Stories from Friday, May 8, 1992

Donald Lee Gater, 51, 1508 N. Water, died Wednesday, May 6, 1992, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

ULLIN, Ill. -- The Illinois State Police will be conducting roadside safety checks in District 22 this weekend. "The state police will maintain a strong enforcement posture with particular emphasis directed toward drinking drivers, alcohol-related offenses, uninsured motorists and seat belt vilations," said a spokesman of District 22 Headquarters here...

ULLIN, Ill. -- A Shawnee Community College graduate will be featured speaker at the college's annual honor banquet, to be held tonight. Jak Tichenor, a former resident of Metropolis, now a producer at WSIU-Television at Carbondale, will address more than 180 students who will be recognized for academic achievement. The honor banquet will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the college gymnasium...

Cape Girardeau area residents are in for a high-flying treat this weekend. The U.S. Navy's Blue Angels will perform their breath-taking aerobatics at the Aviation Days air show Saturday and Sunday at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport. The famed squadron last performed here in 1983...

A number of local students will graduate with honors from Murray State University in Murray, Ky. on Saturday. Students graduate summa cum laude with an overall grade point average of 3.8 or higher, magma cum laude with an average of 3.6 to 3.79, and cum laude with an average of 3.3 to 3.59...

Otahki Girl Scout Council held their annual appreciation of volunteers dinner recently. The event honors troop leaders and other volunteers who contribute to Girl Scouting. The Honor Pin was presented to Dottie Wencewicz, Cape Girardeau; Sally Strickland, Oak Ridge; JoAnn Clements, Perryville; and Beth Guth, Perryville. The Honor Pin is awarded to adults who have given service as an adult for at least seven years at least two levels...

Twelve seventh graders from L.J. Schultz Middle School have been recognized for academic achievement in Duke University's annual Talent Identification Program. Students participating in the university's Talent Search take either the Scholastic Aptitude Test or the American College Testing Assessment at the seventh grade level to become aware of their abilities and potential. Top scorers are then invited to national and state ceremonies designed to recognize and encourage their efforts...

Eight faculty research projects have received funding for the spring 1992 semester from the Grants and Research Funding Committee at Southeast Missouri State University. The committee's goal is to encourage scientific and humanistic research, and literary or artistic projects related to academic or professional activities...

Southeast Missouri State University has been invited to participate in the White House "Teach America: Teacher Preparation for the New American School" conference June 14-16 in Washington, D.C. A total of 35 institutions nationwide have been invited to participate...

Karen Roberts is a Cape Girardeau resident who enjoys writing and acting. She attends Southeast Missouri State University on a part-time basis. You say you dream of visiting France, but lack both the money and time? You want to learn more about the life of Margaret Mitchell who penned that all time epic novel "Gone With The Wind"?...

JACKSON -- Augusta Abernathy of rural Jackson died Thursday, May 7, 1992, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was 89. She was born March 18, 1903, at Tilset, Mo., daughter of Henry and Louise Springel Voges. She was married Feb. 11, 1928, to Freeman Abernathy. He died Feb. 9, 1975...

CHARLESTON - Harry D. Lane, 74, of Belleville, Ill., formerly of Mississippi County, died Tuesday, May 5, 1992 at Memorial Hospital in Belleville. He was born in Mississippi County June 28, 1917 to the late Alexander and Mary Messmore Lane and had lived in Belleville since 1975...

ADVANCE -- Lura Geneva Medlin, 86, of Advance, died Wednesday, May 6, 1992, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 23, 1906, at Bloomfield, daughter of John and Mary Bell Pritchett. She married George Medlin July 26, 1924, at Benton. He died Oct. 18, 1978...

SCOTT CITY -- Pauline Ann Guthridge, 74, of Scott City, died Thursday, May 7, 1992, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Oct. 25, 1917, at Commerce, daughter of John Gustav and Lucy Spraker Sander. She married Leo Guthridge, who died Nov. 17, 1986...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for Billie Jean Reeves of East Prairie will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at Shelby Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Ted Wimberley will officiate, with burial in East Prairie Memorial Park. Reeves, 62, died Wednesday, May 6, 1992, at her home...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for Nana Belle Cave of East Prairie will be held at 2 p.m. today at Shelby Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Mickey Deal will officiate, with burial in Dogwood Cemetery. Cave, 84, died Wednesday, May 6, 1992, at East Prairie Nursing Center, following an extended illness...

