Stories from Thursday, December 15, 1994

COBDEN, Ill. -- Helen Marsek, 81, of Cobden, died Wednesday, Dec. 14, 1994, at Hillside Terrace Nursing Home. There are no known survivors. Friends may call at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Cobden after 9 a.m. Friday. Funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Federico Higuera officiating. Burial will be in St. Joseph Catholic Church Cemetery...

Discipline activity has risen rather dramatically at Cape Central High School. As of early December, 864 disciplinary actions were logged at the principal's office, up from 494 last year. District patrons may wonder: Are students more rowdy, or have administrators cracked down? A new administrative team at the high school may account for much of the increase. They have tightened the rules to create "an atmosphere of learning."...

"The Nutcracker" is a 102-year-old story reborn every year at Christmastime. Clara's Christmas gift, a nutcracker, is transformed into a prince in her Christmas Eve dream, and the toys come alive in a World of Sweets watched over by a Sugar Plum Fairy and the Snow Queen and King...

Santa Clauses and carols can be found in every shopping center in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi at this time of year, Anis Somji says. After all, 70 percent of the West African country's residents are Christian. "The Christians celebrate Christmas the same as here," Somji says...

The idea of growing Christmas trees may sound attractive, but area growers say the business requires hard work, year-round attention and a lot of patience. Trees require pruning and weeding, varmints cause constant problems. If a grower is lucky, one of three trees planted will survive to reach the 6-7 foot height most people want in a Christmas tree...

Two thoughts come to mind in the wake of the historic impeachment of Secretary of State Judi Moriarty: First, Moriarty was a duly elected statewide officeholder, and she sought every means available to make her own case of innocence. Ultimately, the Missouri Supreme Court's judges heard her arguments as well as the accusations about misconduct in office...

METROPOLIS, Ill. -- "Hometown Christmas," a holiday lighting display with more than 500,000 lights featured in 20 displays ranging from leaping reindeer to snowflakes and fountains, operates nightly at Fort Massac State Park here. The display is open each night from 5 to 10. A donation of $5 per carload is requested, with a portion of the profits designated for local charities...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Louise Dillow, 85, of Dayton, Ohio, died Wednesday, Dec. 14, 1994, at Heartland of Oak Ridge Nursing Home in Miamisburg, Ohio. She was born Dec. 14, 1909, in Gibson County, Tenn., daughter of John A. and Stella King Branch. She and Walter E. Dillow were married Aug. 18, 1931. He died March 23, 1980...

Lucy Marie Hardwick, 95, of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, Dec. 13, 1994, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Jan. 11, 1899, in Fidelity Township, Jersey County, Ill., daughter of Adam and Mary Stewart Grizzle. She married Lester Moxey Dec. 22, 1915, in Jerseyville, Ill. He died Jan. 29, 1944. She later married Perry Hardwick in March 1954, in Carrollton, Ill. He died Oct. 12, 1964...

WYATT -- Helen Tatum Evans, 77, of Wyatt, died Wednesday, Dec. 14, 1994, at her home. She was born Feb. 3, 1917, in Columbus, Ky., daughter of Bill and Tina Greenwald Lepchenskie. She and Dee Tatum were married Sept. 13, 1930. He died in 1968. She later married Goldie Evans, who also preceded her in death...

PERRYVILLE -- Elma S. Huber, 99, of Perryville, died Tuesday, Dec. 13, 1994, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. She was born Aug. 26, 1895, in Perry County, daughter of Lewis and Josephine Schindler Dunker. She and Leo Huber were married Nov. 14, 1916. He died Oct. 18, 1966...

Frank L. Killian, 60, of Marble Hill, died Wednesday, Dec. 14, 1994, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at Liley Funeral Home in Marble Hill.

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- A Friday-night gospel singing, featuring four groups and a soloist, will benefit Donald Tucker and his son Corey Tucker, who were both severely burned last month in a mobile home fire. The blaze started early Tuesday, Nov. 29, in the Tucker family mobile home in Olive Branch. Tracy Tucker escaped unharmed, but her sons Alex Michael Tucker, 1, and Nicholas Ray Tucker, 3, were killed in the blaze...

On Tuesday afternoon, when the sound of electric clippers would usually fill the Kingsway Barber Shop, the building was dark and empty. A handwritten sign on the door explained. "No Electric. Power Line Tore Down." Signs were much the same at most of the businesses along Kingshighway between Themis Street and Broadway...

Lester Harris' initial involvement with Toybox inspired an idea that has given residents at the Missouri Veterans Home a recreational outlet. "I'll never forget making that wooden canopy bed and child's high chair for a little girl named Sarah four years ago," Harris, a resident of Fruitland, said...

Dec. 15, 1994 Dear Pat, The weather has turned frosty and the Christmas spirit finally began descending on our little house this week. We watched a young man cut down our tree at a local farm, mailed off the California presents with our fingers crossed, and spent most of our money. Yeah, that's the spirit...

Although they are involved in the legislative process just three days each year, John and Jean Seay take their responsibility as Silver Haired legislators quite seriously. As elected representatives from senior citizen nutrition centers in Cape Girardeau County, the Seays enjoy the opportunity to work with others around the state to share ideas and potential legislation of importance to the elderly of Missouri...

WEBSTER GROVES --Visitation for former Cape Girardeau police officer Jack V. Crittendon will be at Gerber Funeral Home, 45 W. Lockwood in Webster Groves, today from 4-9 p.m. Lt. Crittendon, 56, died Monday at his home in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department is joining a national movement to encourage citizens to drive with their headlights Friday in remembrance of those who have been killed or injured in alcohol-related crashes. The observance is called "Lights On for Life" and is designed to serve as a reminder of law enforcement's watch for drunk drivers...

The Cape Girardeau license bureau will close Monday and Tuesday, to move to new quarters at 104 S. Spanish. "We'll be in our new quarters for Wednesday opening," said Norma Wildman, license bureau manager. The bureau is moving from 220 N. Main. The license bureau will occupy the south part of the building which previously housed Monroe Glass...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan could name a new secretary of state by the end of the week and will nominate someone no later than the end of the year, an aide said Wednesday. "We would like to get it done as soon as possible," said Chris Sifford, communications director for the governor...