Stories from Saturday, December 11, 1999

Members of St. Mary's Cathedral decided that the coming of a new millennium is reason to celebrate. So they'll be ringing in the new year and a new century with a the sounds of a Millennium Choir during Midnight Mass on Dec. 31. Many churches around Southeast Missouri have end-of-year activities planned, whether it's a worship service, Mass or Watch Night vigil New Year's Eve...

Members of Hanover Lutheran Church want to remember their German heritage with a worship service spoken entirely in German. The Rev. Adam Mueller will be the guest speaker during the 8th annual German service at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Old Hanover Lutheran Church...

JACKSON -- Dr. Bill Hunt and Dr. William Reid spent the morning cracking and hulling pecans Friday. Reid, a pecan specialist from Kansas State University, and Hunt, of the University of Missouri, are looking for pecan species that are suited for production in the Southeast Missouri area...

Southeast Missouri State University officials hope the grass will be greener for the school's football program now that the Board of Regents has agreed to replace the natural grass surface at Houck Stadium with synthetic turf. The regents Friday approved the administration's plan to install FieldTurf synthetic grass at a cost of $744,021. Vibra-Whirl of Panhandle, Texas, will install the new turf next year. The contract is contingent upon sufficient funding...

Southeast Missouri State University President Dr. Ken Dobbins has been on the job for five months. On Friday afternoon, he was officially invested as the school's 17th president in a ceremony at Academic Hall Auditorium. About 700 faculty, staff, students, alumni and area residents attended the ceremony, which lasted about an hour and a half. Secretary of State Bekki Cook was among the dignitaries in attendance and the only statewide officeholder at the ceremony...

Katie Hemmann doesn't complain about having to milk the cows at her family's dairy anymore. Not since her proficiency at milking earned her a spot on a national television show and several prizes. Katie, the 14-year-old daughter of David and Kathy Hemmann of Oak Ridge, was a contestant on "Figure It Out," a game show on the Nickelodeon cable network. The episode she appeared on will air at 4 p.m. Tuesday...

JACKSON -- A package allegedly belonging to a Cape Girardeau man got delivered on time from Texas, but it won't end up where he intended. Fifteen pounds of marijuana was intercepted by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department after it got a tip from the company that shipped it, said Lt. David James...

The Zellars and Buck families started getting into the Christmas spirit early this year. This isn't unusual because Christmas is our favorite time of year. It's all about family and religion and love, themes that should always make people happy. As I've told you before, we go all out for Christmas. ...

The Salvation Army is seeing an increase in requests for help at the same time its Tree of Lights campaign is running $7,500 behind last year's efforts. Contributions are down from both the mail appeal and the kettle drive, said Dennis Marchi, manager at Schnucks and chairman of the Salvation Army's Christmas campaign...

Looking at Christmas lights is a favorite holiday pastime for many. The Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau is trying to make it easier to see the best displays with a map and a bus tour. The bus tour, which will be held Dec. 17 and 18, allows people to sit back and look at lights without having to worry about driving, while enjoying the camaraderie of others, said Lin W. Jones, sales-marketing manager of the Convention and Visitors Bureau...

CAIRO, Ill. -- More than 1,500 people are expected to join Mayor James E. Wilson and members of the Cairo City Council for the sixth annual Christmas Stroll tonight. Bands, choirs, dancers, historic sites, Santa Claus, Miss Mary Christmas, Twinkle Toes the Elf and horse-drawn carriages are among sights for the stroll along candlelit streets of Cairo...

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- Chad and Heather Ballance were winners of the second annual East Cape Girardeau Christmas Decorating Contests for 1999. The home of Don and Shelvy Hileman was selected second. Tied for third on the list were Catherine Williams, and Steve, Trinka and Morgan Hileman...

JACKSON -- Christmas will be extra cheery at Jeff Kennett's house this Christmas thanks to his love affair with the Internet. Earlier this week, the 27-year-old Domino's Pizza manager won $10,000 from iWon.com, an Internet search engine that has been giving away that amount daily since its launch in October...

ONCE AGAIN, we have a caller to Speak Out chastising our president for his adulterous behavior. Where are these conservative callers in regard to Newt Gingrich, Bob Livingston, Henry Hyde and Dan Burton? Isn't it fascinating that when the whole Lewinsky affair began that it was about moral conduct? After all of these Republican affairs became public knowledge, all of a sudden the focus shifted to lying under oath or whatever else they could find to try to manufacture a reason to impeach the president. ...

The Clinton administration has just outdone itself with its latest outrage of the week. It has announced plans to file a class-action suit on behalf of public housing residents against gun manufacturers. You may be asking yourself, "Why public housing residents?" The official reason is that the government is entitled to reimbursement for the $1 billion it spends annually on security because of the inordinate number of shootings in public housing projects...

"Anytime you have sex with someone, you are having sex with everyone that person has had sex with before." Think about it. These powerful words by Jane Wernsman of the Cape Girardeau County Health Department should give pause to sexually active people. Are you taking precautions? Are you playing it safe? Or will the fling you have today leave you with lasting health problems?...

Do you have plans for Y2K? It's not to late too get on board for one of the most festive galas of the year. Tickets still remain for the Y2K Eve Party at the Show Me Center. The goal is to bring 1,000 people together for a night of elegant food and music. About 600 tickets already have been purchased...

To the editor: The Dec. 8 editorial cartoon is a perfect example of how the actions of people are trivialized for the sake of cold consumer drone materialism. The cartoon showed Seattle protesters holding signs against the World Trade Organization and free trade. ...

