Stories from Saturday, December 30, 2000

While some critics say churches are slow to use new technology as a way to attract new members, that isn't the case for one area congregation. Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau reaches farther than its immediate neighborhood with services broadcast on the Internet...

As the towboat Coal Express bumped the Illinois shore, the wind intensified, sending snow sailing horizontally across the Mississippi River. Traveling north from Cape Girardeau, the tow cut through sheets of ice two inches thick. Near land, the ice sheets were compacted, thicker, snow-dusted wedges that broke loose, swarmed around the hull, then kicked outward in the propellor wash...

UNION COUNTY, Ill. -- The big cat growled, looking out warily from his cage. Those who ventured close enough dodged an occasional swipe from powerful claws. It was clear that this 40-pound, Southern Illinois bobcat didn't like his predicament. But, trapped by Larry Burnett near his home in rural Union County, the ferocious feline was soon to be set free...

A former Cape Girardeau man who was shot to death a week before Christmas will be remembered through a memorial scholarship fund at Southeast Missouri State University. Former geological science professor Robert Parkinson said he contacted the Southeast Missouri University Foundation this week about establishing a scholarship in honor of John Seay Jr., a former student killed in a murder suicide in Midland, Texas...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Charles Herbst got his talent for sewing quilts from his mother, and his 50-year profession from God. Herbst, a former pastor of St. Vincent de Paul parish in Perryville, marks 50 years as a priest this year. Although health problems have mostly confined him to an apartment at St. Mary's Seminary for the past year, the 76-year-old priest said he hasn't left his ministry. As a senior priest in residence at St. Mary's, he is still teaching, albeit mostly by example...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Chaffe high school students better hit the books this weekend. Final examinations have been rescheduled to begin almost immediately when school resumes following the holidays. Due to bad weather, school was not in session Dec. 14 and 15, when finals were originally scheduled. To help students prepare, exam reviews will be held Tuesday, while final exams will be held Wednesday and Thursday...

The eagles have landed. With the Midwest in a lengthening deep freeze, a relative profusion of migrating bald eagles has stopped at Cape Rock, Trail of Tears State Park and other points along the Mississippi River to feed and rest. Horseshoe Lake in Southern Illinois is another good location for seeing the once endangered national symbol...

BENTON, Mo. -- Two cousins charged with killing a Scott City, Mo., woman in July have pleaded innocent. Gary W. Biggs and Charles "Scott" Biggs gave their pleas in arraignments before Circuit Judge David Dolan on Thursday. Both men are charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of 57-year-old Willie Mae Vasquez, whose body was found Aug. 9 in a shallow grave in Scott County near the Mississippi River...

Four games had already been decided in the final minute Friday before Jackson and Notre Dame took the floor in the nightcap at the Show Me Center. Make that five. The quick-starting Jackson Indians held off a resilient Notre Dame squad 65-62 to advance to the University High Christmas Tournament championship game and fittingly conclude one of the most down-to-the-wire days in the 56 years of the tournament...

For the second straight year, the Advance Hornets found the finals of the University High Christmas Tournament, courtesy of the Charleston Bluejays. The fifth-seeded Hornets upset the top-seeded Bluejays 53-47 Friday night at the Show Me Center. It was a huge win for the 1A Hornets, despite the thought in the minds of many that the Bluejays (3-6) may have been overrated. Past history may have played a role, as Charleston has claimed a record 13 titles in the tournament...

Revenge -- and shaking off potential holiday rust -- will be on the mind of Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team today. The Otahkians will have their first game in three weeks when Mississippi Valley State pays a visit to the Show Me Center for a noon tipoff. There will be no admission charge...

With all due respect for Bell City and Oran who have played well and pulled off two upsets each in the University High Christmas Tournament, perhaps the biggest surprise of the bracket is Chaffee. The 14th-seeded Red Devils will find themselves in the consolation championship game today after they knocked off No. 7 Scott County Central 64-60 Friday...

