Stories from Friday, August 18, 2000

You don't have to be Catholic to appreciate that anything funny seems doubly funny if the person saying or doing it is wearing a nun's habit. Given the starchy stereotype, a line of nuns in bloomers dancing a cancan is sure to provoke laughter in those who aren't offended...

Drawing on strength from one another and the strength of prayer, area churches are able to make a difference in the lives of people making the transition from welfare to work. "We get that strength that comes from God," said Dennis Rigdon, program director for Project HOPE, who would like to see the community's churches share that strength...

Southeast Missouri State University students battled scorching temperatures and road-construction detours to move into campus residence halls Thursday. Paving work on Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau forced students and parents to detour around campus on one of the hottest days of the year. The heat index, reflecting high temperatures and humidity, was as high as 105 degrees...

Dry, cracked ground and withering plants are suffering through the summer heat, but so are the residents of Cape Girardeau. Temperatures soared into the upper 90s with a heat index of 105 degrees on Thursday following comparable heat on Wednesday. City officials have issued a voluntary water conservation order again and a request to limit open burning. The first water conservation order this season was issued in July...

That fellow who said you can't go home again originally was from Cape Girardeau. I know this because I'm sure I met that fellow -- and a lot of others too -- who were trying to get home this week. Why they all chose to go home in the middle of August is a bit of a mystery. Particularly if you're driving in Cape Girardeau...

A bad check is a check written on an account with insufficient funds or an account that has been closed. A forgery occurs when a check is written on somebody else's account. But sometimes forgeries are just bad checks in disguise, police say. "There are a number of forgeries where people report it as a forgery and have written the check themselves," says Sgt. Carl Kinnison of the Cape Girardeau Police Department...

JACKSON, Mo. -- The ribbon will be cut this morning on a new pedestrian bridge many people will use to get to Jackson High School football games. The bridge at the corner of Jefferson and Colorado streets replaces a swinging bridge that was torn down a few years ago after it deteriorated. The Missouri Department of Transportation paid 80 percent of the cost of the $50,000 bridge, with the City of Jackson making up the rest...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Firefighters from three departments continued to investigate the cause of a house fire Thursday night in Scott City. No one was injured in the fire and the cause is unknown. Firefighters from the Cape Girardeau and New Hamburg-Benton-Commerce departments responded to calls for mutual aid. The Scott City Fire Department issued the call shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday...

An East Prairie, Mo., man was injured Thursday morning in an accident in Mississippi County. Charles Jones, 53, suffered moderate injuries and was treated by Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. Jones was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Leasa Brown, 39, of East Prairie. She was driving south on Route B outside of Bertrand, Mo., when she ran off the road and the vehicle overturned, according to reports from the Missouri State Highway Patrol...

An Ironton, Mo., man was killed Thursday morning in a work-related accident along Highway 177 in Cape Girardeau County. John Risher, 20, of Ironton, Mo., was killed in the accident, which happened at 10 a.m. Thursday in an area of Highway 177 adjacent to Hickory Hills subdivision near Neely's Landing...

Cape Girardeau school officials, students and teachers won't feel the heat as much this year, thanks to improved buildings and a revised early-dismissal policy. The district enacted a policy last year that called for school officials to notify parents through the local media the night before a school day that the heat index was expected to reach 100 degrees or higher, as indicated by the National Weather Service...

Leslie Weaver is proof positive that dynamite can indeed come in small packages. A senior wide receiver on Southeast Missouri State University's football team, Weaver is the shortest person on the squad at 5-feet 7 and he's one of the lightest at 160 pounds...

MILLVILLE, N.J. -- Defending national champion Millville, N.J., eliminated the Heartland Heat 16-under girls fast-pitch team from the Babe Ruth Softball World Series on Thursday with a 4-1 victory. The loss came in the loser's bracket of the double-elimination tournament. On Wednesday, the Heat fell into the loser's bracket with a tough 9-4, 12-inning loss to Pitt County, N.C...

Shauna Birge, a senior member of the Southeast Missouri State University women's track team, was recently honored at the annual awards and achievement dinner for the George Washington Carver House in St. Louis. Birge was honored as the winner of the Outstanding Youth award presented annually by Carver House...

ALLENVILLE, Mo. -- Lenora C. Crader, 87, of Allenville died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at Jackson Manor in Jackson, Mo. She was born Feb. 1, 1913, at Allenville, daughter of John Lawrence and Sarah Ann Noble Drennan. She and William L. Crader were married June 29,1929. He died Nov. 28, 1985...

