Stories from Tuesday, December 21, 1993

Santa Claus and a few dozen helpers will be out tonight making some early Christmas deliveries. Thousands of toys donated to the annual Toybox campaign will be given to needy Cape Girardeau youngsters. The children get the added bonus of a personal visit from the man in red himself...

A chance of rain or snow followed by partly cloudy skies and colder temperatures will accompany the arrival of winter today in the Cape Girardeau area. The cold weather will continue the rest of the week, with a chance of snow flurries on Christmas Eve...

Potential riverboat operators in Cape Girardeau will have until Jan. 15 to submit their proposals to city hall. The city council Monday approved a request for proposal (RFP) document with minor changes that will be used to solicit proposals from riverboat developers...

For the second time this month, the Cape Girardeau City Council refused Monday to vote on a proposed $1.46 per month trash-fee hike. On a motion by Councilman Doug Richards, the council tabled the measure until Jan. 3, when "alternative funding methods" and other "issues related to solid waste" will be discussed...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A report from the General Accounting Office requested by several members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, suggests that there are advantages to promoting breast feeding by mothers who are on the Women, Infants and Children program...

Two Cape Girardeau Board of Education incumbents, whose terms expire in April, are undecided about seeking reelection. Pat Ruopp and Gwen Bennett said final decisions are yet to be made. Filing for two three-year positions on Cape Girardeau's Board of Education opens Jan. 4 at 8 a.m. and closes Feb. 1 at 5 p.m...

JACKSON -- Charles N. Nance, 53, of Jackson, died Sunday, Dec. 19, 1993, at his home. He was born Oct. 23, 1940, at Delta, son of Norman and Nevada Driskell Nance. He and Jean Ann Martin were married Nov. 15, 1962, in San Francisco, Calif. Nance served 23 years in the U.S. Army, retiring in Anchorage, Alaska. He worked at St. Francis Medical Center six months, and had been supervisor of dietary care at Missouri Veterans Home since 1990...

Sherry Snell Denihan, 43, of Palatine, Ill., died Sunday, Dec. 19, 1993, at her home. Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Hugo A. Borchelt, 87, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, Dec. 19, 1993, at the Lutheran Home. He was born Dec. 16, 1906, at Egypt Mills, son of Julius and Clara Hente Borchelt. He and Iva Johnson were married Dec. 14, 1935, at Egypt Mills. She died Oct. 5, 1992...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Patricia Ann Reynolds, 42, of Jonesboro, died Monday, Dec. 20, 1993, at Union County Hospital in Anna. She was born Jan. 5, 1951, in Union County, daughter of Orville and Maggie Smiddy Brown. She and Richard Don Reynolds were married June 21, 1968...

SCOTT CITY -- John Martin Snider, 74, of Scott City, died Monday, Dec. 20, 1993, at his home. He was born July 10, 1919, in Cape Girardeau, son of Samuel Colbert and Ona Moore Snider. Snider was a maintenance worker at Dow Chemical in Cape Girardeau. He served 30 years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves, and was a veteran of World War II...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Holland J. Schlensker, 79, of New Albany, Ind., died Sunday, Dec. 19, 1993, at Floyd Memorial Hospital in New Albany. She was born June 2, 1914, at Dongola, daughter of David Henry and Dezia Grear Hinkle. She married Elmer G. "Butch" Schlensker...

Since children are almost universally a mirror of their upbringing, schools have always stood as microcosms of society. It is no wonder then that the violence that seems on an upswing in everyday life has found its way into the halls of learning. Even in relatively peaceful locales such as Cape Girardeau and neighboring communities, educators have a growing discomfort with the violent attitudes exhibited in their work environments. ...

To the Editor: A clear and present danger was recently eliminated for high school students in Jackson, Mississippi. For three days last month students at Wingfield High School were exposed to hearing a 21-word prayer read over the P.A. system by a fellow student. ...

Southeast Missouri State University's foreign languages department puts the accent on television. For the past month, students have been able to watch German, Spanish and French language programming via satellite, and next semester an Asian channel from Japan will be added to the menu...

CHAFFEE -- Fifth- and sixth-graders at St. Ambrose School are compiling a "growth capsule" to measure the changes that occur over the school year. Their teacher, Susan Ramsey, said the activity helps youngsters realize how quickly they are growing and changing, but that's not all...

Plato attributed to Socrates the following: "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs and tyrannize their teachers."...

JACKSON - The Jackson Board of Aldermen Monday authorized the installation of street lights at several locations. The board also opened bids for the city's liability insurance coverage, and approved the friendly annexation of a tract of land that adjoins the northwest corner of the city...