Stories from Sunday, November 12, 2000

America is about to elect a new president. Of course, this is not news to most of us, because campaigning has becoming almost a perpetual activity among politicians. For many, nothing is done in the position they hold without an eye toward the next election. ...

Computers today go hand-in-hand with time-honored teaching methods. Business teacher Kathy Hecht passed out test results last week to students in the business computer lab. Jackson USA Signal/ Mark Evans Rob Goyette (left), director of technology in the R-2 district, looked over one of the 25 Internet-ready laptop computers obtained in a grant written by agriculture teacher David Wells (right). Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans...

This has been a busy year already, and we are only in our fifth month of our fiscal year. We are often asked, "What exactly do you do as the Chamber of Commerce?" I always answer that we do the stuff that everyone thinks just happens. I also want you to know that we don't just "do stuff" or pass out maps, we make things happen, and there's a big difference between doing stuff and making things happen...

Several new titles have been received at the main Jackson facility of the Riverside Regional Library. New titles in adult fiction include Deck the Halls, by Mary Higgins Clark; Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver; The Prometheus Deception, by Robert Ludlum; Shopgirl, by Steve Martin; A Density of Souls, by Christopher Rice; Drowning Ruth, by Christina Schwarz; and Journey, by Danielle Steel...

One winner will take home this beautiful quilt from the annual Crafts, Gifts & Collectibles Show at the Bavarian Halle on Nov. 17-19. Show hours are Friday 5-8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The $1 admission to Friday and Saturday includes a ticket in the drawing for the quilt. Admission is free on Sunday, but additional tickets will be available for purchase...

Sheriff's car: A member of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department spoke to West Lane Elementary students about law enforcement work during Career on Wheels Day. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans Big Rig: Students listened to the driver of an 18-wheeler. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans...

West Lane Elementary students got a chance to learn about careers Nov. 3. More specifically, they learned about careers revolving around vehicles, during the school's Career On Wheels Day. Twenty-eight work vehicles were brought by adults -- many of whom were West Lane parents -- to tell students about their careers...

Taking the step from amateur to professional was a big step for Tim Borgfield. It was a step, though, that the Jackson resident made successfully in 2000. After winning the 1999 national jet ski championship in the Novice Veteran division, Borgfield and his wife, Lora, made the decision to move into the professional class this year. Their goal was to place among the top 10 in their new class for the year...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Bernard Schaper was born in Jackson 84 years ago. He remembers when only the uptown streets were paved, and wagons pulled by teams of horses brought farmers to town. Through the 20th century, Jackson grew slowly but steadily until the 1990s boom times...

WHITEWATER, Mo. -- A two-year struggle with bureaucrats has left a Cape Girardeau County man with little hope of restoring 27 acres of private wetland drained when a neighbor interfered with the Whitewater River. But R.B. Welty has vowed to keep fighting until his acreage is returned to its former glory...

America's a great country. It's just that we can't do math. That's what makes electing a president so tough. For democracy to work, you've got to count the ballots. In Florida, it seems, they've all lost their calculators if not their collective minds. The Sunshine State suddenly has become the recount state. You can feel the chill in the air at tourism headquarters...

This was a tale of two teams at opposite ends of the spectrum. The Southeast Missouri State Otahkians are the Ohio Valley Conference champions, undefeated in the conference, and the Tennessee State Lady Tigers are the league doormats, winless in the conference...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Southeast Missouri State University's football team will not end up with anything close to a good record this season, but the Indians have certainly had their chances. In five of their losses this year, the Indians have been right in the contest until deep in the second half before faltering. The fifth such setback took place here Saturday afternoon as host Southwest Missouri State posted a 24-7 non-conference victory after leading just 14-7 late in the third quarter...

At first, the Southeast Missouri State Indians got burned. Then they caught fire. After a sluggish start, the Indians went on a 31-10 run to end the first half as Southeast ended its two-game exhibition season with an 85-67 victory over the Dreambuilders in front of 2,856 fans at the Show Me Center Saturday night...

