Stories from Thursday, June 13, 1991

Academic scandals seem all too frequent in college athletics. In fact, of the hundreds of schools with intercollegiate sports teams, only a handful are ever implicated in academic shenanigans, especially those arising from outright institutional negligence. ...

I continue to be astonished at the various protesters against victory parades for the Gulf War veterans, and against the victory they earned. In some circles, second-guessers abound. They wonder why we couldn't spend the money on the homeless, or on AIDS research or on (insert your trendy cause here), instead of on parades and fireworks. Americans have generally ignored them, and immense crowds turned out for parades in Washington (Saturday) and New York (Monday)...

The initials stand for Philanthropic Educational Organization. I'M CALLING IN response to a statement in Speak Out in June 10's edition of the Missourian where a parent was concerned about the type of films that the new Encore channel shows in the morning. ...

"The Art of Flowers," a one-person exhibition of about 20 recent watercolor works by Judi Brey, will be presented at the University Museum at Southeast Missouri State University June 23 through July 25. The public is invited to meet Brey at an opening reception on June 23 from 2-4 p.m. at the museum...

Southeast Missouri State University's Summer Touring Theatre kicks off its season tonight with a modern-day version of Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor." The show includes an 11-member cast made up of veteran student and professional actors and actresses...

Star Trek fans, put on your fake Spock ears and polish up on your impersonations of your favorite characters. A three-day Star Trek convention, CONtinuum '91, will be held June 21-23 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Cape Girardeau. Janie McGaugh, chairman of the event, said that this is the second Star Trek convention she has helped put together...

When hard-rockers Warrant take to the Show Me Center stage June 21, they won't have to worry about playing for 45 minutes and then going off stage to make way for the headlining act. They are the headliners. Warrant started their first headlining tour on May 31 in Bismark, N.D., with the bands Firehouse and Trixter. According to Warrant bassist Jerry Dixon, things couldn't be any better for the band right now...

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education voted Tuesday to continue a school breakfast program at May Greene Elementary School. The board also gave the go-ahead to expand the program to other elementary schools when the logistics of providing breakfast are worked out...

The Cape Girardeau Parks & Recreation Department and the Breakfast Optimists Club will sponsor the third annual fishing derby at Capaha Park on Saturday. The derby is open to kids age 5 through 16 and begins at 9 a.m. Registration begins at 8 a.m. The derby is free and is meant to introduce kids to fishing as a hobby, said Scott Williams of the parks department...

The blood alcohol content rate required for an administrative suspension or revocation of drivers licenses in Missouri has been lowered from .13 to .10 under legislation passed this year by the General Assembly. In addition, anyone who has their license revoked for a DWI will have their license taken away for 30 days, regardless of any subsequent court action or requests for hardship treatment, such as allowing a person to continue to drive to and from work...

The Cape Girardeau City Council has unanimously approved a resolution asking Gov. John Ashcroft to veto legislation aimed at utility regulation. At a special meeting Tuesday, the council members said they thought Senate Bill 221 would limit the options municipalities have to provide competitive electric utilities...

Despite an early planting season plagued with wet fields where too much rain mired farm work during April and much of May, corn and soybean planting is not too far off schedule in the Cape Girardeau County area. "Above-normal temperatures and a brief dry spell during the past week have helped farmers get a lot of seed in the ground," said Gerald Bryan, Cape Girardeau County Extension agronomist...

The Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday night recommended that a proposal to rezone a large tract of William Street as commercial be rejected. Several of the commissioners said they previously were convinced the street should be rezoned from residential to commercial between Sprigg Street and Sheridan Drive, but that widespread neighborhood objection to the plan changed their minds...

Yoicks! Characters in modern Lake-of-the-Ozarks mufti spouting Shakespeare as if it were their native tongue! (Well, in a way, of course, it is. How do you think Falstaff became so popular?) But what goes here? Just "The Merry Wives of Windsor," Southeast Missouri State University's Touring Theatre, Summer 1991, production of the "classic" comedy that opens at 8 tonight at the Forrest H. ...

District 14 of the American Legion will conduct a U.S. flag retirement ceremony on Friday, which is Flag Day, at the Cape Girardeau Veteran's Home. The ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. and legionnaires and legion auxiliary members are invited to attend...

JACKSON -- The new park superintendent for the city of Jackson loves to be outdoors, which is a pretty good prerequisite for the job. "I enjoy being outdoors," said David Bierer, 24. "I don't like being cramped up in some back office and not knowing if the sun is shining."...

JACKSON -- The Jackson Municipal Band continues its series of concerts tonight at 8 in the Jackson City Park. Special guest at the concert will be ventriloquist Jesse Padgett of Cape Girardeau. Padgett has turned his childhood love for puppets into a part-time career. His characters include the wise old Grandpa, the air-headed dodo bird Lester and the sharp-tonged Emmet...

JACKSON - A decision by the Cape Girardeau County Commission to seek new bids for a depository of county funds has apparently paid off. Although the interest rate for large certificates of deposit won't be anywhere near the 9.53 percent Cape County has earned the last two years and 9.14 percent the two years before that, the re-bidding process did generate a higher rate than one received last month...

Son to Mr. and Mrs. Michael Rouse of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:25 a.m. Tuesday, June 4, 1991. Name, Clay Thomas. Weight, 6 pounds 15 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Rouse is the former Lisa Job, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul H. Job of Jackson, and is an administrative assistant at Biokyowa Inc. Rouse is a physician's assistant for Dr. Christopher Jung, and is the son of Mr. and Mrs. George F. Rouse of Jackson...

CACHE, Ill. -- Junior Clarence Vollintine, 61, of Cache, died Wednesday, June 12, 1991, at his home. He was formerly of Wood River. He was born Dec. 27, 1929, in Edwardsville, son of Francis Clarence and Mabel Wall Vollintine. He and the former Gladys Sanders were married Feb. 15, 1991, in Barlow, Ky...

ORAN -- Lavada Bertha Heisserer, 74, of Oran, died Wednesday, June 12, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born March 14, 1917, at Kelso, daughter of Frank and Emma Miller Dannenmueller. She married Cleophas Heisserer April 16, 1944. He died April 10, 1960...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Charles Karraker, 96, of Dongola, died Tuesday, June 11, 1991, at Union County Hospital in Anna. He was born Aug. 18, 1894, at Dongola, son of Randolph and Mary Louisa Lingle Karraker. He and Mabel Sullivan were married Sept. 25, 1915...

Pearl May Gearing, 97, Fountainbleau Lodge, died Wednesday, June 12, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Nov. 29, 1893, in Jonesboro, Ill., daughter of John Michael and Penina Hill Dover. She married Joseph Clarence Gearing Nov. 20, 1909. He died in December 1938...