Stories from Tuesday, January 17, 1995

"Last year in Missouri, 45 percent of the K-12 money in the state went to 9 percent of the students. Students throughout other parts of Missouri today are the ones that are suffering with less opportunities than they would otherwise have if that $400 million a year that is going to desegregation was being spent out there. We need to think about those kids, too."...

Since the early part of the 19th century, Cape Girardeau has seen steady growth in land area and population. Annexation has long been a catalyst for that growth. As the city approaches the 21st century, annexation remains one of the best ways to foster orderly expansion...

"Last year in Missouri, 45 percent of the K-12 money in the state went to 9 percent of the students. Students throughout other parts of Missouri today are the ones that are suffering with less opportunities than they would otherwise have if that $400 million a year that is going to desegregation was being spent out there. We need to think about those kids, too."...

Three brutal murders rocked a quiet Cape Girardeau town in 1977. On Aug. 15, the bodies of Mary Parsh, 58, and her daughter Brenda, 27, were found face down on a bed, their hands tied behind their backs with cord. Each was shot in the back of the head with a .38-caliber pistol...

It has been 14 years since Col. Henry H. Gerecke resigned as Cape Girardeau's chief of police in a storm of controversy. He served the city from 1974 to 1981. Since his retirement, Gerecke has made peace with himself and the city he has grown to love...

Violence and oppression against women weaken the nation, University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill told a crowd of more than 800 Monday at the Show Me Center. "I believe Dr. King would be appalled by the level of violence faced by women in America today," Hill said. "The violence and oppression, including sexual harassment, waged on women weaken us all, and it must stop if Dr. King's dream is to become fully a part of our history."...

MARBLE HILL -- A mourning family's search for a missing dog ended Monday when a Southeast Missourian newspaper carrier discovered the malamute-chow pup. The dog, 9-month-old Wheddo, had been missing since Dec. 27, when he sprang from the mangled wreckage of his owner's pickup truck. His owner, Scott Craig, 38, of Doniphan, was killed when he lost control of his truck on Highway 34 west of Burfordville...

Schnucks Markets announced Monday a bid to buy National Supermarkets subject to Federal Trade Commission approval. Schnucks and National operate stores in Cape Girardeau. Managers of both stores here said impact of the transaction is unknown. Jim Sturm, manager of National Del-Farm, said: "It's business as usual. We will stay open and continue serving our customers. As time progresses, I'm sure more will be told to me and the employees."...

PERRYVILLE -- Officials of the seven-county solid-waste management district say potential landfill sites should be announced in May, and most people won't have to worry about their neighborhoods being on the list. Tim Morgan, planner for the Southeast Missouri Solid Waste Management District, said an abundance of sinkholes, caves, steep slopes and streams will keep more than half of the region from being considered...

Anita Hill's grandfather was born a slave. Two generations later, Hill serves as a University of Oklahoma law professor, proof of civil rights progress in America. But Hill said that same progress masks racism that still exists. The civil rights movement must move to a new level, she said...

There are words and then there are those special words. Take "challenged," for example. It was labeled as the most euphemistic at the American Dialect Society, which includes university professors and other language-loving folks who prefer English to bowling...

HOW COULD the city allow the used car lot at the northeast corner of Caruthers and Independence to pave the slope on the lot all the way to the curb on Caruthers? This is across from Central High School. There are sidewalks everywhere else in the area except on this lot. It is even difficult to park on the street along the lot on Caruthers and get out of your car on the passenger side. It is a dangerous situation...

Two Bollinger County school districts will receive nursing services, health education and screenings as a result of a state grant. The $27,400 grant will be used to purchase equipment and hire a registered nurse to work two days a week each at Leopold and Zalma schools and one day a week at the Bollinger County Health Department clinic...

Charlotte Wade refers to the Teen Challenge Thrift Store as "my baby," an outlet for the co-recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. award to bestow heavy doses of kindness and generosity upon troubled teen-agers. "I can understand how hard it is being a teen-ager," Wade said. "Sometimes an act of kindness or a friendly gesture can help someone get back on the right path."...

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- A U.S. Forest Service proposal to buy "bathtub land" outside levees along the Mississippi River in Southern Illinois has drawn criticism from area drainage district representatives. At a press conference Monday at the East Cape Girardeau Town Hall, John Robb, chairman of the Upper Mississippi Flood Control Association, said it would be better to refer to the area as "marginal agricultural land."...

Jennifer Taylor, left, asked a question of art teacher Gordon Brooks about her picture of Goofy. Rusty Dailey, left, and Daniel Turner worked on their pictures of Boogerman. Cartoons at school? It sounds unlikely, but that's exactly what you'll find in Norman Brooks' seventh-grade art class...

