Stories from Monday, November 21, 1994

The Thanksgiving turkey isn't even stuffed yet, but already merchants are ready to pull the wish-bone and make a collective wish shoppers this year will be stuffed with the holiday shopping spirit. The Christmas countdown is on again -- today is 34 days and ticking...

With a new name to recognize its service to the region, a year-old expanded terminal building, a new fixed-base operator, and a commuter airline setting records for passengers, things are looking up at the airport. Last month, on the recommendation of the airport's advisory board, the city council agreed to change the name from municipal airport to the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport...

Last week's Federal Reserve decision to once again raise key interest rates comes as good news to some individuals who rely on interest to supplement their income. The Federal Reserve increased key interest rates three-quarters of a percentage point on Tuesday in its most dramatic move yet to slow the surging economy and prevent a new cycle of inflation...

Despite the damage to his building complex at 2301 William, Vernon "Pee Wee" Rhodes said Plaza Tire will be open for business this morning. "This won't affect us too bad," he said. "We'll conduct business as usual." Rhodes was surveying the damage to the Plaza Tire building Sunday morning. ...

Blaming the warm weather and last year's flooding, Missouri Conservation Agent Gene Myers said fewer deer were killed in many counties in Southeast Missouri this firearm season. But the region as a whole tagged 124 more deer than last year. "The extremely warm weather, for deer season, tended to slow the deer's movement," Myers said...

A Cape Girardeau firefighter was in serious condition Sunday night at Southeast Missouri Hospital after suffering a compound fracture in his upper leg and a fractured hip Saturday night. Randol Morris, 39, was injured while he battled the blaze near the intersection of Kingshighway and William at Lanter Company and Plaza Tire...

The Southeast Missourian asked people: "What are you thankful for?" Steve Crawford of Sikeston "I'm thankful that my family and friends are in good health and that I will be graduating from college in May." Amy Johannsen of Cape Girardeau "I'm thankful for my family, my friends, and for my boyfriend, Mark."...

George Obermeier, author of the book "Natural High" and the soon to be published "Getting High on Life is a Skill," will make four presentations in Cape Girardeau Nov. 30. The presentations are sponsored by the Community 2000 Support Center at Southeast Missouri State University...

Monday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m. City Hall, 401 Independence Public hearings Submission of a Community Development Block Grant application for extending sewer service for a proposed plant on Southern Expressway. Consent ordinances Grant a special-use permit to St. Francis Medical Center for construction of a medical office building. Second and third readings...

Jackson Board of Aldermen Agenda Monday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m. Action Items Consider approving motion to continue study of electrical and water systems. Consider ordinances approving compensation and benefit package for city administrator. Consider approving motion to exercise option to purchase 2.2 acres from Byron Lang...

William "Bud" Sweet, 58, of 113 S. Ellis died Sunday at his home in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

NEW MADRID -- A single-vehicle accident early Sunday morning new New Madrid claimed the life of a Portageville woman and left five other persons injured. The accident occurred at 1:45 a.m. on Interstate 55, about three miles south of New Madrid. Kimberly Hall, 22, was killed when she lost control of the car she was driving, which went off the right side of the road, overturned several times and ejected the six occupants, the Missouri Highway Patrol said...

She was born Oct. 7, 1907, in Alexander County, the daughter of William and Elizabeth Pryor Ray. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Tamms. She was preceded in death by her husband, Hugh H. Brown, on May 31, 1969. She also was preceded in death by three brothers...

PULASKI, Ill. -- Arthur Vines of Pulaski died Sunday, Nov. 20, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangments at Jones Funeral Home in Villa Ridge are incomplete.

DEXTER -- Minnie Lela Nichols, 85, of Circle City died Saturday, Nov. 19, 1994, at Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter. She was born Jan. 9, 1909, near Bloomfield, the daughter of Louis Hickman and Laura Ann Corlew Harvey. She married Leverett Sheppard in 1928. On Oct. 12, 1957, she married Barna Nichols, who preceded her in death May 17, 1981. She was a homemaker...

PERRYVILLE -- Ronald L. Bert, 62, of Perryville died Friday, Nov. 18, 1994, at his home. He was born Aug. 21, 1932, at Belgique, the son of Theophile J. and Bernice Mattingly Bert. On July 28, 1951, he married Laura S. Bohnert, who survives. He was a manager of an engine shop and started his own business, Berturbines, a consulting firm for the aviation industry...

This past summer, while America pondered health reform, White House scandal and invasion plans for Haiti, the Supreme Court struck a quiet but important blow for one of our greatest and least appreciated rights: private property. Voting five to four, the justices ruled that a store owner in a Portland, Ore., suburb had to be paid for the portion of her property claimed for improvement of a storm drainage system and construction of a public bicycle path...

I don't know about you, but I couldn't be happier now that Republicans are about to be in charge again. After 40 years of a Congress controlled by liberal, wild-eyed Democrats and two years of a wild-eyed, liberal president, it's time America put aside the foolish notion that we can just tax and tax and spend and spend...

There are many things cherished by older Americans: good health, financial security, close relationships with family and friends -- and the right to drive. Even when poor health imposes physical limitations, most older Americans cling to their driver's licenses with a passion. It is understandable that giving up the right to drive is a tacit admission that you are no longer as much in control of your own life as you used to be...

To the editor: We who are not recipients of welfare can clearly see the fundamental flaws in the system. Through objective eyes we see the needs of the poor who are served by the subsidies we provide. We also sense the dependency we have created by giving money to able-bodied people regardless of their conduct or efforts. ...

JACKSON -- The walls of Steve Wilson's office are almost empty. There are a couple of plaques belonging to the city of Jackson, left by the room's former occupant, and a small calendar from a local bank. Wilson hasn't had much time to make his mark on his office or his new position as city administrator, but things are about to change...

BENTON -- The 15 percent surcharge on basic phone bills in Scott and New Madrid counties to fund the Enhanced-911 emergency phone system will probably start after Jan. 1. That's the opinion of Mike Westrich of New Hamburg, chief of the NBC Fire Department and a member of the Scott County 911 advisory committee...

Daryl Wagoner, a Cape Girardeau native, has been promoted to the position of vice president and manager of marketing-communications at United Way of Metropolitan Tarrant County in Fort Worth, Texas. Wagoner, in his new position, will oversee the organization's public and media relations, market research, special events planning, electronic publishing, audiovisual production and in-house print shop...

Wal-Mart Supercenter of Cape Girardeau will share a portion of its holiday sales Saturday with a local charity. "The holidays are an appropriate time to give something back to a deserving community program," said Terry Godwin, store director of the local Wal-Mart store...

Ron Swift, interim executive director of the Southeast Missouri Private Industry Council (PIC), is encouraging employers to consider using the job-training programs offered through the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) as a means of easing employee shortages in the area...