Stories from Tuesday, August 11, 1992

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County will contribute $150,000 over three years to an economic and industrial development group, a county official said Monday. Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep said the county is one of six entities that will contribute to the group's $150,000 annual budget...

Cape Girardeau students who rode the bus last year will ride the bus this year; bell times for the start of school remain the same; yet the district will save $31,647 in transportation costs. The Board of Education approved a plan to combine bus routes in order to eliminate two buses and cut costs rather than reduce the distance buses would travel to pick up students...

SCOTT CITY -- The Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority is one step closer to securing a new tenant that could increase shipping volume tenfold at the port. Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. in April signed a letter of intent to lease up to 20 acres of land at the port and construct a $3.5 million facility. On Monday, Ed Case, regional manger and corporate vice president for the company, presented a $41,000 check to the port authority for the lease...

The 85th edition of the Jackson Homecomers festival begins tonight at 7, when Mayor Carlton Meyer officially opens the four-day event heralding the end of summer. "We're all ready to go," said Tom Sperling, co-chairman of the Jackson American Legion Homecomers' Committee. "We started setting up Monday, and will have everything completed by this afternoon."...

Union Electric Company gas department crews are replacing the cast iron natural gas mains on William and Good Hope with plastic gas line. Company officials said while the work is under way, Good Hope traffic may be blocked at times during the daytime working hours...

A Cape Girardeau accountant and his accounting firm have been placed on administrative probation by the Missouri State Board of Accountancy over reported violations of technical standards and professional ethics. Accountant William R. Schott and Schott's accounting firm, Schott and Van De Ven, entered into a consent agreement June 30 with the State Board of Accountancy in which Schott and the firm accepted the disciplinary action...

Thad Bullock, the Democratic nominee for Congress in the 8th District, said Monday he thinks a recount of his 211-vote win is an "absurd" idea. James "Jay" Thompson of Bourbon, the candidate who finished second to Bullock in the primary last week, said Friday he will request a recount by the secretary of state's office because the "election is too close to let go."...

Scot G. Pringle, M.D., will discuss endometrial ablation on the Ask Your Doctor television program Thursday. The show airs at 8 p.m. on cable channel 13. Ask Your Doctor, a local medical show, is sponsored by St. Francis Medical Center, Southeast Missouri Hospital, the Cape Girardeau County Medical Society and channel 13...

JACKSON -- A Jackson woman was injured Monday in a two-vehicle accident on North Kingshighway near the Interstate 55 intersection. Cape Girardeau Police said Virginia Paul, 73, pulled into the path of a southbound car driven by Joseph Danridge, 22, of Cape Girardeau...

A Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School program designed to help young people get their first job and learn employment skills is a noteworthy example of government trying to do something about the nation's unemployment problem. Funding for the Summer Youth Employment program, aimed at people 14 to 21 years of age, comes from the Private Industry Council. ...

EAST PRAIRIE - East Prairie resident Opal Zook, 79, of 310 Cranford, died of an extended illness Sunday, Aug. 9, 1992 at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Nov. 14, 1912 in Corning, Ark. to the late Walter Clyde and Bertha Victoria Huddleston Smothers. Zook lived her entire life in Mississippi County...

DELTA -- Registration for students at Delta School begins today. Seniors are to register today from 8-11 a.m. Juniors will register Wednesday from 8-11 a.m. Sophomores will register Thursday from 8-11 a.m. and freshmen will register Friday from 8-11 a.m...

The economic development office at Southeast Missouri State University is sponsoring real estate appraisal courses designed to meet state certification requirements. A course called "Standards of Professional Practice" will be held Thursday and Friday at the University Center. The 15-hour course focuses on the requirements for ethical behavior and competent performance by appraisers. The cost of the course is $235, which includes all course materials and refreshments...

A Cape Girardeau contractor has been awarded contracts for state highway resurfacing work in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties. Girardeau Contractors Inc. will resurface 11.8 miles of Highway 61, from the Perry County line south to Highway 177 at Fruitland at a cost of $1.69 million...

CHARLESTON -- Funeral service for Ruth Knox of Charleston will be held at 1 p.m. today at Perry Chapel AME Church. The Rev. Joe L. Travis will officiate, with burial in Oak Grove Cemetery. Sparks Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Knox, 92, died Thursday, Aug. 6, 1992, at Miner Nursing Center...

CHARLESTON -- Funeral service for Johnnie B. Gilmore of Charleston will be held at 10 a.m. today at Dogwood Methodist Church. The Rev. Harold Norton will officiate, with burial in Oak Grove Cemetery. Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie is in charge of arrangements...

Funeral service for Sherry Lynne Scheper, 47, sons Curtis Edward, 22, and Randy Wayne, 17, all of 31 N. Henderson, will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. Burial will be in Memorial Park. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4-8 p.m. Wednesday...

PULASKI, Ill. -- Flora Lewis, 92, of Homestead, Fla., died Monday, Aug. 10, 1992, at her home. She was born Nov. 11, 1899, in Pulaski, daughter of Daniel and Ella Atheron O'Brien. She married Aren Lewis, who died in 1939. Lewis was a retired registered nurse. She was a member of First Christian Church in Pulaski, and Tropical Audubon Society...

ZALMA -- Willard A. Morgan, 94, Zalma Route 2, died Monday, Aug. 10, 1992, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 10, 1898, near Zalma, son of William Joseph and Ida Trafford Morgan. He first married Florence Jones. He later married Dora Hogg Fish Aug. 6, 1955, in Amboy, Ill...

NEW WELLS -- Oscar E. Meyr, 78, of New Wells, died Monday, Aug. 10, 1992, at St. Charles Health Care Center in St. Charles. He was born March 12, 1914, at New Wells, son of Gustav A. and Pauline M. Perr Meyr. He and Ruth Wachter were married Oct. 9, 1938. She died July 31, 1987...

ADVANCE -- Delbert A. Sherman, 82, of Advance, died Monday, Aug. 10, 1992, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Nov. 17, 1909, at Lowndes, son of Phillip Martin and Hannah Fry Sherman. He married Hattie B. Turner, who preceded him in death. He later married Francis Abbott Nov. 17, 1966, in St. Louis...

OAK RIDGE -- John J. Self, 84, of Oak Ridge, died Monday, Aug. 10, 1992 at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Oct. 14, 1907 in Oak Ridge, the son of George W. and Mary Goforth Self. On Aug. 13, 1938, he married the former Irene Ruch. She survives...

JACKSON - Emil Loos, 73, of 720 West Jefferson, Jackson, died Monday, Aug. 10, 1992 at Southeast Missouri Hospital. The body is at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson, where arrangements were incomplete Monday.