Talk about a dynasty. What Southeast Missouri State University's volleyball team has accomplished over the past decade is something to behold, and there doesn't appear to be any end in sight. The Otahkians recently won their eighth regular-season OVC championship since joining the league 10 years ago. And as an added bonus, Saturday they wrapped up an undefeated conference season, blitzing through the league with a perfect 16-0 record and losing just three total games...

Led by the sensational Trenton Hassell, Austin Peay is the preseason choice to win the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball championship this season. But the Governors are expected to face some serious competition from the likes of Murray State and Southeast Missouri State -- who tied for last year's regular-season title before Southeast won the OVC tournament and earned the league's automatic NCAA tourney berth -- along with perhaps Tennessee Tech and Eastern Illinois...

Tennessee Tech is favored to continue its dominance of Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball this season. The Golden Eaglettes, who have won or shared three of the past four OVC titles and have captured 13 league championships overall, received 14 of a possible 16 first-place votes (teams are not allowed to pick their own finish) in a recent poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors...

Betty Elaine Tenkhoff, 77, of Oran, Mo., died Saturday, Nov. 11, 2000, at her home. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford & Sons Mt. Auburn Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

NEW HAMBURG, Mo. -- Bertilla Catherine Schlosser, 81, of New Hamburg died Saturday, Nov. 11, 2000, at Sells Rest Home. in Matthews, Mo. She was born May 3, 1919, in New Hamburg, daughter of Frank and Mary Gosche Steimle. She and John E. Schlosser were married Sept. 4, 1954. He died Aug. 13, 1991...

VILLA RIDGE, Ill. -- William Melvin Malone Sr., 69, of Villa Ridge died Saturday, Nov. 11, 2000, at his home. He was born Sept. 7, 1931, in Wolf Lake, Ill., son of Edward and Josephine Kimel Malone. He and Iva Lee were married Oct. 21, 1950. He was the owner of Melvin Malone Auto Sales retiring after 48 years in automobile sales...

VILLA RIDGE, Ill. -- Rignal "Rick" Clinton Lee Healey, 46, of Villa Ridge died Saturday, Nov. 11, 2000, at Union County Hospital in Anna, Ill. He was born Sept. 4, 1954, in Advance, Mo., son of Rignal E. Healey and Lou Alice Jonas. Healey was a self-employed automobile mechanic...

Virginia Magdalene Givens, 74, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, Nov. 10, 2000, in her home in Humble, Texas. She was born Oct. 27, 1926, in Fornfelt, Mo., daughter of William and Cleta Barnette Zimmerman. She and Bill Harold Givens were married Dec. 18, 1940 in Cape Girardeau. He died Nov. 27, 1992...

THE REASON voters turned out in such large numbers is because they were trying to offset the thousands of immigrants Clinton and Gore had shipped in to the United States and pressured the INS to give them immediate naturalization in exchange for their vote for Al Gore. They were also trying to elect a man who would bring sanity and decency back to the White House with George W. Bush...

Loopholes in, around and under the various regimes of campaign-finance restrictions are emerging once again. This time the action is among tax-exempt organizations. Tax-exempt groups have spent more than $130 million trying to sway the fall elections, according to an Associated Press survey. ...

Winners will need our support, prayers: I'm writing this column long before the polls have closed and the outcome decided. ... But the content of today's column depends not on the outcome of the national state and local election results. The content is the same regardless...

Any way you look at it, Missouri made history this past week. Following the tragic death of Gov. Mel Carnahan, his widow Jean announced just a week prior to the election that she would accept Gov. Roger Wilson's offer to appoint her to the Senate seat should the Carnahan name prevail on the Nov. 7 ballot...

Sitting in a vinyl chair with a black cape draped over her body and a blue hand towel around her neck, Carol Thompson waited Tuesday as the gray hairs that had slowly crept into her tresses became ashen brown strands mixed with blonde highlights. It used to be that only a woman's hairstylist would know for certain if she colored her gray, but that's changing...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Amanda Suzanne Ford and Bradley Andrew Berry exchanged vows Sept. 9, 2000, at Cape Bible Chapel in Cape Girardeau. Dan Greene performed the double ring ceremony. Pianist was Shane Steck and soloist was Wendy Taliaferro, both of Cape Girardeau...

