Stories from Friday, May 19, 2000

Share your stories of kindness' done this week or throughout the year with our Kindness Hotline (573) 334-8997 or call our Speak Out line at (573) 334-5111. A helping hand When my husband became a double amputee, one of our many concerns was handicap accessibility to our home. ...

What is a hero? For Patty Ernst and her daughter from St. Charles, Mo., a hero is Justin Newberry of Cape Girardeau. In early April, Ernst and her daughter made the trip to Cape Girardeau to attend the Bush and Moby concert at the Show Me Center. It was part of the spring MTV Campus Invasion Tour...

The kids at Lyncare call her "Grandma Audrey" and give her hugs. To the more than 30 children in the after-school program at Lynwood Baptist Church, Audrey Golden is "their" grandmother. She teaches Bible lessons to the children, all elementary students from Alma Schrader School...

Sharland Reed is ready to officially open the doors of the Cape Area Family Resource Center and start delivering needed services to the neighborhoods in South Cape Girardeau. The Family Resource Center, 1000 S. Sprigg St., will officially open today with an open house from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m...

Southeast Missouri State University may install tornado warning sirens on campus. The sirens also could be used as loud speakers to alert students, staff and others on campus about emergencies such as chemical spills or fires, officials said. Southeast plans to bring in a consultant to do a feasibility study this summer. Sirens could be installed later this year, said Dr. Pauline Fox, vice president of administration and enrollment management...

The topic at Thursday night's community forum was whether Cape Girardeau needs a human rights commission. No one who spoke questioned the need, but a number of people in the audience insisted any such commission must be autonomous. "I don't want the city appointing them," Albert Bell said, speaking of the commission membership...

The orange-and-black decorations were a little out of character at the Jackson Board of Education office Thursday afternoon, but no one seemed to mind. The decorations bedecked a gift basket the district received from the staff at the Cape Girardeau Board of Education office. It was one of some 15 baskets delivered to public and private schools in Cape Girardeau, Scott City and Jackson...

Let me say this about kindness: It's good. I know. That sounds like a politician, doesn't it? One of these days, a politician is really going to say what I always expect him to say. You know, something like: I'll fight till my dying breath for the right to breathe...

An Smyrna, Tenn.-based commuter airline has assumed contracts with Trans World Airlines to provide flights to TWA's hub at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Corporate Airlines Inc. is now offering non-stop service between St. Louis and five former Trans World Express destinations, including Cape Girardeau, Mo., and Marion, Ill...

The newspaper industry is not a dinosaur business destined for extinction. Newspapers continue to reach more people than radio and television, and newspapers and the Internet are quite compatible, said Gary Rust, president of Cape Girardeau-based Rust Communications...

For the Cape Senior Center, Thursday was kind of like Christmas. Representatives from the Regional Arthritis Center at St. Francis Medical Center gave the senior center a new treadmill, a high-tech stationary bike, two sets of small hand weights and a new boombox, valued at more than $700...

A $2.1 million construction project widening Broadway to four lanes from Clark Street east to Perry Avenue officially begins today. Improvements will involve construction of 2,400 linear feet of roadway, including new pavement, curbs and gutters, in addition to retaining walls and excavation and earth work...

The hopes of both Southeast Missouri State University and Middle Tennessee to advance into the winner's bracket final of the Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament were put on hold Thursday night -- at least temporarily -- by Mother Nature. Squaring off in the finale of four games played on the opening day of the six-team event at Capaha Field, Southeast and Middle Tennessee were barely under way in what looked like a dandy winner's bracket semifinal when forces beyond their control took over.. ...

CHAFFEE -- Top-seeded Notre Dame jumped to an early lead and was never threatened in a 10-3 win over second-seeded Chaffee in the Class 2A, District 2 final at Harmon Field Thursday. With the victory, Notre Dame (20-4) advances to the sectional round Thursday against District 1 champion Senath-Hornersville. The game will be played at 4:30 p.m. at Notre Dame H.S...

St. Vincent and Leopold both won 1A district baseball championships Thursday behind a pair of stellar pitching performances. St. Vincent's Tyler Wengert won a pitching duel with Advance's Garrett Broshuis as the third-seeded Indians edged the top-seeded Hornets 3-2 in the District 2 final...

Not since 1997 has a Cape Central baseball team defeated the Sikeston Bulldogs. The second-seeded Tigers couldn't have picked a better time to snap the seven-game losing streak as they upset the top-seeded Bulldogs, 3-2 at Tiger Field on Thursday in the Class 4A District 1 championship game...

Track athletes from around the area are ready to pit their talents against the best the state has to offer. The Class 1A and 2A meets convene at Jefferson City on Saturday. Kelly, runners-up to Class 2A district girls' champion Lutheran North and a fourth-place finisher in the boys division, will send six athletes to the state meet...

PERRYVILLE -- Henry C. Fornkahl, 92, of Perryville died Thursday, May 18, 2000, at PerryOaks Healthcare Center. He was born Dec. 21, 1907, in Cape Girardeau County, son of Henry and Augusta Kisner Fornkahl. He and Gertrude R. Hecht were married June 28, 1936...

KARNAK, Ill. -- Funeral for Catherine Schierbaum of Joppa will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak. Elder Richard Lewis will officiate. Burial will be in Webb Cemetery at Tunnel Hill. Schierbaum, 89, died Wednesday, May 17, 2000, at her home...

ADVANCE -- Vernice E. Garner, 76, of Advance died Thursday, May 18, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born June 3, 1923, at Sank, son of John and Dela Masters Garner. He and Mildred Lee Moore were married Nov. 21, 1942, at Steele...

SIKESTON -- Graveside service for Conrad Davis of Sikeston will be held at 11 a.m. today at Memorial Park Cemetery. Ponder Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Davis, 73, died Tuesday, May 16, 2000, at Hunter Acres Caring Center. He was born Aug. 8, 1926, in Alabama, son of Ruthford "R.S." and Alice Davis...

CHARLESTON -- Carol Sue Mays, 46, of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, May 16, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Born Jan. 12, 1954, in Cape Girardeau, she was the daughter of Gloria Jenkins, who died Jan. 27, 2000. A 1972 graduate of Cape Central High School, she was employed by Southeast Missouri Hospital for 22 years and by the Lutheran Home for several years as well...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Mollie Molinda Aldrich, 75, of Mounds died Wednesday, May 17, 2000, at her home. She was born July 14, 1924, at Villa Ridge, daughter of John and Cuba Dowdy Burkart. She married Carl "String Beans" Aldrich, who died in 1984. Survivors include two daughters, Terri Aldrich and Linda Moreland of Mounds; a sister, Nettie Rodgers of Ullin; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a great-stepgrandchild...

In the not-too-distant future, George W. Bush will select his running mate. Should he even consider picking someone who is pro-choice? I believe not. Will it matter? I believe so, greatly. Apparently, even among pro-life conservative Republicans, there is no unanimity of opinion on this question. ...

Assessments of the recently ended session of the Missouri Legislature have repeatedly called attention to the fact that so few bills were passed this year. For the most part, those reviews conclude that the session was unproductive, contentious and politically polarized...

To the editor: In all of our interactions with Superintendent Dan Steska so far, we have found him to be a thoughtful, honorable and competent person. Because of that, we can only assume that he has made a terrible mistake in his understanding of the underlying concerns of Franklin Elementary School parents regarding the Franklin/Blanchard redistricting. ...