Stories from Saturday, June 24, 1995

Kala Stroup, president of Southeast Missouri State University the past five years, has been named Missouri's new commissioner of higher education. The selection provides Stroup with statewide exposure as the state's top official for colleges and universities...

A program on "You and Your Medication" will be presented when the Fibromyalgia Support Group meets Thursday. John McMullin, a registered pharmacist, will present the program. The meeting will be held in classrooms C and D of the Regional Cancer Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. The support group meeting begins at 6 p.m.; McMullin's presentation will be from 7 to 7:30 p.m...

Anita Newcomer Smith, a dietitian at Southeast Missouri Hospital, will speak at the Lyme Disease Support Group meeting Tuesday. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in classrooms A and B of the Regional Cancer Society. Newcomer Smith's topic will be "Nutritional Concerns in Lyme Disease."...

The American Red Cross will hold five blood drives prior to the July 4 holiday. On Tuesday, a blood drive will be held at Southeast Missouri State University's Academic Auditorium from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Wednesday, a blood drive will be held at the Holiday Inn Convention Center from 2 to 7 p.m...

BENTON -- Rain delays didn't drench the excitement at Benton City Park Friday night. Residents crowded the park to watch the first games played on the city's newest baseball diamond. After 15 months of construction, players from two Benton Little League teams took the field for their tournament Friday...

O.J. Simpson's defense lawyers apparently will get a chance to present their case sooner than previously expected. Prosecutors in the infamous double-murder trial decided this week they won't call witnesses to the stand to testify about Simpson's abuse of his murdered ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson...

Carrie Good of Jackson enjoyed chicken at the picnic with her co-workers. The official picnic season is in full swing. These days of summer are filled with reunions at the park, company outings or just simple family picnics. If proper food preparation and storage guidelines are not followed, food poisoning and illness can result...

The Cape Girardeau school district is on the verge of embarking once again into the realm of strategic planning. Three years ago, Project Partnership left a bitter taste for some people, who felt the project was little more than a predetermined ploy to get a tax increase in disguise...

Cape Girardeau's city attorney, Warren Wells, will leave his job Aug. 14 to become general counsel for Northeast Missouri State University at Kirksville. Wells, 47, has served as city attorney since January 1987. Wells will be leaving a $54,700-a-year job for a $71,000 position...

The Boyd Gaming Corp. moved a step closer to bringing a riverboat casino to Cape Girardeau this week when it gave city officials a draft of its development agreement. Although the agreement is in the works, Mayor Al Spradling III doesn't look for a boat to be operational in Cape Girardeau until at least 1997...

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials toured the Red Star, Smelterville and Dutchtown areas Friday to get a visual image of how the flood of 1995 affected Cape Girardeau County. "I want something to go with the paperwork that comes across my desk to provide a rapid and compassionate response to the people who have been affected by disasters," said John Miller, Region VII director of FEMA...

Although his car is in the shop for repairs, Steve Duree gets around well enough. He uses taxicabs. Duree bought a book of taxi coupons from the city of Cape Girardeau. "It's better than paying full price," he said. "It's great when you don't have a car."...

It's almost July. I hate July. If there's any good argument that hell is on Earth, it's summer in the Mississippi River Valley. The Other Half loves summer because it gives him a chance to show off his legs in shorts. Winter is more my kind of season. Bulky sweaters and coats are great equalizers, figure-wise...

THE SOUTHEAST Missourian said the county commission has decided to conduct a traffic survey on Route E where it crosses I-55. I can't see what such a survey would have to do with the proposed I-55 interchange at Oak Ridge. The question isn't about how much traffic currently uses Route E. ...

JACKSON -- The Byrd Township Democrats are holding the annual barbecue tonight at 6 at the Jackson High School gymnasium. The evening features food, a silent auction and a door prize. Shane Steck, a student from Jackson Public Schools, will provide musical entertainment. Don Dickerson, a Cape Girardeau attorney, will act as master of ceremonies...

David Hill of Hill and Associates appears to be offering college students one of the more lucrative summer jobs in the area. Hill and Associates is using the bait of $9.75 per hour, advertised on cardboard signs, as an incentive for calling 651-4200. That number puts the prospective worker in touch with a recorded message...

The "Perspective on the Law with Judge Marybelle Mueller" program will feature attorneys discussing estates, guardianships and wills when it airs Sunday on Cape Girardeau cable access Channel 5. Guests are Kathy Wolz, attorney with Dickerson, Rice, Spaeth, Heiserer and Summers, and John Layton, of Vogel, Layton and Lewis...

The U.S. Small Business Administration will open a temporary office at noon Monday at the Salvation Army building at 701 Good Hope to help disaster victims with low-interest federal loans. The office will be open the rest of the week. from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., including Saturday, July 1...

Cape Girardeau Central High School's Class of 1985 will hold a 10-year reunion Friday and next Saturday. The Friday events will be held at Cape County Park South, Pavilion 20. Saturday, the runion will be held at the Cape Girardeau Country Club. Activities begin at 6 both nights...

The Cape Girardeau City Council Friday voted to issue $11.5 million in bonds to fund sewer improvements. The council action came at a special noon meeting at City Hall. The bonds will be issued through the state's revolving fund. At the special meeting, the council also approved the record plat of James Addition No. 2 and construction plans for Etherton Subdivision...

Bessie Pearl Grasso, 83, of The Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau, died Friday, June 23, 1995. She was born April 28, 1912 at Helper, Utah, daughter of Benjamin Moses and Anna Pearl Jones Davies. She married Russell A. Grasso on April 16, 1930, in Helper. He preceded her in death April 1, 1977...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Robert H. Moore, 65, of Dongola, Ill., formerly of Channahon, Ill., died Thursday, June 22, 1995, at the Union County Hospital in Anna. He was born Nov. 29, 1929, in Anna, son of Harry and Maldetta Batson Moore. He married Sarah "Tut" Hileman in Jonesboro on April 1, 1953. She survives...

The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents will hold a closed-door meeting Monday in the wake of Dr. Kala Stroup's decision to resign as university president. Stroup will become Missouri's higher education commissioner in September. She will leave Southeast in late August...

CHAFFEE -- Ruby Ann Hendrickson, 87, of Chaffee died Friday, June 23, 1995, at the Advance Nursing Center. She was born Aug. 6, 1907, in Missouri, daughter of Elmer and Becky Johnson. She married Oscar Earl Hendrickson on Dec. 30, 1926. He preceded her in death on Sept. 2, 1980...

Two people were injured in a one-vehicle accident Friday morning on I-55, two miles south of Old Appleton. The Missouri Highway Patrol said Robert Matthews, 23, of Chesterfield, and Michelle Higgins, 22, of Arnold, were both injured in the accident. They were taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON -- Dorothy Barnes, 74, of Williamsville, formerly of Sikeston, died Friday, June 23, 1995, at her daughter's residence in Williamsville. She was born July 6, 1920, in Marked Tree, Ark., daughter of Ben and Evelyn Birthwright Johnson. She was a nurse's aide for 21 years at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston and a member of Salcedo Missionary Baptist Church...