Stories from Wednesday, November 24, 1999

Three candidates filed for open seats on the Cape Girardeau City Council, creating a contested race in two of the three wards with openings. Seats in Wards 3, 4 and 5 are up for election April 4. Until Tuesday no candidates had filed for the seat in Ward 5, and only one candidate had filed in each of the other two wards...

A month of shopping days remain until Christmas, which is a lot closer than you think if you are mailing."Actually, it's already too late for some package mailings overseas," said Matthew Peters, manager of customer services at the Cape Girardeau post office...

JACKSON -- With .38 of an inch of rain over the past two days, the Cape Girardeau County restricted burn order has been withdrawn. The order, signed by Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones, cited a prediction for more rain over the next few days as a reason for rescinding the order...

Books -- reading, receiving and even making them was the focus of many of the grants awarded by the YELL Foundation Tuesday. YELL, an acronym for Youth Education Literacy and Learning, awarded grants totaling $35,299.50. The money was raised through the sale of a special edition of the Southeast Missourian in September and by other fund-raising efforts of the YELL Foundation...

YELL grants awarded Tuesday went to. Cape GirardeauBlanchard Elementary, $200 to implement early literacy groups in first-grade classrooms suited to students' needs.* Cape Girardeau Public Library, $1,500 to purchase gift books for youths who participate in the Teen Summer Reading Club and, or attend the other book give-away opportunities in which the library participates throughout the year.* Central Junior High ninth grade, $393.80 for books with a reading level of approximately 3.5 that would be of interest to students through 12th grade.* Central High School, $600 for a book club open to students, staff and members of the community.* Clippard Elementary, $200 for books for second-grade students with appropriate text level difficulty.* Franklin Elementary, $150 to help children who are reading at least one year below grade level.* Girl Scouts of Otahki Council, $250 to help children evaluate messages and images they see and hear through the media.* Jefferson School, $200 to teach reading and writing skills in grades K-3.* Jefferson School, $280.40 for a program in which students explore their multifaceted portraits through various media.* Jefferson School, $400 for a program in which students learn basic research techniques on topics related to their classroom curriculum.* L.J. ...

People don't have to ask me if I'm new to the area. Most can tell as soon as I open my mouth and my drawl reveals my Texas origins."You're not from around here, are you?" is the most common question I've been asked since moving to the Cape Girardeau area last August...

Taxpayers should get the biggest share of the $6.7 billion that Missouri stands to receive from the tobacco settlement, Republican attorney general candidate Sam Jones said Tuesday. Jones, who wants Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon's job, officially kicked off his campaign with press conferences around the state...

Four Cape Girardeau men were arrested for stealing firearms and ammunition in a burglary last week, the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department said. The four had stolen seven guns and a quantity of ammunition from a rural Cape Girardeau residence last Friday, Lt. David James said."They were just sitting around and one of them said he knew where they could get some guns," James said...

YELL recipients were, from left, Pat Zelmer, Southeast Missourian; Joyce Seyer, Mary Ha, Mary Sue Layton and Brother David, all from Notre Dame; and Julia Jorgensen, Central High School. YELL grants recipients, from left, the Rev. Sam Roethemeyer, YELL board member; Marge King, Immaculate Conception; Connie Bergerson, North Elementary; Charlotte Kanaup, North Elementary; Howard Lewis, Orchard Drive Elementary; and Diane E. Gregg, West Lane Elementary...

Cape needs more volunteers. The city is looking for volunteers to serve on the Convention and Visitor's Advisory Board.Applicants must be Cape Girardeau residents and are appointed by the City Council.There are nine members on the board and three must be appointed from the hotel, motel or restaurant industry. ...

A lighting ceremony to kick off the annual Holiday of Lights display in Cape Girardeau County Park North will begin at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday at shelter No. 8.Choirs from the Salvation Army and Mid-America Teen Challenge and vocalist Miss Missouri, Patches King, will provide music. The Salvation Army will provide hot chocolate. This year's displays can be viewed from dusk to 11:30 p.m. nightly from Nov. 24 Jan. 31...

More maintenance work is planned on the Mississippi River Bridge beginning next week while construction of the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, delayed by high water in the spring, now is being slowed by low water. Bridge traffic on the Illinois side of the river will be reduced to one lane beginning Tuesday as crews from the Missouri Department of Transportation begin work on the driving surface of the bridge and on a sway bar underneath the bridge. ...

To the editor:Thanks to the YELL Foundation for the grant of $400 for the accelerated reading program of our foreign-language department. This is a first for Notre Dame, and we are delighted to have been selected as recipients. Receiving the grant at this time is of further benefit in that it enables our teachers to order the books immediately and have them available for students next semester.MARY SUE LAYTONDevelopment OfficeNDHS Education Fund FoundationCape Girardeau...

To the editor: Once again I see an Associated Press article in the Southeast Missourian with liberal bias showing. I refer to the article on Pat Buchanan on Page 4A of the Nov. 19 edition. The first sentence, "Pat Buchanan has plenty of experience raising a rabble ... ...

Despite national pushes by churches and other family-oriented groups, nearly half of all marriages still end in divorce. Over the last century, there has been a vast change in the ideal of a long-lasting marriage. America's divorce rate tripled between 1960 and 1980...

