Stories from Thursday, May 16, 1991

Heavy metal group Warrant will make a stop in Cape Girardeau during their "Cherry Pie" tour. The band will perform June 21 along with Trixter and Firehouse. Warrant's second album, "Cherry Pie," has spawned three hit singles, including the title track, "I Saw Red" and "Uncle Tom's Cabin."...

The Heartland Songwriters Association and Port Cape Girardeau restaurant are sponsoring a songwriters' night every third Tuesday of the month at the Water Street Lounge, inside the Port Cape restaurant, 19 North Water. The next one will be held Tuesday. The event runs from 8-10 p.m. Songwriters and musicians are invited to come and perform their songs. The songwriters' night is free of charge and the public is welcome...

ST. LOUIS The Missouri Botanical Garden will become the focal point for Midwest gardeners when the Kemper Center for Home Gardening opens to the public June 9. The center, located near the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, will be the largest non-profit home gardening information center of it's kind in the nation...

The artistry and craftsmanship of Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great will be the focus of one of several workshops that will be offered this summer by Southeast Missouri State University's art department. Sam Bishop, professor of art and secondary education, will lead the "Catherine the Great" art history workshop scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. June 10-13 and June 17-19...

DEXTER -- The 14th annual Missouri State Championship Racking Horse Show will be June 1 at the Fairgrounds Arena in Dexter. This year's show will feature 21 classes, and prize money and ribbons will be awarded. The show begins at 3 p.m. and there is a $2 admission charge...

ST. LOUIS As part of their 1991 "Hot Summer Nights" tour, the Oak Ridge Boys will perform at Six Flags Over Mid-America May 26. The group will play shows at 5 p.m. and 8, including some hits from their latest album "Unstoppable." It will be the 14th time in the park's 20-year history that the Oak Ridge Boys have appeared...

An assistant professor of music at Southeast Missouri State University placed second in the Beethoven Piano Sonata Competition at Memphis State University in Memphis May 11-12. The professor, James Sifferman, competed against approximately 45 pianists from across the nation. Jacob Smullyan of Newark, N.J., was the first-place winner...

JEFFERSON CITY - Three Southeast Missouri State University students are enjoying a unique opportunity this semester, learning firsthand about state government while at the same time serving as ambassadors for their school. The three students are serving as interns for state representatives in Jefferson City, earning 12 credit hours. While the student intern program is hardly a new idea, this is the first time Southeast has participated...

The group tour business is thriving in Cape Girardeau these days. "Group tours this year have doubled 1990 totals," said Cathy Crites of the Convention & Visitors Bureau during a meeting of the CVB Advisory Board, held at City Hall Wednesday. "We've had more than 30 groups this year, and have 19 tours on scheduled for the next month."...

A business executive from St. Louis will be the featured speaker at the Christian Business Men's Club luncheon Friday. The executive, Mike Page, is assistant general manager for Marubeni America Corporation, a Japanese International Trading Company...

America's oldest entertainment attraction, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, will appear at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau June 11-12. The 120th anniversary addition of the circus introduces an entirely new generation of circus stars, and officials at the Show Me Center are looking forward to it...

Five classes of trucks will participate in a truck pull May 26 that will benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The Egypt Mills Antique Tractor Club, which is co-sponsoring the event, is inviting truck owners to participate in the pull. "We are looking for mini trucks like Chevy S-10s and Ford Rangers in one class, two-wheel-drive trucks in a second class and then three different four-wheel-drive classes, stock one-half ton, stock three-quarter ton and modified," said Dwayne Kirchhoff, president of the club.. ...

ST. LOUIS The midwest's largest flea market and antique & crafts fair is scheduled for Memorial Day, May 27, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the St. Louis Arena. Now in its 19th year, the Gypsy Caravan provides an opportunity for dealers to exhibit and sell their wares in the Arena building as well as outdoors...

About 18 percent of the students now enrolled in the Cape Girardeau Public Schools will never earn their diplomas. While this local statistic is better than state and national averages, a committee of public school educators says it's not good enough...

Five years after a devastating flood prompted grass-roots mitigation efforts, Cape Girardeau is poised to embark on a $34 million flood-control project. The Corps of Engineers and the city engineering department Wednesday held a pre-bid conference with area contractors interested in the first segment of the project. The flood-control work is being funded jointly by the corps (about $24 million) and the city ($10 million)...

Core samples of limestone rock and a deep well are being drilled at Missouri Electric Works Inc., 824 S. Kingshighway, to determine if there has been any contamination of the deep-level ground water and, if so, how best to remove it. Larry Taylor, vice president of The Earth Technology Corp., a Houston-based firm, said the work this week at Missouri Electric Works is a follow-up to the completed investigation-feasibility study to formulate a plan to remove polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and other organic contaminants found in the soil and ground water on and adjoining the MEW site.. ...

DEBBIE BLUMENBERG Occupation: Executive secretary to the Provost, Southeast Missouri State University. Birthplace: Cairo, Ill. Current Home: Cape Girardeau The best part of my job is: "I enjoy being part of the university. My job presents me with professional challenges and also gives me the opportunity to meet lots of people from different backgrounds."...

When Amanda Lowes plays soccer, sometimes it hurts. But she doesn't care that the running she does while playing sometimes sparks an asthma attack. She just wants to play. When Amanda was 3 years old, she was diagnosed as having exercise-induced asthma, a severe and rare form of asthma...

Boatmen's National Bank of Cape Girardeau will construct a bank building in Jackson, bank President Jim Limbaugh said Wednesday. Boatmen's received approval for the new facility Tuesday from the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Kansas City. The agency regulates nationally chartered banks...

