Stories from Sunday, January 2, 2000

A change appears in the offing for the way the federal government defines urban areas. The U.S. Census Bureau's proposed changes could be positive for the Cape Girardeau area. Core-Based Statistical Areas would replace the current Metropolitan Statistical Area classifications. ...

Chapter 5 A vinyl, wallpaper bound notebook would accompany Jeff to SEDOP the next ten months--an informal means of communication messengered by Jeff between home and school. This informal disclosure of happenings had a twofold purpose. One intention was that this system might uncover any PATTERNS of misconduct present, thereby being an adjunctive aid in management. ...

Hospitals in Cape Girardeau are turning to extra staff to help patients who have surged into emergency rooms over the past few days complaining of coughs, fevers, sore throats and other influenza-type symptoms. Emergency rooms at Southeast Missouri Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center are being overrun by patients along with offices at Intermediate Health Care in Cape Girardeau...

Once a woman was fishing on the beach. She baited her hook and cast it into the sea. Presently a shark took the bait, and as sharks do, took it with vigor. The woman was enraged; she was not fishing for shark! So she picked up a boat oar and beat the shark to death! (Perhaps she should have been called to the resort in "Jaws," the crisis might have been solved quicker). ...

25 years ago, 1974 County Court Thursday presented city of Jackson court's proposed contract establishing city's share of new two-year contract between county and Cape County Private Ambulance Service, Inc., of Cape Girardeau; like old contract which expires with new year, Jackson would pay $5,400 of total $54,000 annual subsidy county agreed to pay firm beginning next year; city of Cape Girardeau would pay $28,620 as its share of subsidy; although county has agreed to contract, neither Cape Girardeau nor Jackson has entered into contract with county; both, however, are expected to approve amounts.. ...

A novella by Nicole Peats, Jackson 3. Lolly "Good-bye!" said April. "Good-bye!" said Martha. "Bye," grumbled Mitch. "Bye, father," said Carl, as he hugged his father and mounted Morjen, his white mare. "Good-bye!" said the king (with a wave of his hand). "I wish I could go with you."...

Reginald Gerhardt of Old Appleton nails metal lath between logs at Old McKendree, while Ed Hahn of Jackson, removed old mortar during the 1977 restoration of the historic structure. Contractor J.W. Gerhardt (in doorway) led the 1977 restoration of Old McKendree. Termite infestation of the 178-year-old cypress logs made the job tougher than anticipated...

"We're not in it to make money. We're in it to help transport people," said Dareld Davis, project manager for Cape County Transit. This not-for-profit, Jackson-based operation provides curb-to-curb general public transportation within Cape Girardeau County. While the majority of patrons are elderly or handicapped -- using the service for shopping trips, medical appointments, business and other engagements -- anyone who needs a lift is welcome to ride...

This monument to Confederate "Swamp Ranger" leader W.L. Jeffers was erected in the Jackson Cemetery in 1908. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans The Jones Drug Store is said to be the first brick building west of the Mississippi to be moved and rotated. Teams of horses turned the brick building to make the construction of Court Street possible, about 1908. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans...

I've recently taken some razzing in the Yahoo Historic Preservation Radicals Club I belong to. The founder of that club is also a member of my own "Tweeners" Club, for those born in the 1960s (beTWEEN the Baby Boomers and Generation X). In that club I mentioned building structures out of the little red snap-on plastic bricks & Lincoln Logs as a child, then taking great delight in smashing them to smithereens with my electric train set...

To the editor: When you have the chance to change things, do you? My company has a form called "Correction of Errors." It is a chance to say what needs to change. This opportunity is taken lightly by some, and the end result is very few changes in their areas...

It was perhaps the boldest power grab for federal control of our public schools ever. It was designed by Hillary Clinton and Ira Magaziner, of health care fame. It was the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994. The STW act requires states to form business partnerships intended to reshape education policy to fit the needs of "economic and work force development" of the 21st century. ...

The first priority of state government in Missouri should be which of the following: 1. Living within its means and operating under a balanced budget that regularly reduces tax revenues. 2. Efficiently operating 16 constitutional departments and providing as many services as possible without burdensome tax levies...

A budget crunch lies ahead for state government, at least if you talk to two veteran Missouri lawmakers who chair the budget committees of their respective chambers. State Sen. Wayne Goode, D-St. Louis and state Rep. Dick Franklin, D-Kansas City, sent a letter recently to members of their two committees. Goode chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, while Franklin chairs the House Budget Committee...

