Stories from Thursday, January 26, 1995

To the editor: As you watch pictures from the horror at Kobe, Japan, have you been aware that not once has there been any mention of looting? One woman I saw was happy to find her jewelry and money. She was going to put it in a large, closet-type box that the whole neighborhood was going to use for their found objects. Japanese children are taught not to ever touch anything that belongs to someone else. All the objects put in the large box will be there until the owners take them out...

Alvin Jaco, 79, of Missouri Veterans Home, died Wednesday, Jan. 25, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Jan. 2, 1916, in Golconda, Ill., son of Cressie and Bertha Adkinson Jaco. He first married Clara Phillips in 1942, in McClure. She preceded him in death. He later married Ruby Seabaugh Dec. 11, 1969, in Cape Girardeau. She died July 17, 1990...

MARBLE HILL -- Bernard Leon Sneed, 63, of Marble Hill, died Tuesday, Jan. 24, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 14, 1931, son of Edna Lee and Sarah Stewart Sneed. He and Evelyn Elliott were married July 1, 1980. She died Sept. 12, 1990...

H. Richard Niemeier, 64, of St. Charles, died Tuesday, Jan. 24, 1995, at St. Joseph Health Center in St. Louis. He was born Jan. 7, 1931, in Cape Girardeau. He married the former Ruth Marie Werner. Niemeier was a retired engineer with McDonnell Douglas, where he worked 31 years...

Public radio and public television -- both partially funded by tax dollars -- have graced the broadcast landscape with science and the arts for more than a quarter of a century. Both the radio and TV branches of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting continue to provide quality entertainment ranging from the Masterpiece Theatre series to concerts to an unparalled in-depth look at the personal side of the Civil War. ...

Gene Cummins, director of operations for Columbia Sportswear in Chaffee, discussed business while in front of a montage of the company's 10-year history in Chaffee. Laurinda Johnson, computer marker maker from Columbia Sportswear's home office in Portland, Ore., demonstrated a new system for the Chaffee plant to Gary Wilfong of Puxico, a former cutting room foreman with Akbani Industries. He was interviewing for a job because Akbani recently closed its doors...

To the editor: I just want to say that anyone who knew Katherine Cochran (longtime columnist for the Southeast Missourian who died recently) will never forget her. Her kind personality and unusual outlook on life stood out above anyone I ever knew. She always saw the positive, never the negative. Katherine was a woman of strong determination and always vivacious...

In our community and region, public radio is available from facilities licensed to Southeast Missouri State University. Like other public radio stations throughout the United States, KRCU serves the area with an array of programming unavailable anywhere else on the AM or FM bands. ...

To the editor: A disturbing trend seems to be engulfing our nation and threatens to destroy the freedom and liberty we have enjoyed over 200 years. Our founding fathers thought it was important to set aside a day to pray. I believe God heard their prayers and blessed these men with wisdom and insight to write our Constitution...

To the editor: Once again, Speak Out has given unwarranted credence to misinformation. The first big of misinformation is the caller's statement that Southeast Missouri State University's leadership is "trying to build a Yale or Princeton." The second is that "there are a lot of kids who would be good students who cannot get into" Southeast. ...

JACKSON -- Albert L. "PeeWee" Moll, 64, of Jackson, died Wednesday, Jan. 25, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 3, 1930, near Jackson, son of Herman and Edna Siebert Moll. He and LaVonne Nothdurft were married Nov. 13, 1960. She died April 17, 1970...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Raymond E. Cain, 74, of Tamms, died Wednesday, Jan. 25, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born May 12, 1920, in Tamms, son of Fred and Linnie Holshouser Cain. He and Mildred Woodney were married in November 1946. She died March 31, 1976. He and LaVonne Honey Essex were married Jan. 16, 1982...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Funeral service for Eileen Lutker of Olive Branch will be held at 1 p.m. today at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms. The Rev. Verlee Eaker will officiate, with burial in Olive Branch Cemetery. Lutker, 67, died Tuesday, Jan. 24, 1995, at Meridian Manor Nursing Home in Mounds...

Funeral service for Sara June Zikmund of Slidell, La., will be held at 10 a.m. today at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Ed Brasington will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park. Sara, 2 months, died Monday, Jan. 23, 1995, in Cape Girardeau...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Funeral service for Lloyd Shadowens of Cobden will be held at 11 a.m. today at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Cobden. The Rev. Dewayne Taylor will officiate. Burial will be in Cobden Cemetery, with military graveside rites by Cobden American Legion Post 259...

