Stories from Tuesday, January 21, 1992

Cyrus Keller urged a Southeast Missouri State University audience Monday to do more than merely acknowledge the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of racial equality. Keller, an American Methodist Episcopal minister from St. Louis, said black Americans should make King's dream and history part of their own, personal history...

JEFFERSON CITY - State Rep. Herb Fallert is drafting legislation to be considered this session that would provide additional funding for the Missouri Division of Tourism by imposing user taxes on businesses that benefit from tourism. The Ste. Genevieve Democrat, who is serving his second term as chairman of the House committee that deals with tourism issues, said he was prompted to draft the bill because of suggestions from House Budget Chairman Chris Kelly that the division might best be funded from a source besides state general revenue.. ...

PERRYVILLE - Burns and McDonnell Engineering Co. has been chosen by the Perry County Commission to conduct a feasibility study on a proposed 4,000-acre lake in the northwest part of the county. A committee studying the lake idea interviewed three firms on Jan. 8, and recommended to the commission that it hire the company for the study...

Eight dogs and four cats left with no water or food at a house in Anniston were rescued over the past week by the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri. Abandoned animals like these account for a large percentage of the animals that come through the shelter, said Nancy Richards, Humane Society administrator...

SCOTT CITY -- Residents of two blocks of Maple Street in Scott City will still be allowed to park on the street, the Scott City Council ruled Monday night. About 15 residents protested a suggested change in a city ordinance that would prohibit parking on both sides of the street. The residents attended a public hearing held before the council's regular meeting Monday. Parking on the south side of the street in the 400 and 500 blocks of Maple Street is now allowed...

JACKSON -- New construction in Jackson in 1991 was up over 33 percent, compared to 1990. During a 17-minute meeting Monday night, the Jackson Board of Aldermen received the figures for new housing and commercial construction in the city. The board also approved an appointment to the park board. The board will consider a proposed noise abatement ordinance at its Feb. 3 meeting...

JACKSON - Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller said Monday he will spend the next few weeks talking with people about the possibility of seeking the Democratic nomination for state senator from the 27th District. Miller said he enjoys being county clerk but wants to take some time to explore a possible Senate race...

BERTRAND -- A Mississippi County man was killed Monday afternoon in a single vehicle accident south of Bertrand. The Missouri Highway Patrol said James R. Winchester, 41, of East Prairie was killed at about 2 p.m. on Route CC, six miles south of Bertrand...

Missouri's farmers want some changes in wetlands legislation. "The wetlands issue has become a very public and controversial issue," Don Fischer, the Missouri Farm Bureau president, said in Cape Girardeau Monday. "Farmers are confused and angered over the wetlands issue as it is now and want some changes made."...

The potential for violent crime goes with the territory in urban America. Chalk up another reason to live in Cape Girardeau. While this community and the surrounding region are not crime-free, and are certainly not exempt from murders that identify a growing decay in larger cities, Cape Girardeau has an enviable record in public safety. No list of community assets can discount this fact...

To Citizens of Cape Girardeau: As the Chairman of the Cape Girardeau Cable TV Citizens Committee, my purpose in writing this letter is to solicit your participation in an upcoming Town Hall Meeting. As you may know, Cape Girardeau is currently negotiating the cable franchise with TCI. Receiving input from the community is an integral part of that process. This is where your organization and all other organizations, businesses, churches and individuals come into play...

To the Editor: The Jan. 13, 1992, issue of the Missourian carried a letter from Harley Rutledge describing the results of experiments carried out by Dr. Luis Alvarez, an eminent American physicist. W~~e don't take issue with the results or the description of them by Dr. ...

To the Editor: We are in a recession. Two methods have been recommended to get us out of it. One is for the Federal Reserve System to reduce its discount rates sufficiently to bring about corresponding reductions in the interest rates which banks charge their customers. ...

Son to Mr. and Mrs. Larry Prost, 1300 Margaret, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 6:22 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10, 1992. Name, Vincent James. Weight, 6 pounds 13 ounces. Fifth child, third son. Mrs. Prost is the former Veronica Wilke, daughter of Leroy and Alberta Wilke of Cape Girardeau, and is a realtor associate at ERA Cape Realty. Prost is owner/operator of Larry's Auto Sales, and is the son of Bob and Mary Prost, Perryville...

DELTA -- William Vader Sparkman, 84, of Delta, died Monday, Jan. 20, 1992, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 9, 1907, at Sturdivant, son of Losson and Emma Strong Sparkman. He and Mildred Della Speer were married Aug. 1, 1927, at Bloomfield...

A Cape Central Airways pilot was forced to make an emergency landing Monday night at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport after his plane's landing gear failed to engage. The pilot, Bill Beard of Chaffee, was not injured. No one else was aboard. Beard said the plane's landing gear failed to come down because of a mechanical failure...

SIKESTON -- Francis Thurman Randell, 77, of Sikeston, died Sunday, Jan. 19, 1992, at Hunter Acres Caring Center here. He was born Oct. 23, 1914, at Wardell, son of Eddie Allen and Martha Frields Randell. He and Edith Louise Herren were married Nov. 9, 1960, at Benton...

Mary Martha Kempe, 85, of Cape Girardeau, died at her home Sunday, Jan. 19, 1992. She was born May 15, 1906, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of August and Louise Bertling Kempe. Kempe was a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, and did post-graduate work at Peabody College in Memphis, Tenn...

VILLA RIDGE - Cleo Minton Jerrell Harry, 75, of Ozark, Ala., formerly of Pulaski County Ill., died Saturday, Jan. 18, 1992 at Ozark. Her date and place of birth were unavailable. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Orville Jerrell, and her second husband, Whitman Harry...

MARBLE HILL -- Ruth E. Elfrank, 97, of Las Cruces, N.M. and formerly of Marble Hill died Thursday, Jan. 16, 1992, at her home. She was born April 28, 1894, in Bollinger County, the daughter of Andrew and Dora Gladish Abernathy. She was married to Charles A. Elfrank Sr., who preceded her in death...

An entomologist with the Texas Department of Health in Austin will be the guest speaker at the Lyme Disease Self-Help Support Group meeting tonight at the Drury Lodge. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. The entomologist, Julie Rawlings, will compare the difference in Lyme disease bacteria found in Texas, Missouri and other regions. Rawlings is a nationally-recognized authority on Lyme disease...