Stories from Monday, December 2, 1991

A request for proposals for use of Cape Girardeau's tourism funds procured 28 separate suggestions for the city council to consider. The council Oct. 21 voted to solicit proposals for use of motel and restaurant tax revenues that total about $600,000...

Children's Christmas wish lists include dolls and trucks and balls and books. But parents filling out applications asking Toybox for holiday help are asking for shoes, coats, underwear and socks. These practical items may not have the same impact on Christmas morning, but parents know how important it is for children to have clothing that fits. A new toy may bring a lot of happiness, but it won't keep them warm this winter...

(Last of a two-part series) City officials generally view favorably a plan to consider various proposals for use of the city's tourism fund, but don't endorse elimination of the Convention and Visitors Bureau or its budget. Robert Hendrix, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, said the city should restrict new uses of the fund to those reserves beyond the CVB budget...

Ducks and Capaha Park seem to go together naturally. No one really knows just how the first duck came to be in the small water impoundment at Capaha Park, but one thing's for sure: they took to the lagoon like what else ducks take to water. "We've had ducks at the lagoon a long time," said Dan Muser of the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department...

The Southeast Missourian asked people whether the earthquake prediction a year ago has had any lasting effect on them. Donna Hale: "I did go out and buy water then, but two weeks later I poured it out or used it to water my plants. I think you just have to live your life day by day, and not have so much fear that you are paralyzed. You just have to live with the possibility that it could happen."...

Mrs. D has taken care of herself for more than 70 years and she is determined to continue doing so. Her two children, who live in another state, have asked Mrs. D to live with them. But she refuses. She wants to stay at home. Scrimping and saving have become a way of life for Mrs. D. She manages her meager income very carefully and believes she can maintain her home, at least for a while...

DUTCHTOWN -- A Whitewater man was injured in a one-vehicle accident Saturday on Route A two miles west of Dutchtown, the Missouri Highway Patrol reported. Dannie Gilder, 36, of Whitewater, was treated and released from Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

The just-ended first session of the 102nd Congress won't go down in history as the most productive in terms of legislative accomplishments, but it certainly contained two elements that won't be forgotten. We refer to its granting authorization to the president to use military action in the Persian Gulf and the extraordinary drama that surrounded the confirmation process for now Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas...

Dear Editor: I want to take this opportunity to thank the community for making the Salvation Army Thanksgiving Dinner a big success. All the volunteers gave of themselves 100 percent to serve those who came through the doors to receive a free dinner...

Son to Mr. and Mrs. Duane Blessing of Chesterfield, St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, 5:49 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, 1991. Name, Taylor Drew. Weight, 7 pounds 6 ounces. First child. Mrs. Blessing is the former Susan Hupp, daughter of Doris Illers of Jackson and Donald Hupp of Kansas City. She is employed at Pearle Vision in Chesterfield. Blessing is employed at Auffenberg Motors in Washington, Mo., and is the son of Joseph and Sylvia Blessing of Perryville...

PERRYVILLE -- Eugene Raymond Thompson, 72, of Perryville, died Saturday, Nov. 30, 1991, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. He was born June 29, 1919, at St. Mary's, Mo., son of Noah Cheatum Thompson, and Vicia Ann Reed Thompson. He was married April 15, 1935 to Helen L. Anderson. She survives...

LEOPOLD -- An 8-year-old St. Louis boy was in stable condition Sunday in the intensive care unit at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau following an accidental shooting Saturday with a BB gun. The boy, Christopher Sulzer, was visiting relatives in Leopold when the accident happened, reported the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department...

MARBLE HILL -- Charles "Woody" Warner, 48, of Marble Hill died Sunday, Dec. 1, 1991 at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau He was born at Cape Girardeau on April 3, 1943, son of the late Cecil W. Warner and Cloye Seabaugh Warner, who survives of Marble Hill...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Millie Hubbard Rhodes, 101, of Cairo, died Sunday, Dec. 1, 1991, at Charleston Manor in Charleston, Mo. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church here. Survivors include two daughters, Mary Abell of Cairo, Grace Kell of Ocala, Fla.; six grandchildren; several great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren...

CHAFFEE -- Hagg C. Adkins, 98, of Chaffee, died Sunday, Dec. 1, 1991, at Chaffee Nursing Center. He was born Feb. 6, 1893, at Advance, son of James Alvin and Rose Shrum Adkins. He married Vanira Leona Crockett Oct. 20, 1920, at Benton. She died Dec. 5, 1987...

Margaret Brandon, 48, Cape Girardeau Route 2, died Sunday, Dec. 1, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Jan. 5, 1943, in Ripley County, daughter of Carter and Agnes Irene Shirley Crewse. She married Bobby Brandon Aug. 10, 1961, at Doniphan...

MARQUAND -- Francis Marie Gibson, 75, of Marquand, died Saturday, Nov. 30, 1991, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 23, 1916, in Barnsdall, Okla., daughter of Ed and Nettie Townsend Wright. She married L.E. Snow, who died Nov. 7, 1977. She later married C.C. Gibson, who died in December 1982...

PERRYVILLE -- Hubert Joseph Layton, 65, of Perryville, died Sunday, Dec. 1, 1991, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. He was born March 10, 1924, in Detroit, Mich., son of Alonzo and Cora M. Smith Layton. His first wife, Mary Rose, died March 4, 1979. He then married Mildred Welge Nov. 12, 1982...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Robert E. Deckard, 83, of Cairo, died Sunday, Dec. 1, 1991, at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Ind. Deckard owned and operated Deckard's Radio and TV Service for a number of years in Cairo until he retired in 1977. He was a member of the Cairo Baptist Church and Cairo Elks Lodge...

The Community Counseling Center is presenting a program, "Part-Time Parenting: the Post Divorce Trauma," on Dec. 10 from 6:30-8 p.m. The program will be held at the new Community Counseling Center facility, 402 S. Silver Springs Road. For parents, often the father, divorce means less frequent contact with the children. Staff therapist Earl Kirn Jr. will talk about ways to maximize the time spent with children within the new constraints...