JACKSON -- Vernon L. Heimbach, 96, of Jackson, died Wednesday, Jan. 25, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 23, 1898, near Sparta, Ill., son of Albert and Ella McManus Heimbach. He and Leona Fatchett were married Sept. 22, 1929. She died Aug. 22, 1979...

PATTON -- Doris Alene Kilburn, 43, of Fairfield, Ohio, died Tuesday, Jan. 24, 1995, at Mercy Hospital. She was born Jan. 20, 1952, in Bloomington, Ill., daughter of Charles E. and Helen Jones David of Fairfield. On Dec. 19, 1981, she married Michael Kilburn...

SIKESTON -- Carrie B. Aaron, 89, of Sikeston, formerly of Mississippi County, died Wednesday, Jan. 25, 1995, at the Sikeston Convalescent Center. She was born July 2, 1905, in Hardin, Ky., daughter of Dennis Hartley and Molly Criswell Brindley. In 1921, she married John Ellis Aaron, who preceded her in death April 5, 1974...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Nicholas Sanford Myers Sr., 57, of Tamms, Ill., died Jan. 24, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He was born Oct. 17, 1937, at Randles, Mo., the son of Joseph L. and Lorene Menz Meyers. He was married to Jo Allen Martin on Oct. 28, 1964, in Roma Park...

ADVANCE -- Clarence R. Pace Sr., 75, of Route 1 Advance, died Jan. 25, 1995, at the John J. Pershing V.A. Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. He was born April 6, 1919, the son of Harley Clarence and Maude Mae Thompson Pace. On April 3, 1946, at Charleston, he married Merle A. Spiller...

CANALOU -- Nolan E. Hartlein, 78, of Canalou, died Wednesday, Jan. 25, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Feb. 14, 1916, in Lamar, Ark., son of Orville and Georgia Hartlein. He and Grace Stone were married Feb. 18, 1939. She died Oct. 6, 1990...

ANNISTON -- Virgil Coke, 68, of Anniston, died Tuesday, Jan. 24, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Jan. 21, 1927, at Cline's Island, son of Frank and Ella Kittle Coke. He and Dorthy Allen were married Dec. 24, 1970. Coke moved to Mississippi County 10 years ago from Farmersville, Ill. He was a retired hydraulic engineer with McDonnell Douglas. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II...

MARBLE HILL -- Von Welker, 71, of Marble Hill, died Tuesday, Jan. 24, 1995, at his home. He was born May 16, 1923, at Hurricane, son of John Barney and Mattie Mae Devenport Welker. He and Beatrice Lincoln were married April 4, 1943. Survivors include his wife; four sons, Roger, Kenny, Bob and Don Welker; three daughters, Vonette Welker, Frieda Stevens and Sue Rhodes; two brothers, Virgil and Leroy Welker; three sisters, Madine Atchison, Adell Garland and Iva Padgett, all of Marble Hill; 15 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.. ...

Notre Dame will be replaced within the next few years by a Catholic high school that will be built on a 30-acre site in the Cape Girardeau area near Interstate 55. The site hasn't been chosen. School officials expect to finalize plans and begin a fund-raising campaign over the next few months. The one-story building is expected to cost $4.5 million, which includes the costs of land, construction, furniture and equipment...

What does the future hold for Notre Dame's 40-year-old high-school building? That is the question a school committee hopes to answer as plans proceed for construction of a new Notre Dame high school on a yet-to-be-chosen site. "Obviously, we are going to talk to the neighbor there, St. Vincent Parish, and see if there is some need," committee chairman David Glastetter said of the building at 1912 Ritter...

After 14 years as a member of the minority party, U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson is enjoying a benefit of being a member of the majority party: the chance to preside over House proceedings. Emerson was among Republicans chosen to preside over some of the opening day events in the U.S. House Jan. 4. He is presiding over debate on a bill dealing with limiting the federal government's ability to pass unfunded mandates on to states...

KELSO -- Roger Gibson is good enough at his craft to command the attention of a billionaire, a pro football player and many others who can afford to pay him from $35,000 to $100,000 to restore their old cars. Yet, in the snug town of Kelso, population 526, he is something of an unassuming and undiscovered automobile artist...