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- St. Vincent captured the round-robin Ste. Genevieve Christmas Tournament Friday night with a 36-34 victory over the host Dragons. St. Vincent completed the tournament 3-0 and improved to 5-2 on the season. St. Pius placed second at 2-1, followed by Valle (1-2) and Ste. Genevieve (0-3)...

Funeral for Helen Anita Moore, 81, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., will be noon today at Ford & Sons Sprigg Street Funeral Home. The Rev. Douglas C. Breite will officiate. Burial will be in Cape Coiunty Memorial Park. Friends may call from 10 a.m. to time of the funeral today at the funeral home...

Son to Robert Dale Ruebel and Megan Nicole Johnson of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 6:14 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 21, 2000. Name, Jonathan Christian. Weight, 5 pounds 14 ounces. First child. Johnson is the daughter of Mark and Rose Johnson of Gordonville. She is employed by Cedar Street. Ruebel is the son of Rodger and Clara Ruebel of Navarre, Fla. He is employed by LaFont Auto Sales...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Troy Marion Tippett, 87, of Marble Hill died Thursday, Dec. 28, 2000, at Elder Care Nursing Home in Marble Hill. He was born Jan. 23, 1913, near Advance, Mo., in Stoddard County, to the late Sherman and Elsa Sims Tippett. He was a retired farmer, a member of the Marble Hill United Methodist Church and the United Methodist Men's Club...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Wanda M. Hargrove, 67, of Sikeston died Friday, Dec. 29, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 18, 1933, at Morehouse, Mo., daughter of Homer and Lue Vanover Grimes. She and Freddy Hargrove were married May 12, 1967, at Benton...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Kenneth Leon Penland, 65, of Florrisant, Mo., and formerly of Cobden, died Friday, Dec. 29, 2000, at DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton, Mo. He was born Jan. 22, 1935, in Cobden, son of Curtis and Ella Marie Hewlitt Penland. He had worked in the banking and finance industry all his working life...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Charles A. "Chuck" Holman, 68, of Cairo died Thursday, Dec. 28, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born on Feb. 22, 1932 at Hickman, Ky., son of Aubrey and Daughty Goodman Holman. He and Mary Lee Payne were married Dec. 27, 1954, at Union City, Tenn...

Homer Edward Yount, 69, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Dec. 28, 2000, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Jan. 26, 1931, at Sedgewickville, Mo., son of Edgar and Gertie Doggett Yount. He and Hazel V. Stowe were married Nov. 27, 1960...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Agnes F. Spencer, 95, died Thursday, Dec. 28, 2000, at the Sikeston Convalescent Center. She was born on June 12, 1905 at Midway, Kan., daughter of Andrew and Annie Guidos Fecho. She was married to Ralph B. Spencer, who preceded her in death...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Judy Lukefahr, 59, of Daisy, Mo., died Friday, Dec. 29, 2000, at Jackson, Mo. Friends may call from 4-8 p.m. Monday at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. Funeral will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Russell Heights Cemetery...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Jackie Martin Parker, 63, of East Prairie, Mo., and formerly of Charleston, died Friday, Dec. 29, 2000, at the home of his sister in Diehlstadt, Mo. He was born Aug. 18, 1937, in Deventer, Mo., son of James Floyce and Daisy Margaret Johnson Parker...

THAT FUSS in the county in Florida with the Republican ballot tampering really caught my attention because it seemed so blatantly stupid to have a Republican elected official call in only Republicans to fix only the Republican ballots. Then the rest of the story came out. ...

With ice on the ground, below freezing temperatures for nearly the entire month of December and no end to the cold and snow in sight, folks are a little out of sorts. And many of them are turning their attention to the city's snow removal work -- or the lack of it...

Little wonder Cape Girardeau County's sheriff, John Jordan, strolls through the county's new Justice Center like a proud papa. Elected in 1994 and in area law enforcement for 14 years before running for public office, Jordan almost immediately began arguing for a new jail. He pointed to crowding and a need for daily lockdowns because of inmates' rowdiness...