Stories from Friday, March 24, 2000

As Kristiane Ropohl watched a jury award $500,000 in damages during a trial in federal court this week, she was amazed. "Nobody in Germany would ask for that much," said Ropohl, a German law student. Even after three previous trips to Southeast Missouri from Germany, Ropohl still finds aspects of American life that surprise her. Over the past three weeks her experiences have been more judicial as she has worked as an intern with the Bradshaw, Steele, Cochrane and Berens law firm...

Many parents took a day off or made special arrangements for their children when Cape Girardeau public schools dismissed early Thursday for teacher in-service training. But countless other children likely ate lunch at home and stayed alone until their parents arrived...

Trigger locks won't lock up gun violence, two Southeast Missouri gun dealers say. Cape Girardeau gun dealer Ben Ritter and Sikeston gun dealer Alan Reiman said Thursday they put little stock in gun manufacturer Smith and Wesson's much publicized agreement to provide safety locks on its handguns...

Indians fans will have a chance to cheer once again for the basketball team that made it to the NCAA Tournament. Members of the Southeast Missouri State University basketball team and their coaches will be honored at a Championship Celebration from 5 to 7 p.m. today at the Show Me Center. Admission to the event, sponsored by Southeast Missouri State University and the Southeast Missourian, is free and open to the public...

All the birds are confused. The owl is still here. Geese are flying north and south. And one mourning dove is showing off his IQ. There are some pretty confused birds hanging around our backyard feeders these days, particularly the mourning doves. I don't know a lot about doves, except they're pretty. And gentle too, except during mating season when the fellas chase each other a lot while the girls ignore them...

Volunteers and parks staff members will plant 227 trees Saturday in scattered spots along the LaCroix Recreational Trail near the Osage Community Centre. The trees were free because they were being planted on public land. Show Me Trees and a national forest relief program donated the trees to Cape Girardeau...

More than 10 law enforcement officers burst into a residence early Thursday, arresting two men in a drug raid, Cape Girardeau police said. Police and members of the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force forcibly entered the residence at 7:39 a.m. at 812 N. Sprigg St., Cpl. Kevin Orr said...

Students can expect to pay more to get an education at Southeast Missouri State University in the coming school year. But school officials insist the price is right, as reflected by increased occupancy rates in the campus residence halls. Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast president, said the school expects few vacancies in its 12 residence halls when classes commence this fall...

An electrical short in an exhaust fan was blamed for a small fire at the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School Thursday morning. Students were allowed back inside the building at 301 N. Clark about an hour after the incident, which occurred at about 10:15 a.m...

SCOTT CITY -- The PTO Follies are coming back to Scott City schools with a slate full of skits. The audience will see everything from Martha Stewart parodies, an interview with baseball greats Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire and a skit "Gigantic," a take on the hit movie "Titanic."...

As a child, Sally Stapleton had a good time hanging out at the Daily Dunklin Democrat, the Kennett newspaper then published by her grandfather and father. Since those days, she also has hung out at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Miami Herald and the Boston Globe. On Monday she began overseeing the photo operation of the world's largest news-gathering organization...

To the editor: Last April , as I was bringing my 7-year-old son home from school, a truck driven by a drunk driver hit my car. The accident occurred as I was pulling into my driveway at 4 p.m. My car was moved 90 feet from the point of impact, and the truck of the drunk driver landed in my front yard. My car sustained $6,000 worth of damage, and the drunk driver was uninsured...

THIS IS to the person who doesn't have anything to do but hopes the Show Me Center gets some cool bands. What is that, a couple of evenings out of a boring life? If you want something to do, I'll give you a list. Go to the library and read a book. Or better yet, help teach someone else to read. ...

The Washington Post and The New York Times unleashed lengthy "news" articles Monday slamming George Bush and seeking to undermine his positions as a compassionate conservative and as a reformer, respectively. Both papers warn Bush that he must be a different kind of conservative to win the general election, yet ridicule him for trying to hold himself out as one. ...

A hot issue in recent days has been gun safety. There were all those heated words in the exchange between the head of the National Rifle Association and President Clinton. Then there was the much publicized agreement with the nation's largest gun manufacturer to provide trigger locks. Let's take a look at all the hoopla over trigger locks...

To the editor: As an organization that puts the needs of children first, the Cape Girardeau Community Teachers Association proudly supports Phase II of the master plan set forth by the Board of Education. We made a commitment to the children in the district some 81 years ago when the first CTA was formed in Missouri. ...

