Stories from Tuesday, December 7, 1993

Changes are needed in health care to hold down costs and make health care more accessible to all Missourians, the head of the St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition said Monday. Jim Stutz, the group's executive director, spoke to about 120 doctors, medical officials and business leaders at a meeting at the Holiday Inn in Cape Girardeau. The meeting was sponsored by the Cape Girardeau County Area Medical Society and the Southeast Missouri Business Group on Health...

Jay B. Knudtson, 1126 Cyprus Court, on Monday became the third candidate to file for election to Cape Girardeau's Ward 6 city council seat. Knudtson, 30, is assistant vice president at Boatmen's National Bank. A native of Minnesota, he has lived in Cape Girardeau for the past five years...

The Cape Girardeau City Council agreed Monday to table a proposed trash fee hike until its Dec. 20 meeting to allow for citizen comments and a staff presentation regarding the plan. In other business, the council voted to solicit riverboat gambling proposals from as many gaming companies as possible, and refused to approve a six-month extension of the city's cable television franchise...

Toybox headquarters, located in a building at the corner of North Kingshighway and Mt. Auburn Road, looks pretty empty right now. There are toys stacked in a few corners, a room set aside for infant and toddler toys, and another for stuffed animals (the Barney dolls have their own special corner), but for the most part there's a lot of open space...

It's a daily ritual at Mrs. I's house: Her daughter rises at dawn to help Mrs. I dress and settle in for the day before her daughter leaves for work. Mrs. I then waits for her daughter to return home. After years of taking care of her family, Mrs. I now must depend on her daughter for virtually everything. Mrs. I is confined to a wheelchair...

JACKSON -- There will be at least one new face on the Jackson Board of Aldermen next April. Three-term Ward 4 Alderman LeRoy Brown said Monday he will retire from the board in April 1994, when his current term expires. Brown, who is retired from business, said he has been spending more time outside the city recently, making it difficult for people in his ward to contact him at times. Brown will have served a total of six years on the board when he steps down...

SCOTT CITY -- A repairman digging along Main Street in early November struck and ruptured a water main, leaving the city without potable water for two days. The city was able to repair the break quickly and flush out the lines, but the Missouri Department of Natural Resources issued a boil-water order until the water could be tested to ensure it was free of bacteria...

JACKSON -- Nellie M. McLard, of Jackson, died Sunday, Dec. 5, 1993, at the Deal Nursing Home in Jackson. She was born May 26, 1908, at Neelys Landing, Mo., daughter of Ben and Bertha Farrow Meyer. She married William H. McLard, Sept. 4, 1926, at Jackson. He died Sept. 27, 1987...

Esther M. Hubbs, 76, of Glendale, Ariz. formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, Dec. 3, 1993, at Hospice Camelot Care Center in Peoria, Ariz. She was born Dec. 27, 1916 in Cape Girardeau, the daughter of Benjamin H. and Nellie Bess Hinkle. On Aug. 1, 1959, she married Roy Hubbs in St. Louis. He preceded her in death Nov. 13, 1987...

CHARLESTON -- Virginia Armetha Brown, 77, of Charleston, died Monday, Dec. 6, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born July 15, 1916, in the Gravel Ridge community, daughter of Leonard Price and Virgie Harrison Stark Sr. She and Thomas Venard Brown were married June 14, 1936. He died June 14, 1962...

JACKSON -- Russell Olson "Rusty" Hawkins Jr. of Desloge died Sunday, Dec. 5, 1993, at the Desloge Inn. He was born Dec. 10, 1938, in Cape Girardeau, son of Russell and Irene Grant Hawkins. Hawkins was a graduate of Jackson High School, received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla, and a master's degree in business administration from St. Louis University...

MCGEE -- John A. Payne, 85, of McGee, died Sunday, Dec. 5, 1993, at his home. He was born Aug. 20, 1908, at McGee, son of Levi and Lucy Bell Razor Payne. He and Virgie Williams were married March 25, 1932, at Arab. She died Oct. 27, 1992. Payne was a driver with Trailways 11 years, and had been a bus driver 26 years with Zalma and Greenville Schools. He was a member of Shady Dell General Baptist Church at McGee...

