Stories from Wednesday, March 7, 2001

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. -- Two years ago, Trevor Edwards of Blytheville moved to Santee, Calif. Now Edwards, a 17-year-old junior at Santana High School, lies in the intensive care unit at Sharp Hospital in Santee after being shot by a gunman who opened fire on students at the school Monday...

Recipes galore! This has been another great week for recipe sharing. I especially enjoyed receiving an interesting gelatin slaw recipe from one of our Altenburg readers. Lemon Gelatin Slaw 6 cups shredded cabbage 1 small onion 1 green pepper 1 teaspoon celery seed...

Though Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones had something very different in mind when they sang in praise of brown sugar, I maintain that the stuff I put on my oatmeal each morning is every bit as worthy of a tribute. Whether it's enriching a crock of baked beans, adding density to a pan of brownies or elevating a grapefruit half from mere diet food to something sublime, brown sugar makes me wonder why people just didn't leave well enough alone instead of refining sugar to the point where it turns white.. ...

CLAYTON, Mo. -- Attorneys for the city of Cape Girardeau and businessman Jim Drury sparred in a state appeals court Tuesday over the legality of the city's efforts to help fund Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus project. The three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District listened to more than 30 minutes of oral arguments in a small, crowded courtroom in the St. ...

More than half of the employers in Southeast Missouri expect to add employees this spring. "This is a dynamic hiring pattern," said Peggy Gates of the local Manpower Inc. office. "It's one of the most vibrant in the nation." Manpower conducts a quarterly employment outlook survey based on telephone interviews of more than 16,000 public and private employers in more than 400 U.S. ...

A Notre Dame High School senior received an award from the Zonta Club of Cape Girardeau Tuesday night in part for her commitment to the advancement of the status of women. Nicole Passini, 18, of Cape Girardeau, received the organization's Young Woman in Public Affairs award. She plans to attend the University of Missouri at Columbia and pursue a career as a chiropractor...

JACKSON, Mo. -- A Cape Girardeau couple charged with child abuse and child endangerment last week were arrested on drug charges this week, a Cape Girardeau County prosecutor said. After pleading innocent in court Monday, 36-year-old Douglas A. Aubuchon was arrested on three new felony drug charges, assistant prosecutor Lora Cooper said. His wife, Maria M. Harris, 33, was also arrested...

JACKSON, Mo. -- A Scott City, Mo., man was found guilty Tuesday of extorting money from a nephew. Relatives of Ronald Keith Sturm, 38, testified during his jury trial that he had asked them for money to pay off an extortion attempt against his nephew, Robert Keesee...

When a districtwide budget freeze dried up funding for nonessential purchases, the Community Teachers Association provided grants to help educators buy some classroom supplies. The group gave $100 grants to 20 members to buy books, scientific calculators, computer printers and other materials for use by students...

The city's assistant fire chief will act as fire chief after Dan White leaves the job April 13. Mark Hasheider will serve as acting fire chief until the city hires a permanent replacement for White, according to City Manager Mike Miller. Meanwhile, the city is preparing to advertise regionally for fire chief applicants and will consider a national search if it can meet certain advertising requirements...

The Jackson School Board assumed even more responsibility last month for the district's 4,400 students. Board members enacted a policy that gives them virtually unlimited power to discipline students for off-campus behavior. State education officials believe it's the only policy of its kind in Missouri...

The early season problems of the Southeast Missouri State University softball team failed to take a day off when Mississippi visited for a doubleheader on Tuesday. Mississippi inflicted a pair of 8-0 losses on the Otahkians to drop Southeast to 0-5 on the season. Both games ended due to the mercy rule...

Twin Rivers wants to slow dance. Notre Dame wants to rock. The team that dictates the tempo will have the upper hand tonight when the Lady Royals (25-3) take on the Lady Bulldogs (24-3) at 8:15 p.m. in a sectional game at Cape Central's Tiger Fieldhouse...

Tonight's Class 2A boys sectional game at Cape Central's Tiger Fieldhouse will feature some new faces. For the first time in six years, the game will include neither Scott City nor Portageville. Notre Dame and Caruthersville will square off at 6:30 for the right to advance to the quarterfinals...

If two practice-round shots are any indication, the Cape Central Tigers golf team appears ready for the upcoming high school season. On two occasions in the past week, Tiger golfers have been perfect as both sophomore Walter Lintz and senior Nick Halter recorded holes-in-one at Cape Girardeau Country Club. The aces were the first for each golfer -- both wielded 8-irons to perform the feats...

Walter Denton scored from one meter out late in the game to lift the Kohlfeld Scorpion Rugby Club to a 13-12 season-opening victory over Southern Illinois University at Arena Park. After SIU took a 7-0 lead, Doug Childers scored on a try to cut the deficit to 7-5. SIU countered and led 12-5 at halftime. A three-point penalty kick by Sean Hagan cut the deficit to 12-8 and set the stage for Denton's try...

Cape Central senior Bret McNabb entered last year's soccer season with high expectations. Then he broke his leg and his season was shattered. The all-state competitor was forced to watch his teammates go on without him. But like they say, no pain, no gain...