The new millennium came in with a yawn, a sigh and a bang, depending on where you were at midnight. Firecrackers exploding where they shouldn't was the only matter emergency personnel had to handle, said Terry Fulk, emergency operations director for Cape Girardeau...

Bayley Leeann James wasn't supposed to be here until Wednesday, but she must have wanted to see the new millennium just like everyone else. So at 4:47 a.m. Saturday, Bayley became the first baby of the new year, new decade, new century, new millennium born at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

Like the rest of the nation, Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois sailed into the new millennium Saturday untouched by any of the Y2K snafus that had been feared. Preparation seems to have headed off whatever misfortune could have occurred had computers been fooled into thinking 1999 had just rolled over into the year 1900 instead of 2000...

As the year 2000 begins the Southeast Missourian is taking readers on a stroll through the final century of the second millennium. It does not pretend to be a comprehensive review of such a momentous century, but an eclectic selection of the important, the bizarre, the silly and the solemn. This series will replace our special feature pages for the next 20 days...

There's nothing like the start of a new millennium to get people excited about the future. Never mind that the real millennium doesn't begin until next January. It's tough not to be excited about a year that has three zeroes. Let me be clear, I'm not talking about anyone's relatives or any Washington politician. I'm talking about the new year, the year 2000...

Workers from Illinois, Kentucky and as far away as Kansas, work in Cape Girardeau County, but almost 80 percent of the jobs in the county are filled by local residents. Workers have become scarce in Missouri, where the unemployment rate declined from 3.2 percent in October to 2.2 percent in November...

ST. LOUIS -- Area teenagers were among the 9,000 students who shouted to God at the stroke of midnight Friday as part of YouthLink2000 at the America's Center. Students shouted a short message to God as the millennium rolled over, then cheered enthusiastically as the climax to a two-day, three-night conference that linked more than 46,000 students via satellite in seven U.S. cities...

What a difference the jet stream can make. During the fall, the jet stream routed weather systems well north of us giving beautiful, clear skies. In December, the jet stream finally moved south to its more seasonal position giving us a cloudy month. It did, however, clear off enough to give us great views of the brighter than normal full Moon...

POPLR BLUFF -- A 57-year-old woman was hospitalized following a two-vehicle accident in Butler County on Saturday. Frances Jones, 57, of Paragould, Ark., was injured after the vehicle she was driving collided with a vehicle driven by Melvin LeGrand, 29 of Poplar Bluff on Highway 53, three miles south of Poplar Bluff. The accident was reported at 12:35 p.m. Saturday...

Before this season, the last time a Class 1A or 2A school had won the University High Christmas Tournament was in 1990, when 1A Scott County Central prevailed. And the last time a U-High championship game had featured a small-school matchup was in 1986, when 2A Notre Dame beat Scott Central...

As far as Southeast Missouri State University women's basketball coach Ed Arnzen is concerned, it's a new year for the Otahkians. The 1999 part of the schedule was certainly not kind to the Otahkians as they went just 2-7 and dropped both Ohio Valley Conference contests...

Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner received a tremendous Christmas present thanks to a win at Bradley on Dec. 22. Today, Garner is hoping to get a belated New Year's gift in the form of another huge road victory. But Garner knows it will take another superlative effort to knock off regional rival Southern Illinois in a 3:05 p.m. tipoff at the SIU Arena in Carbondale...

A waltz, a mule and a president. To some that may sum up Missouri's contribution to the national scene. But something else makes it great, and that is the forest resources of Missouri. Missouri ranks seventh among the 20 northeastern states in amount of forest land...

A Fundamentals of Volleyball Class, co-hosted by the Cape Girardeau Parks and recreation Department and the Southeast volleyball team, will be held Jan. 22 at the Student Recreation Center on the Southeast campus. The class, for children ages 8-12, will be held from 9 to 11 a.m.. Cost is $10 per person, which includes a T-shirt...

KARNAK, Ill. -- Lillian Ditterline Davis, 86, of Perks, Ill., died Friday, Dec. 31, 1999, at Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah, Ky. She was born Aug. 15, 1913 at Renshaw, the daughter of Adolph and Carrie Crayton Ditterline. She married Edwin Davis, who preceded her in death...

MOREHOUSE -- Wayne Newton, 69, of Morehouse died Thursday, Dec. 30, 1999, at his home. He was born Dec. 9, 1930, in Morehouse, the son of Lester and Golda Fansler Newton. He and Myrtle Babb were married in 1950 at Piggott, Ark. She survives. He had worked as a warehouse supervisor for Malone & Hyde. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army...