The story of Heidi Boettcher of Altenburg demonstrates that people we live and work with every day may have some amazing stories to tell. The retelling of her escape from East Germany at age 18 was told on the front page of The New York Times and reprinted in the Southeast Missourian. The article about the fall of the Berlin Wall also focused on Boettcher's brother, who was unable to escape and has grown up in a very different world...

A rare tribute -- thanks for a job well-done: We received the following e-mail two weeks ago immediately after SAM BLACKWELL'S review of Southeast Missouri State University's MUSICAL REVIEW performance. We didn't publish the e-mail because we felt it was a personal note to Sam copied to some of his associates. ...

Six Southeast Missouri State University football players have earned all-Ohio Valley Conference recognition, including three who made the first team. The all-OVC teams, as voted on by the league's head football coaches and sports information directors, was announced Tuesday afternoon...

Last season, Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team won all 14 of its games played at the Show Me Center. But there will be no perfect home record this season. That was guaranteed on the opening home date of the 1999-2000 campaign when the University of Missouri-Kansas City stunned the Otahkians 71-70 in front of 684 fans Tuesday night...

I'm happy that our basketball team is 2-0. Friday night, I thought our team played very well for this time of the year. Monday night was another story. We definitely won ugly against Rockhurst. In the Western Carolina game, I thought our effort was very good and our execution was good considering it is so early in the season...

PATTON -- One night after being pounded by Leopold by 47 points, Meadow Heights took it out on another Bollinger County team, whipping Zalma 70-55 Tuesday night. Josh Mayfield led the Panthers (1-1) with 18 points, followed by Derek Collier with 16 and Brandon Tallent with 12."There was only one way to build from (Monday night) and that was up," said Meadow Heights coach Jeff Gravon. ...

MATTHEWS -- Funeral for Ivry Bell Hutton of Matthews will be held at 2 p.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston. The Rev. Lee Fansler will officiate. Burial will be in East Prairie Memorial Park Cemetery. Hutton, 78, died Monday, Nov. 22, 1999, at her home...

GRAY RIDGE -- Funeral for the Rev. Henry Jordan of Gray Ridge will be held at 2 p.m. today at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter. Dr. Benny King will officiate. Burial will be in Essex Cemetery at Essex. Jordan, 72, died Monday, Nov. 22, 1999, at Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter...

DAISY -- Graveside service for Anne T. Hughes of Daisy will be held at 10 a.m. today at Russell Heights Cemetery. The Rev. Jon Sedgwick will officiate. Hughes, 73, died Monday, Nov. 22, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 7, 1926, in Kiev, Ukraine, daughter of Michael and Ksenia Sytune. She and Ollie A. Hughes were married in 1945. He died June 7, 1984...

CHARLESTON -- Robert Smith, 85, of Charleston died Monday, Nov. 22, 1999, at Charleston Manor. He was born Aug. 19, 1914, in Sledge, Miss., son of Jim and Lucy Carter Smith. He and Margaret Owens were married Oct. 26, 1945. Smith lived in Missouri more than 70 years...

PERRYVILLE -- Graveside service for Lee Ann Schindler of Pompano Beach, Fla., will be held at 9:30 a.m. today at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Perryville. The Rev. Kevin P. Fausz will officiate.Miller Family Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.Schindler, 84, died Sunday, Nov. ...

DEXTER -- Aline Loretta Land, 79, of Dexter died Monday, Nov. 22, 1999, at her home. She was born April 13, 1920, in Leedey, Okla., daughter of Oliver Wilkes and Edith Ann Vernon Quattlebaum. She and Wayne Land were married Jan. 8, 1938, in Stillwater, Okla...

The Salvation Army needs more food to feed the 600 people expected to be served a free Thanksgiving dinner Thursday from noon to 2:30.Donations of hams, brown and serve rolls, pies, instant mashed potatoes and Cool Whip are needed, said to Maj. Robert Gauthier.Pies are perhaps the most urgent need. ...

Loren P. Miller of Port Washington, Wis. passed away Saturday, Nov. 20, 1999 at St. Mary's Hospital Ozaukee in Mequon, Wis. at the age of 60. Mr. Miller was born on Aug. 16, 1939 in Alton, Iowa, the son of Lawrence and Catherine VerHouef Miller. He married Diana Edwards on Oct. ...

Thanksgiving is a time for stuffing! I don't mean overeating, though that is undeniably true. Nutritionists calculate that the typical Thanksgiving meal weighs in at over 2,500 calories and 130 grams of fat, or roughly the equivalent of five Big Macs. ...

With the weather in this crazy pattern lately, not only do I not know how to dress for work in the morning, but I'm not sure what to fix for dinner when I get home. Will it be soup or stew because it is rainy and dreary or barbecue on the back deck while Scott and the kids play ball in the back yard? Well, one thing is for sure, we will enjoy something no matter what the weather decides to do. ...

This easy feel-good recipe for homemade coffeecake will become a family favorite. It takes 15 minutes to make at bedtime and 30 minutes to cook in the morning. While you sleep the Thanksgiving leprechauns do all the work. Many of my richest most treasured moments have taken place over this buttery pecan coffeecake and a cup of coffee. ...