Stories from Saturday, February 19, 1994

To The Editor: The Zero Tolerance in the Southeast Missourian has been misrepresented as investigative journalism, while it fits the spirit and letter of neither. It is no more than propaganda, obvious support for the dogma of the War on Drugs. The Southeast Missourian plays on fears and ignorance while discounting the facts and ignoring the arguments against the continuance of the Drug War...

To the Southeast Missourian: The recent letter to your paper by some\nurses concerning smoking, reiterates the slanted propaganda of slanted research -- and needs answering. The statistics anti-smokers use to devil smokers simply does not take into consideration the huge increase in carbon monoxide the ever-increasing number of cars pours into our environment, plus newly discovered radon, all of which do the same thing cigarette smoke is said to do...

To the Editor: Ah, the local gambling competition is heating up this cold winter. th downtown merchants have recently stireed themselves up again to plead on behalf of the Boyd Group. Meanwhile, Lady Luck struggles to come from behind with spectacular plans for southside development. ...

About 1,400 men and women gathered at the Show Me Center Thursday morning to break bread, pray and listen to the testimonial of nationally syndicated columnist Cal Thomas. The event was organized by the Cape Girardeau Christian Businessmen's Committee and the mayors of Cape Girardeau and Jackson...

Harry A. Naeter Jr. was a good friend to Cape Girardeau. We mourn his death but celebrate his lasting contributions to our city. His love of Cape Girardeau lives on in the daily pages of the Southeast Missourian -- a newspaper his uncles founded and he carried forward...

While most federal, state, county and municipal offices will be closed Monday in observance of Presidents Day, most area schools will be in session to make up days lost due to snow and ice. The exception is Cape Girardeau public schools and St. Mary's Cathedral School in Cape Girardeau, which will be closed for the holiday...

Laughing is good for you. It can reduce stress, lower blood pressure, exercise muscles, enhance the immune system, says Marilyn Grey. Grey was keynote speaker at the fifth annual Community Caring Conference Friday at the Show Me Center. About 170 attended...

Participants in the fifth annual Community Caring Conference were advised Friday that serious efforts are under way to reform the welfare system at both the federal and state levels. But four legislators participating in a forum all agreed that reform will not be easy because issues are complicated...

Lady Luck Gaming Corp. officials earlier this week expressed fears that the process to select a riverboat casino operator in Cape Girardeau would unfairly enable the competition to expand its proposal. But it was Lady Luck, not Boyd Gaming Corp., that Friday topped their previous $58 million riverboat casino and resort proposal...

The Shawnee District Friends of Scouting has kicked off its 1993 fund-raising campaign. Jim Limbaugh, president of Boatmen's Bank of Cape Girardeau and chairman of the 1994 Friends of Scouting in the Shawnee District, said the goal for this year's campaign is $43,000, with a goal of $16,400 in Cape Girardeau...

A two-day seminar for nursing assistants is planned March 4 and 11 to examine the role they play in the care of stroke patients. The program is sponsored by the Neurosciences Institute at St. Francis Medical Center. The program is designed for nurse assistants who care for stroke victims in long-term care facilities, but will cover subjects appropriate for nursing assistants in any setting...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Bill Connell, licensed massage therapist, will discuss self-massage and breathing awareness at the Thursday meeting of the Multiple Sclerosis Support Group. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale Connell will discuss stress management, focusing on the face and head to reduce tension patterns and headache pain...

CH.A.D.D. chapter to meet Monday "Why Won't My Child Sit Still?" is the topic for Monday's meeting of Ch.A.D.D. (Children with Attention Deficit Disorder). The group meets from 7-9 p.m. in the Harrison Room at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Linda Meadows, a counselor at Notre Dame High School and new parent coordinator for the local Ch.A.D.D. chapter, will present a video, "Why Won't My Child Sit Still?" followed by a discussion...

Steven C. Bailey, MD, will discuss by-pass surgery on Thursday's "Ask Your Doctor" television program. The show airs at 8 p.m. on Cape Girardeau cable channel 5. It is sponsored by St. Francis Medical Center, Southeast Missouri Hospital, Cape Girardeau County Medical Society, and channel 5...

