Stories from Wednesday, March 22, 1995

PUXICO -- Funeral service for Willie Joe Lynch of Puxico will be held at 2 p.m. today at Hobbs Chapel Church near Puxico, with the Rev. Dolen Morris officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Watkins and Sons Funeral Home at Puxico is in charge of arrangements...

The buzzer has sounded. The dust has settled. The tournaments have ended. But sports fans has much to celebrate as area teams played their hearts out in Missouri championship games. For some, the competition took them to the state tournament in Columbia. For others, the play ended in much earlier rounds. But Southeast Missouri players demonstrated skill, courage, determination and sportsmanship as they strived for victory...

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending two wedding showers for friends of mine from college. Both couples are wonderful matches, much in love, and eager to begin the rest of their lives together. As it should be, paying higher taxes for getting married was the least of their concerns. Yet, the joy that comes with marriage shouldn't keep us from asking: Is it right that our government taxes married couples more?...

About 70 children should be locked inside the Cape Civic Center Friday night, but not as a punishment. Students in Southeast Missouri State University's health and leisure class are sponsoring the center's first lock-in for children ages 7-16. While there, children will learn about drug abuse, proper hygiene and first aid, but will have pizza to eat, games to play and prizes to win...

Cape Girardeau County Judith K. and John K. Hoffmeister to Pansy French Thorpe; PHH Homequity Corp. to James T. and Julie A. Soong; Helmuth M. and Rosa B. Doberenz to the Helmuth M. and Rosa B. Doberenze Trusts. Sirphenia I. Diebold to the Sirphenia I. Diebold Trust; Michael W. and Charlene S. Hahn to Guy E. and Suzette J. Lewis; Albert D. and Marian J. Lunsford to Gregory Allen and Cindy T. Lowes...

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Mike Haynes of Sikeston, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:12 a.m. Wednesday, March 15, 1995. Name, Lauren Lynn. Weight, 7 pounds 11 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Haynes is the former Linda Kluesner, daughter of Bernard and Dorothy Kluesner of Cape Girardeau. Haynes is vice president of Marion Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co., and is the son of Keith and Bernice Haynes of Jackson...

James D. Bush, 61, of Robertsville, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, March 21, 1995, at St. Anthony's Medical Center in Sappington. He was born Aug. 23, 1933, in Monett, son of Paul and Pearl Long Preovo. He married the former Viola M. Stearns...

WHITEWATER -- Jesse Lee Bowers, 64, of Mexia, Texas, died Sunday, March 19, 1995, at Parkview Regional Hospital there. He was born May 6, 1930, in Whitewater, son of George Washington and Victoria Eakins Bowers. He married the former Blondell M. May...

Funeral mass for Harry L. LaFont, 536 Silver Springs Road, has been changed to 10:30 a.m. today at St. Vincent's Catholic Church. The Rev. Jay Gibson will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements...

PERRYVILLE -- Rose Mary LaRose, 89, of Perryville, died Tuesday, March 21, 1995, at Perry Oaks Healthcare Center. She was born Feb. 26, 1906, at Biehle, daughter of Otto and Mary Schott Blechle. She and Jesse R. LaRose were married June 17, 1930. He died June 21, 1975...

Reba W. Harmon, 100, 2121 Boulder Crest, died Monday, March 21, 1995, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Dec. 8, 1894, in Monroe County, Miss., daughter of John and Rhoda Oden Weaver. She and Henry Grady Harmon were married May 3, 1914, in Monroe County...

To the editor: As a concerned parent, I appreciated Peter Kinder's perspective on Outcomes Based Education and other educational trends that may soon be attempted in Missouri schools. The future of this country depends largely upon the quality of education of our children...

PERRYVILLE -- Goldie P. Hanquist, 93, of Perryville, died Monday, March 20, 1995, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Nov. 2, 1901, at Fruitland, daughter of Carl and Nora McNeely. She and Carl E. Hanquist were married Sept. 28, 1918. He died May 29, 1971...

