Stories from Sunday, May 30, 1993

Willadean Stanger, 60, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, May 29, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

It isn't every day that an officeholder is publicly castigated, by name, on a public issue of great moment, at an unrelated ceremonial occasion, by a former governor. Such was my fate at the hands of the Honorable Warren E. Hearnes in Sikeston on Wednesday, May 26, 1993 at the 25th anniversary of the Sikeston Regional Center of the Missouri Department of Mental Health...

Andrew David Oxford is a Cape Girardeau resident and free-lance writer. He currently has a novel being offered to national publishing houses and is working on another. He and his wife, Penny, have a two-year-old son, Andrew. Jr. "And ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars........"...

In the first major test on the specifics of his economics program, Bill Clinton eked out a cliff-hanging 219-213 victory in the House. Twelve years ago, Ronald Reagan had a much easier time of it with his economic program. Reagan had a very simple, easy-to-comprehend message which he could sell time and time again to the American people: drastic cuts in taxes will create an economic boom that will bring in billions of additional tax dollars. Everything will be just fine...

Eric Dahl of Jackson has been elected chairman of the board of the Southeast Missouri Regional Easter Seal Society, which has its headquarters at 316 S. Plaza Way in Cape Girardeau. Elected to serve with Dahl were: John Hostetler, Cape Girardeau, vice-chairman and treasurer; and Cindy Knudtson and Paula Miles, both of Cape Girardeau, co-secretaries...

Lori Gress, assistant director of campus activities at Southeast Missouri State University, has been appointed to serve as the project manager for New Professionals Resource of the Commission for Campus Activities of the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) Education Foundation. Her term began May 1...

For many of us, Memorial Day is synonymous with the start of summer. It's family picnics, a splash in the pool, a three-day weekend, the Indy 500 auto race, as well as the end of the school year and the start of summer vacations. Across this nation, Memorial Day also will be marked with ceremonies honoring the nation's veterans and those who died in the service of their country...

SIKESTON -- Henry "Bubba" Eckles, 60, of Sikeston died Friday, May 28, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau after an extended illness. He was born Nov. 23, 1932, at Penola, Miss., the son of the late Louis and Carrie Eckles. He was a retired truck driver and a member of St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Sikeston, where he served on the deacon board...

Edith B. Stuart, 90, of Cape Girardeau, died Thursday, May 27, 1993, at the Ratcliff Nursing Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 4, 1902, daughter of John and Emma Brucher Wilson, in Cape Girardeau. She married Charles E. Stuart on Nov. 5, 1938, in Hannibal, Mo. He preceded her in death Jan. 8, 1965...

CHARLESTON -- Pleas "Charlie" Starks, 53, of Charleston, died Tuesday, May 25, 1993, at Buffalo General Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y. He was born Nov. 14, 1939, at Charleston, son of Pleas and Arlene Starks. He married the former Mattie Miller. Starks was a member of Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Buffalo...

CANALOU -- Funeral service for Floyd Edward Smith of Canalou was held Saturday at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston. The Rev. Mike Cartwright officiated, with burial in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Smith, 60, died Thursday, May 27, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center...

Carol Suzanne Wilson, 51, of San Diego, died on Tuesday, May 25, 1993, at the Sharp Cabrillo Hospital in San Diego after an extended illness. She grew up in Sikeston and had been a school teacher. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Chapel...

EAST PRAIRIE -- James O. "Pee Wee" Britt, 75, of East Prairie died Friday, May 28, 1993, at his home. He was born Feb. 21, 1918, at Thirty Four Corner, the son of Golder Lee and Mary Magnolia Martin Britt. On Oct. 11, 1966, he married Marie Imogene Britt, who survives of the home...

Eileen Emeline Klaproth, 77, of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, May 28, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 24, 1915, at Steeleville, Mo., daughter of William Lay and Elfleda Scott Lay. She married Clarence Klaproth on May 18, 1940. He preceded her in death on July 20, 1978...

Joe William Howard, 81, of Harvester, Mo., died Thursday, May 27, 1993, at St. Charles Health Care Center. He was born Nov. 21, 1911, at Gravel Hill, Mo., son of Leo Howard and Lottie Ates Howard. He married the former Carmon Gray on June 7, 1933. she survives...

Ernest L. Friese, of Route 1, Friedheim, died Saturday, May 29, 1993. He was born Dec. 12, 1906, in Cape County, son of Christian Mitchell Friese and Margaret Hahs Friese. He was married in December of 1940 to Helen Marie Cobble. She survives. Also surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Loretta Lowe, Route 4, Jackson and Mrs. Ethel Daume, Oak Ridge; a sister, Iva Brennecke of Cape Girardeau; and two grandchildren,...

