Stories from Tuesday, August 24, 1993

One complaint about the swollen federal government is that it tries to do too much, reaching into the lives of citizens when actions of individuals would serve better. In maddening contrast to this, however, is government's remarkable capacity for doing little in communication. Regarding the dilemma of new regulations governing landfills, the only action that has been touched off is head-scratching. Not even seasoned public servants can figure out what to do...

Radiation therapy will be the focus of next Thursday's "Ask Your Doctor" show on Cable Channel 5. Dr. Joseph P. Miller will be the featured guest. He will answer questions from local viewers, beginning at 8 p.m. The show is sponsored by St. Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri Hospital, in conjunction with the Cape Girardeau County Medical Society and Channel 5. Hosts are Martha Muench and Dr. Jean Chapman...

The Cape Girardeau NAACP encourages all its members and the public to participate in the 30th Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, scheduled for Aug. 28. Michael Sterling, president of the Cape Girardeau branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the theme of the march is "Jobs, Justice and Peace," and each of the more than 2,000 branches, college chapters and youth councils of the NAACP have been encouraged to participate...

Chapter 626 of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) will host its annual picnic on Wednesday, Sept. 1 at the Cape Girardeau County Park South, Pavilion 20. The picnic will begin at 11 a.m. Clubs from Springfield, Columbia, St. Louis, Joplin, Crystal City, Sikeston, Willow Springs and Bismarck will also attend as will Missouri Federation officials...

Cape Girardeau and Jackson cable television customers will be paying more for basic service and premium channels beginning Sept. 1. But the price for expanded basic service will actually decrease under the new rate structure, said Roger Harms, local manager of Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI) cable system, which serves about 13,000 subscribers in Cape Girardeau and Jackson...

JACKSON - Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep says he has serious reservations about a riverboat gambling operation run from the harbor of the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority. Huckstep questioned whether the traffic created by a gambling boat would blend in with the industrial focus of the port authority. He said he believes any fees and tax revenues generated by a boat should go to the port authority and not Scott County government...

A dispute between cable operators and area broadcasters could leave cable customers scrambling for "rabbit ears" to watch the World Series and other over-the-air network programming. From Paducah, Ky., to Cape Girardeau, cable operators have threatened to drop the ABC, NBC and CBS affiliate broadcast stations from their lineups rather than pay retransmission fees...

TUPELO, Miss. Sha Brooks' grandparents first met in Zickfield's jewelry store in downtown Cape Girardeau. She was buying a bracelet for her beau. The young man convinced her to go out with him that night instead. Brooks didn't know she had a personal connection with Cape Girardeau until after she had settled on it as the beneficiary of Tupelo's flood relief largess...

About 30 people turned out Monday night to hear U.S. Rep. Mel Hancock's opinion of the latest federal and state tax increases and his proposal to do something about them. Hancock, a Southwest Missouri congressman serving his third term, was the author of the 1980 amendment which bears his name. It limits the growth of state spending each year to the same percentage as the growth of Missourians' personal income...

JACKSON - Two changes in Missouri statutes regarding voter registration will take effect Saturday. One will allow people to register by mail, and the other change extends the time by one week when registration books close before an election. Both measures were included in comprehensive election bills approved by the General Assembly last spring and signed into law by Gov. Mel Carnahan...

JACKSON - As work nears completion on one major street project in northeast Jackson, bids will be opened next month for another major street project in the city's business district. Work on the Greensferry Road improvement began in July and should be completed in about a week...

SIKESTON -- Funeral mass for Pauline Lasters of Sikeston will be held at 10 a.m. today at St. Henry's Catholic Church in Charleston. The Rev. James Reynolds will officiate, with burial in Calvary Cemetery. McMikle Funeral Home at Charleston is in charge of arrangements...

JACKSON -- Amanda Vasterling Burgfeld, 96, of Jackson, died Sunday, Aug. 22, 1993, at Jackson Manor. She was born July 8, 1897, at Tilsit, daughter of F.J. and Martha Bartels Sander. She married Martin Vasterling July 8, 1917. He died Oct. 17, 1934. She and Louis Burgfeld were married March 14, 1942. He died April 5, 1946...

MARBLE HILL -- Mildred M. Long, 82, of Marble Hill, died Sunday, Aug. 22, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 9, 1910, at Scopus, daughter of Phillip and Hattie Kinder Long. She and Hubert E. Long were married July 16, 1932. He died Sept. 10, 1978...

Superman is back! The new Superman of D.C. Comics is really the old Superman, back from the dead. The once-in-a-lifetime comeback of the slain superhero will put to rest the "other guys" who have served as Superman pretenders after showing up in recent issues of D.C. Comics...

LEOPOLD -- Robert L. Casteel, 38, died Monday, Aug. 23, 1993, at St. John's Hospital in Springfield. He was born Jan. 11, 1955, in Greeley, Colo., son of Mr. and Mrs. Bob Casteel of Cassville. Casteel graduated from the Pontifical College, Josephinum, in Worthington, Ohio, and received a Ph.D from St. Louis University where he also taught. He then was director of Bascom honors program, liberal studies and professor of religious studies at Maryville University in St. Louis...

CHAFFEE -- Cindy Welker Burger, 27, of Chaffee, died Monday, Aug. 23, 1993 at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson.