Stories from Thursday, April 15, 1993

David Loebel knows how not to play the piano. "I am everybody's nightmare of someone who didn't practice piano when he was a kid, and look what happened," he wryly observes. But as associate conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Loebel takes center stage with everything from the piano to violins, and the professional musicians that play them...

The mayhem in modern-day movies and TV has nothing on "Macbeth," Shakespeare's tragedy of murderous ambition set on the throne of Scotland. Goaded on at first by his wife, Macbeth dispatches men, women and children to the graveyard right and left in an increasingly emotionless spree eventually counterbalanced by the weight of the deeds on Lady Macbeth...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Most towns of less than 5,000 people are insulated from the big-city scourge of drugs, gangs and violence. But Cairo, situated at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, is no typical small town. About 20 percent of the city's 4,846 residents reside in public housing. A majority of residents receive public assistance, and unemployment and poverty are the rule rather than exception...

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau is on the rise again. The National Weather Service said Wednesday the river should crest Monday at 37.5 feet, 5.5 feet above flood stage. That would be the third flood crest here in 35 days. On March 11, the river crested at 35 feet, and on April 10 it crested at 37.5 feet...

Financially strapped cities constantly seek ways to bolster their coffers, whether by cutting expenses or pushing for higher taxes. In rare cases, new industry might move to the area, providing jobs and hope for recovery. But few officials in Alton a city of about 34,000 people, situated across the Mississippi River from St. Louis predicted the windfall generated by riverboat gambling...

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said Wednesday he will not file charges against the treasurer of the Elect-A-Neighbor Committee for alleged violations of state disclosure laws. In a four-page explanation at the front of a 289-page document, Swingle said that he did not believe that Mary Ann "Miki" Gudermuth had any criminal intent when her committee omitted the proper disclaimer on its yard signs and newspaper advertisements...

There's something hopeful about watching a bunch of Catholic teen-agers singing and dancing their way through the famous musical that celebrates the joy and sadness of Jewishness. Portraying the bittersweet lives of the Jewish peasants in "Fiddler on the Roof" turns out to require mostly humanness, some talent and a little bit of chutzpah...

The first musical Cindy King directed at Notre Dame High School "Fiddler on the Roof" was a smash, she recalls 20 years later. "I was 23 and I thought everything I did was wonderful." But so did the audiences. In costume and beard, tall-and-skinny Bill Schlitt's beautiful voice and assured manner as Tevye made people wonder whether she'd imported a ringer. "He really fooled everybody," King said...

Members of the Regional Commerce and Growth Association (RCGA) will tour the U.S. Postal Service's Area Mail Processing Center April 22. Walt Wildman, executive director of the RCGA, said the general public is invited to attend. Cape Girardeau Postmaster Mike Keefe will conduct the 5:30 p.m. tour of the facility, situated on Kell Farm Drive...

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will team with Southeast Missouri State University in a project to spread enthusiasm about science education in the region. U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson will join Southeast President Kala Stroup in making the announcement at a 10 a.m. press conference at the Show Me Center today. Jesse Snowden, dean of the College of Science and Technology at the university, will also participate...

A two-part pediatric basic life support course will be offered at the St. Francis Information Center at Jackson on two consecutive Thursday nights, tonight and April 22. The six-hour course, developed by the American Heart Association, will be offered from 6:30-9:30 p.m. both evenings at the center, located at 2122 East Jackson Boulevard...

St. Francis Medical Center Risk Management Director Jan Eichhorn will lead the discussion at the April Woman to Woman luncheon. The luncheon is scheduled for noon-1 p.m. today in the St. Francis Health & Education Centre. Eichhorn's topic will be "Advance Directives." An advance directive is a living will, a health care power of attorney or similar document with which persons can designate other individuals to make health care decisions should they lose decision-making capacity...

Dr. Daniel Duick is the speaker on "Ask Your Doctor" tonight. He will be speaking about osteoporosis. "Ask Your Doctor" is a medical show with local doctors answering questions from local viewers. It can be seen every Thursday night at 8 p.m. on cable channel 5...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for Roberta Frances "Bobbie" Brenner of the Dogwood community will be held at 10:30 A.M. today at Shelby Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Robert Kriete will officiate, with burial in Dogwood Cemetery. Brenner, 73, died Tuesday, April 13, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston...

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Davis Wilcox of Sikeston, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 4:33 a.m. Monday, April 5, 1993. Name, Kaley Alexandra. Weight, 7 pounds 12 ounces. Mrs. Wilcox is the former Kimberly Kimbrough, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. V.K. Kimbrough Jr. of Newnan, Ga. She is an interior designer at Rust & Martin. Wilcox is a salesman with Terra International, and is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joe D. Wilcox of Charleston, Miss...

