Stories from Tuesday, March 7, 2000

JACKSON -- Teaching kindergartners is a lot of fun for Patty Montgomery, especially now that she gets to teach them all day. Montgomery, who teaches at the Primary Annex in the Jackson School District, said the switch from half-day kindergarten has enabled her to expand the projects she does with her classes. Now she has time to incorporate new teaching strategies that get students to learn in a number of different ways...

The story so far: It is Delia's first night on Ocracoke Island. On the boat ride over, Capt. Haskell hinted about a terrible evil threatening the island, but Aunt Hetty and Grandpa don't mention it and Delia is too nervous to ask. While they all settle in for a stormy night, Delia goes upstairs to bed. When she gets there, a pale, ghostly figure appears by the window...

A plaque in Diann Bradshaw's office gave credit where it is due. After 11 years as a classroom teacher, Beverly Schonhoff was looking for a different challenge and found it as a school principal. In leaving the classroom for the front office, Schonhoff, who was an assistant principal for three years before being named principal at Perryville High School last year, joined a growing number of women entering school administration, which is still a male-dominated field...

Today is presidential primary day in Missouri. If you don't know who to vote for, you can learn lots more about the candidates online. These sites are a great way to exam the issues without all the rhetoric. You can also watch the election results online at the Secretary of State's office tonight...

Missouri's presidential primary won't put an end to Democratic and Republican party caucuses, but it will dramatically change them. A series of caucuses at the county and district levels still determines who will go to the national conventions of both parties, but today's primary will decide the candidates to whom they are pledged...

Friends of Millie Limbaugh said she never knew a stranger, and it must be true. Even people who had never met her were saddened by her death and wanted to offer sympathies to the family. Mildred Armstrong Limbaugh died Thursday, March 2, 2000, at her home. She was 74...

ALLENVILLE -- A fire Monday in a woodworking shop caused a number of small explosions as liquid propane tanks and aerosol cans sent debris over 100 feet through the air, firefighters said. Although no one was injured, the potential danger was high, said John Sachen, training officer for the Delta Fire Department...

It has been 126 days. That's 3,024 hours or 181,440 minutes since fans of humor columnist Heidi Nieland had their last fix. But today she is back. The Southeast Missourian's most popular columnist will write each Tuesday. Much has changed for Heidi and The Other Half since she wrote her last column in early November. They've moved south, make that way south...

It's 80 degrees this March Monday morning. The fan palms outside my apartment are barely moving in the soft Atlantic Ocean breeze. The tropical sun glistens off the swimming pool as two of my neighbors begin soaking in the ultraviolets, ignoring everything we know about melanoma...

When three historic buildings, including a stone mill, were threatened with demolition in Burlington, Iowa, a town of 26,000, Main Street program participants stepped in. They asked the local development corporation to donate the buildings to Main Street of Burlington, along with the money the corporation would have spent to demolish them...

The Cape Girardeau City Council wants to simplify the process for making complaints about properties in disrepair. The council voted to remove an item from its agenda Monday that would have created an ordinance changing the city's minimum property maintenance standards. A different ordinance that clarifies who can make complaints about dilapidated properties and how those complaints are investigated will be considered at the March 20 meeting...

JACKSON -- Jackson water users will see the city's pending expenditure of $10.4 million for water and sewer improvements reflected in their April water bills. The Jackson Board of Aldermen adopted a user charge system Monday night to pay for the water improvements, which voters approved in an August 1997 bond issue. The city had adopted a sewer charge system to start next year...

The Noon Lions Club hopes to come away with money and eyeglasses from its 62nd annual Pancake Day on Wednesday. Danny Lynn, chairman of Pancake Day, said the daylong pancake extravaganza is expected to raise $8,000 to $10,000 and more than 400 pairs of eyeglasses...

Wednesday, March 8 at 7 p.m. Council chambers, 401 Independence Special session at 5 p.m. to discuss Transportation Trust Fund projects. Hearings Other items...

Eddie Wasson of Scott City hopes there are no leftover parts to his 1946 International Farmall tractor. He's a little uneasy about having taken apart the tractor -- engine and all to restore it to its original look. "I definitely don't want to end up like Tim the Tool Man Taylor," he said, referring to a sitcom starring comedian Tim Allen as a handyman...

Give credit to U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple for trying. He is the federal judge who dismissed the desegregation case in the Kansas City School District last November. He also upheld the state's decision to strip the Kansas City district's accreditation...

It is unsettling to read reports from the General Accounting Office that detail the blunders of our most revered institutions -- errors that cost taxpayers billions of dollars. The latest disclosure follows an audit of the Navy, which during the period from 1995 to 1998 "lost" missile launchers, night-vision goggles and other military equipment valued at $3 billion...

To the editor: The Equal Rights Amendment, House Joint Resolution 42 in the Missouri House of Representatives, has already passed the House Critical Issues Committee. The battle in the Missouri Senate is expected to be hard-fought as the liberals are trying to deceive the legislators by making them believe the amendment is about equal rights for women with equal pay for equal work and fair treatment for all women who, of course, are portrayed as victims...

To the editor: I would like to respond to a Speak Out comment that appeared recently in your newspaper concerning a local Parents as Teachers program. I would like to inform the caller that the Parents as Teachers program is mandated by Senate Bill 658, which means all school must provide this free and voluntary service to parents of children from birth to age 3. ...

March 5-11 has been designated as National Lutheran Schools Week in the United States by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. There are over 1,100 Lutheran elementary schools worldwide, servicing almost 200,000 children. Additionally, there are over 70 Lutheran high schools in the country, with 10 to 12 due to open in the next year, including Saxony Lutheran High School in the Cape Girardeau area. ...

