Stories from Tuesday, September 28, 1999

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- The first Crain Career Initiative Scholarship was awarded to April Davis of Mound City, Ill., Aug. 17. Davis has been a summer employee at Crain Enterprises Inc. for two years. She graduated third in her class in May 1999 from Meridian High School in Mounds, Ill., and is attending Southern Illinois University at Carbondale majoring in accounting...

There's no doubt about it: You can buy just about anything on the Internet. Heck, some idiot on E-Bay put up his soul for sale, and someone actually bid on it. Please. Some people are even buying cars on the Internet. This seems like a terrible idea. If I'm going to spend that much money, I want to kick the tires and feel the upholstery, not take someone's word about "excellent" quality...

School lunches are not what they used to be. The meat, potatoes, green beans and bread that have been standard fare for the past 50 years are all but gone from many menus. Today's federal government guidelines emphasize low-fat fruits, vegetables and grains over the heartier meat and potatoes. And students want quick and easy meals that resemble those from their favorite fast food restaurants...

Kim Newman, a sixth-grade teacher at Alma Schrader Elementary School, has always wanted to be an educator. Newman, who is in her second year as a teacher, said she owes that desire to one of her co-workers. "I was a student at Alma Schrader," she said. "Fifth grade was the best year of my elementary years, and I owe that to my teacher, who is still teaching here. It is a great pleasure to teach with that special person who gave me the most inspiration to become a teacher."...

The Cape Girardeau County Commission wants to buy an 11-acre site in Cape Girardeau for a new juvenile justice center. The site on Clark Street is a vacant tract sandwiched between the Cape Girardeau Senior Center and the Christian School for the Young Years. The Notre Dame High School booster club owns the property...

In polls, more than 90 percent of people claim they are interested in the environment. "Being interested in environmental issues and doing something about it are two different things," ornithologist Walter C. Crawford Jr. told an overflow crowd of 100 students and community members Monday night on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University...

The River Campus Board of Managers will meet for the first time Wednesday from 10 a.m. to noon at Southeast Missouri State University. The meeting will be held in Dempster Hall, Room 102. The board includes three representatives from the university and three from the city...

Gary Rust received the Suburban Newspapers of America's top award over the weekend for his work as a leader in the industry. Rust, president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers, became the 21st recipient of the Dean S. Lesher Award during the SNA's Fall Publishers' & Retail Advertising Directors' Conference held in Chicago...

A valve failed Monday on a water line at Independence and Ellis streets that was being abandoned as part of a sewer project, sending Cape Girardeau's water personnel scurrying to cap it off. "It leaked quite a bit of water," said Kevin Priester, manager of the city water system run by Alliance Water Resources...

So they are public records after all. Prodded by a group of five state senators and by this newspaper, Attorney General Jay Nixon announced week before last that billing information related to the outside counsel he hired to represent the state in Missouri's tobacco litigation is a matter of public record. In so announcing, Nixon was really following the only path he could...

At least 1 million taxpayers could face higher income-tax bills next year unless Congress and President Clinton fix a tax-code glitch that mainly penalizes middle-class Americans. Without a deal to resolve the glitch, millions of Americans will have to fill out complicated, time-consuming Internal Revenue Service forms just to determine whether they should pay regular income taxes or the alternative minimum tax, known as AMT, which increases their tax burden...

To the editor: The current flirtation with the Reform Party by Patrick J. Buchanan is most distressing to me. I have had the greatest respect for Pat ever since he was writing editorials for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. It was Pat, along with a few others, who started me really thinking about politics and the future of our nation. ...

Southeast Missouri State University's football team is still winless -- but for the first time all season, the Indians have at least a little bit of hope to hang their helmets on. That ray of sunshine came Saturday night during a 21-10 loss at Western Kentucky...

Lance Bray shot a 144 over the weekend at Cape Girardeau Country Club to win a qualifying tournament for the upcoming Southeast Missourian Cup. Bray had rounds of 76 and 68. Larry McKinney and Al Spradling tied for second and also qualified. McKinney shot 75-72--147 while Spradling finished with 74-73--147...

JACKSON -- In a high-profile high school volleyball match Monday night, Farmington discarded of Jackson with surprising ease, sweeping the Lady Indians 15-3, 15-6. The loss was just the second of the season for Jackson, which fell to 15-2-1. Jackson coach Nancy Ellis came away disappointed with her team's performance...

CHARLESTON -- Funeral for Brooks McEntire of Charleston will be held at 1 p.m. today at McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston. Bill Bradley and Gary Smith will officiate. Burial will be in Oak Grove Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 10 a.m. until service time...

SIKESTON -- Bill Newton, 60, of Sikeston died Sunday, Sept. 26, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 6, 1939, at Sikeston, son of Joseph Lambert and Leona Nelson Newton. He and Delores Blackburn were married Feb. 22, 1969...

PERRYVILLE -- Lillian M. Kasten, 79, of Perryville died Sunday, Sept. 26, 1999, at her home. She was born March 24, 1920, in Perry County, daughter of Michael and Frances Lintner Popp. She and Elmer Kasten were married Sept. 27, 1986, in Perryville...

Wanda O. Corse, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Sept. 26, 1999, at Charleviox Care Center in St. Charles. She was born June 5, 1915, at Menfro, daughter of Herman and Della Cox. She and Kenneth E. Corse were married Aug. 3, 1936. He died Oct. 2, 1998...

CHARLESTON -- Ethel Evans, 85, died Monday, Sept. 27, 1999, at Clearview Nursing Center in Sikeston. She was formerly of Charleston. McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston is in charge of arrangements.

CAIRO, Ill. -- Michelle Holman Hankins, 31, of Cairo died Monday, Sept. 27, 1999, at her residence. She was born Aug. 24, 1968, in Cairo, the daughter of John and Donna Tolbert Holman. She married Gary Hankins of Cairo. She was a member of the Cairo Baptist Church and a case manager for Delta Center Inc. of Cairo...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Pearl Phipps, 89, of East Prairie died Sunday, Sept. 26, 1999, at East Prairie Nursing Center. She was born March 8, 1910, in East Prairie, daughter of Willie and Josie Gardner Pool. She and Clarence Rollen Phipps were married in 1934. He died June 27, 1976...