Stories from Saturday, January 15, 2000

Tom Waller figures he will be speechless after Sunday's Rams game. That's because Waller plans to do a lot of yelling. Waller, an enthusiastic season-ticket holder, finds it hard to stay in his seat at the St. Louis TWA Dome. "I am pretty radical around our section," he said. "I am not able to talk until Tuesday or Wednesday. My voice gets pretty weak."...

Things were very different than 14 Costa Rican students visiting Notre Dame Regional High School expected this week. Take for instance the lack of snow. Susanna Chinchilla, 16, gave up three weeks of her summer vacation to come to the United States so she could see snow for the first time...

Vision 2000 will hand out 15 awards of distinction Jan. 27 in what will be the last awards ceremony for the initiative to make Cape Girardeau a better place to live. Now that it is 2000 and most of the goals Vision 2000 set for itself when it started in 1987 have been met, the work of the volunteer effort will soon come to an end, said Melvin Gately, a retired educator who has helped lead Vision 2000 since its inception...

Plans to extend Mount Auburn Road from Bloomfield Road south to Silver Springs Road will create added benefits for commercial property owners in the area. But it also will mean some added costs to them. Anyone who owns property along the proposed extension will be assessed a tax bill of up to $56 per foot plus land acquisition costs...

My husband began this year with a single goal: To keep our house clean. It's amazing how well WE are keeping HIS New Year's resolution so far. Not that I'm complaining. If you haven't noticed, I always give him plenty of exposure when he's doing right in hopes that he'll redouble his efforts. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't...

Low-income workers and their families in Missouri can sign up this month to receive free eye care through the Vision USA program. During March of each year, optometrists who are members of the Missouri Optometric Association are among more than 7,000 optometrists nationwide who donate their services through Vision USA to provide free comprehensive eye exams to low-income people...

The premiere of former Cape Girardeau newspaperman Jeffrey Jackson's play next weekend in St. Louis is the culmination of a creative process that began many years ago in a class at Southeast Missouri State University. "Potter's Field," the play to be presented next Friday and Saturday at the Chesterfield Community Theater, began life as a short-story assignment in a creative writing class taught by Dr. ...

POPLAR BLUFF -- Four teen-agers were seriously injured in a one-car accident that occurred Friday afternoon on a county road four miles west of Poplar Bluff, the state Highway Patrol said. The vehicle, driven by 17-year-old Brian A. Green of Poplar Bluff, ran off the side of Route PP as Green was westbound. The car struck a tree, the Highway Patrol said...

Plans for a new Cape Girardeau high school have brought on target in the last month, and the Cape Girardeau Board of Education and administrators deserve considerable credit for this remarkable effort. Money -- or lack of it -- is often the root of problems, and such was the case with the new high school. ...

Cape Girardeau's new vocational school is fast becoming a reality. Kiefner Construction Co., the general contractor, estimates the project is nearly 20 percent completed. If you're driving by on Interstate 55, you can see the steel framework. The new school is under construction west of Kingshighway and Southern Expressway along a gravel section of Silver Springs Road. As the construction project moves along, the city will need to extend paved roads and other necessary infrastructure...

To the editor: With the war on tobacco and all, you would think people would look at the obvious ways to quit smoking. Instead they want to pump you up with all of those fancy drugs. You have drugs to block your neuroreceptors and gum that gives you the addictive nicotine and the hand-to-mouth habit that you want to get away from. And you can even get nicotine in a three-step dosage. Has it ever occurred to anyone to take the nicotine out of cigarettes?...

To the editor: Girl Scouts of Otahki Council is very appreciative of the donation of the YELL Foundation for the Girl Scout's media know-how program. Girls will work on fun activities and learn new skills related to literacy and the media. The program will help girls become media literate and think critically about the media...

To the editor: I would like to thank the YELL Foundation for the warm reception and very generous grant of $400. We were able to order over 40 new hardbound books for our collection of accelerated reading books for Spanish. This significantly increases our number of selections. I am excited, and I know the students will be excited too to have more books to choose from. Thank you very much, and may God continue to bless your efforts in this very worthwhile endeavor...

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team will try to bounce back in Ohio Valley Conference play for the first time this season. And, as fate would have it, the Indians' attempt to rebound will come against their OVC arch-rivals, the Murray State Racers...

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team has played three Ohio Valley Conference road games so far this season and all three times it has been a case of close but no cigar for the Otahkians. Today, the Otahkians will try to end that trend when they take on Murray State in a 4 p.m. tipoff at the Regional Special Events Center...