CHAFFEE -- Olivia Clara Schaefer, 76, of Chaffee, died Monday, Dec. 6, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Aug. 26, 1917, at New Hamburg, daughter of David Philip and Clara Klipfel Westrich. She and Zeno "Sam" Schaefer were married July 20, 1937. He died March 4, 1980...

CHARLESTON -- John Jake Warren, 77, Charleston Route 3, died Sunday, Dec. 5, 1993, at his home. He was born Sept. 22, 1916, in Thayer, son of Jake and Dora Young Warren. He and Minnie Slaten were married Sept. 26, 1946. Warren was a retired merchant, and attended the United Methodist Church in Wyatt. He was a paratrooper with the U.S. Army during World War II...

I don't know about you, but now that the North American Free Trade Agreement has been enacted by Congress, I feel better already. You can almost feel prosperity in the air, and I'm waiting for all that free trade that was promised to get moving north and south across the border. To paraphrase, good times are just around the next paragraph in NAFTA...

Fifty-two years ago today the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The devastating attack shocked America and catapulted our nation into World War II. Members of the Cape Girardeau chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association will remember that "Date of Infamy" during a memorial service this morning at the Cape Girardeau riverfront. A wreath of remembrance will be cast into the river...

Cape Girardeau residents needing mulch can get it at the southeast corner of Arena Park, where the city has a mulch pile. The mulch site was moved from West End Boulevard, where the city chipped yard waste collected throughout the year. The mulch is free. For more information call the city's Public Works Department at 334-9151...

One of two Perryville teenagers who were injured in an accident that killed two teens on Interstate 55 near the Perry-Cape Girardeau counties line remained in a Cape Girardeau hospital Monday. Jeremy Welker, 17, of Perryville, driver of a car that crossed the median and was struck by a pickup truck at 5:25 p.m. Thursday, remained in the surgical intensive care unit at St. Francis Medical Center. Jill Moore, 15, of Perryville, who also was injured, was dismissed from the hospital Sunday...

Sherry Ford says instead of doling out bonus points she gets them from her kindergarten students at Meadow Heights Elementary School. "The most gratifying part of my job is watching little eyes light up the first time a sentence is read or a new task is accomplished without teacher's help," said Ford. "The hugs and `I love you, Mrs. Ford,' are extra bonus points in my book."...

Patrolman Dan Niswonger of the Cape Girardeau Police Department remembers how he wore with pride an orange crossing belt identifying him as a grade-school crossing guard. "I remember how proud I was to wear that belt, and I guess that really planted the seed that led to my career as a police officer," Niswonger said as he recalled his youth in the early 1960s...

The middle-school-aged student, more technically referred to as the emerging adolescent learner, is characterized by an abundance of energy and imagination. Individually and collectively they are diverse in their patterns of development and they exhibit behavior that reveals curiosity and an explorative nature. It has been stated that a middle-schooler is the only creature to be able to meet someone, begin to like this person, go steady and break up -- all through a third person...

"Books, songs and plays: A successful approach for getting school- age children involved," is the topic for the Workshop of Wheels program Wednesday at 7 p.m. The presentation will the held at Trinity Lutheran Day Care, 55 N. Pacific. The objective of Ann Gifford's program is to demonstrate how books with songs can assist students in acquiring reading skills and help reluctant readers enjoy books. Singing and dancing will be major parts of the program...

Award-winning state 4-H projects qualified David Green and April Miller to attend the National 4-H Congress being held in Chicago through Wednesday. Green and Miller are among nearly 1,200 students from across the nation to participate in the 4-H event. Their trips were paid for by sponsors...

NEW HAMBURG -- The Kelso C-7 School in New Hamburg has chartered a Junior Beta Club, which will be doing service projects for the school and community. The National Beta Club is an academic, service and leadership club for students. Students were selected for the Kelso-C-7 club by grade-point average and teacher recommendation. Officers are: president, Brandon Blattel; vice president, Daniel Mothershead; secretary, Leonna Essner; and treasurer, Lyndsey Burger...

James Todd Washburn of Cape Girardeau received an Outstanding Recent Alumni Award from Vincennes University during Homecoming weekend Nov. 19-20. Washburne was one of eight Outstanding Recent Alumni chosen from each of the academic divisions. He was the honoree of the technology division...