CHARLESTON -- Funeral service for Earline McClain of Charleston will be held at 4 p.m. today at McMikle Funeral Chapel. James Smith will officiate, with burial in IOOF Cemetery. McClain, 77, died Thursday, May 27, 1993, at her home. She was born Sept. 20, 1915, in Mississippi County, daughter of John and Rady Atchison Delk. She and J.C. McClain were married Dec. 17, 1940. He died Oct. 20, 1989...

Following a graduation mass Thursday morning, Notre Dame High School senior Kim Scherer blinked away a few tears. Friday night, Scherer and her classmates participated in their school's commencement ceremony. Students at Cape Girardeau Central High School graduate June 4...

Demolition of structures along the new Mississippi River bridge route in South Cape Girardeau could get under way by early- to mid-June; early earthwork for the Highway 74 bridge route interchange at Interstate 55 could start in July. Bids were opened for both projects Friday...

Cities across Missouri, from small riverfront hamlets to urban giants, are betting that riverboat gambling will bring economic prosperity and an abundance of tourists. In November, Missouri voters legalized riverboat gambling along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. That opened the door for cities and counties fortunate enough to have river access to seek local approval for such gambling...

If riverboat gambling comes to Cape Girardeau as a result of the June 8 city election: The city will have a sizable infusion of money, but it should guard against becoming dependent on gambling revenues. The infant riverboat industry is in what one official called a "niche-finding" phase. The gambling boat could leave just as others have done elsewhere...

The administrator of Southeast Missouri Hospital says he's worried the nation might end up emulating Canada's health care system. "I'm just really concerned that when all of this shakes out (on health care reform), that whatever we have in this country is going to very closely come to the Canadian system," said Jim Wente, administrator of the Cape Girardeau hospital...

The future of health care rests with a more coordinated approach involving regional cooperation among medical facilities, the heads of Cape Girardeau's two hospitals say. Jim Wente, administrator of Southeast Missouri Hospital, and John Fidler, president of St. Francis Medical Center, shared their visions of health care in a joint interview with the Southeast Missourian...

A Holcomb, Mo. man was killed Saturday when his car ran into a train in Southeast Missouri, authorities said. James Cameron, 61, died in the accident at 2:15 p.m. at a crossing in Pemiscot County, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Cameron tried to stop his car, but could not, the patrol said...

JACKSON - The Cape Girardeau County Commission soon will begin interviewing applicants for the post of county highway engineer and superintendent. For the first time, the county is seeking someone who has a civil engineering degree and professional engineering certification...

The featured guest on "University Conversations" today will be Deborah Below, an admissions counselor at Southeast Missouri State University. The 30-minute program can be seen Sunday evenings on local cable access Channel 5 at 7:30 p.m. Below and moderator Jim Biundo will discuss the university's recent success in recruiting National Merit scholars...

The Cape Life Pioneers, a group of retired telephone employees, this week donated $300 to the Cape Girardeau County Health Department. "With this donation, these people have given $1,012 to the health department since December," said Charlotte Craig, director of the Cape County Health Department. "About half of their donation has been directed to children, and the remainder for Christmas for the Elderly."...

Five Cape Girardeau firefighters Saturday were cited by Fire Chief Robert Ridgeway for their lifesaving efforts in two incidents this month. Capt. Scott Altenthal was commended for his actions May 17 in which he assisted a Jackson police officer in providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to a heart attack victim...

SIKESTON -- Union Electric Company and Sikeston city officials have announced the completion of a $100,000 sale of UE's electric business to the city. The sales, completed Friday, transfers about 60 residential and 20 commercial customers to the city of Sikeston. The agreement also give the city the right to serve one customer outside its municipal boundaries...

ANNA, Ill. -- The headlines in July 1991 told of Army Reserve Lt. Lorraine M. Lawton being killed in a car crash while on duty during the Gulf War. But folks in Anna remember Lorrie Moyer, a smiling girl with long blond hair and a love for reading, languages and children. She was born May 8, 1963, and died July 10, 1991...

When I hear the TV announcer say, "The world today will continue in just a moment, my mind asks the facetious question, "Has it stopped?" "The World Today" is the name of the program but, hearing the spoken words makes it sound as if we have paused briefly in orbit...

Sun loving flowers demand equal time given the shade lovers last week. Most of the plants gardeners depend on for quick color in the garden is from annuals and most of them prefer the sunny spots of the garden. If you are looking for brightness, warmth, liveliness in the flower bed or border this summer, a trip to the bedding plant area of any nursery, garden center, grocery or hardware store, will fill the bill. My personal problem is that my eyes are more aggressive than my planting hands...