Stories from Tuesday, January 9, 2001

With the football playoffs in high gear, the Super Bowl can't be far away. But don't look for the big influx of dot-com companies on this year's commercials. www.wired.com There's an interesting story by Jeffrey Terraciano at the Wired Web site that points out 17 of the 36 companies that advertised in the 2000 Super Bowl were Internet companies. And it wasn't cheap. A 30-second advertisement during last year's Super Bowl on ABC cost an average of $2.2 million. It's $2.4 million this year...

THE STORY SO FAR: Hank's only hope was staging a fake fight with Eddy the Rac. Will it work? Okay, so Eddy and I had to stage a fight, right there in the middle of the watermelon patch. What I'd had in mind was a 30-second burst of fighting, then a parting of ways. That's not the way it turned out. Eddy got hold of me and started gnawing on my ears, and fellers, I thought I'd never get rid of him...

Cape Girardeau County is among the best in the state in terms of children's well-being, while several other Southeast Missouri counties remain among the worst, according to the Kids Count 2000 report released this week. The report, prepared by the St. ...

Steven Marberry, 44, of Cape Girardeau would not be taken alive. Facing arrest for armed robbery, he took his own life in Arena Park with one gunshot to the head. When a call came in at 4 p.m. Monday that the Medicine Shoppe pharmacy on Kingshighway had just been robbed at gunpoint, a Cape Girardeau policeman was making a traffic stop at the nearby intersection of Broadway and Kingshighway...

I've done it, there's no going back, and now I'll come out of the broom closet and unabashedly admit it in the pages of our local newspaper. I've hired a cleaning lady. There. I said it. (I think I just heard my mother scream from the other side of town.)...

Cape Girardeau will pay $43,569 to a Washington, D.C., firm to study the workings of the city's police department and assess why the force has seen a significant turnover in personnel. The council approved the study at its meeting Monday night. Two councilmen, Richard Eggimann and Jay Purcell, voted against it...

The city of Cape Girardeau will use $338,656 in Missouri Department of Transportation money to expand Riverfront Park. The city will chip in more than $84,000 as its share of the cost of the project. A 12-foot-wide concrete walkway will be constructed from the Riverfront Park Themis Street platform south about 1,000 feet along the east side of the Mississippi River floodwall to an area where a section of the old Frisco Railroad levee still stands...

Should Congress confirm the nomination of Sen. John Ashcroft for U.S. attorney general? That is one of the poll questions on the semissourian.com Web site this week. The other question asks which professional athlete you would most like to be for a round of competition. Tiger Woods? Kurt Warner? Mia Hamm? Venus Williams? Someone else?...

Southeast Missouri State University women's basketball coach Ed Arnzen was hoping to enter tonight's game against Ohio Valley Conference power Tennessee Tech with at least one league victory. But the Otahkians gave Arnzen a special present Saturday when they completed a perfect road trip to open the conference season by upsetting Austin Peay 87-80...

Gary Garner uses plenty of motivational tools for his Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball team, including various quotes of the day prior to practices. One of Garner's favorite sayings goes basically like this: It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it...

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- The sister duo of Lisa and Ashley Millham combined for 36 points to offset a big night from Farmington's Lisa Boyd as Notre Dame defeated the Knightettes 60-50 Monday night. Lisa Millham accounted for 23 of the points while Ashley finished with 13...

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- Austin Peay's Joe Williams picked up honors Monday as the Ohio Valley Conference's player of the week after leading the Governors to two league victories. The senior center averaged 22.5 points and 10 rebounds in beating Eastern Illinois in overtime and downing defending champ Southeast Missouri...

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- The Ohio Valley Conference named Tennessee Tech's Janet Holt its player of the week Monday for a second straight week. The 6-foot junior center led the Golden Eaglettes to OVC victories over Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State. She had her league-high sixth double-double this season against Eastern Kentucky...

Son to Kent L. and Nancy J. Pitts of Cobden, Ill., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 3 a.m. Friday, Dec. 29, 2000. Name, Christian Walker. Weight, 7 pounds 2 ounces. Second child, first son. Mrs. Pitts is the former Nancy Vaughn, daughter of Ray and Annette Vaughn of Cobden. She is employed at St. Francis Medical Center. Pitts is the son of Wayne and Judy Pitts of Wolf Lake, Ill., and the late Linda Pitts Manus of Anna, Ill. He is employed at the U. S. Federal Penitentiary in Marion, Ill...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Grace Gertrude Gillham, 90, of Sikeston died Sunday, Jan. 7, 2001, at her home. She was born Sept. 6, 1910, in McNairy County, Tenn., daughter of Alex and Molly Garner Milford. She and Knox Gillham were married May 11, 1927. He preceded her in death...

JACKSON, Mo. -- A 15-year-old male was turned over to juvenile authorities Friday after he allegedly fondled a female student Thursday at R.O. Hawkins Junior High School. The boy allegedly cornered the girl in a shop class and fondled her, Officer Rodney Barnes said...