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. -- Funeral service for Dolores Simpson of Murphysboro, formerly of Cairo, will be held at 11 a.m. today at Crain Funeral Home Pleasant Grove Chapel here. The Rev. Verlee Eaker will officiate, with burial in Green Lawn Memorial Gardens at Villa Ridge...

SIKESTON -- James F. "Jay" Bryant, 74, of Sikeston, died Tuesday, April 13, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born April 2, 1919, at Morley, son of James H. and Effie Mae Penny Bryant. He and Willene McCray were married Aug. 20, 1945. She died June 2, 1991...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Funeral service for Cora Isabel Graham of Mound City will be held at 3 p.m. today at Jones Funeral Chapel in Villa Ridge. Burial will be in Spencer Heights Cemetery at Mounds. Friends may call at the funeral home after 1 p.m. today...

MARBLE HILL -- Ruthia Jane Germann, 86, of Marble Hill, died Tuesday, April 13, 1993, at her home. She was born Oct. 19, 1906, at Glen Allen, daughter of Ben and Rose Newell Farmer. She married Lyman Liley in 1925, who died in 1967. She later married Lewis Germann in 1977, who died in 1978...

SEDGEWICKVILLE -- Carroll Lynn Cook Sr., 65, of Sedgewickville, died Tuesday, April 13, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Feb. 12, 1928, in Bollinger County, son of Amaziah and Dicey Fulton Cook. He and Lannis "Kitty" Young were married May 5, 1954, in St. Louis...

The Trail of Tears visitors center will host weekend programs throughout the summer. The state park will kick off its weekly schedule on Saturday with a wildflower workshop from 9 a.m. to noon. The workshop will include one hour of work in the classroom and two hours outdoors looking at wildflowers...

Workshop on Wheels will present a workshop entitled "Whole Language" tonight at 7. This presentation will be held at Little Bo Peep, 500 West North, in Perryville. Teachers and home providers will learn how to incorporate a writing center into their curriculum. Children begin to grasp the concept of reading and writing between the ages of two and six, but developmentally appropriate techniques must be used to encourage this emerging skill...

The Cape Girardeau Council of Garden Clubs will host its annual plant sale on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon at the Missouri Conservation Shelter in Arena Park. The clubs will sell an assortment of 10 inch hanging baskets including ivy geranium, impatients, begonia, torch begonia and ferns. Bedding plants will also be sold, including petunias, geraniums, coleus, impatients, marigolds, alyssum, dusty miller and portulaca...

Deputy U.S. Marshal Clarence Comer, who is stationed in Cape Girardeau, will be featured tonight on the CBS television network program "Top Cops." The program, which runs from 7-8 p.m., will recount action taken by Comer on Jan. 29, 1987, when a man hijacked a U.S. Postal Service vehicle in Scott City and took a postal employee hostage...

Free cataract surgery will be provided to area residents who cannot afford the treatment under a private, nationwide program. Mission Cataract, USA was launched in 1991 by Dr. Frederick Richburg of Fresno, Calif. To date, there are more than 193 physicians in 34 states who are participating in the program...

Looking on the positive side, maybe it took a series of negative events to produce Gov. Mel Carnahan's Education Reform Plan that was unveiled to citizens just a few days ago. For more than a decade, Missouri has assiduously ignored its worsening school crisis, and when the state was not ignoring the startling facts, it was refusing to pay the cost of ending it. ...

Many may regard substance abuse particularly among young people as a problem more at home in an urban environment, where unsupervised, street-wise kids have temptations closer at hand. In fact, young people in rural settings face the same forbidden lures, whether in a country road beer party or a marijuana cigarette shared after school. ...

Three area citizens and a group will be recognized for their grassroots community service Tuesday at the sixth annual Bell Volunteer Awards luncheon. It will be held at the Cape Girardeau Country Club. The luncheon will pay tribute to some of the most unsung heroes of the area, said Craig Felzien, area manager of Southwestern Bell community relations. "These people don't do volunteer work in order to be recognized. They place service above self."...

Nearly 700 students from 33 area junior and senior high schools are expected to compete in the annual Math Field Day today at Southeast Missouri State University. The event is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The day is slated to begin with a welcome at 9:30 a.m. ...

Tenor Christopher Goeke, an instructor of voice and opera in Southeast Missouri State University's music department, will present a voice recital at 7:30 tonight in Old St. Vincent's Church. John Shelton, professor of piano at Southeast, will serve as accompanist...