Stories from Wednesday, January 10, 2001

The demand at retail stores for bird feed during the past month has been at record levels in the area. Even wholesale suppliers are having a hard time keeping up with demand. Many are now only packaging in 40 and 50 pound bags. They have forgotten about trying to supply retailers with small packages of bird feed. There just isn't enough time in the day...

After a robbery that never could have succeeded -- in daylight, during the beginning of rush hour, with a bicycle for a getaway vehicle -- Steven Marberry sentenced himself to capital punishment. It was the final act in a life of failed second chances...

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson will ask President-elect George W. Bush to convene an energy summit to address the high price of gasoline and other fuels. Speaking from her Cape Girardeau office, Emerson said she was "putting the final touches" on a letter she plans to send to Bush after he takes office later this month...

As many as 1,000 recreational airplanes a year eventually may be manufactured in Cape Girardeau if the state comes through with loans for a young company looking to move its operation from Georgia to the local airport. Cape Girardeau officials lured 3-year-old Renaissance Aircraft of Eastman, Ga., to the area by offering incentives including $2.1 million, issued through bonds, for facility construction, equipment, furnishings, water and sewer lines, roads and parking lots...

Residents are invited to comment on updates to Cape Gir-ardeau's Major Street Plan and Future Land Use Plan tonight during a monthly Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. A public hearing will take place at 7 p.m. in the City Council chambers at City Hall, 401 Independence...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Thomas R. Liebeknecht became the sixth candidate to enter the Jackson Board of Education race Tuesday. Liebeknecht, a resident of Millersville since 1993, joins incumbent Gerald Adams and challengers Donna Tidwell, Kevin Schaper, Mack Illers and James Woeltje in the contest to be decided by voters April 3...

JACKSON, Mo. -- The Jackson school calendar will be extended one week to make up four snow days missed so far this winter, but the date and location of the high school graduation ceremony is still up in the air. The Board of Education approved a faculty recommendation Tuesday to extend the school year through May 25 rather than attend school during scheduled holidays this spring. The last day of classes and graduation were originally scheduled to occur May 18...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Mariner's Compass, Church Dash, Grandmother's Flower Garden, Double Wedding Ring or Cornucopia, Thelma Stone knows the quilting patterns on sight and has a good idea when a quilt was made and how much it's worth. An old quilt in top condition might bring $500 or more, Stone says...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Andrew Lyons suffered from brain damage and was incapable of deliberation in the murders of two Cape Girardeau women, evidence which his defense team failed to introduce at trial, Lyons' current attorney told the Missouri Supreme Court Tuesday...

When he suffered a serious knee injury in warmups prior to the opening game of the year, Jason Witczak had all but given up on his goal of earning All-American honors. He figured he'd be lucky to simply make it through the season. That's why Southeast Missouri State University's standout punter was so excited -- and surprised -- when he found out Tuesday he had been named to the 2000 Football Gazette NCAA Division I-AA All-American second team...

It will be great to be back at the Show Me Center Thursday night for another big rivalry game with Murray State. We've had great rivalry wins over Southern Illinois and Southwest Missouri at the Show Me Center this season and we need to add Murray State and Tennessee-Martin to the list this week...

Ed Arnzen was coaching in his 500th game at the helm of Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team Tuesday night and he's surely experienced some bitter defeats during that time. But, in the aftermath of a crushing 80-79 overtime loss to Ohio Valley Conference powerhouse Tennessee Tech, it was hard for Arnzen to remember a more difficult setback...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- In a high school basketball game that exhibited some deadly outside shooting, the Jackson Indians emerged with a 78-72 victory over host Woodland Tuesday night. Jackson accounted for 11 of the game's 20 3-point baskets as it improved to 8-5 on the season. ...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Funeral Mass for Rose Sellmeyer of Warrenton, Mo., was held Jan. 4 at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Warrenton. Burial was in the church cemetery. Nieburg/Martin Funeral Home in Warrenton was in charge of arrangements. Sellmeyer, 93, died Sunday, Dec. 31, 2000, at Gardenview Nursing Home in O'Fallon, Mo...

Son to William Joseph Brown and Jacqueline Anne Ward of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 12:04 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2000. Name, Kyle William Joseph. Weight, 7 pounds 6 1/2 ounces. Ms. Ward is the daughter of Robert Ward and Kathleen Ward of Cape Girardeau. Brown is the son of James Brown and Cris Brown of Cape Girardeau...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Larry Hooppaw, 61, of Maryville, Mo., died suddenly Monday, Jan. 8, 2001, in Maryville. He was born Sept. 1, 1939, in Mound City, son of Everett and Maudie Schuler. He married Joan Griffin. Hooppaw was a 1957 graduate of Mound City High School and received a degree in business administration from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., in 1961...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Cletus Albert Meyer, 79, of Perryville died Monday, Jan. 8, 2001, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. He was born April 19, 1922, at Old Appleton, Mo., son of Hugo and Albertina Buchheit Meyer. He and Anna Theresa Orendac were married May 20,1945, in Trenton, N.J. She died Oct. 7, 1990...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Hattie B. Cross, 86, of East Prairie died Friday, Jan. 5, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. She was born Dec. 30, 1914, in Little Rock, Ark., daughter of Thomas and Clara Hightower Wilson. She first married George "Buster" Simpkins, who preceded her in death. She later married Ezra L. Cross, who also preceded her in death...