SCOTT CITY -- Scott City ran away from Notre Dame Friday night in the second quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 25-2. How did they do it? By feeding Notre Dame a heaping Spoon-ful of defense and a nearly perfect Sample of outside shooting. The Class 2A Rams, ranked second in the state, improved to 14-1 Friday night with a 74-51 home victory over their fierce rivals in front of an electric, standing-room only crowd...

NEW MADRID -- Cape Girardeau Central High boys basketball coach Brett Reutzel was pleased with his team's effort but the Tigers still were routed by host New Madrid County Central Friday night. The Eagles built a 35-23 halftime lead and coasted to an 85-66 victory as they improved to 9-4 overall and 2-0 in SEMO Conference play. The Tigers fell to 4-9 overall and 2-0 in the league...

SIKESTON -- Eva L. Strayhorn, 83, of Nixa and formerly of Sikeston died Friday, Jan. 14, 2000, at Christian Health Care Center in Nixa. She was born Aug. 22, 1916, at Sikeston, daughter of Frank and Maggie Whalen Tidwell. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Sikeston...

PERRYVILLE -- Funeral Mass for Thomas E. Hoffman of Perryville will be held at 10 a.m. today at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Rev. Kevin P. Fausz will officiate. Burial will be in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Friends may call at Miller Family Funeral Home from 6:30-9:50 a.m. The rosary will be recited at 9...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- George W. Bowman, 74, of Mound City died Thursday, Jan. 13, 2000, from injuries in a fire at his home. He was born Oct. 12, 1925, in Trion, Ga., son of Ira and Ruth Boyed Bowman. Formerly of Arkansas, Bowman was a retired truck driver...

Floy L. Hopper, 91, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 14, 2000, at her home. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

SIKESTON -- Byrdine Mills, 70, of Sikeston died Friday, Jan. 14, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Oct. 3, 1929, at Bessville, daughter of Rona and Lillie Greer Parsons. She and Joseph W. Mills were married April 9, 1950. He died July 26, 1993...

Funeral for Helen G. Welker of Cape Girardeau will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Funeral Home. The Rev. Jon Rehbein will officiate. Burial will be in Fairmount Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4-8 p.m. today...

Walter George Phillips, 96, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Jan. 13, 2000, at the Lutheran Home. He was born Sept. 9, 1903, in Cape Girardeau County, son of Gustav and Anna Meyer Phillips. He and Virginia Heise were married Dec. 26, 1926, in Cape Girardeau. She died April 9, 1991...

Edwin F. Wilmsmeyer, 92, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 14, 2000, at Missouri Veterans Home. He was born April 21, 1907, at New Franklin, son of Christian and Amanda Taake Wilmsmeyer. He and Marguerite P. Armgardt were married June 6, 1948, in Cape Girardeau...

JACKSON -- Funeral for James L. Osborne of Jackson will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Barkett Funeral Home in Mound City, Ill. The Rev. F. Jerry Herring will officiate. Burial will be in U.S. National Cemetery at Mound City. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-7 p.m. Monday...

SIKESTON -- Janice L. Marshall, 59, of Sikeston died Thursday, Jan. 13, 2000, at Miner Nursing Center. She was born May 9, 1940, in Sikeston, daughter of Tris S. and Gladys E. Trousdale Marshall. Marshall was a 1959 graduate of Sikeston High School, and 1965 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University...

APPLE CREEK -- Leoda R. Buchheit, 86, of Apple Creek died Friday, Jan. 14, 2000, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. She was born Feb. 24, 1913, in Perry County, daughter of Amsirah and Louella Eddleman Hoffman. She and Walter H. Buchheit were married Oct. 27, 1945. He died March 15, 1991...

CHARLESTON -- Calvis M. Wright, 78, of Charleston died Friday, Jan. 14, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston is in charge of arrangements.

Christine Cathline (White) Price, 81, of Lake City, Fla., formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, Jan. 14, 2000, at Lake City Medical Center. Friends may call at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel from 10 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Monday. Service will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at the chapel...

Son to Joseph Anthony Metz and Jennifer Lynn Camp of Scott City, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9:14 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, 1999. Name, Logan Scott. Weight, 6 pounds 12 ounces. First child. Ms. Camp is the daughter of Lori Colbert-Varney and Scott Varney of Chaffee. Metz is the son of Fran Metz and Mark Sides of Chaffee. He is employed in receiving at Wal-Mart...

JACKSON -- Graveside service for Eula Elizabeth Cook of Jackson will be held at 11 a.m. today at Pulliam Cemetery near Scopus. The Rev. Steven Sander will officiate. Cracraft-Miller Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Cook, 85, died Thursday, Jan. 13, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...