Stories from Tuesday, October 18, 1994

To the editor: Since the first of August, a large group of Central High School students has been working almost daily to become the best they can be. They are learning about goal-setting, teamwork, determination and the value of hard work. While they are learning these valuable lessons, they are forming lifelong friendships and having fun. The group I'm referring to is the Marching Tiger Band...

They came from as close as Metro Business College in Cape Girardeau and as far as Murray State University in Kentucky, but they all wanted the same thing. To recruit hundreds of Southeast Missouri teen-agers for their universities, colleges and trade schools...

In Friday's column I began to look at Rush Limbaugh's response to charges of lies and distortion by the media activist group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. The charges received wide play in the press when first released, and they have been referred to often by those who believe the Cape Girardeau native is a danger to American democracy...

Judge Marybelle Mueller's office in the Common Pleas Courthouse offers a stirring vista of downtown Cape Girardeau and the Mississippi River. But she has little time to admire the view. Doling out justice in the 32nd Judicial Circuit, which covers Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry counties, consumes her attentions. As associate circuit court judge, her caseload includes criminal, civil, adult abuse, divorces and the never-ending probate...

Many Cape Girardeau voters are being asked to take a few minutes this month to tell community leaders what they think of our city. The Vision 2000 Community Relations Council drafted and sent out a questionnaire to some 1,500 registered voters. The council wants to tap voters' opinions regarding the city's strengths and weaknesses and, more importantly, how best to improve the quality of life here...

"I'll bet you didn't expect to hear from me today," the voice on the other end of the phone said. There was no note of anxiety, no nervous sputter, no hesitation in the speech, and the voice was correct: I didn't know who was calling. "This is Judi," the voice said helpfully. ...

The city of Cairo, Ill., has sent a clear and adamant message to drug dealers who have besieged the community: You are not welcome here. In the past two years no fewer than 30 drug dealers have been sent to federal prison on drug trafficking charges. Many more have been convicted on state charges as Cairo is beginning to reap the rewards of a two-year effort to purge the menace of open-air drug dealing...

In Friday's column I began to look at Rush Limbaugh's response to charges of lies and distortion by the media activist group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. The charges received wide play in the press when first released, and they have been referred to often by those who believe the Cape Girardeau native is a danger to American democracy.After looking closely last week at the first four charges, however, it wasn't Limbaugh who seemed loose with the facts. It was FAIR...

To the editor: All this imbroglio about what the Hancock II/Amendment will cost schools, police, roads and perhaps even unwed mothers overlooks the main point. Sure, many of these groups may lose some money, while all of us Missourians will gain NOW -- and certainly in the long run...

To the editor: Our democratic process is in need of a big fix. So say the vast majority of Missouri citizens when polled about the role of money in the political system. Fortunately, Missourians will have the opportunity to vote for an initiative to take big money out of our political campaigns. ...

Amendment 7 opponents are misleading voters by warning passage of the amendment would trigger immediate, massive cuts in state programs, said Rep. Mark Richardson. The Poplar Bluff Republican agreed the impact would be significant. "What we create is not a forced tax cut, but a forced reconciliation of what has been approved by voters and what we are spending," he said. "That reconciliation is between $900 million and $1.3 billion."...

SCOTT CITY -- John Saxton was named Scott City's first city administrator at Monday night's city council meeting. Saxton, 44, comes to Scott City from Peoria, Ill., where he has been the Peoria County's personnel director for more than 800 employees. He had been at Peoria since 1988...

A Southeast Missouri legislator says he is getting tired of the Mel's in his political life, who are firing charges and counter charges about Amendment 7. The two Mel's referred to by State Rep. Mark Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, are Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan and U.S. Rep. Mel Hancock, R-Springfield...

Telephones used to be indispensable devices for communicating. But thanks to modern technology, we don't have to talk to each other anymore. Instead, our calls are routed from one computer voice to another, leaving the caller to wander through an electronic maze...

Southeast Missouri State University has named 441 students to its dean's list for academic achievement during the summer 1994 semester. Students named to the list earned at least a 3.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and completed at least six degree-credit hours during the summer session...

As an elementary counselor, Karen Gleeson doesn't wait for students to come to her office. She goes to them. At Meadow Heights Elementary School, Gleeson spends 30 minutes a week in each classroom. The counseling classes allow students to express their attitudes and personal feelings, Gleeson said...