CHARLESTON -- Frank Evans Jr., 71, of Charleston died Friday, Dec. 31, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Dec. 8, 1928, in Phillippy, Tenn., the son of Frank and Flossie Pearl Crafton Evans. He and Frances Harris Evans were married April 21, 1948. She died Jan. 3, 1999...

ELCO, Ill. -- Margie Kunsman Johnson, 69, of Elco died Thursday, Dec. 30, 1999, at City Care Center in Cobden. She was born Sept. 16, 1930, at Olmsted, the daughter of Elmer and Bertha Eastwood Kunsman. She is survived by two sons, Danny Burton of Oak Ridge, Mo., and Allen Johnson of Tulsa, Okla.; two sisters, Rose Mary Tanksley of Granite City and Janet Dickerson of Elco; two brothers, James Kunsman of Melrose Park and Orville Kunsman of Collinsville; and two grandchildren...

JACKSON -- David H. Parker, 43, of Jackson died Thursday, Dec. 30, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Dec. 7, 1956, in Cape Girardeau, the son of Delbert and Joanne Marie Kimbel Parker. They survive. He worked for Rick McDonald Construction in Cape Girardeau and formerly for Dutch Guttering in Jackson...

ANNA, Ill. -- Ida V. Farmer, 69, of Anna died Friday, Dec. 31, 1999, at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. She was born Jan. 18, 1930, at Luxembourg, Belgium, the daughter of Phillip and Melvina DeLillie Couwels. She married Morris D. Farmer on Jan. 21, 1948, in Chicago. He survives...

ORAN -- Eleanor L. Diebold, 90, of Oran died Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau She was born Oct. 8, 1909, at New Hamburg, daughter of Frank and Rose Diebold LeGrand. She was married to George Diebold. Diebold was a homemaker. She was a member of Guardian Angel Catholic Church in Oran and St. Ann Sodality...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Warren J. Henderson, 81, of Dongola died Thursday, Dec. 30, 1999, at his home. He was born Aug. 15, 1918, in Mount Pleasant, the son of Lewis Nathaniel and Hettie Brown Henderson. He and Carmon Manning were married June 5, 1940. She survives...

FARMINGTON -- Glen J. Shaw, 90, of Farmington, died Friday Dec. 31, 1999, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 1, 1909, at Womack, son of John and Laura Wilson Shaw. He and Ethel G. Thomasson were married. Shaw was a member of Memorial United Methodist Church in Farmington and a member of Local Pipefitter Union No. 562...

The Rev. Glenn F. Cummings, 90 years of age, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., passed away Dec. 31, 1999, at the Missouri Veterans Home. He was born Jan. 3, 1909, in Oran, Mo., son of the late Oral C. and Jessie O'Guinn Cummings. On Jan. 14, 1931, he married the former Louise Burris in Jackson, Mo...

BERNIE -- Dorothy Juanita Kelly, 94, of Bernie and formerly of the St. Louis area died Jan. 1, 2000, at the Malden Nursing Care Center. She was born Sept. 16, 1905, in Bloomfield, the daughter of Grover Cleveland and Ethel Mamie Pickens Whitehead. She and Elmer Clyde Kelly were married Dec. 6, 1935, at Imperial. He died Nov. 29, 1991...

ADVANCE -- Sadie E. Leadbetter, 93, of Festus and formerly of Advance died Friday, Dec. 31, 1999, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Festus. She was born March 11, 1906, in Bollinger County, the daughter of Ira and Columbia Rhodes Barks. She and Elsworth Leadbetter were married May 18, 1924. He died April 11, 1971...

JACKSON -- Paul Edward Brown, 76, of Jackson died Friday, Dec. 31, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 23, 1923, at Neely's Landing, the son of William E. and Jesse P. Drum Brown. He and Nellie Marie Stanley were married Dec. 7, 1941, in Neely's Landing. She survives...

LAKE OF EGYPT, Ill. -- Bonetta Abercrombie Moss, 84, of Lake of Egypt and formerly of Alexander County died Thursday, Dec. 30, 1999, at her home. She was born June 3, 1915, at McClure, the daughter of John and Beulah Miller Abercrombie. She and Charles T. Moss were married in 1935. He died in 1977...

PERRYVILLE -- Clara T. Schuessler, 92, of Perryville died Thursday, Dec. 30, 1999, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 25, 1907, in Frohna, the daughter of Gottfried and Elenore Weber Schuessler. She married Roland Schuessler, then Henry Kassel followed by Elmer Schuessler. All preceded her in death...