Jan. 26, 1994 Dear Patty, Lacey, our neighbor's Rottweiler-hound dog, is at my feet. She drops by from time to time for pats and dog bones before resuming her rounds of horse stalls and hiding places. She signals she's leaving by rotating her head from side to side, which sets up a flapping of ears that resounds through the house and threatens to achieve liftoff. In a twinkle she's gone...

I DON'T usually agree with columnist Ellen Goodman, but Jan. 23 her column conveys my feelings exactly. We are sick and tired of hearing O.J. Simpson's trial. There are a lot of other programs we want to see on TV. O.J. is not any more important than any other murder trial, and they don't follow every detail of every other trial on TV...

New crop-insurance requirements and the 1995 acreage reduction program will be discussed during a series of meetings throughout Cape Girardeau County next week. Terry Birk, county director of the Department of Agriculture Consolidated Farm Service Agency, will conduct the meetings...

Tickets for Oliver North's Feb. 21 lecture at the Show Me Center will go on sale Tuesday. Tickets are priced at $5 for general and $10 for reserved seats. They can be purchased at all Show Me Center outlets. A reception will be held at 5 p.m. Feb. 21. North, the Iran Contra figure who lost a heated U.S. Senate race in Virginia last November, will speak at 7 p.m...

An initial ride on the information superhighway would cost subscribers in Cape Girardeau approximately $100,220. A second trek would cost $97,820. Larry Loos, a computer consultant who presented a plan for Cape Girardeans to tap into a computer-access highway system called Show-Me Net, said Wednesday the more organizations and individuals that get involved, the sooner it could become affordable...

JACKSON -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Jackson Fire Department were supervising the cleanup of diesel fuel in Jackson Wednesday night. City Manager Steve Wilson said a tank owned by Coop near East Main Street and the old railroad tracks leaked diesel fuel into the ground and a nearby creek. He said the leakage was noticed late Wednesday afternoon...

So far this winter, 45 Cape Girardeau families received assistance for utility bills from East Missouri Action Agency Inc. Many more will need it before winter is over, and some may have to shiver a little longer. The agency receives about $125,000 in grants for heating assistance each winter. The last installment arrived a week ago...

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- A highway improvement project in Southern Illinois is only 15 percent complete, but Illinois Department of Transportation officials are pleased with the first three months' progress. Some seven miles of highway from East Cape Girardeau to Gale and McClure will undergo improvements, such as culvert extensions, stabilized shoulders and concrete resurfacing...

While interest has risen in most facets of the St. Louis Rams, it's being held down on another front. With personal seat licenses (PSL) as high as $4,500 and tickets still to be bought, money has become an issue for many football fans. In St. Louis, Boatmen's Bank, Roosevelt Bank and Capital Bank have rallied to the cause of the civic push...

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X came from different backgrounds and held competing points of view, but in many ways they led parallel lives that put together provide a complete picture of the same struggle. Both African American ministers -- King was Baptist, Malcolm X was Muslim -- became leaders in the civil rights movement during the '60s. Both believed passionately in their cause. And both were assassinated in their prime, three years apart...

The saying goes, "never say never." But it appears safe to say that luxury boxes will never be installed at Houck Stadium to usher in an era of professional football in Cape Girardeau. Even a city of St. Louis' size encountered a fight to the finish to be called the home of the St. Louis Rams. And apparently, the fight is not yet finished...

Dutch conductor Hans Vonk has been named music director and conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Vonk, 52, succeeds Leonard Slatkin, who recently was appointed the conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. Slatkin will become the conductor laureate during the 1995-96 season...

ST. LOUIS -- "Camelot," "Singin' in the Rain," "Man of La Mancha" and "Cinderella" will be four of the seven shows presented by the Muny at Forest Park during the summer. For more information about the Muny season, phone (314) 361-1900. The 1995 Saint Louis Symphony Queeny Pops season, running July 25 through Aug. 12, also has been announced...

Sweden's Mid-Summer Festivities will be the subject of the Festivals, Families and the Arts program to be presented at 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Paul Lutheran School in Jackson. Christina Bergund, a student at Southeast Missouri State University, will talk about Swedish traditions and customs...

Mannie Jackson's love of basketball has taken him far away from the boxcars of his youth. The 55-year-old Jackson was born in a boxcar in Illmo, now Scott City, in 1939. He grew up in a segregated world where blacks were second-class citizens and opportunities were limited...