Stories from Tuesday, July 11, 1995

Reading can be a chore for children, but area libraries and bookstores try to liven things up with their summer reading programs. "We tell them it's fun to read," said Lynn Farrow, Riverside Regional Library's children's librarian. "It's not a chore; they can read what they are interested in."...

Twin Lakes residents appear ready to ditch plans for city sewers rather than pay $11,000 or more for the service. "At this point, the majority of property owners don't want sewers," Twin Lakes resident Terry Taylor said Monday. They would prefer to see the city extend water lines to the subdivision, which was annexed into the city two years ago. That project would be less costly and is needed more, residents say...

Cape Girardeau Board of Education members questioned Superintendent Neyland Clark about school policies, budgets, personnel and other matters at Monday night's board meeting. Dr. Bob Fox, board president, saw the questioning as a positive sign that the new members are doing their job overseeing Cape Girardeau's schools...

The traffic lights at Interstate 55 and Highway 61 between Cape Girardeau and Jackson, still dangling uselessly today, should be bringing drivers to a halt by noon Wednesday. Jim Murray, District 10 engineer for the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department, said motorists should be extremely careful while everyone gets accustomed to stopping on Highway 61 at the interchange...

After months of negotiations, Cape Girardeau public school teachers today will vote on a salary increase for the coming year. A general meeting of the Community Teachers Association will be held at 4:45 p.m. If teachers approve, the salary proposal goes to school board for approval in August...

I've always thought of ice skating as ballet on skates. It's majestic the way the skaters sail across the rink. You've seen the artistry of Olympic skaters as they glided across our television sets. Well, I've got news for you. They didn't start that way...

THE FOURTH of July fireworks display at Arena Park was fine except it took far too long between shots. I appreciate the work that went into it but next year it could certainly be improved if they didn't have such a long interval between fireworks. I CAN'T believe that the breathalyzers in Arkansas were defective. I thought they were meant to measure alcohol and I didn't know that sinus medicine would affect your breathalyzer. Surely, there's no alcohol in sinus medicine...

It looks like Cape Girardeau will be getting a new federal courthouse in the not-too-distant future. The existing federal building in downtown Cape Girardeau, which also houses nonjudicial offices, is no longer adequate. Just a few years ago the thinking was that there weren't enough federal court cases, criminal or civil, to warrant full-time judges and U.S. attorneys. But in recent years the caseload has grown dramatically...

The New York Times poked front-page fun at Senate Democrats last month for notes about party strategy that an unknown staff member unwittingly mislaid on a counter at a liquor store a few blocks from the Capitol. The more important story is how the media mislaid the importance of the notes and neglected to give it serious attention until goaded by talk show host Rush Limbaugh...

A few years ago there was a familiar television commercial for a butter substitute whose punch line was: "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature." In the highly technical language of a report based on an 18-month-long study of how flood-control projects work along the Mississippi River drainage basin, the Army Corps of Engineers came to essentially the same conclusion...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for Ernest Ray, East Prairie Route 1, will be held at 2 p.m. today at Shelby Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Martin Lucas will officiate, with burial in Dogwood Cemetery. Ray, 88, died Saturday, July 8, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston...

TAMMS, Ill. -- A 16-year-old girl was injured in a one vehicle accident Monday in Southern Illinois. Amanda Poole, 16, of Tamms, was injured when her vehicle ran off the road and overturned in a cornfield. She was thrown from the vehicle, said an Illinois State Police officer. Poole apparently wasn't wearing a seat belt, police said...

ANNA, Ill. -- Helen King, 81, of Granite City, formerly of Anna, died Monday, July 10, 1995, at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Granite City. Hileman and Parr Funeral Home at Jonesboro is in charge of arrangements.

Letty Breig, 76, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, July 9, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

ADVANCE -- Elmer Francis Sturgeon, 80, of Advance, died Monday, July 10, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 11, 1914, at Zalma, son of Marion and Emma Kerr Sturgeon. He and Agnes Ellen Myers were married March 3, 1934...

Son to Brendan and Mary Beth Straubel, 1247 Perryville Road, Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, 12:21 a.m. Sunday, June 18, 1995. Name, Rory Mead. Weight, 5 pounds 1 ounce. First child. Mrs. Straubel is the former Mary Beth Davidson, daughter of Judy Below of Cape Girardeau and Ralph Davidson of Scott City. She is a nurse at St. Francis Medical Center. Straubel is employed at Garfield's and is a student at Southeast Missouri State University. He is the son of Dan and Sandy Straubel of Cape Girardeau...