ALTO PASS, Ill. -- Mabel G. Vancil, 89, of Alto Pass died Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000, at Union County Hospital in Anna. She was born Nov. 21, 1910, in Alto Pass, the daughter of Hiram Abraham and Minnie Izora Minton Norton. She and Radcliff Allen Vancil were married Aug. 1, 1936, in Pontiac, Mich. He died Jan. 5, 1998...

ALTENBURG -- Chad M. Kasten, 16, of Altenburg, died Friday, Dec. 31, 1999, at Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville. He was born June 17, 1983, at Cape Girardeau, son of Robert B. and Faye M. Pilz Kasten of Altenburg. Kasten was a junior at Perryville High School. He was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. He was a member of Immanuel Lutheran softball team, Perryville High School baseball and cross country teams and FBLA...

Vanilla Fields, White Shoulders, Obsession, Windsong, etc., are all perfumes. Lovely names, but whatever happened to just plain Rose, Violet, Lilac, etc.? Especially Violet? I visited the city stores before Christmas and nowhere could I find anything -- soap, lotion, perfume -- with a violet scent. ...

OAK RIDGE -- Melisa Lynn Keele and Elton Lee Stanley, both of Oak Ridge, were married Dec. 17, 1999, in a double ring ceremony at the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, Mo. Judith Ann Keele and David Allen Keele are parents of the bride. The groom's parents are Debborah Sue Lipsey and Jonathan Wade Lipsey...

NEW ATHENS, Ill. -- Jackie Derwort and Talley Haines were united in marriage in a double ring ceremony on Dec. 17, 1999, at St. Agatha's Catholic Church in New Athens, Ill. Jim and Sue Derwort of Marissa, Ill., are parents of the bride. The groom's parents are Joey and Jane Haines of Cape Girardeau...

Gretchen Faye Fornkahl and James Robert Hanks Jr., were married Dec. 17, 1999, at The Gardener's Chapel in Eureka Springs, Ark. Jann Ortiz performed the ceremony. Gary and Karen Fornkahl of Cape Girardeau are parents of the bride. The groom's parents are Jim and Debbie Hanks of Cape Girardeau...

Lisa Catherine Logel and Winchell Smith Carroll Jr., were married Nov. 20, 1999, at Shrine of St. Joseph in St. Louis. The Rev. John Wetmore performed the double ring ceremony. Organist was Ralph Ellerback; trumpeter was Mark Hasenstab; and vocalist was Maribeth McMahon; all of St. Louis...

JACKSON -- Jill Suzanne Gentry and Brad Everett Noel were married Nov. 6, 1999, at Millersville Baptist Church. Rev. Daniel Hale performed the double ring ceremony. Music was provided by Steve and Scott Brooks, both of Jackson. The bride's parents are Karen Gentry of Jackson and the late James Gentry. Leon and Becky Noel of Springfield, Mo., are parents of the groom...

Heather LaShae Curtis and Chad Alan Ballance were married Aug. 28, 1999, at Cape Bible Chapel in Cape Girardeau. Dan Green performed the double ring ceremony. Musician was Shane Steck and vocalists were Kathy Smith, Wendy Taliaferro and Brad Berry. Parents of the bride are Charles and Jeanne Curtis of McClure, Ill. The groom's parents are Dennis and Linda Ballance and John and Phyllis Wilson, all of Wolf Lake, Ill...

JACKSON -- Jean Ann Jennings and Daniel Joe Smith were married June 26, 1999, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Jackson. Msgr. Edward Eftink performed the double ring ceremony. Organist was Geri Beussink of Jackson. Laura Ray of Jackson was vocalist...

JACKSON -- Diane Lutes of Jackson and Sharon Ives of Janesville, Wis., have announced the engagement of their children, Amy Beth Lutes to Roger David Ives. Lutes is also the daughter of the late Rick Lutes. Lutes is a 1997 graduate of Jackson High School and a 1998 graduate of Stage One The Hair School. She is employed at Northern Reflections in Cape Girardeau...

This ranch home sits on the quiet gravel lane called Melody Lane just inside the city limits of Cape Girardeau on a one-acre lot. Enjoy the seclusion of a dead end street while still enjoying your neighbors on this one-acre setting near Lexington and Sprigg. Well manicured shrubbery and a stately tree in the front yard make a good first impression. Take a moment to wander around the house and enjoy the rolling back yard which slips into a small woods...