Stories from Friday, September 3, 1999

To the editor: It has been said by those in favor of legal abortion, and recently by some candidates for the presidency, that stopping legal abortion will not happen through changing laws. Rather, it will come from changing hearts. We don't need to change hearts. ...

To the editor: Concerning last week's letter from W.T. Woods, it's blatantly obvious to even the casual observer that Mr. Woods hates Ronald Reagan and basically all Republicans. I believe he would vote for the devil if he was running for office against a Republican...

It is ironic, after nearly a century of Florsheim shoe production in Cape Girardeau, that the company is closing its doors later this year. When Roberts, Johnson and Rand Shoe Co. opened its first factory here in 1907, the town had just lost its Frisco Railroad shop and terminal business to Chaffee. People needed jobs, and over the years the shoe factory was a steady employer...

There appears to be some interest among prospective buyers in two elementary school buildings that will soon be vacated by the Cape Girardeau School District. Both May Greene Elementary School and Washington Elementary School will no longer be needed for classes after the new Blanchard Elementary School opens sometime later this year...

Cape Girardeau School District students will be dismissed early from classes today because of heat in some buildings. The heat index reached 114 in several buildings earlier this week, and Superintendent Dr. Dan Steska said forecasts did not indicate any noticeable drops for today...

Closing her eyes for a few seconds, Kim Talley lost her balance and fell, ending her bid Wednesday afternoon to win a standathon and a new mobile home. Tally's fall at 3:10 p.m. came 140 hours and 10 minutes after the contest began at 7 p.m. Friday at Schnuck's. She was the last participant at the contest's Cape Girardeau location after Rodrick Boyce became ill and dropped out Wednesday...

Funding for Southeast Missouri Weed and Seed may be suspended, but several of the programs it supports will continue. Many of those involved with the federally funded initiative to battle crime in five Southeast Missouri communities say they either are already funded through the end of the year or have other sources of money...

Three university representatives were appointed to a six-member committee that will oversee the River Campus project. The appointments were made during the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents meeting Thursday. Dr. Pauline Fox, Thomas Swayne Byrd and Jerrianne Wyman will serve one-, two- and three-year terms, respectively, on the River Campus Board of Managers. Their terms expire on Dec. 1 in 2000, 2001, and 2002...

Lone Star Industries Inc., whose largest plant is in Cape Girardeau, and Dyckerhoff AG, a cement and building materials company headquartered in Germany, have agreed to a merger that would result in the sale of all of Lone Star's U.S. holdings to Dyckerhoff...

If you think buying a piece of old bridge is a good idea, I know about some swampland. Really, I do. You probably read about the idea for the old river bridge across the mighty Mississippi. This is the idea that the city -- or somebody official -- would take ownership of a piece of the bridge -- not the whole bridge, mind you -- and turn it into a tourist attraction...

An environmental contractor installed a 76-foot-stack Thursday at the Missouri Electric Works Superfund site in Cape Girardeau. The stack is part of a $3 million effort to clean up the PCB-contaminated soil. Some 20,000 to 30,000 tons of soil at the site of the former motor and transformer repair business at 824 S. Kingshighway and neighboring commercial properties will be excavated and heat treated...

Water conservation won't end in Cape Girardeau until the city gets a good rainfall. City officials continue to ask residents to voluntarily conserve water. Hot and dry conditions continue to be the norm, causing more water usage than normal. "We haven't had any rain and the temperatures are staying up around the 90s," said Kevin Priester, Alliance Water Resources Manager. "We are encouraging people to keep doing the voluntary water conservation until we get rain."...

The cause of a house fire at 1127 Merriwether St., late Wednesday remains undetermined, a spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Fire Department said. No one was injured, Capt. Paul Lufcy said. Firefighters responded at 11:20 p.m. to the house, which was separated into four apartment units, Lufcy said. The fire started in one of the two second-floor apartments, resulting in extensive structural damage, he said...

JACKSON -- The Cape Girardeau County Administration Building needs a better telephone system to handle calls in case of a disaster. An earthquake drill Thursday pointed out the problem, said Dave Hitt, director of the Cape Girardeau County Emergency Management Agency...

WEST FRANKFORT, Ill. -- The founder of the financially troubled National Coal Museum says he will live underground in the museum's defunct mine until donors come up with $2 million to help build a national miners memorial. "I'm ready to stay here," former coal miner Chris Ledvina said Thursday. "This place is fighting for its life."...

The Sikeston-Jackson football game tonight will be one of the more important season openers in the region this year. More is at stake than conference standings and bragging rights when the teams meet at 7:30 p.m. at Sikeston High School. This game will be about two young teams trying to gain some confidence...

So, who needs Karlton Carpenter anyway? Certainly not the Southern Illinois University football team -- at least not Thursday night. With their all-time leading rusher on the sidelines in street clothes as he is embroiled in legal problems, the Salukis still were able to cruise past Southeast Missouri State University's Indians 43-25 in the season opener for both squads...