Counting down to a holiday is part of the routine in Karen Seiler's kindergarten class. Seiler, who has been teaching for 10 years at Kelly Elementary School in Benton, wears a smock covered with "O's" on every class holiday -- Zero Day. "You realize it's OK to get excited about holidays -- not just Christmas and Easter, but even Johnny Appleseed and Mickey Mouse's birthday," Seiler said...

Hey kids! Grab your pen and paper and start writing. You could be the next winner in a USA Weekend writing contest. The magazine and Partners in Education are sponsoring a short-story writing contest for students in grades 9 through 12. Winners will be published in the national magazine...

CHARLESTON -- Funeral service for Winifred Fish of Moline, Ill., was held Monday at Wendt Funeral Home in Moline. Burial will be at 9 a.m. Wednesday at IOOF Cemetery in Charleston. Fish, 87, died Thursday, Jan. 12, 1995, at Moline Nursing and Rehabilitation Center...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for Daniel Eugene True of Topeka, Kan., will be held at 11 a.m. today at Shelby Funeral Chapel in East Prairie. The Rev. George White will officiate, with burial in East Prairie Memorial Park Cemetery. True, 45, died Thursday, Jan. 12, 1995, in Topeka...

DEXTER -- Funeral service for Iva Mae Stephens of Dexter will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at Watkins and Sons Funeral Chapel in Dexter, with the Rev. Hank Foster officiating. Burial will be in Bloomfield Cemetery at Bloomfield. Stephens, 85, died Saturday, Jan. 14, 1995, at Vintage Villa Nursing Center in Dexter...

MILLERSVILLE -- I.V.D. Wilferth, 78, of Millersville, died Sunday, Jan. 15, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 26, 1916, at Sedgewickville, daughter of Elmer and Marzilla Brown Seabaugh. She and Fred Miller Wilferth were married May 28, 1938, at Houston, Mo...

MARSTON -- Peggy Bankston Wren, 47, of Marston, died Sunday, Jan. 15, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 13, 1947, in St. Louis, daughter of Elijah Floyd and Theresa Slabby Street. She first married Thomas Bankston...

Daughter to Richard and Tarita Dowd, Glen Allen Route 1, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 5:18 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 4, 1995. Name, Emily Lora. Weight, 9 pounds 2 ounces. First child. Mrs. Dowd is the former Tarita Tilley, daughter of Harold and May Tilley of Bell City. Dowd is a truck driver with Goggin Excavating Co. in Cape Girardeau, and is the son of James and Ruth Dowd of Glen Allen...

Regular Meeting Agenda Jan. 17, 7:30 p.m. ACTION ITEMS Power and Light Committee Ordinance authorizing general services contract with SEMO Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission. Approval of the semi-annual financial statement ending Dec. 31, 1994, and publish in the local newspaper...

City Hall, 401 Independence Appearances Presentation by Airport Advisory Board chairman on purpose and duties of board. Consent ordinances Establish a handicapped parking space on South Middle Street. Second and third readings. Accept a general warranty deed, quit claim deeds and temporary construction easements for the Lexington Avenue extension project. Second and third readings...

CHAFFEE -- Basil Wilhite, 69, of Chaffee, died Monday, Jan. 16, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Jan. 24, 1925, at Chaffee, son of Edward Elliott and Agnes Marie Sadler Wilhite. Wilhite attended First Assembly of God Church...

SCOTT CITY -- Funeral service for Llolav Bles of Scott City will be held at 2 p.m. today at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City. Chad Bles will officiate, with burial in Lightner Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 1 p.m. to service time...

SIKESTON -- Gennievee E. Riddle, 77, of Sikeston, died Sunday, Jan. 15, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 6, 1917, in Clarkton, daughter of George W. and Floye Roth Graham. She and Louis M. Riddle were married Oct. 5, 1942, in Piggott, Ark. He died Aug. 24, 1986...

SIKESTON -- William Howard "Bill" Richards, 69, of Sikeston, died Sunday, Jan. 15, 1995, at Sells Rest Home in Matthews. He was born Nov. 24, 1925, in Tulsa, Okla., son of Dick and Edith Richards. Richards was an electrician 30 years with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local in St. Louis. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II...

SIKESTON -- Mary B. Walton, 87, of Sikeston, died Sunday, Jan. 15, 1995, at Sikeston Convalescent Center. She was born May 25, 1907, in Princeton, Ky., daughter of Bertus and Ida Hollis Beck. He and Herbert Walton were married July 3, 1926. He died in 1957...

CHAFFEE -- Claude H. Gibbons, 74, of Chaffee died Monday, Jan, 16, 1995, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnette Funeral Chapel in Chaffee.