Southeast Missouri State University Athletic Director Don Kaverman announced Friday the four finalists for the position of head football coach at Southeast. They are Richard Wilson, passing-game coordinator at Oklahoma State University; Phillip Meyer, quarterback coach at Iowa State University; Timothy Billings, defensive coordinator at Marshall University; and John Shannon, offensive coordinator at Jackson State University...

MISSOULA, Mont. -- As the saying goes, all good things must eventually come to an end. For Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team, that meant the end of the Indians' perfect record. Montana handed Southeast its first loss of the season, rallying past the Indians 60-48 Friday night in the opening round of the KGVO Coca-Cola Classic...

Indiana State freshman guard Kourtney Mennen had the shooting touch of her school's most famous graduate Friday night. Mennen shot a Larry Bird-like 12 of 15 from the field and made six of nine 3-pointers for 30 points in leading the Lady Sycamores to an easy 77-59 victory over Southeast Missouri State University Friday night in front of 654 fans at the Show Me Center...

Southeast Missouri's women's softball team has signed five players during the early signing period. Signing to play for Coach Lana Richmond's Otahkians for the 2001 season are Erica Bonilla, Jaclyn Evans, Reagan Hamlin, Kristen King and Amy Thompson...

SIKESTON -- Notre Dame fell to second-seeded Blytheville 52-38 in the third-place game of the Sikeston Tournament Friday night. The Bulldogs, after knocking off top-seeded Sikeston in the first round, lost the final two games of the tournament by 15 and 14 points, respectively...

MATTHEWS -- Aubry Deluar Kelso, 90, of Normal, Ill., died Friday, Dec. 10, 1999, at her home. She was born Dec. 9, 1909, in Jackson County, Ala., daughter of Joseph and Nancy Smith Jakson. She and John Walker Kelso were married Dec. 31, 1922, in Aberdeen, Miss. He died April 28, 1981...

Vera I. Wieser, 96, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Dec. 9, 1999, at Chateau Girardeau Healthcare Center. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Bayne O. Renfro, 69, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Dec. 9, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Nov. 21, 1930, in Truman, Ark., son of Horace and Hazel Pitts Renfro. He and Wanda Glenn were married Nov. 22, 1954. Renfro was a copy machine technician in Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri, retiring in 1995. He moved to Cape Girardeau in 1965 from Scott City...

JACKSON -- Raymond C. Chapman, 76, of Jackson died Friday, Dec. 10, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born June 9, 1923, at Advance, the son of Jess E. and Myrtle Rogers Chapman. He married Geraldine Reagan on March 13, 1946. She preceded him in death on Aug. 25, 1987. He then married Norma V. Roth on Feb. 8, 1993. She survives...

Dennis E. Hahn, 81, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Dec. 9, 1999, at Missouri Veterans Home. He was born June 7, 1918, at Lutesville, son of Robert and Etta Stevens Hahn. He and Bessie Wade were married Nov. 22, 1946. She died Nov. 14, 1994. Hahn was a retired auto mechanic. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II...

BROWNWOOD -- Glondia L. Dunn, 61, of Brownwood died Thursday, Dec. 9, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 8, 1938, in Brownwood, daughter of Louis Black and Hazel Sechrest. Survivors include two sons, Bob Dugger of Poplar Bluff, Larry Dugger of Doniphan; three daughters, Mary Myers of McClure, Ill.; Sherrie Harrison of Selmer, Tenn., Barbara Voshage of Poplar Bluff; a sister, Juanita Bolen of Jackson; 11 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren...

ANNA, Ill. -- Graveside service for Betty Gardner of Paducah, Ky., will be held at 2 p.m. today at Anna Cemetery. Crain Funeral Home of Anna is in charge of arrangements. Gardner, 71, died Friday, Dec. 10, 1999, at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah. She was born April 1, 1928, in Memphis, Tenn., daughter of Vernon and Ada Halterman Stiner. She married Lee Gardner, who died in 1985...

GORDONVILLE -- Roy E. Deneke, 87, of Gordonville died Friday, Dec. 10, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson is in charge of arrangements.

Winnie H. Cox, 91, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Dec. 9, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born May 15, 1908, in Balch, Ark., daughter of Benton and Ella Mae Jackson Howard. She and Joseph William Cox were married in 1929 in Arkansas. He died in 1980...

Funeral for John Marvin Cox Jr. of Lakewood, Colo., was held Wednesday, Dec. 8, 1999, at Newcomer Family Mortuary in Lakewood. The Rev. Edward Kucera officiated. Burial was in Fort Logan National Cemetery. Cox, 74, died Friday, Dec. 3, 1999, in Lakewood...

Son to Jonathan Sherman Faulkner and Mary Georgeanne Ide of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:41 a.m. Friday, Dec. 3, 1999. Name, Jonathan Edward. Weight, 5 pounds 13 ounces. Ms. Ide is the daughter of Helen Hensley of Imperial. She is a cashier at Winks Mini-Mart. Faulkner is the son of Sharon Faulkner of Jackson...

James A. Antrup, 57, of Butler, Ind., died Friday, Dec. 10, 1999, in DeKalb Memorial Hospital in Auburn, Ind. He was born June 27, 1942, in DeKalb County. He and Carol Harris were married June 28, 1984, in Las Vegas, Nev. Antrup worked at Bohn Aluminum in Butler 32 years, retiring in 1993. He was a member of Butler United Methodist Church and American Legion...

Singing together isn't just about making music for the women's ensemble Voce Festive. It's also a time to make friends, share stories and laughs. All seven women who make up the group are professional music teachers, musicians or vocalists. "It's very therapeutic," said Mary Mims. She and Christy Shinn, another group member, talked about school concerts and musical selections for classes before a recent practice...