Lawrence Brookins' first win as head coach won't come easy. Not in the first week, anyway. Brookins' Cape Girardeau Central Tigers will have the not-so-easy task of trying to beat a strong Columbia Hickman team after making a three-plus hour drive into the heart of the state. Tonight's season-opening kickoff is set for 7:30...

Notre Dame, Cape Central and Jackson all advanced in winner's bracket play as the Notre Dame Soccerfest opened Thursday at Notre Dame High School. Notre Dame breezed to a 10-0 victory over Hillsboro; Jackson edged Sikeston 3-2; Cape Central slipped past Poplar Bluff 2-1; and Carbondale (Ill.) demolished Farmington 11-0 by halftime...

Malden is supposed to be better. And Scott City almost certainly won't repeat its dominance of a year ago. The combination of those two factors should make for one of the most intriguing games of the high school football season tonight. The kickoff in Malden is set for 7:30...

Tommy Bolen has improved so much as a baseball player in recent years, he didn't want to let his last couple of seasons of collegiate eligibility go to waste. So he won't. Bolen recently signed a letter of intent with Lindenwood University, a school in St. Charles that competes on the NAIA level...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Corinne Leighann Miller was stillborn Wednesday, Sept. 1, 1999, at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale. Survivors include her parents, Benjamin and Vicki Ellery Miller of Cobden; a sister, Malynn Miller of the home; maternal grandparents, Robert and Linda Ellery of Energy; and paternal grandparents, Davy and Mary Miller of Alto Pass...

SEDGEWICKVILLE -- Chalmer A. Brickhaus, 74, of Sedgewickville died Wednesday, Sept. 1, 1999, at his home. He was born Aug. 4, 1925, at Longtown, son of William Frederick and Albertina Baudendistel Brickhaus. He first married Betty Jean Huber in 1950. She died in 1957. He and Lolamae L. Rickermann were married June 29, 1963, in Crestwood...

PERRYVILLE -- Graveside service for the Rev. John Q. O'Connell of Denver, Colo., will be held at 10 a.m. today at St. Mary of the Barrens Cemetery in Perryville. Miller Family Funeral Home is in charge of local arrangements. Funeral Mass was held Wednesday at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church in Denver...

Wilma Jane Ragland, 76, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Sept. 1, 1999, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Aug. 26, 1923, at Liberty, daughter of Jesse Lee and Mary Elizabeth Peters Squires. She and Judge Edwin F. Ragland were married Aug. 14, 1942, in Greenville, S.C...

PARMA -- Funeral for Jim Scott Beans of St. Louis will be held at 1 p.m. today at Church of God in Christ in Parma. Elder Ronnie Pulley will officiate. Burial will be in Macedonia Cemetery at Malden. Friends may call at the church from noon to service time...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Graveside service for Ellis Jewell Sanderson of Tucson, Ariz., will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at Cairo City Cemetery in Villa Ridge. The Rev. Kelly Cox will officiate. Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo is in charge of arrangements. Sanderson, 81, died Sunday, July 4, 1999, in Tucson...

COMMERCE -- Funeral for Lawrence Pobst Jr. of Commerce will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City. The Rev. Larry Lawman will officiate. Burial will be in IOOF Cemetery at Charleston. Friends may call at the chapel from 5-8 p.m. today...

William L. Schwartz, 70, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Sept. 1, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center. Schwartz was a police captain 33 years. He was a member of Knights of Columbus. Survivors include his wife, Josephine; two daughters, JoAnn Schwartz of Arnold, Beth Schwartz of Woodson Terrace; two sons, Bill Schwartz of Johnston City, Ill., John Schwartz of Florissant; a sister, Catherine Ryan of Ferguson; and three grandchildren...

CHARLESTON -- Kathryn A. Scruggs, 78, of Charleston died Thursday, Sept. 2, 1999, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Aug. 4, 1921, in Charleston, daughter of Albert Henry and Aneliza Watts Humphreys. She first married Seborn Franklin Newcomb Oct. 25, 1942. He died Nov. 1, 1956. She and Raymond W. Jeffords were married July 13, 1962. He died Jan. 13, 1969. She later married James A. Scruggs Sr. Dec. 16, 1972...

Daughter to Ray Robinson Green and Tana Marie Stinnett of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 11:19 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999. Name, Madison Rae. Weight, 7 pounds 7 ounces. Third daughter. Ms. Stinnett is the daughter of Frank and Becky Stinnett of Cape Girardeau. She is employed at Stinnett Produce Inc. Green is the son of Debra Green of Cape Girardeau and Barney Green of Bell City. He is employed by R.E. Davis...

Brittany Morelan, 8, at left, Nicole Ottersburg, 9, and Kristan Snider, 6, slung their backpacks over their shoulders. The girls were leaving Clippard Elementary School Thursday afternoon. Children who carry backpacks often face the same risk of strained back muscles as adults, claims the American Occupational Therapy Association...

Perhaps one of the most undervalued miracles of our everyday world is human development. This all begins embryologically around a hollow neural tube that ultimately develops into a complex nervous system. The central nervous system appears at the beginning of the third week of development as a slipper-shaped plate of thickened tissue called the neural plate. ...