When it comes to the common cold, there isn't much any cold sufferer can do except take plenty of fluids, get plenty of rest, take medication for the symptoms, and let it run its course. "Pretty well, a cold is going to just run its course," said Jane Wernsman, nursing supervisor for the Cape Girardeau County Health Department. "It is a viral problem and not something that can be easily treated."...

Two continuing education courses for nurses, one on basic arrhythmia interpretation and the other on chemotherapy and cancer care, are planned to begin in March at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale. The six-week program on cardiac arrhythmia interpretation begins March 7 and continues through April 11. Classess will meet from 4-7 p.m. at the hospital...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Frances Caplan, 74, of Fullerton, Calif., died Monday, Feb. 14, 1994, in Fullerton. She was born May 6, 1919, in Cairo, daughter of Charles T. and Emma Deweese Huey. Caplan worked for Sony Corp. of America 23 years, retiring as personnel manager...

MARBLE HILL -- Betty Jean Schmitt, 54, died Friday, Feb. 18, 1994, in St. Louis. She was born July 7, 1939, at Marble Hill, daughter of Ransom J. and Wilma Maedean Garland. She retired as a clerk typist with Travelers Protection Association insurance company in St. Louis...

ANNA, Ill. -- James Leon Buckingham, 39, Anna Route 1, died Thursday, Feb. 17, 1994, in Des Moines, Iowa. He was born Oct. 17, 1954, in Anna, son of Mattie Marie Stevens. Buckingham was a member of Anna Heights Baptist Church. Survivors include his stepfather and stepmother, Ray and Beatrice Stevens of Anna; a daughter, Jennifer Buckingham of Jonesboro, and a sister, Linda Smith of Cobden...

MILLER CITY, Ill. -- Funeral service for Ruth I. Billings of Miller City will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Lake Milligan Baptist Church. The Rev. Verlee Eaker will officiate, with burial in Green Lawn Memorial Gardens at Villa Ridge. Friends may call at Barkett Funeral Chapel in Cairo after 5 p.m. today...

SIKESTON -- Thomas Oscar Fuller, 78, of Sikeston, died Tuesday, Feb. 15, 1994, at his home. He was born Aug. 15, 1915, in Vanndale, Ark., son of Willie Oscar and Marie Brown Fuller. He was a retired farmer, and member of St. John Baptist Church. On April 12, 1944, he married Vetra Staton...

Reba Merriweather, 78, of Crewe, Va., died there Wednesday, Feb. 16, 1994. She was born Dec. 2, 1915, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Enoch P. and Mamie B. Randle Jones. Merriweather attended school here, and was a former member of Second Baptist Church...

Virginia "Skeeter" Lamkin, 80, died Thursday, Feb. 17, 1994, at Chateau Girardeau. She was born Nov. 14, 1913, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Francis Marion and Anne H. Huey Williams. She and Robert E.L. Lamkin Jr. were married June 1, 1937, in Cape Girardeau. He died July 15, 1992...

SCOTT CITY -- Funeral service for Jessie Pearl Hensley of Scott City will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City. The Rev. Terry Eades will officiate, with burial in Lightner Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 3 p.m. Sunday...

C.R. "Dick" Finley, 72, 2303 W. Cape Rock Drive, died Thursday, Feb. 17, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Jan. 3, 1922, at Benton, son of Claud Richard and Elsa Hunter Green Finley. He and Janice McMillen Riehl were married Nov. 29, 1957...

Eleanor Elizabeth Benson, 75, of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, Feb. 18, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Oct. 1, 1918, at Jackson, daughter of Maple E. and Frances E. Strong Joerns. She and George E. Benson were married June 3, 1963. He died in 1988...

Louise P. Bennett, 79, 424 S. Spring, died Friday, Feb. 18, 1994, at Cape Girardeau Nursing Center. She was born Aug. 23, 1914, at Blodgett, daughter of James and Bessie Deaton Peal. She and William M. Bennett were married Sept. 14, 1951, in Cape Girardeau...

DWI Raymond M. Cole, 31, of 1190 Broadway, was arrested at 5:39 p.m., Thursday at South Frederick and Independence and charged with driving while intoxicated. Thefts Money Time Pawn Shop, 701 William, reported the theft on Thursday of a Pioneer AM-FM CD stereo...