Stories from Thursday, May 12, 1994

Funeral service for Max Adolph James, 615 S. Pacific, will be held at 1:30 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel. The Rev. Bill Dickey will officiate, with burial in Baker Cemetery at Marble Hill. James, 84, died Tuesday, May 10, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital...

Dear Editor, I was honored recently by the Chamber of Commerce as the Special Educator for 1994. This seems a perfect time to say thank you to the citizens of Cape Girardeau. Thank you Kim McDowell for your leadership and Mike Kohfeld for the beautiful tribute...

Dear Editor: I just read a letter in this section from a Margaret Walker of Cape Girardeau, who, judging from her letter (May 10), seems to be of a type that this country produces a lot of: Sanctimonious, smug, bigoted, uninformed busy-bodies. I'm a person who fights evil wherever he sees it, and I consider this lady and her type to be a major threat...

Ethanol's support from the President apparently seems to be running out of gas. As a strong ethanol supporter, I was shocked to recently learn of the administration's decisionj to consider the reduction or even outright repeal of the motor fuels tax exemption for ethanol. Federal Highway Administrator Rodney Slater recently made that case before the House Public Works and Transportation Committee. Such an action could shut down our nation's ethanol industry overnight...

The Environmental Protection Agency, never alien to the outrageous, may have really stepped in it this time. Adept in the art of regulation -- though ham-handed when it comes to making decisions palatable to the public -- the EPA believes lawn mowers and other small gas-powered lawn equipment are fouling the atmosphere. ...

SIKESTON -- Six-year-old Kirsten Grothe says her dad's "the Good Humor man." Dale Grothe chuckles at the thought. It's a nice feeling, he admits. The bearded Grothe said people smile when they hear what he does for a living. Grothe is personnel manager for the Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream plant in Sikeston...

THURSDAY, MAY 12 At 4:50 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters responded to a report of the odor of natural gas near Interstate 55 and Route K. At 6:20 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters responded to a report of the odor of natural gas near 1036 N. Sprigg. At 10:18 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters responded to a report of a fire alarm sounding at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport...

The Telephone Pioneers of America -- one of the largest volunteer organizations in the United States -- will hold its annual assembly in Cape Girardeau May 13-15. The assembly will be held at the Holiday Inn Convention Center. More than 300 members of the George F. Durant chapter of the organization are expected to attend...

A Cape Girardeau delegation will travel to China to enter into a "sister city" trade relationship with Shaoxing. The city council authorized the trip during its first meeting in May. The primary purpose of the sister city program is to promote trade, culture exchange, student exchange programs, educational programs and general friendship between the cities...

Dear Editor: I am responding to the letter by Margaret Walker (May 10). I believe the sentence, "Our president seeks no forgiveness, and so I won't pray for him," reflects an attitude prevalent among politically conservative Christians. This attitude is unbiblical and actually counterproductive...

Genita Osborn, 76, of Dix, Ill., died Monday, May 9, 1994, at Good Samaritan Regional Health Center in Mt. Vernon, Ill. She was born Feb. 23, 1918, in Texico, Ill., daughter of H. Angus and Edith Whitlock Harlow. She and Sterling Osborn were married Aug. 25, 1940, in Mt. Vernon...

NEW WELLS -- Albert T. Kutscher, 76, of Ballwin, died Tuesday, May 10, 1994, at Deaconess Hospital West in St. Louis. He was born Sept. 3, 1917, at New Wells, son of Martin and Diamanda Leine Kutscher. He married the former Elda E. Schlimpert. Kutscher was employed many years at General Motors assembly plant in St. Louis, retiring in 1979...

UNIONTOWN -- Corrine Anne Balsman, 68, of Uniontown, died Tuesday, May 10, 1994, at Bethesda General Hospital in St. Louis. She was born Nov. 9, 1925, at Biehle, daughter of Frank and Albertine Ruch Blechle. She and Edgar Leo Balsman were married Aug. 16, 1947...

SIKESTON -- Blanche V. Walker, 86, of Sikeston, formerly of East Prairie, died Wednesday, May 11, 1994, at her home. She was born Jan. 17, 1908, in the Crosno community, daughter of Samuel and Lottie Catherine Hale Oliphant. She married William Eugene Walker June 27, 1923. He died Oct. 21, 1986...