DEXTER -- Funeral service for Dena Bell Laxson will be held at 10 a.m. today at Watkins and Sons Funeral Chapel in Dexter. The Rev. Harold Gass will officiate, with burial in Bloomfield Cemetery. Laxson, 95, died Sunday, Oct. 16, 1994, at Sells Rest Home in Matthews...

CHAFFEE -- Barbara A. Lilliker, 46, of Webster Groves, died Monday, Oct. 17, 1994, at her home. She was born June 19, 1948, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Robert and Marie Minor Lilliker. Lilliker received a master's degree from Southeast Missouri State University. She was employed by the Missouri Department of Probation and Parole a number of years, and was a member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Webster Groves...

The 1920 Central High School Orchestra, the school's original orchestra, as pictured in the 1920 Central High School Girardot. The Cape Girardeau Central High School marching band may get most of the press, but the orchestra has history on its side...

CHARLESTON -- Funeral service for Leonard Eugene Griggs of Water Valley, Miss., will be held at 2 p.m. today at McMikle Funeral Home, with the Rev. Bill Summers officiating. Burial will be in Smith-Griggs Cemetery near Wyatt. Griggs, 73, died Saturday, Oct. 15, 1994, at the Veterans Hospital in Memphis, Tenn...

CHAFFEE -- Velma B. "Peggy" Crites, 54, of Chaffee, died Sunday, Oct. 16, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 11, 1940, at Oak Ridge, daughter of Loyd and Flossie Moore Crites. Crites was a retired operator with Southwestern Bell Telephone. She moved here from Fenton 10 years ago. Crites was a member of First Baptist Church at Fenton...

BLOOMFIELD -- Funeral service for Muriel Margaret Burton of Bloomfield will be held at 11 a.m. today at Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home. Burial will be in Garden of Memories Cemetery at Sikeston. Burton, 86, died Saturday, Oct. 15, 1994, at Dexter Memorial Hospital...

BLOOMFIELD -- Graveside service for Mary Jane Stonecipher of Bloomfield will be held at 11 a.m. today at Pleasant Grove Cemetery near Bell City, with the Rev. Raymond Cates officiating. Watkins and Sons Funeral Home at Dexter is in charge of arrangements...

BIEHLE -- Irene Renner, 83, of rural Perryville, died Sunday, Oct. 16, 1994, at De Paul Hospital in St. Louis. She was born at Biehle Feb. 9, 1911, the daughter of Joseph and Julia Bohnert Renner. Survivors are two brothers, Joseph Renner of Biehle and Barney Renner of St. Louis; and a sister, Johanna Geringer of Perryville...

Clinton Lincoln, 75, of Cape Girardeau, died Oct. 16, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born April 18, 1919, at Shrum, son of Moses and Fannie Patton Lincoln. On June 10, 1939, he married Opal Cook. He was a retired auto body mechanic and had worked for Ford Groves Motor Co. from 1938 to 1984...

UNIONTOWN -- Ernst W. Kasten, 78, of Uniontown died Monday, Oct. 17, 1994, at the Aspen Forest Care Center in Perryville. He was born Sept. 28, 1916, at Uniontown, the son of Charles A. and Elsa Bultmann Kasten. On Oct. 20, 1946, he married Ella A. Erdmann, who survives of Uniontown...

Rita Schott, 85, of Ste. Genevieve, died Monday, Oct. 17, 1994, at Ste. Genevieve County Hospital. She was born July 29, 1909, at Clubb, daughter of John and Daisy Campbell Mason. She first married Emmet J. Schulte Aug. 28, 1926, who died in 1968. She later married Michael B. Schott Sr. in February 1973. He died in 1984...

Cape Girardeau County JACKSON -- The Lowes Family Trust to Donald R. Hicks; Marilyn Steck to Maple Avenue United Methodist Church Inc.; Cleo Moore and Steve Simpson to James A. King and Lillian Martin. Jerome R. and Mary J. Zimmer to David R. and Karin Zimmer; Michael L. Hargens et al. to Ronald L. and Kenneita S. Gammon; Albert G. and Connie C. Tindall to Edward Louis Leoni...