Cape Girardeau Airport Manager Mark Seesing recently was elected president of the Association of Missouri Airport Managers. The state organization provides a forum for discussing state issues and legislation as they pertain to aviation. Seesing said the not-for-profit group lobbies Missouri lawmakers on such issues. Seesing was elected to a one-year term as president of the association...

ALTENBURG -- Arnold O. Kaufmann, 78, died Tuesday at Baisch Nursing Center in DeSoto. He was born Dec. 30, 1912, at Altenburg, son of Martin J. and Emma Walther Kaufmann. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Survivors include two sisters, Alida Hellwege of Altenburg, and Alma Degnan of St. Louis...

SCOTT CITY -- Mary Ellen Isabelle Biggs, 83, of Scott City, died Wednesday, May 15, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Nov. 7, 1907, in Tacoma, Wash., daughter of Orin Lindel and Laura Moreland Brock. She married William Marion Biggs in June 1922 in Cairo, Ill. He died in 1980...

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Bird, 3001 Mimosa, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 10:13 p.m. Saturday, May 4, 1991. Name, Stephanie Michelle. Weight, 5 pounds 13 ounces. First child. Mrs. Bird is the former Carolyn Lawrence, daughter of the late J.L. and Betty Lawrence of Charleston. She is a diet assistant at Southeast Hospital. Bird is executive director at Cape Civic Center, and is the son of Dr. and Mrs. William Bird Sr. of Cape Girardeau...

SCOTT CITY -- Eugene Lawrence Compass, 56, of Scott City, died Wednesday, May 15, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Compass was born Dec. 19, 1934 at Kelso, son of John William Compass and Clara Seyer Compass. He married Alvina Virginia Petitt on Feb. 11, 1956 at Scott City. She survives...

The 1990 elections fulfilled the worst nightmares of the professional extremists, or "activists", of militant Environmentalism. Many are out-and-out Pantheists, flat-out worshipers of their NatureGod. Almost all can fairly be characterized, in one writer's apt phrase, as "the last of the coercive utopians." That means they have a utopian (or unrealistically perfect) vision of society as a pristine wilderness unsullied by human beings going about the dirty business of living. ...

John Schneider is a resident of Cape Girardeau and has been active in local historic preservation efforts. He is a member of the Cape Girardeau Historic Preservation Commission. Twenty-five years ago the National Historic Preservation Act created the agency which recognizes sites and structures worthy of national preservation. ...

Supporters of a proposed veterinary diagnostic laboratory in this area had their hopes dashed again this year when state funding for the project was excised from the General Assembly's budget. While this is a worthwhile project that has been worked hard for at the local level, and while we hope the advocates for this endeavor remain persistent, the legislative decision is understandable...

SCOTT CITY -- Stephanie R. LeDure of Scott City has received a President's Scholarship to attend Southeast Missouri State University during the 1991-92 academic year. The scholarship is for $1,000 per academic year and is renewable for a possible four years if a 3.5 grade point average is maintained...

The Alma Schrader sixth grade team took first place in the district Missouri Mathematics League contest recently. The team also placed 19th of 225 teams in the state. In the individual competition, Wade Russell from Alma Schrader won first place and Trent Redfearn won second place. Russell also placed 22 in the entire state...

Dr. C. John Ritter will discuss chemical dependency tonight on "Ask Your Doctor" television program. The show airs each Thursday at 8 p.m. each week on cable channel 13. The program is sponsored jointly by St. Francis Medical Center, Southeast Missouri Hospital, the Cape Girardeau County Medical Society and Channel 13. Viewers may call in with questions...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department will hold its summer registration day for recreation and aquatic classes May 22. Registration will be held at the A.C. Brase Arena Building from 1-7 p.m. Registration will also be accepted before and after this date...

BURFORDSVILLE -- A memorial service and meeting will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at the McQuire Cemetery three miles south of Burfordsville. Donations will be taken during the ceremony to help pay for maintenance of the cemetery. Those who are unable to attend may send donations to McQuire Cemetery Fund in care of Legia Eakins, treasurer, Route 2, Box 324, Jackson, Mo. 63755...

Bryan White of Cape Girardeau graduated cum laude from Purdue University with a degree in chemical engineering. White was the Cape Girardeau Central High School salutatorian in 1986. During his university career, White worked as a co-op engineer at Ashland Oil Petroleum Company in Canton Ohio...

Parents Without Partners Cape SEMO Chapter 519 will have an orientation meeting Friday for single parents who wish to find about the organization. The meeting will be held at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church at 7 p.m. After the orientation meeting, at 8 p.m., a panel discussion will be held on how single parents can help their teenagers...

SCOTT CITY -- Larry Law of Scott City was among the scholarship recipients and honor students recognized recently at the College of Science and Technology Honors Program at Southeast Missouri State University. Law, a pre-medicine major, was awarded a Dean's scholarship...

Tabitha L. Hahn of Cape Girardeau has received a President's Scholarship to attend Southeast Missouri State University during the 1991-92 academic year. The President's Scholarship is awarded to high school seniors who meet the following criteria: Rank in the upper 15 percent of their high school class and score a 23 on the ACT; or graduate as their class valedictorian or salutatorian...

I WOULD JUST like to say thanks to the Earl Simpson family for putting in such a nice race park at Benton and to the Cape Phone No. 9 car for such a nice performance. What a racer. Thank you. I WOULD LIKE to personally thank everybody responsible for the new race track at Benton. ...