The Cape Girardeau Jaycees have installed new officers for the coming year. Linda Job will serve as the 59th president for the local chapter. Benita Curtis, Janet Kluesner, Darrell Stearns, and Tim Stroud will serve as vice presidents. Directors are Paul Bailey, Scot Garstang, Amy McDonald, Kyle McDonald, Missy Niereen, Tamara Smee, Steve Stilson, and Kevin Webbenmeyer. ...

SIKESTON -- Ida Williams, 95, of Sikeston, died Wednesday, May 11, 1994, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Amick-Burnett Funeral Home here is in charge of arrangements.

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Scotty Jones, 2017 David, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 11:45 a.m. Thursday, April 28, 1994. Name, Haley Brianna. Weight, 7 pounds 3 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Jones is the former Angie Hatley, daughter of Glenn and Janet Hatley of Bertrand, and is employed by Jeffrey C. Harrison, D.C. Jones is employed at Triangle Wire and Cable PWC, and is the son of Bill and Geneva Jones of Sikeston...

Rathael Fambro was glad to see Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress win the election in South Africa. Just weeks before the election, Fambro was in Kampala, Uganda, and watched a live, satellite link with the new South African leader, who encouraged the 7th Pan-African Congress to continue its work and to hope for the best in his troubled country...

When the first candle is lit, Cape Girardeau Airport Manager Randy Holdman likely will ask for a cupcake with no icing. Holdman celebrates his first-year anniversary at the airport with the quiet realization that he has made noteworthy progress, but has a long way to go before he's ready to put on a real party...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Two of the three Southeast Missouri state legislators who studied the welfare system, voted for a reform bill they believe fell short of its full potential. The bill passed by a wide margin. Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, who served on a joint interim committee to study the welfare system with the other two area legislators, was one of eight senators who voted against the package...

JEFFERSON CITY -- With two days remaining in the 1994 session of the Missouri General Assembly, Sen. Peter Kinder is at odds with Majority Leader J.B. "Jet" Banks over a concealed weapons amendment he is trying to have added to a juvenile crime bill...

May 12, 1994 Dear David, About 12 years ago, I went to a place a few hours north of here -- Happy Camp -- to write about a ceremony the Karok Indians perform "to put the world back in balance." A section of the Klamath River is closed to the public for a couple weeks, and members of the tribe come there to live as their ancestors had, they believe, since time began...

Nell Holcomb School District will open bids next week on a major renovation of the original classroom and cafeteria portion of the school complex. The work will begin when school is dismissed for the summer and should be completed before school reopens in late August...

Amid the recent hirings, transfers and promotions at the Cape Girardeau Police Department, dispatcher Ken Bullard quietly moved into the limelight. About three weeks ago, he and Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr. received discreet letters, advising them that Bullard had been named the regional Telecommunicator of the Year by an international organization of dispatchers and police communicators...

Mid-America Teen Challenge will hold its fourth annual Strawberry Festival May 28, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. The festival will be held at the Teen Challenge Training Center, about 5 miles north of Cape Girardeau on County Road 621. Special events include guided tours of the training facility and strawberry fields, puppet shows for children, Teen Challenge choir mini-concerts, drawings for free quarts of strawberries and a free serving of strawberry shortcake...

Fox Fire Records producer Jason Hawkins recognized something about Zalma High's Ercie James that looked and sounded like it could take off in Nashville. Hawkins is certainly one who knows the real thing, having experienced James' new-found excitement several years ago as an aspiring country music artist...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department will offer a series of aquatics classes to provide quality aquatic training in May and June. A series of aquatics classes such as lifeguard training, lifeguard training instructor, CPR/first aid, and water safety instructor aid will be offered...

The Heartland Writers Guild will meet at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 15, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Sikeston. The Heartland Writers Guild meets every second Sunday of each month and is a group comprised of published and unpublished authors devoted to the promotion and support of the concept of professionalism in writing...

A summer art exhibition for children will be unveiled May 16 at Southeast Missouri State University's Museum. The show, titled "Children Are Drawn to Art" will contain works from the museum's permanent collection. A four-year-old boy, Ethan Jokerst, accompanied by his grandmother, Barbara Herring, will help the museum director choose artworks for the gallery...