Son to Terry and Jennifer Douglas of Marble Hill, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 12:15 p.m. Monday, Oct. 10, 1994. Name, Joshua Wayne. Weight, 8 pounds 8 ounces. First child. Mrs. Douglas is the former Jennifer Winslett, daughter of Fern Pennington and Don Pennington of Columbia, Ill. She is a secretary at Heartland Industries. Douglas is an installer with Sanders Siding, and is the son of Darrell Douglas of Scopus, and the late Elsie Douglas...

PATTON -- Roxie Elizabeth Stilts, 80, of Shawneetown, Ill., died Sunday, Oct. 16, 1994, at the home of a daughter in Shawneetown., She was born Feb. 21, 1914, at Patton, daughter of Joe M. and Earsa Jones Kirkpatrick. She and Charles Henry Stilts were married Jan. 17, 1932. He died June 2, 1987...

DEXTER -- Shirley Lois Crank, 46, of Dexter, died Monday, Oct. 17, 1994, at Dexter Memorial Hospital. She was born Sept. 15, 1948, in Poplar Bluff, daughter of Edgar and Lois Gray Phillips. Crank had worked at Purolator. Survivors include two daughters, Jami and Sonya Crank of Dexter; a brother, Sam Phillips of Puxico, and a sister, Glenda Shell of Glen Allen...

ORAN -- Charlie Liles, 80, of Oran, died Sunday, Oct. 16, 1994, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Dec. 13, 1913, in Haskell, Okla., son of Tom and Nancy Martin Liles. He and Opal Anthony were married Jan. 6, 1936, in Eufaula, Okla...

J. Owen Brown, 80, 2601 Marvin, died Monday, Oct. 17, 1994, at his home. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

BENTON -- In Scott County where the political races are usually over after the August Democratic primary, one campaign is still under way. Sikeston Democrat Joe Heckemeyer is pitted against Sikeston Republican Josh Bill for state representative in Missouri's 160th Legislative District...

Cape Girardeau and Jackson cable television subscribers will receive the Disney Channel as part of Expanded Basic Service beginning Dec. 1. Currently, the Disney Channel is offered to TCI Cablevision subscribers but at extra cost. Local cable manager Roger Harms announced the move Monday. "Making the Disney Channel available with our Expanded Basic Service offers us the opportunity to underscore our commitment to delivering better programming service and value to our customers."...

The first flu vaccination clinic of the season is scheduled for Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Cape Girardeau Senior Citizens Center, 921 N. Clark. The second clinic will be Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Woodard's Cafe in Delta. The final clinic will be Oct. 27 at the Jackson Nutrition Center, 402 E. Washington, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m...

October 17, 1994 Street Committee 1. Set a public hearing for 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7 on a rezoning request by Edward Leoni for the proposed Willow Bend Subdivision from R-1 to R-3. 2. Approved the final plat of the Deerwood Subdivision. 3. Tabled the final plat of Willow Bend Subdivision...

The potential impact of Amendment 7 on state mental health services will be reviewed at a public meeting tonight at 7 in the Rhodes Hall, Room 121, on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. Sponsors of the meeting are the Missouri Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities, regional councils for developmental disabilities, and state and regional advisory councils for alcohol and drug abuse and councils for comprehensive psychiatric services...

Steven Johnson had the privilege of Alan Jackson's company Sunday night after the country star's Show Me Center concert. But Johnson probably isn't too proud of the first impression he left with the singer. Johnson, while traveling through the intersection of Sprigg and Good Hope at about 11 o'clock, struck the right side of Jackson's tour bus...

High school students with a grade point average of "B" or better and who are U.S. citizens interested in applying for $1,000 college scholarships should request applications by Dec. 15 from Educational Communications Scholarship Foundation, 721 N. McKinley Road, P.O. Box 5012, Lake Forest, IL 60045-5012...

Donald McNeely will present a television-lecture travelogue on skiing in New Zealand Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Hirsch Community Room of the Cape Girardeau Public Library, McNeely is retired from a career in radio and television, and he and his wife, Sue, have traveled extensively in Mexico and Europe and occasionally act as tour guides on their trips...

Robert Gosche, adviser, and 16 members of the Kelly Chapter of FFA attended the recent Area 12 FFA Leadership Conference at Delta High School. Students were divided into groups to hear presentations about setting career goals and better communication skills...

Bill Poteet, supervisor, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, stated in the Missouri's Literacy Network News, last month that 8,000 individuals took advantage of a "second chance" offered them and received their Certificate of High School Equivalency based on the tests of General Educational Development (GED) during the past year...