ADVANCE -- Rebecca S. Yuenger, 50, of Ballwin, died Sunday, July 9, 1995, at her home. She was born Jan. 9, 1945, in Advance, daughter of Samuel and Anna English Tilley. She married Michael A. Yuenger. Survivors include her husband; two daughters, Dianna Walters of Ballwin, Kelly Dwyer of Maryland Heights; her mother of Advance; a brother, James Tilley of Cape Girardeau, and a granddaughter...

Tuesday, July 11 7:30 p.m. A. Set a date and time for a public hearing for the 1995-96 tax rate. B. Consider continuing student accident insurance coverage with the MASA-endorsed plan. C. Consider the recommendations of the employee insurance committee to continue employee health and dental care coverage with the Mutual of Omaha Company for the 1995-96 school year...

Cape Girardeau is without Greyhound bus service again, not an unusual situation in the city over the past five years. Greyhound buses rolled into Union Bus Depot at 16 N. Frederick for more than 40 years, from 1947 to March 1990, when the depot closed because of a decline in service following a 21-day Greyhound strike...

A city street offers an avenue for alleviating traffic congestion at Kingshighway and Cape Rock Drive. Officials with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department and the city of Cape Girardeau want to close a section of Kingsway and make it a right-turn lane for northbound traffic on Kingshighway turning east on Cape Rock...

Two Swedish criminologists visited juvenile detention facilities in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois recently to learn how the United States deals with young criminals. Criminologists Peter and Louise Boudin were sent on their fact-finding mission by the Swedish government because juveniles are committing more violent crimes in Sweden...

The Delta-Phi chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at Southeast Missouri State University was honored for its chapter programming at a recent leadership conference. The Southeast Missouri chapter received recognition for its outstanding public affairs project, program and publicity...

The Adult Day Care Program will sponsor a dental care lecture at 1 p.m. Wednesday. The lecture, which is open to all senior citizens, will be held at the day care center, 4 N. West End Boulevard. Dr. Dana Cotner will be the speaker. She will emphasize the importance of dental care and the use of Medicaid cards...

Rebecca Christian, daughter of Mike and Charlene Christian, recently qualified for the Distinguished Youth of Missouri Program. More than $5,000 in scholarships and awards were presented to the participants. The Distinguished Youth Program is designed to recognize young women who are strong academic, school and community leaders...

Sally Seabaugh, an instructor at Southeast Missouri State University, participated in the annual reading and scoring of the College Board's Advanced Placement Examinations in government and politics last month. The AP program gives high school students the opportunity to take college-level courses and examinations and receive credit when they enter college...

Cape Girardeau teacher Pat Heckert was among state educators honored at a banquet last month at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The ceremony was part of the Missouri Scholars Academy Appriciation Day. Frome June 11 to July 1, 327 of Missouri top high school students attended the 10th annual academy...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Bridge Club met recently. Winners were Tom Wood and Paul Gilbert, first place; Jeannane and John Whitehead and Norma Blattner and Melva Rose Lewis, second place. For more information about the club, call Paul Gilbert at 334-8078. The group meets at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Friday of each month...

Heidi and Ryan Hannah of Cape Girardeau graduated from the International Ministries major of the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. The International Ministries major prepares students for service as overseas missionaries. The Hannahs plan to go to Mozambique in Africa as missionaries with the Africa Evangelical Fellowship...

Amy L. Watkins of Chaffee was recently awarded the General Education Degree scholarship to attend Southeast Missouri State University. The G.E.D. scholarship is awarded to full-time freshmen at Southeast who have completed their G.E.D. program. Watkins is the daughter of Larry and Linda Uhrhan of Chaffee and the mother of a daughter, Amber, 3. She attended Scott City High School and plans to major in accounting...

Kelly Huckabee of Cape Girardeau was awarded a scholarship from the International Order of Jobs Daughters to attend Mineral Area College. She will major in business management and office system technology. Huckabee is a 1995 graduate of Cape Girardeau Central High School. She is the daughter of Debbie Huckabee of Cape Girardeau and John Huckabee of Parrie Village, Kan...

Sandra Bounds, Paula Welker and Christy Vandeven, all of Cape Girardeau; Khristine Abernathy of Jackson; and Donna Lyon of Benton were named to the Dean's List for the spring semester at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Bounds is the daughter of Emmett and Harumi Bounds of Cape Girardeau. She was a 1993 graduate of Central High School...

Sally Seaubaugh, coordinator for We the People...The Citizen and the Constitution, attended a leadership conference in Washington last month. We the People...is a program that teaches students about the history and principles of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and is administered by the Los Angeles-based Center for Civic Education...

Gabe Mayfield, a 1993 graduate of Cape Girardeau Central High School, graduated cum laude from Terra Community College in Fremont, Ohio. He earned an associate degree in welding technology and plans to continue his studies in welding. He is the son of Barb Mayfield and Joe Mayfield of Cape Girardeau...