Gary Wayne Dennis, 50, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Jan. 7, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Oct. 4, 1950, in Granite City, Ill., son of Omar and Vivian Watson Dennis. He and Nancy Kiehl were married June 15, 1990. Dennis had been a cook at the former Howard Johnson and had also worked at Wal-Mart, Chateau Girardeau and most recently at Heartland Care and Rehab Center. He was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3838...

ORAN, Mo. -- Clara Rose Reynolds, 87, of Oran died Sunday, Jan. 7, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 26, 1913, at New Hamburg, Mo., daughter of Louis and Louise Gosche Dannenmueller. She and Gordon A. Reynolds were married Feb. 9, 1941. He died Aug. 30, 1977...

ANNA, Ill. -- Sharon Gaynor, 52, of Anna died Saturday, Jan. 6, 2001, at Union County Hospital. She was born April 9, 1948, in Taylorville, Ill., daughter of Martin and Bonnie Rodden. She married John Gaynor. Survivors include her husband. Friends may call at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna after noon Wednesday...

CANALOU, Mo. -- Wes Virginia Bond, 81, of Canalou died Monday, Jan. 8, 2001, at Sikeston Health Care. She was born Dec. 6, 1919, in Canalou, daughter of Wes and Della Fitzgerald Smith. She and Hubert Bond were married in 1940 in Benton, Mo. He died in 1986...

ANNA, Ill. -- Funeral for Lonnie Seal of Anna will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Crain Funeral Home in Anna. The Rev. Scott Harner will officiate. Burial will be in Anna Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home Wednesday from 10 a.m. until service time...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Charles E. Wright, 65, formerly of Charleston, died Monday, Jan. 8, 2001, at Beebe Retirement Center in Beebe, Ark. McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston is in charge of arrangements.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- H.L. Holler, 69, of Perryville died Sunday, Jan. 7, 2001, in Perryville. He was born July 24, 1931, in Gregory, Ark., son of Julius F. and Vera Mae Strickland Holler. He and Martha Sebaugh were married Aug. 15, 1965. Holler taught woodworking in Arkansas 4 1/2 years, and in Perryville 14 1/2 years. He operated Holler Woodcrafts 25 years...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Graveside service for Walter O. Swiney of Sikeston will be held at 2 p.m. today at Mounds Park Cemetery in Lilbourn, Mo. Woody Phillips will officiate. Friends may call at Ponder Funeral Home from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Swiney, 81, died Saturday, Jan. 6, 2001, at his home...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Grace Layton, 91, of Charleston died Sunday, Jan. 7, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. She was born May 21, 1909, in Success, Ark., daughter of Willis Ransom and Sylvia Ann Marsh McCracken. She married Carl Layton, who died April 19, 1966...

To the editor: In Cape Girardeau on North Kingshighway, a suicide lane was allowed for the entrance to Ford Groves. There is a center lane allowing turning in to the Groves parking lot, but there is also a lane (same one) to allow southbound traffic to turn on to Kurre Lane. The street and parking lot entrances do not line up as the traffic from both directions has to face each other head on. The street and parking lot entrance should be opposite each other...

To the editor: Jan. 22 marks the 28th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, legalizing abortion. In that time 1.5 million children a year have been killed. As usual on Jan. 22, people who oppose abortions will be traveling to Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life. This year, Jan. 22 marks a special event for those of us from Missouri. It is the day when Sen. John Ashcroft will face the pro-choice members of Congress as they try to block his nomination as attorney general...

State senators in Jefferson City, Mo., have a power-sharing deal that is likely to become something of a museum piece, thanks to the realities of politics. For the first time in 54 years, Republicans have a 16-15 majority. But there are three vacancies, and special elections to fill those vacancies are set for later this month. At best, the GOP hopes to wind up with a 17-17 tie with Democratic senators, which is why there has been so much attention focused on power sharing...

For those recent weeks of sub-freezing temperatures, we Southeast Missourians rediscovered the trials and tribulations of cold weather and why we prefer the mild winters of recent years. We're not the only ones. Wild animals in our area have had to adapt too. Residents who braved the snow and cold to keep bird feeders filled and water thawed watched as infrequent feathered visitors became temporary residents...

A SPEAK Out caller suggested I give up my subscription to the Southeast Missourian because I often vehemently disagree with many of the opinions expressed on the Opinion page. I consider some of them to be anathema. However, I strongly believe it's important to be exposed to ideas which may be contrary to one's own. ...

To the editor: I enjoyed the letter Bruce Collier sent concerning freedom. His letter embraces the following thoughts I have intended to share with your readers. For decades, the 1960 hit song "Bobbie Magee" has replayed in my mind. Each time Janis Joplin sang the famous words "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" I failed to see the forest for the trees. ...