Stories from Wednesday, February 5, 1992

WEST FRANKFORT, Ill. -- Kenneth J. Gray has been honored as "Citizen of the Year" at West Frankfort. Gray was honored recently at the 50th annual West Frankfort Chamber of Commerce banquet. Gray, a 45-year member of the West Frankfort chamber, spent 24 years in Congress. He was first elected to the House in 1954. He retired 20 years later, in 1974, but returned to the House in 1984...

The Excelsior Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau recently held its annual oratorical and essay contests. The theme of the oratorical contest was "If I could see tomorrow." Winners were chosen in both boys and girls divisions. Winners in the boys division were Tim Mayfield, first place; Saki Ligonis, second place; and Adam Vickery, runner-up...

Mini J. Johnston will be the speaker at the Feb. 10 meeting of Cape Girardeau Christian Women's Club. The meeting is from noon to 2 p.m. in the Jackson Room at Holiday Inn. Johnston is a national representative with Stonecroft Ministries in Kansas City...

Of making many words there is no end Students of the Bible will recognize the above title as a paraphrase of a passage from Ecclesiastes: "Of making many books there is no end." Books written before the invention of the printing press were actually scrolls, made of papyrus and lettered by hand. To judge by examples we have seen in museums, and reprints gracing our shelves, all were works of art and show that quality was of the essence...

Hundred of gallons of concentrated chlorine spilling from a drain at the Capaha Park swimming pool was responsible for killing hundreds of fish last week in the park's lagoon. Cape Girardeau Park Superintendent Dan Muser said that after workers collecting the dead fish from the lagoon's banks reported a chlorine smell from the water the drain was checked for leaks...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson said the bill that extends unemployment benefits to laid-off workers for an additional 13 weeks will be especially helpful to people who lost their jobs as a result of the closings of Brown Show Co. plants in Missouri...

A bill that will restore to local governments some regulation over basic cable television service passed the U.S. Senate last week by a vote of 73-18. Called the Cable Television Consumer Protection Act, the Senate bill prevailed over a more moderate substitute bill...

Cases of canine distemper are on the rise in Southeast Missouri. Pet owners and those interested in buying a dog are cautioned to make sure animals get regular vaccinations. Local veterinarians say the increase is likely due to the cyclical nature of the disease. Although the increase is of little surprise to veterinarians, that doesn't make it easier for them or those whose pets get the disease...

There is only one race in the April 7 Jackson Board of Education election this year, and that's to fill two vacant seats on the board. No candidates filed against the four incumbent members of the Jackson Board of Aldermen seeking re-election. At the 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline, no other candidates had filed for the school board. That means incumbent board member Jeanette Bollinger will run against challengers Marvin Adams and Mark Martin...

SCOTT CITY -- The Southeast Missouri Council of Boy Scouts of America has received $1,100 from Blair Industries for funding a career awareness program at Scott City High School. This is the third year Blair has sponsored the program, which provides students a chance to meet with adults in a vocation they have chosen as a potential career...

SUSAN MCCLANAHAN occupation: Regional director, American Lung Association Pet Peeve: "Negative of pessimistic people." The best part of my job is: "interacting with a variety of people in a wide range of occupations." The best part of my life was when: "Scott and I met, dated and were married."...

Several area state representatives said Tuesday they believe enough votes exist in the Missouri House to approve a 6-cent fuel tax increase without putting it before the state's voters. While the legislators expressed confidence that at least 82 votes existed, all agreed there are not the 109 votes necessary to approve an emergency clause that would put the proposal into effect upon the governor's signature...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Sye Edwin Atkinson, 69, of East Prairie, died Monday, Feb. 3, 1992, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Dec. 30, 1922, in East Prairie, son of John and Jessie May Gage Atkinson. He and Ollie I. Myers were married Oct. 26, 1949. She died Nov. 15, 1991...

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Mark Bliss, 2020 Concord Place, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:19 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, 1992. Name, Rebecca Minette. Weight, 7 pounds 9 ounces. First child. Mrs. Bliss is the former Joni Adams, daughter of George and Irene Adams of Ferguson, and Joan and Larry Brunson of St. Charles. She is managing editor at the Southeast Missourian Newspaper. Bliss is a staff writer at the newspaper, and is the son of Richard and Nancy Bliss of Kirkwood...

WHITEWATER -- Luther Hedge, 102, of Whitewater, died Monday, Feb. 3, 1992, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born here Dec. 1, 1889, son of William and Laura Crump Hedge. He and Alpha Craft were married Aug. 30, 1919, at Jackson...

JACKSON -- Catherine Andrews, 82, of Berkeley, died Monday, Feb. 3, 1992, at the home of a son. She was born Nov. 2, 1909, in St. Louis, daughter of John and Theresa Keller Babst. She married Frank Andrews, who died in 1964. Survivors include three daughters, Delores Gruenloh, Eileen Shouse and Leona Will; two sons, William Blei and Raymond Andrews, all of the St. Louis area; two stepdaughters, Virginia Walter of Jackson, Georgia Wallace of Chicago; grandchildren and great-grandchildren...

The instinct inborn in animals told them something serious was about to happen, and all that day of Dec. 15, 1811, they reacted in a strange manner. Their owners were at a loss to understand them, and it was only after the Earth started shaking violently early the morning of Dec. 16, that they realized the animals had been forewarned...

Dr. Richard L. Kies will discuss no-stitch cataract surgery on this week's "Ask Your Doctor." The show airs at 8 p.m. on Thursday on cable channel 13. "Ask Your Doctor" features local doctors answering questions from viewers. Martha Muench and Dr. Jean A. Chapman host the program...

Today, Southeast Missouri State University begins a series of intensive budget hearings. The object is to find ways to enhance revenues and reduce costs. An in-depth budget review won't be pleasant or painless. But it is imperative that the university find additional ways to reduce its operational costs...

In the Southeast Missourian city room recently, there was launched (and prolonged almost beyond the point of human endurance) a rather giddy discussion about the difference between the flu and "flu-like symptoms." The gist of this lively interchange was that there was some clinical difference, and though agreement was fairly widespread this was the case, we continued to unreasonably gnaw on the question like dogs on a bone...

It's physically demanding to be a presidential candidate these days. Aspirants not only must look to the future, they also need to look over their shoulder to spot approaching girlfriends. --- President Bush offers a full menu of solutions to the present economic crisis, which, with any luck at all, won't go into effect until the recovery begins...

Results of a study conducted recently by the Department of Agriculture at Southeast Missouri State University show that implanting growth promotants in beef suckling calves enhances their growth. The research was a joint effort of Southeast Missouri State University, S & S Livestock Supply and Syntex Laboratories, Inc...

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Researchers continue to search for ways to control pesky late-emerging weeds that plague no-till farmers. "Late-emerging weeds are no-till killers," says Joseph L. Matthews, researcher in Southern Illinois University at Carbondale's College of Agriculture...

Reservations now are being accepted for the 1992 Benelux Community Study Tour sponsored by the Center for International Studies at Southeast Missouri State University. The fourth annual tour, scheduled for May 28 to June 9, will take participants to the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg called the "Benelux Countries."...

Knowledge is not first on the list of what Beverly Augustine hopes to accomplish with her fourth grade students at Oran Elementary School. "I used to believe that if a child left my classroom with knowledge, that was enough," Augustine said. "My philosophy has changed over the last 10 years...