There are still some folks around Cape Girardeau who remember the Soap Box Derby races here in the 1930s. While World War II put an end to speeding down Perry Avenue in gravity-powered racers, derby events have continued around the country. The Cape Girardeau Rotary Club has decided to bring back Soap Box Derby events...

To the editor: Last week I went to the NCAA Basketball Tournament in Salt Lake City from my home in Billings, Mont. I went there as an LSU fan, because my brother went to college there. But after meeting the fans and families of the Southeast Missouri State University Indians, I became a fan myself...

POPLAR BLUFF -- Notre Dame opened its season like the top-ranked baseball team in Missouri Class 2A with a 7-0 blanking of the Poplar Bluff Mules on Thursday. Winning pitcher Mark Ostendorf and reliever Scott Eftink combined for a three hitter while the offense plated runs in five of the seven innings...

It will be a battle of North vs. South this weekend when the second annual I-55 girls high school soccer tournament is held in Cape Girardeau. Notre Dame and Cape Girardeau Central are co-hosting the event, which will be played today and Saturday on Notre Dame's two fields...

For most golfers, what Harold Ellison accomplished at Kimbeland Country Club in Jackson last week would have been cause for a major celebration. But forgive Ellison if he didn't get overly excited by his hole-in-one. After all, it was the 76-year-old Cape Girardeau resident's eighth hole-in-one during more than 40 years of playing golf...

HARRISBURG, Ill. -- A day after opening its season with an extra-inning victory, Cape Central's baseball team encountered its first loss Thursday in another nail-biter, losing 5-4 to Harrisburg. Cape Central (1-1), which edged Chaffee 7-4 in eight innings in Wednesday's season opener, had its chances on Thursday but was unable to push across the tying run...

Joyce M. Godwin, 63, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, March 23, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

THEBES, Ill. -- John Butcher, 74, of Thebes died Thursday, March 23, 2000, at St. Louis University Hospital in St. Louis. Visitation will be after 5 p.m. Saturday at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms. Services will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist Church in Thebes with the Rev. Carl D. Fisher officiating...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Patricia Herera, 37, of Mounds died Thursday, March 23, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak is in charge of arrangements.

SIKESTON -- Luther Thomas Ross, 96, formerly of Sikeston, died Thursday, March 23, 2000, at Carthage Health and Rehab Center in Carthage. He was born Sept. 20, 1903, at Bernie, son of William M. and Jane Odom Ross. He and Nellie P. Sanders were married Oct. 25, 1925, at Parma. She died Aug. 4, 1994...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral for Sue Mainord of East Prairie will be held at 2:30 p.m. today at First Christian Church. Martin Lucas and Fred Girdwood will officiate. Burial will be in Dogwood Cemetery. Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie is in charge of arrangements...

Georgia Mae Haman, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, March 23, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born May 19, 1920, at Chaffee, daughter of Frank C. and Zetta Essner Bertrand. She and Lewis Haman were married June 19, 1941, in Cape Girardeau. He died Feb. 11, 1978...

Funeral Mass for Czeslaw Zielinski of Nashville, Tenn., will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at Old St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Rev. Randy Tochtrop will officiate. Burial will be in Cape County Memorial Park. Friends may call at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel from 4-8 p.m. Sunday...

Son to Curtis O'Bannon and Kelly Yvonne Poore of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:46 a.m. Thursday, March 16, 2000. Name, Park O'Bannon. Weight, 8 pounds 2 ounces. Third child, second son. Mrs. Poore is the former Kelly Taylor, daughter of James R. and Gloria Taylor of Lilbourn. Poore is the son of Cloyce Poore of New Madrid and Cookie Ferrenburg of Morley. He is an attorney with the firm of Limbaugh, Russell, Payne and Howard...

In 1972 nurse Lucille Trickey assisted Dr. Raymond A. Ritter Jr. as he performed the area's first artificial hip replacement. Today, Trickey is herself recovering from hip replacement surgery, performed by Ritter. Much has changed about hip replacements in those 28 years, said Ritter as he checked Trickey's progress a month after the January surgery...

About 20 years ago, during the summer, I quit my job in pharmacology research at the University of Missouri and took a new job at the Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation. I went to work for Dr. Ron Walkenbach, the director of the foundation, who I had met at the university through his teaching of the medical students...