Stories from Monday, October 18, 1993

One woman came to the "Christian Care at Life's End" seminar Sunday because she doesn't want her daughter in Texas to have to make difficult decisions if her mother's health suddenly should fail. Another, Ethel Priest of Jackson, hoped that people will pray and seek pastoral guidance before signing an "advance directive" document that outlines beforehand which life-prolonging measures can be used if the patient's condition is terminal. ...

If the city council wants to step up a plan to hire more officers for the Cape Girardeau Police Department it will need to devise a way to get another $30,000 from the city budget. The city council tonight will discuss a proposal made Oct. 4 by Police Chief Howard "Butch" Boyd Jr., who proposed hiring six police officers over the next three years...

In the next few weeks, Cape Girardeau police officer Brian Ritter plans to spend part of his off-duty time driving groups of teen-agers around in a patrol car while explaining the ins and outs of the criminal justice system. "Our department has contact with students throughout the elementary grades, but in junior high and high school that contact decreases -- if not stops completely," said Ritter...

In an upstairs classroom at May Greene Elementary School, representatives of three community agencies are working together to help children stay in school and out of trouble. Cape Girardeau's Caring Communities Project, funded by a state grant, is one of just five sites in Missouri experimenting with this type of cooperation...

The Southeast Missourian asked students at L.J. Schultz Middle School what they liked to do in their free time. Leanne Lee: Sometimes I like to read, especially fiction books. Sometimes I play tennis, basketball, ride my bike. I rollerblade with my friends in the neighborhood. We get together and do stuff."...

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- The Illinois Department of Transportation says lengthy delays can be expected for the next three weeks when work begins today to blacktop raised sections of Route 3 and 146 between East Cape Girardeau and McClure. When the asphalt paving is going on during the daylight hours, there will be one-way traffic along Route 146, and motorists can expect delays of 45 minutes to one hour, said Bill Stout, operations engineer for department's Carbondale office...

Branson has received its share of widespread and positive publicity in recent years, and it has been richly deserved. As addictive as such praise is, however, the current wave of negative stories concerning the alleged disregard of building codes in this Missouri boom town must sting a bit. ...

In the aftermath of the Oct. 5 election failure of a school improvements package for Cape Girardeau, the second time such an issue has failed, the Southeast Missourian published a clip-and-mail coupon seeking comments on the negative outcome. Several dozen people repsonded to our request. What follows are comments offered concerning the questions posed. Many used the coupon as an opporunity to write longer, more detailed explanations for their votes...

Thorwald Frederick Johnston, 68, of Pahrumpt, Nev., died Saturday, Oct. 16, 1993, at the St. Francis Medical Center. Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel is in charge of funeral arrangements, which are incomplete at this time.

CHAFFEE -- Ervin C. Boese, 81, of Chaffee, died Saturday, Oct. 16, 1993, at the St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Oct. 2, 1912, at Gordonville, son of Albert and Bertha Borgfield Boese. He married Marcella Hartmann in 1931. She died in 1947. He was a farmer in the area around the Delta and Whitewater communities all his life...

JACKSON -- Joe Thomas Bagwell Sr., 73, of Jackson, died Saturday, Oct. 16, 1993, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 7, 1920, at Bardwell, Ky., son of John and Rebecca Harp Bagwell. He married Lorraine Bonenberger, June 27, 1959, at St. Louis...

MARBLE HILL -- Bradley J. Seabaugh, 35, of Marble Hill, died Sunday, Oct. 17, 1993, from injuries sustained in a pedestrian-vehicle accident. He was born Nov. 11, 1957, at Wood River, Ill., son of Charles Everett and Mary Atchison Seabaugh. He worked as a concrete finisher. Seabaugh moved to Marble Hill in 1989 from Wood River...

Fred R. Smith, 88, of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, Oct. 16, 1993, at the Lutheran Home. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of funeral arrangements, which are incomplete at this time.

Carlton S. "Buck" Rodgers, 70, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, Oct. 17, 1993, at his residence near Gordonville. He was born July 13, 1923, near Bernie, Mo., son of Sam and Irene Stephens Rodgers. He married Opal Howell, Dec. 30, 1941, at Bernie. Rodgers was a member of the First Church of the Nazarene in Cape Girardeau...

ANNA, Ill. -- Lola Lesar, 88, of Anna, formerly of Thebes, Ill., died Sunday, Oct. 17, 1993, at the Union County Nursing Home. She was born Jan. 19, 1905, at Thebes, daughter of Moses and Mollie Leschener Lesar. She was a retired school teacher. Survivors include a sister, Rosena Clutts of Anna...

E. Wayne Morrow, 53, of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, Oct. 16, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born May 2, 1940, at Cape Girardeau, son of Earl and Bernice Whittaker Morrow. He married Barbara Aug, Jan. 9, 1960, at Cape Girardeau...

Good news and bad news seem to come in bunches for downtown Cape Girardeau. A recent column noted the number of buildings that have become vacant in the area near the Mississippi River. So much for the bad news. Today, some good news emerged. Don Lowe of Sikeston, owner of the former Montgomery Ward building, has announced plans concerning the huge structure at 18 N. Main...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- When the fall air becomes crisp and the foliage is tinged with flaming orange, outdoorsmen can look to the north and listen. A familiar sound can barely be heard at first, but gradually increases in volume until a long wave of Canada geese, streaming southward in their familiar "V" formation, become visible and their slightly off-key honking chorus reaches a crescendo...

Union Electric's quarter common stock dividend is up. The company's board of directors announced last week that the dividend, payable Dec. 30, to stockholders of record Dec. 8, will be 59.5 cents a share, up from 58 cents. "The increase reflects the current economic environment and compares favorably with dividend growth at other similar high quality electric utilities," said W. ...

Patricia Huttegger, Cape Girardeau, a registered nurse, has been named quality assurance coordinator, a new position created by the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Southeast Missouri. She has been patient care coordinator for the Cape Girardeau office since 1985, when VNA expanded into this area...