Stories from Saturday, May 12, 2001

JACKSON, Mo. -- The Rev. John Rice will leave behind his evangelism ministry for three months this summer to serve as a pastor in Germany. Rice, a Southern Baptist minister who travels the area preaching at revivals and singing, was asked to pastor Friendship Baptist Church in Langenselbold, Germany, while the pastor there returns to the United States on a furlough...

Suitcases, once filled with medical supplies, sit in a classroom at Evangelical United Church of Christ, waiting for someone to come and retrieve them. During the past two weeks, members of the Cape Gir-ardeau church have been sorting through the pictures and memories they brought back from a medical mission trip to Jamaica...

Churches in Missouri are proud of their stained glass windows and love to tell people about them, says the author of a new book about Missouri's churches. "They're proud of their windows, even if they don't know a lot about them," said Ken Luebbering, who wrote the book "Gospels in Glass" with his wife, Robyn Burnett, a photographer...

A 19-year-old man will serve 10 years in prison after admitting he fired the shot that killed another 19-year-old at Indian Park last fall, the Cape Girardeau County prosecutor said. Robert Deniro Moore of Cape Girardeau pleaded guilty in court Friday to involuntary manslaughter and possession of a stolen gun, Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said...

The older I get the funnier my parents get. Sometimes when I'm visiting them on the weekends, I don't even watch television. It's funnier to witness the comedic scenes first hand, and without commercial interruptions. I guess what makes these visits so enjoyable is that my parents are so different...

The smell of chemicals at a Cape Girardeau apartment building led police to discover a methamphetamine lab. Residents at 408 Bellevue reported an unusual odor to police about 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Cpl. Rick Schmidt said. After arriving, officers asked the 37-year-old resident of the apartment where the ether smell seemed to be the strongest if they could look inside. A methamphetamine lab was found inside, Schmidt said...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Students in the Cairo School District will make up classes missed Friday following a bomb threat made to Illinois State Police. State police received a 911 call at around 3:50 p.m. Thursday that warned that pipe bombs were in all four of the district's buildings...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden held out the possibility Friday that long-withheld state funds for the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center -- money the school district has already spent -- could be released in the coming weeks. Lawmakers last year approved $1 million for the new school, which was completed in March, but the appropriation expires June 30 with the end of the fiscal year. ...

Shani Lenore, associate director of admissions for minority student recruitment at Southeast Missouri State University, will serve as interim director of admissions for the school effective June 1. Lenore will replace Jay Goff, director of admissions at Southeast, who has accepted a position as dean of enrollment management at the University of Missouri-Rolla. Goff will begin his new duties on June 1...

Familiarity, not originality, is what 3- and 4-year-olds want in a show. The Sesame Street Live binoculars and flashlights for sale out front would be needed to find a plot, but "Big Bird's Sunny Day Camp Out" had children dancing in the aisles and talking back to Big Bird and his very familiar friends Friday night...

Cape Girardeau has been trying to live within its means in recent years, and that could lead to some budget restraints for the coming fiscal year. The Cape Girardeau City Council spent three hours discussing budget concerns, possible revenue sources and future necessary expenses during the morning session of a council retreat Friday...

Mount Auburn Road could be widened to five lanes, including a center turn lane from Independence to William streets, if the price is right. The council approved an engineering addendum Monday night that allows the street project to be bid for estimates as both four and five lanes of traffic. City council members heard an update about the Mount Auburn Road project during a retreat Friday...

Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri State University are locked into the top two Ohio Valley Conference baseball spots heading into this weekend's final series of the regular season. But don't tell Southeast coach Mark Hogan that there won't be a lot at stake for his second-place Indians when they face the OVC champion Panthers in a three-game set in Charleston, Ill...

Derek McCord has done it before. Can he pump life into a basketball program again? "I think so," he said. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't think so." McCord, who transformed Scott City's so-so program into one of the best in Class 2A in just a few years, was introduced as Cape Central's new boys basketball coach Friday and he was already talking about the rebuilding process...

As a youth, Sheila Midget was just one of the guys. That's why she has separated herself as a coach. Midget was officially introduced as Cape Central's new girls basketball and volleyball coach Friday and she points back to her school days at Risco as the reason she's so competitive...

