Stories from Saturday, April 28, 2001

Centenary United Methodist Church will dedicate two memorials Sunday in honor of a former pastor and his wife who served at the church for more than a decade. The memorials are also part of a renovation project the church has recently completed. The late Rev. Dr. Neil Stein and his wife, Carolyn, served at Centenary for 12 years, from 1985 to 1997. Stein was a United Methodist pastor for 35 years...

National Day of Prayer events in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, Mo., have grown to include many people and churches in the community but without losing the original emphasis. Prayer isn't just about one service or one day but a discipline, says Sherri Mehner, who along with her husband, Jack, organizes the community events...

An attempt to revive passenger railway service in Missouri through a statewide fuel tax would give travelers much needed alternatives, said a Springfield, Mo., man who is leading an effort to put the idea on the ballot. "We need to preserve this type of transportation for the next generation," said Steven Reed, who has been seeking to create rail routes in his area for over 10 years...

Franklin Elementary School third-grader Quitman McBride sang a soaring a cappella version of "The Star Spangled Banner," schools superintendent Dr. Dan Steska realized that he and precocious first-grader Eli Phillips were wearing almost identical coats and ties, and departing sixth-grader Nathaniel Kinsey wryly recalled his parents followed him to Franklin with a video camera on his first day of school...

I can remember the first accident Jerry, my oldest son, ever had. He was cruising along my parent's kitchen and reached the single step that led into the den. Not being that great a walker, my then-10-month- old fell head first into the den and earned his first scar...

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's mobile office will be on the road in Southeast Missouri on May 10, making stops in Marble Hill and Jackson, among other places. The mobile office will be at the Marble Hill Library from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. and at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce office from 2 to 3 p.m...

In the months before high school graduation, most students weigh a number of options before deciding what they want to do with their lives. But for young adults with special needs, graduation from a local state school often means that parents would have to stay home or scramble to find a relative or appropriate person to care for their children during the day...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- A 14-year-old student is in serious condition after reportedly walking into the path of a vehicle before school Friday morning. Joseph Hays of Scott City was admitted to Southeast Missouri Hospital after an accident on Main Street near Crites Street in Scott City...

The nation's news media can bring "common ground" to America's divided society, media expert Dr. Karen Brown Dunlap said Friday. "We are a divided society," Dunlap told about 150 Southeast Missouri State University mass communication students and professors, and working journalists, publishers and broadcasters during her keynote speech at a daylong conference in Cape Girardeau...

Notre Dame played less poorly than Jackson. Notre Dame made fewer mistakes to advance to the semifinals of the SEMO Conference Baseball Tournament with a sloppy 5-4 win over the Indians at Capaha Field Friday evening. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs overcame three errors to advance to the semifinals where they will play top-seeded Sikeston at 5 p.m. today. Chaffee, the second seed will take on No. 3 Cape Central in a highly anticipated semifinal at 7:30 p.m...

Cape Girardeau Central High's baseball team had a relatively easy time with Poplar Bluff Friday afternoon in the opening round of the SEMO Conference Tournament. But coach Steve Williams knows things will get a whole lot tougher tonight for his third-seeded Tigers as they play second-seeded Chaffee in a 7:30 semifinal at Capaha Field...

Southeast Missouri State University baseball coach Mark Hogan is realistic about his team's chances of capturing the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship. Simply put, they aren't good. But Hogan knows that about all the Indians can do is try to win as much as possible and hope Eastern Illinois slips up just a bit...

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- The Cape Girardeau Central High girls soccer team did not win its opening-round game in the I-55 Classic here Friday. But the Lady Tigers probably opened plenty of eyes by battling powerhouse St. Charles West to a 1-1 draw. St. Charles West, one of the top teams in the St. Louis area, has lost just once all season and had allowed only four goals in 15 games prior to Friday...

Daughter to Peter and Vicki Robben of St. Charles, Mo., St. Joseph Hospital, Sunday, April 15, 2001. Name, Jenna Patricia. Weight, 8 pounds 13 ounces. First child. Mrs. Robben is the former Vicki Nenninger, daughter of Greg and Jenny Nenninger of Leopold, Mo. She is a math teacher in the Pattonville School District. Robben is the son of Patricia Robben and Garry and Lee Robben of St. Louis. He is a senior supervisor at Enterprise Car Rental...

Hazel Johns Freeze, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, April 26, 2001, at the home of her daughter in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 22, 1921, in Cairo, Ill., daughter of Clyde Wayne and Amy Lee Johns Lessley. She married Tom Freeze of Diehlstadt, Mo. He preceded her in death...

A.J. "Buck" Drinkwater Jr., 97, formerly of Charleston, Mo., died at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 26, 2001, at his residence in Cape Girardeau. He was born Dec. 28, 1903, in Charleston, to the late A.J. and Grace Drinkwater Sr. Prior to moving to Cape Girardeau in 1993, he had lived in Charleston, where he was a prominent farmer and landowner. He was a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church, where he served on the stewardship board...

WHITEWATER, Mo. -- Elmer E. Bartels Sr., 86, of Whitewater died Thursday, April 26, 2001, at Ratliff Care Center in Cape Girardeau. McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson, Mo., is in charge of arrangements.

MATTHEWS, Mo. -- Ada Marguerite Proffer, 87, of Matthews died Friday, April 27, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. She was born July 17, 1913, in Matthews, daughter of Welton and Maude Brooks Shanks. She and George F. Proffer Sr. were married Sept. 25, 1938, in Jefferson City, Mo. He died in September 1966...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Graveside service for Magnolia Elliott of Sikeston will be held at 2 p.m. today at Pine Log Cemetery in Brookland, Ark. Robert Debaun will officiate. Ponder Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Elliott, 96, died Thursday, April 26, 2001, at Sikeston Convalescent Center...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Hattie M. Kirkpatrick, 78, of Marble Hill died Thursday, April 26, 2001, at Eldercare of Marble Hill. She was born Feb. 3, 1923, at Hurricane, Mo., daughter of Henry Lee and Laura Langston Long. She and Henry E. Kirkpatrick were married May 30, 1938. He died Oct. 11, 1974...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Ruth E. Bryant, 85, of Cairo died Thursday, April 26, 2001, at Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah, Ky. She was born Nov. 10, 1915, at Grand Tower, Ill., daughter of Willis and Mary Kinder Cruse. She married Murray V. Bryant, who died in 1995...

THIS IS a thank you to the Kinder family for giving the very nice awards to the teachers in Cape Girardeau. That $10,000 will go a long way to encouraging what has to be one of our best professions. Teaching is more important to the community than almost anything else I can think of. The awards encourage our schools to grow and encourages our families to come and live here. Thank you very much to the Kinders...

Gordonville Attendance Center in the Jackson School District is different in a lot of ways. It's grade configuration is odd. Students attend kindergarten at the Primary Annex in Jackson, Mo., then go back out to their home area for first through third grade at the attendance center. Then they head off to West Lane or South elementary schools, decided by their addresses...

About 100 students, teachers, alumni and Notre Dame Regional High School supporters gathered last Sunday for a picnic to kick off the next school year's 75th anniversary celebration. What an exciting time for Notre Dame. It's also a time to look back on the school's progress...

To the editor: May is NF awareness month. What is NF? That is the question we asked when our daughter, Mia, was 9 months old. NF stands for neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder. When Mia's pediatrician explained to us that what we thought were birthmarks were possibly a sign of NF, we were asking many questions...