Stories from Thursday, November 9, 2000

The nation's voters fell into two categories Wednesday: beleary-eyed political junkies who stayed up watching the news and well-rested early birds baffled by "Bush wins" headlines in their morning newspapers.The latter group slept through an incredible night of political flip-flopping in the most bizarre presidential election of a lifetime...

Nov. 9, 2000 Dear Leslie, As a young boy I often visited cousins who lived in a brick house a block and a half north of our home now on Lorimier Street. Sometimes we would explore the hillside behind their house. They called it Happy Hollow. We had some fun there picking around in the dump that had grown up, wading in water and climbing the grape vines...

City officials will pay an engineering firm about $150,000 to develop a plan to guide future water and sewer drainage upgrades. Doug Leslie, city public works director, said Cape Girardeau has numerous master plans in place but has never developed a critical master plan for dealing with water and sewer drainage issues...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Tuesday's defeat of a measure to impose planning and zoning in unincorporated areas of Cape Girardeau County won't put an end to a pre-election lawsuit brought by planning and zoning opponents against the County Commission. David Allen, chairman of the Committee to Protect Land Owners rights, the group that brought the pre-election lawsuit, vowed Wednesday to continue the legal challenge...

JACKSON, Mo. -- In an election night filled with close decisions Tuesday, the Jackson School District narrowly escaped having a bond issue rejected by voters for a third time this year. The measure was approved by a vote of 6,718 to 5,006 of Cape Girardeau County voters, an approval rating of 57.3 percent. Unofficial results from Bollinger County, which has some residents who live within the Jackson School District, accounted for an additional five yes votes and four no votes...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- At 6-feet and a rugged 245 pounds, Malden High School fullback John Matthews looks like he was made to run in the mud. Wednesday night, Matthews got the opportunity. And the senior made Charleston pay as he left defenders scattered all over the Bluejays' rain-soaked field, bulldozing for 193 yards and four touchdowns as the Green Wave rolled to a 34-14 Class 2A sectional victory...

HILLSBORO, Mo. -- Who let the offense out. Cape Girardeau Central's heralded defense lost its shutout streak, but the Tiger offense erupted for 336 passing yards as the Tigers defeated host Hillsboro 33-17 in a Class 4A sectional game Wednesday night...

VANDALIA, Mo. -- St. Vincent continued its tradition of sectional success in the 1A state playoffs with a 28-0 victory over Van-Far Thursday night. St. Vincent, which improved to 11-0, will travel to Westran, Mo., on Monday. Westran advanced with a 15-14 sectional victory over Sweet Springs...

The streaking Southeast Missouri State Otahkian volleyball team blitzed another conference foe at Houck Fieldhouse on Wednesday to close in on a perfect Ohio Valley Conference season. The Otahkians captured their eighth Ohio Valley Conference regular season title in the past 10 years on Saturday and showed no signs of complacency Wednesday in a straight-set victory over Austin Peay. Southeast defeated the Lady Governors, 15-8, 15-8, 15-9...

The Southeast Missouri State Otahkian basketball team finished the exhibition portion of its schedule, defeating Missouri-St. Louis 75-69 at the Show Me Center Wednesday night. The Otahkians were led by sophomore forward Year Lori Chase, who scored in 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Chase, only 2-of-10 from the field, converted 14 of 15 from the charity stripe...

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team landed a high school center Wednesday as the early signing period began. Tanya Guell averaged 14.8 points and eight rebounds per game last season as a junior at Plymouth (Wis.) High School. She was her team's MVP the past two seasons and earned honorable-mention all-state honors last year...

A 47-year-old Kansas City, Kan., woman died Tuesday morning after the driver of the car she was riding in lost control while passing a tractor-trailer on Interstate 55. Lauretta G. Portley was taken by air to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, where she was pronounced dead...

Augusta Simpher, 82, of Chaffee, Mo., and formerly of Oran, Mo., died Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2000, at Heartland Care and Rehab in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel.

CAIRO, Ill. -- Tiffany Chere Taylor Jones, 26, of Fort Meade, Md., died Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2000, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. She was born March 6, 1974, in Cairo, daughter of Gregory Brown and Yvonda Modicue. Jones was a 1992 graduate of Cairo High School. She was stationed with the U.S. Army at Fort Meade...

Son to Bill and Beverly A. Seyer of Jackson, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 10:07 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2000. Name, Colten William. Weight, 8 pounds 14 ounces. Third child, first son. Mrs. Seyer is the former Beverly Winchester, daughter of Larry and Rachel Winchester of Marble Hill, Mo. She is employed at Auto Tire and Parts. Seyer is the son of Dorothy Seyer of Jackson. He is employed at Benoist Brothers Supply Inc...

Three local heroes will be honored by the Cape Girardeau Fire Department this afternoon for life-saving actions. The heroes, who will not be identified until the ceremony, are civilians. One hero is a boy who saved his brother's life, and the other two were involved in Mississippi River rescues...

Billy Spane, 64, of Oran, Mo., died Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick Burnett Funeral Home in Chaffee.

The bring-your-own-dirt theme of the new Cape Girardeau Central High School groundbreaking was truly inspired. Of course, there's so much about the project that is inspiring. First of all, Cape Girardeau voters passed, by a 75 percent margin, a $18 million bond issue in April for the construction of the school. ...

Area employers are virtually begging for workers. Sign after sign around town tells potential employees that businesses are hiring "smiling faces" or paying a little more than the competition. Cape Girardeau's unemployment rate is at an enviable 2.4 percent, which means everybody who really wants a job and is able to work is employed. Granted, not everybody has keys to the executive washroom, but people are working, and there's honor in any kind of steady, honest employment...

A PLEDGE is a solemn promise or a binding vow. When I was in school we had a flag in the room, and we pledged our loyalty to God and country every morning. That is not so today. Now is the time for the school board to put a flag in every room and instruct the teachers to let the children pledge their loyalty to God and country every morning...

To the editor: Dr. Peter Gott's Nov. 7 column warning us about the dangers of herbal dietary supplements was clearly biased. He fails to mention that over 100,000 Americans die each year as a direct result of prescription medications. That, combined with other medical errors and complications, result in at least 225,000 deaths each year in this country. ...

Knowing your family's health history is a crucial step to understanding your own health risks. That is why health-care providers everywhere are encouraging patients to maintain family health records in the form of medical family trees. A medical family tree, which is a simple record of health problems and medical events your relatives encountered, can help people understand how genetic makeup influences their own health...

Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, refers to a variety of diseases wherein there is either insufficient insulin or where cells are resistant to its effects. Normally, insulin is produced in response to consumed carbohydrates. This hormone facilitates the cellular uptake of carbohydrates so that they may be stored or used directly for cellular energy...