LEOPOLD, Mo. -- Zach Moll threw a four-hitter for St. Vincent as the defending 1A state champions made their final preparations for district play with a 6-0 victory over Leopold on Friday. Moll walked two and struck out three as the defense helped him out with two double plays...

Today, the area's track athletes will begin their quest to prove they're among the state's best when they compete in district competition. Jackson and Cape Central will compete in the Class 4A, District 1 meet at Fox. Perryville, Fredericktown and Sikeston will compete in the Class 3A District 1 at Perrvyille. And in 2A, Chaffee, Scott City and Kelly will do battle at Southeast Missouri State University's track in Cape Girardeau...

Daughter to Keith Joseph and Connie Ellen Hahn of Sedgewickville, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 10:32 p.m. Friday, May 4, 2001. Name, Bobbi Jo. Weight, 8 pounds 4 ounces. Mrs. Hahn is the former Connie Nanney, daughter of Bob and Ruby Nanney of Marble Hill, Mo. She is a medical transcriptionist at Southeast Hospital. Hahn is the son of Bob and Mary Hahn of Sedgewickville. He is a heavy equipment operator at Lone Star Industries...

MOREHOUSE, Mo. -- Lidy Pauline McCain, 81, of Morehouse died Friday, May 11, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 5, 1919, in Prescott, Ark., daughter of Charlie and Lena Jackson Fore. She and Buddy George McCain were married Aug. 10, 1934, in Westridge, Ark...

Wendell William Welch, 72, of DeSoto, Mo., died Thursday, May 10, 2001, at Baisch Nursing Center in DeSoto. He was born Jan. 1, 1929, at Marble Hill, Mo., son of Connel Bryan and Mabel E. Luckey Welch. He and Joan Likens were married June 1, 1951, in Cape Girardeau. She died May 18, 1983...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Richard "Dick" Welker, 62, of Perryville died Friday, May 11, 2001, at his home. He was born Jan. 1, 1939, at Perryville, son of Glennon O. and Elizabeth Macke Hart Welker. He and Judith R. "Jean" Zahner were married Dec. 20, 1958...

John W. Martin, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, May 11, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born April 28, 1917, in St. Louis, son of Joseph E. and Isabelle Stewart Martin. He and Mildred Manger were married May 14, 1938, in St. Louis. She died March 25, 1994...

FRIEDHEIM, Mo. -- Nelson H. Friese, 72, of Friedheim passed away Thursday, May 10, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 18, 1929, at Friedheim, son of H.F. and Lorina Klaus Friese. He and Betty Jean Hahs were married June 1, 1952, at Trinity Lutheran Church...

To the editor: The sales tax on food imposed by local governments is 4 cents on every dollar spent in some places in Missouri, with the highest at 5.225 cents. When will state legislators realize that taxing food is wrong and find a responsible way to end this tax on a vital necessity?...

For adults, May is May. Another month. A little warmer maybe. For high school seniors, May is everything. It's time to get through the last agonizing weeks of papers and tests. To embrace friends like never before, knowing the impending separation when summer comes to an end and far-away college semesters begin. To anticipate a new level of freedom from class schedules and parental supervision...

The Web site ellisislandrecords.org has quickly become a boon for the nation's genealogists. It opened April 17, providing the names, ages and other details about the 22 million passengers and crewmen who arrived on ships at the United States' now-defunct immigrant processing center during the busiest period of 1892 to 1924...

JACKSONIAN JAMES Hochberger wrote a letter to the editor stating he was a "transplant from up North" and that all of our carping and complaining was "amusing" to him. This seems to be a very inappropriate reaction to our problems Sadly, not all transplants are successful...

MY, MY, my. Is Marty Mishow somehow defending the Scott City athletic program? I find that amazing since he is such a Central and Notre Dame supporter. Gee, that almost seems weird, considering he's never had anything nice to say about Scott City. He did manage to rip the school board and the city itself and call Scott City a "joke." Does he have anything better to do than say negative things about Scott City? Oh, I forgot. ...

To the editor: I note in a column by Gary Rust that he mentions that state Sen. Peter Kinder is still harping about the lawyers hired in the tobacco case: They cost too much money, nobody was worth that much money and so forth. What a hypocrite. At Kinder's instigation, the Missouri Senate has hired a lawyer to assist it with the redistricting maps at an outrageous fee per hour. ...