilt offensive line might be regarded as one of the question marks regarding Southeast Missouri State University's football team this season. But two local products who will be among the anchors of the line are confident their group will be able to hold up its end of the bargain for the Indians' offense in 1999...

JAMESTOWN, NY -- The Benton Nationals 12-and-under all-star softball team lost its first game in bracket play of the Babe Ruth World Series, 9-7 to Abbeville, La. Benton trailed 8-2 going into the fifth inning, but made a game of it, scoring three in the fifth and two in the sixth...

Funeral for Altha L. Shirrell of Cape Girardeau will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at First Church of God. The Rev. Roger Christiansen will officiate. Burial will be in Cape County Memorial Park. Friends may call at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel from 4-8 p.m. today...

Hubert H. Whitworth, 68, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Aug. 17, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Aug. 15, 1931, at Fredericktown, son of Gilford and Maude Whitworth. He and Thelma Quinton were married Feb. 28, 1952, in Pocahontas, Ark...

CHARLESTON -- Funeral for Imogene Black of Boaz, Ky., will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at McMikle Funeral Home. The Rev. Gerald Brown will officiate. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today. Black, 68, died Tuesday, Aug. 17, 1999, at Parkview Nursing Home in Paducah, Ky...

PERRYVILLE -- Charles "Chas" Cowell, 42, of Perryville died Monday, Aug. 16, 1999, at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis. He was born May 17, 1957, in Red Bud, Ill., son of Warren "Mickey" and Hazel Katherine Barger Cowell. He and Julia Mehrer were married June 3, 1977, in Chester, Ill...

Daughter to Keith and Lisa Gerlach of Dearborn, Mich., Oakwood Hospital, 4:54 p.m. Thursday, June 17, 1999. Name, Leah Louise. Weight, 7 pounds 10 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Gerlach is the daughter of Harold and Betty Edwards of Columbus, Ohio. Gerlach is the son of Kevin and Mary Ellen Gerlach of Cape Girardeau. He is an engineer with Motorola Corp. in Dearborn...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Ruby E. Bradley, 98, of Cairo died Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1999, at Daystar Care Center. She was born June 29, 1901, in Carrier Mills, daughter of James and Cline Pittman. She married Marion Bradley, who died in 1980. Bradley retired as a salesclerk at Woolworth Co. in Cairo. She was a member of Cairo Baptist Church...