I've been hearing that the Cape Girardeau School District is asking the town for more money, and, as usual, residents are complaining. I graduated from Central High School two years ago and have supported every measure while I was there that would have given my school, and the rest of the district, a little more money. ...

SIKESTON -- Naylor got a taste of the Orange Crush Monday night. Supported by about 600 hundred orange-clad fans, Advance destroyed Naylor 73-57 in a Class 1A regional game at Sikeston Field House Monday night. With the victory, Advance (26-4) moves on to Wednesday's sectional round at Poplar Bluff High School...

What a difference a year has made for Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team. One year ago at this time, the Indians were feeling the effects of a buzzer-beater loss to Murray State in the championship game of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament...

SIKESTON -- Ashley Dirnberger scored just two points, but those two points were the two biggest points of the basketball game. Dirnberger hit two free throws with 16 seconds left as Oran (15-9) advanced in the girls state playoffs Monday with a 41-40 win in a Class 1A regional game at Sikeston Field House...

Donna Ryan, Southeast Missouri State University's women's tennis coach, teamed with Mary Ann Harris of Pennsylvania to win the Women's 55 Doubles title in the recent United States Professional Tennis Registry's International Tennis Symposium held in Hilton Head Island, S.C...

Gwyn Mincher rolled a 707 handicap total to win the singles portion of the Cape Girardeau Women's Bowling Association's 59th annual Handicap Tournament. Placing second was Shannon Roberts with 796, two pins ahead of Doris Stubenrauch. Mincher also teamed with Margie Sewing for a first-place total of 1,370 in the doubles competition. Finishing second was Linda Eudy and Stacey Kinikin with a 1,346 total...

SIKESTON -- Graveside service for Abagail Paige Grogan will be held at 11 a.m. today at New Morley Cemetery. The Rev. James Martin will officiate. Ponder Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. The infant died shortly after birth Friday, March 3, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center...

DIEHLSTADT -- Funeral for Loy R. Ashmore of Diehlstadt will be held at 7 p.m. today at McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston. The Rev. Mark Odle will officiate. Burial will be in St. Joe Cemetery in Russellville, Ark. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

LEOPOLD -- Herschel H. Hinkebein, 67, of Leopold died Saturday, March 4, 2000, at John Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. He was born July 11, 1932, at Leopold, son of Joseph and Hendricka Seesing Hinkebein. Hinkebein was retired from Florsheim Shoe Co. He was a member of St. John's Catholic Church, Knights of Columbus Council 5898 in Leopold, and VFW Post 5900 of Marble Hill...

BERNIE -- Service for the Rev. Arlon Ayers of Poplar Bluff will be held at 1 p.m. today at Rainey Funeral Home in Bernie. The Revs. Bob Sparkman, Jimmy Gilbert, Robert Edwards and Tommy Knodell will officiate. Burial will be in Bernie Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 10 a.m. until service time...

BENTON -- John Edward Ziegler, 49, of Benton died Monday, March 6, 2000, at his home. He was born Dec. 5, 1950, at Cape Girardeau, son of John Ziegler and Coletta Scherer Ziegler. He was owner and operator of Ziegler Construction Co. He had been a past commander of American Legion Post 369 in Benton...

NEW MADRID -- An Arkansas man was struck by three cars and died as he walked along U.S. 61, the state Highway Patrol said. William Raper, 59, of Luxora, Ark., was struck by three westbound cars at about 10:15 p.m. on Sunday, the patrol said. One of the three cars to hit Raper belonged to the New Madrid police, the patrol said...

Ruby Martha Ralph, 94, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, March 5, 2000, at Chaffee Nursing Center in Chaffee. She was born Oct. 31, 1905, at Whitewater, daughter of August E. and Martha I. Proffer Poinsett. She and John L. Ralph were married July 24, 1926, at Lutesville. He died June 17, 1981...

ANNA, Ill. -- Myrtle Beck, 71, of Anna died Sunday, March 5, 2000, at her home. She was born Dec. 14, 1928, at Cobden, daughter of Francis and Mae Hunsaker Hartline. She and Harold P. Beck were married Dec. 31, 1953, at Jonesboro. He died Aug. 16, 1990...

Morris Henry Eberhart, 89, of Farmington died Sunday, March 5, 2000, at Chateau Girardeau. He was born Sept. 20, 1910, in Cole County, son of Archie V. and Georgia Morris Eberhart. He and Mildred Steffens were married July 1, 1931. She died July 11, 1985...

ADVANCE -- Lloyd E. Revelle, 92, died Monday, March 6, 2000, at Heartland Care Center in Cape Girardeau. Morgan Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

SIKESTON -- Virginia Hunott, 77, died Sunday, March 5, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Aug. 5, 1922, in Chaffee, daughter of Henry Clay and Stella Drinkard Campbell. She and Philip H. "Buck" Hunott were married Aug. 20, 1942. He died July 28, 1982...

ANNA, Ill. -- Shirley J. Hanney, 62, of Anna died Saturday, March 4, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was born June 21, 1937, in Anna, daughter of Archie and Pearl Sheppard Barker. Hanney retired from the dietary department at Union County Hospital. She attended Landmark Pentecostal Church...

SCOTT CITY -- Stanley Mayfield, 62, of Grubville died Monday, March 6, 2000, at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur. He was born July 31, 1937, at Illmo, son of Layton and Hazel Mayfield. Mayfield was a tire retreader 11 years with Community Tire Retreading in St. Louis...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Funeral for Gladys Marie Gunning of Tamms will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms. The Revs. Gene Hart and Kenneth Johnson will officiate. Burial will be in McCrite Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...