VILLA RIDGE, Ill. -- Funeral for Hilda Josephine Yeager of Villa Ridge will be held at 3 p.m. today at Jones Funeral Home in Villa Ridge. Disposition will be private. Friends may call at the funeral home from 1 p.m. until service time. Yeager, 88, died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at her home...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Gaylan Collier, 57, of Dexter died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, in Doniphan, Mo. He was born Feb. 16, 1943, at Commerce, Mo., son of Christopher Columbus and Ethel Mitchell Collier. He and Linda Long were married May 21, 1973, at Grayridge, Mo...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Ollie Mae Starnes, 80, of Sikeston died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at her home. She was born Aug. 17, 1919, in Tribbett, Miss., daughter of Will and Eliza Maiten Brown. Starnes was a member of Cornerstone Baptist Church. Survivors include five daughters, Annie Johnson, Mable Anderson, Gloria Ellis, Queen Starnes and Ollie "Jean" Robinson, all of Sikeston; a son, James Herron of Springfield, Mo.; 35 grandchildren; and 39 great-grandchildren...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Ollie L. Friedrich, 88, of Jackson died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson from 4-8 p.m. Sunday. Funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Emanuel United Church of Christ...

Ethel G. Wyndham, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Aug. 17, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Sept. 29, 1911, in Garland City, Ark., daughter of Lee Edward and Jennifer James Green. She and William Wyndham were married Feb. 5, 1928, in Garland City. He died Aug. 20, 1975...

KARNAK, Ill. -- James Reynolds, 62, of Karnak died Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2000, at Good Samaritan Care Center in Metropolis, Ill. He was born May 7, 1938, in Unionville, Ill., son of Noah P. and Anna Walbright Reynolds. Reynolds was a farm laborer. Survivors include a daughter, Jennifer Penrod of Karnak; a son, John Reynolds of Pulaski, Ill.; his father of Louisville, Ill.; two sisters, Rose Chatham of Metropolis, Bertha Davis of Rinard, Ill.; two brothers, Robert Reynolds of Goreville, Ill., and Charles Reynolds of Flora, Ill.. ...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Dorothy M. Peetz, 70, of Jackson died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 20, 1930, west of Jackson, daughter of Louis and Lydia Brennecke Maag. She and Earl Peetz were married Nov. 23, 1949...

Jessie B. Wescoat, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. She was born March 11, 1911, in Louisville, Ky., daughter of the Rev. Roy and Mary Olsen Basler. She and John L. Wescoat were married March 3, 1934, in Calhoun, Ky. He died April 5, 1994...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Floyd Joseph Moonier, 80, of Perryville died Thursday, Aug. 17, 2000, at Perry County Nursing Home. He was born May 7, 1920, in Belgique, Mo., son of William V. and Rosa Zahner Moonier. He and Trula M. Ponder were married Dec. 14, 1944...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Darwin F. Ruesler, 71, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at his home in Jackson. Friends may call at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson on Saturday, Aug. 19, from 9-10 a.m. Funeral service will be at 10, immediately following visitation. Interment will be in Russell Heights Cemetery. The Rev. Robert Henrichs will officiate...

ORAN, Mo. -- George Diebold, 97, of Oran died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 30, 1902, at New Hamburg, Mo., son of Theodore and Frances Dohogne Diebold. He and Eleanor L. LeGrand were married Nov. 13, 1934. She died Jan. 1, 2000...

TO WHOEVER called about the Iowa Speak Out couple, calling them the Children of the Corn, congrats, you got me to respond. The kids from Iowa don't have power over us. They just know how to get a reaction in a big way. Trust me, no one notices my comments either, though I call in frequently about animals and their safety. I wish someone cared...

By the time you read this, it is very likely that more than 100 Russian submarine crewmen will have been declared dead, lost in the depths of the Barents Sea following an explosion of some kind. Better news, of course, would be a successful rescue attempt, but those efforts appeared dim Thursday...

Many government and private workplaces require employees to wear some kind of identification badge to promote safety. Often, the badges are also used as "keys" to get in and out of secure buildings, providing records of who is coming and going -- and when...

To the editor: I would like to thank the many, many people who worked so hard and devoted so much time to get the Jackson school bond issues passed. While all of us are disappointed in the outcome, I don't believe our effort was in vain. Because of the grassroots effort to educate residents of Jackson of the needs of our district, I believe we have started the long process to improve our schools...