LILBOURN -- J.L. Ergle, 81, of Rockford, Ill., formerly of Lilbourn, died Tuesday, March 21, 1995, at his home. He was born Aug. 15, 1913, in Double Springs, Ala., son of Arthur and Savannah Horton Ergel. He and Georgia Bell Reese were married Feb. 26, 1946...

JACKSON -- Larry Wade, chief of detectives for the Jackson Police Department, isn't used to campaigning. The Cape Girardeau County Health Board president was appointed to his position by the county commission in 1986 and hasn't had to campaign ever since. He is the only charter member left on the board...

BENTON -- The Scott County Commission has decided to ignore its contract with Scott City in proceeding with an Enhanced 911 System with New Madrid County. A clause in a contract, signed in November, gave Scott City 20 percent representation on a joint 911 advisory committee...

About 2,100 people gathered at the Show Me Center Tuesday night to hear Lowell Lundstrom preach the "Five Ways to Fire Up Your Marriage," and more than 100 people dedicated or re-dedicated their lives to Christ before the close of the service. The evening began with a potpourri of music, including songs by a local choir from the Futrell Memorial Church of God In Christ...

I've decided to finally listen to the sirens of Nike and, well, just do it. The time has come to do more than pay lip service to the notion of quitting cigarettes. When I realized that spring was upon us, I decided smoking was a habit that neither fit the season nor my lungs...

Pray for the sick MY HUSBAND is in the hospital. His recovery is very slow. I want to know if everybody that reads Speak Out would just take one minute of silent prayer and say a prayer for all sick people. Cape's finest AFTER I got home from church this morning, one of my neighbor's children had walked away from the house, a little 3-year-old, and was lost for a little while. ...

JACKSON -- Tuesday night's questions covered everything from Outcome-Based Education to teacher pay scales, and three Jackson School Board candidates had to come up with the answers. The American Business Women's Association sponsored a "Meet the School Board Candidates" forum at the Jackson Junior High School library. The ABWA sponsors the event each election year...

Something J. Ronald Fischer learned when he was cutting his teeth on his father's grocery business never left him when he became a part of city and county government. Fischer's father was an old German from Altenburg and Frohna, always known as a jovial person willing to work with people to get things done...

With spring-like temperatures in the area over the past two weeks, people are out looking at home and garden supplies. Thousands more are expected to look further when one of the biggest home and garden shows in the area gets under way the final day of this month...

Kindergarten students at Jefferson Elementary School learned about "El Monstruo Del Cepillo de Dientes." Central High School students told the story about "The Toothbrush Monster" as part of a schoolwide Spanish lesson Tuesday. Stories about Snow White, Clifford and others were presented in both Spanish and English by students in the advanced placement Spanish class. The high school students also presented a mini-lesson on language for the youngsters...

MURRAY, Ky. -- Dexter native Brandon Vaughn, a sophomore cheerleader at Murray State University, remained in critical condition Tuesday at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. Vaughn and 12 other cheerleaders were injured Saturday afternoon on Interstate 24 near Cadiz. The students were returning to MSU from the Nashville airport, having performed at the Murray State Racers' appearance in the NCAA basketball regional tournament in Tallahassee, Fla...

Spring has arrived. The calendar tells us so. Also arriving are a vast number of gardening supplies at the many gardening centers throughout the area. Gardening centers at large general stores, hardware and grocery stores, nurseries and florists, have received or are receiving gardening equipment, fertilizers, soil additives, mulching, fencing, blocks, roses, shrubs, trees, perennials tools, watering equipment and every gardening item under the sun pertaining to gardening inside or out...

Spring sometimes speaks softly, other times, her statements are more boldly made. This season, fashions echo such diversity of mood. From ankle-length, flowing dresses emanating romance to crisp classics in vivid colors. Variety is the watchword. "There should be something for everyone this year," Sandy's Howard of Sandy's...