ADVANCE -- Funeral service for Charley "Merrill" Tippett of Buckeye, Ariz., was held April 24 at First Southern Baptist Church in Buckeye. The Rev. Tom Wiles officiated, with burial in Louis B. Hazelton Memorial Park near Buckeye. Tippett, 81, died Tuesday, April 21, 1992, at Sun Royal West Care Center in Avondale, Ariz...

COMMERCE -- Rex F. Walker, 51, of Creve Coeur, died Wednesday, May 6, 1992, at his home. He was born Dec. 24, 1940, at Commerce, son of Robert Fulton and Velma Josephine Coble Walker. He and Glenda J. Keesee were married Oct. 26, 1963, at Scott City...

Jonas Harold Dean Masters, 50, of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, May 6, 1992, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Aug. 6, 1941, at Flat River, son of Oliver C. and Leona Mae Lawson Masters. Survivors include a son, Harold Masters of Irondale; a daughter, Tina May of Cape Girardeau; his mother of Flat River; former wife, Elaine Tedder Masters; three brothers, Gary Masters of Leadwood, Terry Masters of Flat River, Jerry Masters of Mitchell; three sisters, Barbara Brenneke and Sharon Dane of Mitchell, Madonna Freeman of Irondale, and five grandchildren.. ...

KELSO -- Ivah F. Lux, 81, of Kelso, died Thursday, May 7, 1992, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Amick-Burnett Funeral Home at Scott City is in charge of arrangements.

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Mary Virginia Rogers, 79, Jonesboro Route 2, died Thursday, May 7, 1992, at Union County Hospital in Anna. She was born Oct. 17, 1912, at Reynoldsville, daughter of John and Agnes Modglin Reynolds. She and Sherman Rogers were married in 1932. He died in 1966...

JEFFERSON CITY -- State Rep. Mary Kasten said Thursday she is generally pleased with the fiscal 1993 budget given final approval by the Missouri General Assembly Thursday. "In general it's a pretty good budget," said Kasten. "The budget is balanced and the operating budget is $1.5 million under the estimated re~venue for fiscal 1993...

An artist whose works were withdrawn from an exhibit at Gallery 100 calls it censorship; gallery officials say they simply removed artworks patrons would find offensive. Two drawings of three pieces submitted by artist T.M. Hughes were removed from the exhibit by members of the Arts Council executive committee before the show opened Sunday. The third piece is a photograph...

About 50 people gathered in front of Cape Girardeau City Hall over the noon hour Thursday to pray for the nation as part of National Day of Prayer observances. Those in attendance prayed both individually and in groups, and concluded the 20-minute prayer session by singing "God Bless America."...

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels arrived in Cape Girardeau early Thursday afternoon and treated a small crowd at the Municipal Airport to a practice run of their renowned routine. The flight demonstration squadron, which consists of six F/A-18 Hornets, will perform a benefit show today for handicapped and terminally ill children from the area...

Closings of the five Exchange Banks on Thursday marked the first bank closings in Missouri in two years, said Commissioner of Finance Earl Manning. The commissioner stressed that all deposits are safe and sound. Manning was in Cape Girardeau late Thursday to oversee bank closings in Cape Girardeau and Jackson...

All five subsidiary banks owned by First Exchange Corp., a bank holding company headquartered in Cape Girardeau, were sold Thursday. The Missouri Division of Finance declared the Exchange Banks in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Fredericktown and St. Louis insolvent Thursday afternoon and ordered all of the banks to be closed and liquidated...

The Broadway Community Theatre's spring dinner theatre is a sumptuous repast, indeed. The current production, "Pure As The Driven Snow or A Working Girl's Secret" is a feast of old time "mellow drammer," and it's unfortunate that so many of us will miss the opportunity to sit at the table for such a theatrical gourmet's delight. But the table will be set next spring, and we can enjoy the comedic cuisine then...