Steven A. Marberry, 44, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Jan. 8, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Aug. 1, 1956, in Cape Girardeau, son of Alvin J. and Lillian Blanc Marberry. He and Roslyn C. Penrod were married Nov. 2, 1979, in Cape Girardeau...

Funeral for Virginia C. Vazis of Cape Girardeau was held Tuesday at Stygar and Sons Funeral Home in St. Louis. Burial was in Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Belleville, Ill. Vazis, 78, died Friday, Jan. 5, 2001, at St. Mary's Hospital in St. Louis. She was born Nov. 11, 1922, in St. Louis...

KENNETT, Mo. -- James Robert "Jim Bob" Davis, 52, of Kennett died Monday, Jan. 8, 2001, at his home. He is formerly of Benton, Mo. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel at Benton is in charge of arrangements.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Boyd Jefferson Patterson, 75, of Sikeston died Monday, Jan. 8, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Nov. 8, 1925, in Clarksville, Ark., son of Gilbert and Lue Rainey Clark Patterson. He and Bernice Reeder Alsup were married March 17, 2000, at Benton, Mo...

URBANA, Ill. -- Fannie E. Miller, 93, of Urbana died Saturday, Jan. 6, 2001, at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. She was born Aug. 15, 1907, daughter of David L. and Alice F. Miller. She first married Herbert C. Tucker April 13, 1927. He died July 4, 1938. She later married Fred W. Miller July 8, 1949. He died April 14, 1999...

DORENA, Mo. -- T. Paul Menzies, 75, of Dorena died Saturday, Jan. 6, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. He was born Feb. 7, 1925, in Henry, Tenn., son of Luceain and Anna Sibby Manns Menzies. He and Augustine Lawrence were married Feb. 28, 1946. She died Nov. 8, 1995...

ORAN, Mo. -- Hunter Michael Boshell died at birth Saturday, Jan. 6, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He is the son of Michael and Brandy Jones Boshell of Oran. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Oran is in charge of arrangements.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Maggie Pullen, 86, of Chicago died Sunday, Jan. 7, 2001, at West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, Ill. She was born Nov. 14, 1914, in Lexington, Miss., daughter of Walter and Betty Sales Horton. She and Louis Pullen were married Dec. 26, 1935. He preceded her in death...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Funeral for Charles E. Wright of Searcy, Ark., will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston. The Rev. Gerald Brown will officiate. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

To the editor: Plans are for campaign-finance reform to be dealt with early on the congressional agenda. A high priority for Republicans is to inhibit labor unions from using money from members' dues without their consent for political contributions...

To the editor: Once again, Sam Blackwell has captured resonant slices of life in his Jan. 4 column, transforming them into a warmly personal musing that total strangers (and some friends) can sit beside and muse along with. Many of us, as Sam rightly observes, are "hanging in there" here in our inland Cape, brooding upon a renaissance that could never spring fully formed and spontaneous just because some people think it's a good idea. ...

Americans aren't taking to the new dollar coin as well as U.S. Mint officials had hoped. After an initial run on the coin, which bears the image of Lewis and Clark guide Sacagawea on one side and an eagle on the other, interest is nearly dead. Area bank tellers report they seldom get a request for dollar coins. The vast majority of vending machines aren't set up to accept them...

LET ME start by saying that the people of Southeast Missouri are really nice folks. But as the snow melts and its white beauty disappears, it exposes the area for what it is: a trashy area of trashy people. As I jog areas from Kingshighway toward the river I can't run half a block without seeing cigarette packs, water bottles, soda containers, fast-food bags and empty beer cans. ...

To the editor: I am writing this for an elderly lady: Thanks to all my neighbors and my mailman for helping me during the bad weather. You are all so kind and thoughtful. I appreciate everything you've done. EDITH SPALDING Cape Girardeau

It's Girl Scout cookie time! There will be some 2,897 local Girl Scouts out selling the yummy treats they have become famous for starting this Friday. The cookie sale ends Jan. 28. How eager are the girls to sell the cookies? Last year the three top sellers from our local Otahki Council sold a total of 2,072 boxes. Overall the council sold 211,044 boxes of cookies last year...

The demand at retail stores for bird feed during the past month has been at record levels in the area. Even wholesale suppliers are having a hard time keeping up with demand. Many are now only packaging in 40 and 50 pound bags. They have forgotten about trying to supply retailers with small packages of bird feed. There just isn't enough time in the day...