Stories from Thursday, April 29, 1993

To the Editor: I read with dismay the comments published in "Speak Out" on April 25, 1993, from the alleged rape victim involved in a May 8, 1992, incident occurring in Towers at Southeast Missouri State University. Your newspaper covered the trial and reported on it accurately. ...

ANNA, Ill. -- The new Union County Economic Development Corp. has a new headquarters building. "We're located in a 12-by-14-foot structure at the intersection of highways 51-146," said Jerry Reppert, president of the group, which was founded in March to seek new industry in efforts to offset the closing of two industries this year. The closings cost the area more than 450 jobs and payrolls of more than $5 million...

A benefit auction is scheduled May 7 from 5-7 p.m. at St. Francis Treasure Cove. All proceeds will go to The Show Me Blades USFSA Skating Club. Donations and consignments from the public are encouraged and will be appreciated. For more information, please call Vanita Jones, Jones Auction Service of Jackson, Mo., at 314-243-8550 between the hours of 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Monday-Saturday...

The Brave Little Toasters is a band whose strength lies in the songs they write. "I write from my own life experiences," said Clay Thomas, singer and guitarist for the Cape Girardeau-based band. "And I hope an honesty comes through that people can identify with."...

Dressed like a GQ model in a stylish tie, shirt and pleated trousers, Liquid Mary's lead singer Todd Shaw curses blackly at the sound of his own voice bouncing off the brick walls at Jeremiah's. He charges off the stage at the soundmen, who turn knobs and press ears to speakers until he's satisfied that the ricocheting tones are under control...

The last time Southeast Missouri State University's Department of Music staged a musical production it was Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte" (All Women Are Like That) and that was seven years ago. Gilbert and Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore," a lighthearted operetta about a British sailor who falls in love with his captain's daughter, has the honor of revitalizing the tradition...

Photo '93, the fourth annual National Juried Photograpby Show at Gallery 100, will open Sunday and continue through May 28. The opening reception will be held from 2-4 p.m. Sunday at the gallery. The juror for the show is Charles A. Swdlund, a professor of photography at SIU-Carbondale. He selected 45 works from all over the country for the exhibit...

Much will be made on this day about President Clinton's first 100 days in office. It is a false benchmark, to be sure: in what other job are you expected to be most productive in your first three months? However, President Clinton, awaking the ghost of FDR, raised the issue of the 100-day "quick start," and such an executive claim commands examination of his performance. It is, in a word, wanting...

JACKSON -- Jackson Board of Education President Darrell Hanschen believes last week's incident in which a sixth grade student displayed a weapon in a threatening manner could have been handled differently. But Hanschen denies there was any attempt to "cover up" the incident, saying the school district is taking steps to minimize the chances of a similar incident occurring in the future...

JEFFERSON CITY - It isn't often that a legislator participating in his first session has the opportunity to take the lead in breaking a deadlock to gain approval of the state budget. But Cape Girardeau Republican Peter Kinder did just that during a session of the Missouri Senate Wednesday morning...

JEFFERSON CITY - Legislation dealing with two of the biggest issues facing the state of Missouri made strong progress Wednesday in the House of Representatives, as lawmakers continued toward their May 14 adjournment. After lengthy debate, the House approved a workers' compensation reform bill by a margin of 120 to 36, returning it to the Senate, which approved a version last week. ...

Physicians, health care providers and business leaders of Southeast Missouri were briefed Wednesday on health-care-coalition movements across the country by the president of the National Business Coalition Forum on Health. Sean Sullivan, president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based coalition, told the Southeast Missouri Business Group on Health that health care reform must start on the local level if it is to be successful...

The problem with modern theology is the lack of respect for its subject, says poet Ted Hirschfield. "No one is afraid of God anymore." He laments that God currently is portrayed as a kind friend who bails people out of trouble instead of the awesome force the ancients called the mysterium tremendum...

DEXTER - The new director of the Missouri Emergency Management Agency, Jerry Uhlmann, will be the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Southeast Missouri Civil Defense Association on Sunday. SEMO-CDA President Lloyd Miller said the meeting will begin at 2:30 p.m., at the Dexter Elks Lodge on Business Route 60 and Sassafras Street in downtown Dexter...

DEXTER -- Glenn H. Totten, 78, of Dexter died Wednesday, April 28, 1993, at the Dexter Nursing Center. He was born Dec. 14, 1914, at Brownwood, the son of Arthur and Goldie May Pletcher Totten. On Jan. 2, 1942, he married Arvella Stout at Jackson, who survives of the home...

John E. Lynch, 75, of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, April 27, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Feb. 21, 1918, at Moberly, son of John and May Bently Lynch. He married Julia Edgar in 1941, who preceded him in death. He and Mary Jo Yuracko were married Sept. 19, 1962, in Jonesboro, Ill...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for Gary W. Wyatt of Burton, Mich., formerly of East Prairie, will be held at 2 p.m. today at Shelby Funeral Chapel. Burial will be in East Prairie Memorial Park. Wyatt, 48, died Sunday, April 25, 1993, at McLaren Regional Medical Center in Flint, Mich...

GRAND TOWER, Ill. -- Frank L. Cripps, 83, of Grand Tower, died Tuesday, April 27, 1993, at Jackson County Nursing Home in Murphysboro. He was born Sept. 13, 1909, in Pomona, son of Melvin L. and Ruth Ellis Cripps. He and Mary Lee Etta Wright were married Oct. 15, 1930...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Henrietta Cook, 51, of Hope Mills, N.C., died Wednesday, April 28, 1993, at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, N.C. She was born Oct. 12, 1941, in Tamms, daughter of Houston and Gladys Vick Stonecipher Survivors include a son, Dale Cook of Edmonton, Canada; foursisters, Mary Garrison of Morton, Margaret Wilson of Dexter, Mo., Jessie Sowers of Olive Branch, Lillie Braswell of Blue Island, and two grandchildren...

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Harvel McCoy of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:21 a.m. Tuesday, April 20, 1993. Name, Dana Christine. Weight, 9 pounds 14 ounces. Third child, second daughter. Mrs. McCoy is the former Linda Paxton, daughter of Bill and Lela Paxton of Morley and Dorothy Paxton of Jackson. McCoy is employed at Lee-Rowan, and is the son of Mancel and Hazel McCoy of Walker, La...

A fire at 131 S. Benton Tuesday night has been classified as a suspicious fire and is still under investigation, fire officials said Wednesday. Cape Girardeau Assistant Fire Chief Max Jauch said Wednesday that investigators have not classified the fire as an arson, nor will they rule it an accident at this point. Investigators are awaiting test results from materials taken from the house and forwarded to the Southeast Missouri Regional Crime Lab...

COMMERCE -- James Robert "Bob" Miller, 69, of Lake Ozark, died Tuesday, April 27, 1993, at his home. He was born Dec. 24, 1923, at Commerce, son of Robert Lee and Myrtle Alsobrook Miller. He married the former Barbara Kincade were married June 4, 1949, in St. Louis...