Mr. and Mrs. Bob Dolle of Cape Girardeau celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception and dance Sept. 24, 2000, at the Elks Lodge. Hosts were their children and grandchildren. Approximately 300 guests attended the event. Dolle and Virginia Seabaugh were married Sept. 24, 1950, at the Lutheran Church in Sedgewickville, Mo., by the late Rev. Jens Larson...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Mr. and Mrs. Helmuth Doberenz of Jackson celebrated their 61st anniversary with a reception Oct. 15, 2000, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. The reception was hosted by a daughter and son-in-law, Wanda and Ken Steffens of Cape Girardeau...

When I look around at the tattered shrubs, half their leaves gone with the wind or caught, untidily, in the lower branches, the trees in much the same stage of undress, the grass dying in fence corners, milkpods gaping openly, I am prone to announce, "The whole world has gone to seed!" The statement has two meanings. ...

Helen Marie Schaffner and Richard Allen Cason were married Sept. 2, 2000, in a lake setting at Stroud's Oak Ridge Manor in Kansas City. The Rev. Robert Magee performed the double ring ceremony. Violinist was Steven Schaffner of Cape Girardeau, brother of the bride...

JACKSON, Mo. -- St. John's Lutheran Church in Mexico, Mo., was the setting May 27, 2000, for the wedding of Carin Lee Kranawetter and Jeffrey Alvin Bealmear. The Rev. James Rhiver performed the double ring ceremony. Organist was Bev Borgeson of Mexico and Torri Staggs of Columbia, Mo...

Susan Michelle Ford and David Alan Gatena were married May 26, 2000, at Hanover Lutheran Church. The Rev. Jeffrey Sippy performed the double ring ceremony. Organist was Keith Koenig of Jackson, Mo. Soloists were Donnie Key of Dubuque, Iowa, and Mike Baldwin of Cape Girardeau...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Kelly and Beverly Borum of Urich, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Kelli Renea Borum, to Dean Clippard, both of Jackson. He is the son of Betty Cord of Jackson. Borum received a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Central Missouri State University. She is employed at JCPenney...

Tom and Debbie Siemers of Northport, Ala., formerly of Cape Girardeau, announce the engagement of their daughter, Jennifer Ann Siemers, to Jeff Richard Clark. He is the son of Dan and Kay Clark of Cottondale, Ala. Siemers is a 1996 graduate of Hillcrest High School, and received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Alabama in May 2000. She is a family support specialist with East Tuscaloosa Family Resource Center in Alabama...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Raymond and Donna Petzoldt of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Andrea Jewel Petzoldt, to James Michael Bowling. He is the son of Mike and Pam Bowling of Cape Girardeau and Sheila and John Armbruster of Sikeston, Mo...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Amanda Megan Puckett and Michael Alan Eakins were married May 20, 2000, at First Presbyterian Church. The Revs. Grant Gillard and Sam Roethemeyer performed the double ring ceremony. Organist was Jim Rhodes, and soloists were Robert Cox and Robyn Hosp, all of Jackson...

Paul and Jeanne Ebaugh of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Megan Nicole Ebaugh, to Jon Mike Thrower. He is the son of Charles and Judy Thrower of Cape Girardeau. Ebaugh is pursuing a bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design at Southeast Missouri State University...

NEW WELLS, Mo. -- Kenny and Joann Mirly of New Wells announce the engagement of their daughter, Jennifer Lynn Mirly, to Jason Lawrence Schlueter. He is the son of Larry and Kathy Schlueter of Troy, Mo. Mirly is a 1995 graduate of Jackson High School, and 2000 graduate of Missouri Valley College at Marshall. She is employed at St. Charles YMCA in St. Charles, Mo...