ST. LOUIS -- The Cape Central Lady Tigers were overmatched by a talented Parkway Central team in their first swim meet of the season Tuesday and fell 133-52. Sara Sprigg took first in diving with a score of 188.70. Results medley relay - 3. Cape Central (April McDonald, Sarah Abercrombie, Katlyn Metje, Destiny Culver), 2:50.20...

Daughter to William Ladd and Kelley Lea Callow of Scott City, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 11:36 a.m. Monday, Feb. 5, 2001. Name, Julia Paige. Weight, 6 pounds. First child. Mrs. Callow is the former Kelley Cole, daughter of Larry and Jean Cole of Jefferson City, Mo. She is a hairstylist at Studio Designs. Callow is the son of Gary and Ella Callow of Shelby, Miss. He is an engineer at Essex Group Inc...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Edith Marie Moore, 92, of Perryville died Tuesday, March 6, 2001, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. She was born June 16, 1908, in Perryville, daughter of John and Mary Cora Brewer Nienhaus. She and Leonard E. Moore were married Aug. 2, 1927. He died April 14, 1991...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Joseph C. "Joe" Engelhart Jr., 45, of Jackson passed away Monday, March 5, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call Thursday, March 8, 4-8 p.m., at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. Funeral service will be Friday, March 9, at 11 a.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church in Pocahontas, Mo. The Rev. John Kiehl will officiate. Interment will be in the church cemetery...

DEXTER, Mo. -- The Rev. Charles Greene, 67, of Dexter died Sunday, March 4, 2001, at John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis. He was born Oct. 24, 1933, in McLain, Miss., son of Richard and Carrie Brewer Greene. He and Charlotte Kay Lawrence were married May 15, 1954, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada...

MORLEY, Mo. -- Louise A. Smith, 81, of Ocean Springs, Miss., died Monday, March 5, 2001, in Ocean Springs Hospital. She was born March 4, 1920, at Morley, daughter of Clarence and Nellie Florence Bryant Abernathy. She and McGoy Smith were married Jan. 16, 1937. He died Dec. 5, 1983...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Jessie Mary Johnson, 76, of Charleston died Sunday, March 4, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. She was born July 4, 1924, in Brownsville, Tenn., daughter of Lafayette and Mosie Lee Erving of Detroit, Mich. Johnson lived in Missouri since 1955. She was a member of Grand Avenue Seventh-day Adventist Church, its Prayer Warriors, and sang with the Singing Johnson Family...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Funeral for Velma E. Angel of Union, Mo., will be held at 1 p.m. today at Liley Funeral Home in Marble Hill. The Rev. Luther Rhodes will officiate. Burial will be in Bollinger County Memorial Park Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 10 a.m. until time of service...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Mary M. Stueve, 77, of Jackson died Tuesday, March 6, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 16, 1923, at Neelys Landing, Mo., daughter of Irvin and Barbara Craft Walker. She and Raymond Stueve were married Feb. 23, 1941. He died in 1976...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Keven Hailey, 63, of Chaffee died Tuesday, March 6, 2001, at Chaffee Nursing Center. He was born Jan. 2, 1938, at Hayti, Mo., son of George and Aline Hudgins Hailey. He was reared by his mother and stepfather, Raymond Mercer. Hailey had worked at Mercer's IGA and then Graser-Shy Supermarket in Chaffee. He was a member of VFW Post 3127...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Loretta A. Wibbenmeyer, 78, died Monday, March 5, 2001, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Aug. 4, 1922, at Apple Creek, Mo., daughter of Stephen A. and Regina M. Ponder Wibbenmeyer. Wibbenmeyer was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church...

Wrong decision THE FIRING of principal Randie Fidler was unfortunate. He is a great man and was a tremendous asset to the Cape Girardeau school system. As a community, it is our responsibility to make sure that things like this don't occur in our school system. We can not afford to lose good people like Fidler just because our school board doesn't have enough courage to do what is right...

Southeast Missouri is seeing surprisingly few residents organizing neighborhood watch programs, especially considering the hold methamphetamine and other drugs have taken on the area, plus the associated crime. Cape Girardeau only has two official watch programs, with a third in the making. ...

They never learn: A state judge recently ruled that New York's education funding arrangements are unconstitutional because they allegedly shortchange New York City. The majority of the city's public schools are indeed abysmal, but the answer is not a court-mandated version of throw-more-money-at-the-problems...

To the editor: It is alarming that state Sen. Peter Kinder has sponsored a bill (Senate Bill 123) protecting firearms and ammunition manufacturers from suits by his own area citizens when the American Public Health Association has listed killing by handguns as a major public-health problem. ...

To the editor: The Southeast Missourian continues to publish propaganda from the powers that be who still want to cram planning and zoning down the throats of Cape Girardeau County residents. These articles trash the county and insinuate we are overrun with garbage -- articles like the one on trailer trash and the health-scare article about rats. The county wants a nuisance law. I think the powers that be and the P&Z clique are a nuisance...