Stories from Friday, February 3, 1995

Thirty volunteers from the IRS-VITA program will be canvassing Southeast Missouri offering to figure tax returns for free beginning next week. VITA, or Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, began 13 years ago in Cape Girardeau. Training for this year's group will be completed today and their first day for helping people with their tax returns is Monday at the Cape Girardeau Public Library...

The American Heart Association will conduct its third annual "Teleparty" Sunday to raise money. Four teams will take pledges from friends and relatives from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Phone calls will be made from Southeast Missouri Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center...

If children don't attend school, parents can go to jail. Kennett public schools this year cracked down on habitual absenteeism by referring parents to the county's prosecutor for criminal charges. Kennett Superintendent Larry Ewing said: "We're not interested in seeing that parents are incarcerated. But one of the parental responsibilities is that children attend school."...

State and area bankers, realtors and lending groups predict the Federal Reserve's seventh interest rate increase in 12 months will have an immediate impact on short-term loans and the affordability of new homes. "The two rates that will be affected the most by the increase will be home equity and construction loans," said Gene Barnes, assistant vice president for Roosevelt Bank of Springfield. ...

Hold on to your earmuffs, spring isn't just around the corner. Cape Girardeau George slept late Thursday and when the hairy little rodent rolled out of the sack about 10 a.m., he spied his shadow and morosely predicted six more weeks of winter. This is a contradiction of George's more renown relative, Punxsatawney Phil, who made his Groundhog Day debut under an overcast, chilly sky and boldly predicted "spring is almost here."...

The calendar says it's winter, but lately the weather has the look of spring. In fact, it has been downright mild, weather observers say. So mild, that golfers have flocked to area courses, rose bushes and some other plants are showing new growth, and city snow plows have been all but forgotten...

It was only yesterday that your sons sat around the dining room table each school night and did their homework. Occasionally you would wander through and say, "If you have any problems, just ask." They thought that was really funny. Fathers, they knew, had no clue about new math, much less calculus or trigonometry. Fathers, they knew, were good for allowances and keeping gas in the car. And paying the insurance. On the whole, you seldom had to ask a father for anything truly important...

I WOULD like to comment on the criticism the Central High School administration is getting over removing students saying "air ball." First, I think there needs to be some perspective about this incident. I wonder how many of these parents who criticized the actions of the principal support the academics or attend PTA meetings, music concerts and other school functions. ...

JACKSON -- Personnel of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department are increasing their odds of surviving a shootout by training on the firing range with their new pistols. The sheriff's department purchased .40-caliber Glock pistols, and street survival training with the 30 weapons will be completed early next week...

BENTON -- The 1995 Scott County personal property assessment lists have been mailed. Those who haven't received a list should notify the Scott County assessor's office as soon as possible. The deadline for returning the lists is March 1. After that, a fine will be levied...

Ronnie E. Erlbacher, 43, of 316 S. Lorimier died at his home Wednesday, Feb. 1, 1995. He was born March 25, 1951 in Cape Girardeau, the son of Julias B. and Ruth Irene Randolph Erlbacher. He married Betty Jean Harvell and she survives. He is also survived by his father, Julias Erlbacher; and four brothers, Robert and Eugene Erlbacher, both of Jackson, Jimmie Erlbacher of Farmington, and Jerry Erlbacher of Sebada, Mo...

ADVANCE -- Ruth Hanner, 62, of Advance, died Wednesday, Feb. 1, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 18, 1933, in Arcadia, Fla., daughter of Lawrence Preston and Naomi Bryant Johnson. She and Oren Paul Hanner were married July 28, 1968, in Arcadia. He died Dec. 17, 1986...

PATTON -- Funeral service for Everett J. Mungle of Patton will be held at 1 p.m. today at Liley Funeral Chapel in Patton, with Bob Bradley officiating. Burial will be in Patton Cemetery. Mungle, 75, died Tuesday, Jan. 31, 1995, at his home. He was born Dec. 18, 1919, at Patton, son of Floyd and Emma May Reagan Mungle. He and Leona Sanders were married Sept. 2, 1939...

SIKESTON -- Funeral mass for Josephine Agnes Herman of Sikeston will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, with Msgr. William Stanton officiating. Burial will be in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Nunnelee Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements...

MOREHOUSE -- Funeral service for Vixie Jones, formerly of Morehouse, will be held at 2 p.m. today at Watkins and Sons Funeral Chapel in Morehouse. The Rev. Jimmy Vent will officiate, with burial in Garden of Memories Cemetery at Sikeston. Jones, 83, died Wednesday, Feb. 1, 1995, at Chaffee Nursing Center in Chaffee...

PUXICO -- Eula C. Orrick of St. Clair Shores, Mich., died Wednesday, Feb. 1, 1995, in Grosse Pointe, Mich. She was born in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Charles and Minnie Hodge Glenn. She married Lonnie Orrick. Orrick was a former resident of Puxico. She was a member of VFW Auxiliary and Puxico United Methodist Church...

BLOOMFIELD -- Ruth Irene Denton, 83, of Hinsdale, Ill., died Wednesday, Feb. 1, 1995, at Hinsdale Hospital. She was born Aug. 16, 1911, at Frisco, daughter of Oscar and Emily Garrett Helderman. She married Raymond Denton, who preceded her in death. Denton was formerly of the Bloomfield and Dexter communities...

JACKSON -- Mattie Stovall, 95, of Jackson, died Thursday, Feb. 2, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 12, 1900, near Fruitland, daughter of George Pink and Ollie Corrine McNeely Morton. She and Earl W. Stovall were married May 27, 1922, at Fruitland. He died Jan. 6, 1980...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Funeral service for Lillian Maxine Boice of Cairo will be held at 1 p.m. today at Barkett Funeral Chapel in Cairo. Pastor William O. Voss will officiate, with burial in Green Lawn Memorial Gardens at Villa Ridge. There is no visitation...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Mickey J. Kelley, 57, of Jonesboro, died Wednesday, Feb. 1, 1995, at his home. He was born Dec. 29, 1937, in Jonesboro, son of Louie and Armita Brown Kelley. He and Irma Wenger were married Dec. 20, 1957, in Union County. Kelley was Union County treasurer from December 1970 to April 1982. He then owned and operated Brown's Hardware a few years, and then worked at Ensign-Bickford in Wolf Lake...

THEBES, Ill. -- Sidney "Red" Callis, 83, of Thebes, died Thursday, Feb. 2, 1995, at Cape Girardeau Nursing Center. Crain Funeral Home at Tamms is in charge of arrangements.

It could yet turn out to be a costly mistake, but President Clinton deserves credit for taking decisive action in responding to the economic crisis in Mexico. No easy path was before him. While government experts were nearly unanimous in their call for some sort of financial bailout, opinion polls indicated that 80 percent of the American public opposed the idea. ...

For the fourth year, Missouri legislators are being asked to approve legislation allowing the state's citizens to carry concealed weapons, once minimal permit requirements have been met. There are two good reasons to support this idea. -- Statistics support the concept that allowing the citizenry to arm itself against armed thugs, robbers and rapists results in less crime. ...

To the editor: Some siad the doctors attacked their team. Others said when the game got close they resorted to gorilla tactics. The docs claim they simply scored the most points (really?). In the end, local sports fans were stunned last year when a bunch of old, out-of-shape doctors managed to win a narrow victory over the hometown favorites, Cape Girardeau's lawyers...