Stories from Thursday, July 27, 1995

I just spent six years of my life in the Army. I served all over the United States and over a year in Turkey during the Gulf War. I served proudly. I gained respect for America's fighting men and was proud to be counted among them. I sustained a permanent injury. I blew out my right knee. Despite reconstructive surgery, it didn't heal properly, leaving me with intense periodic pain. I received an honorable discharge and a 20 percent disability rating...

The congressional hearings on the federal raid of the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas, reveal in dabs the truth of what went wrong there. While Republicans try to link the Clinton administration to the botched raid, Democrats cling to the notion that cult leader David Koresh is wholly and solely responsible for the more than 80 deaths from the debacle. ...

Paul Mateki, a Texas singer-songwriter, cut two songs at Riverside Recording recently. The tunes will go on a compilation CD soon to be released. While youthful acrobats yell and somersault in the gym elsewhere in the building, Paul Mateki stands alone in a tiny carpeted room in the basement singing a song he hopes will make him a star...

A Sikeston attorney will be the newest member of the Missouri State Board of Education pending confirmation by the senate. Rice "Pete" Burns was nominated Wednesday by Gov. Mel Carnahan to succeed Bekki Cook. Cook resigned from the board in December after her appointment as Secretary of State...

The Cape LaCroix Creek-Walker Branch Flood Control Project should be completed two years before the quarter-cent sales tax passed to fund it expires, city officials say. The tax, passed by voters in 1988, will expire Dec. 31, 1999. The Army Corps of Engineers will open bids today for what city officials call phase II-B of the Walker Branch Project. Phase II-B calls for construction of a concrete channel between Broadway and Kingsway, next to Burger King and Choctaw Park...

Senior citizens typically are viewed as no votes when it comes to tax hikes. But don't tell that to Delia Lampley. She and other senior citizens at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center said Wednesday they favor a transportation tax or are leaning in that direction...

CAIRO, Ill. -- State and local authorities were attempting Wednesday to identify a body that was found in the Mississippi River. At 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, a fisherman discovered the body at Dogtooth Bend near Miller City, Alexander County sheriff's deputies said...

July 31, 1995 Dear Leslie, The miserable Midwestern heat you've been hearing about has been only slightly less extreme here. A few merciful rains have cooled the temperatures, but the humidity has been frightful. DC and I stay in our den and our bedroom, the only air-conditioned rooms in the house, waiting for fall...

I LIKE Mike Royko. I have been reading him for many years. I do not believe that he is a dirty old man. As a matter of fact I find him quite humorous. I do not always agree with what he has to say, but then again there is the First Amendment and freedom of speech. I think it would be a shame for the Southeast Missourian to cut him off. And to the caller who called in: I am a woman, and I do enjoy him...

I WAS amused by the story of the federal employees who went home when the air conditioning failed and the offices heated up to 90 degrees. We should invite them to come visit our schools when school starts in August and check the thermometers there. They might be in for a surprise...

July precipitation is above normal in some portions of the area, but forecasters say that is not abnormal. A National Weather Service forecaster in St. Louis said the weather has been fairly typical for July. "Normally we get about 3 inches in July," said meteorologist Todd Shay. "With the exception of the heat, we've been getting scattered thunderstorms."...

A new, state health law requires that children entering a day care, nursery or Head Start program this fall first be immunized against hepatitis B before they can begin classes. The requirement comes from the Missouri Department of Health and pertains to children born on or after Jan. 1, 1990...

POPLAR BLUFF -- L.S. Prewitt, 70, of Poplar Bluff, died Tuesday, July 25, 1995, at his home. He was born Oct. 6, 1924, in Gale, Ill. He and Freota Billingsley were married March 8, 1947. Prewitt had lived in Poplar Bluff since 1956. He was a dragline operator, fireman and engineer with Missouri Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad 44 years, retiring in 1986. ...

CHARLESTON -- Funeral service for A. Vernon Presson Sr. of Charleston will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at McMikle Funeral Home. The Revs. Gerald Collier and Charles Kohlbaker will officiate, with burial in IOOF Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

ANNA, Ill. -- Funeral service for Alva M. "Whitey" White, Anna Route 1, will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna. The Rev. John Shelton and a grandson, Todd Hawk, will officiate. Burial will be in Anna Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 6-9 p.m. today, and prior to service Friday...

Funeral service for Hilda M. Hardecke of Sullivan was held Tuesday at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in Sullivan. The Rev. Larry Tieman officiated, with burial in Schmidt Cemetery. Eaton Funeral Home at Sullivan was in charge of arrangements. Hardecke, 89, died Sunday, July 23, 1995...

ALTENBURG -- Hertha G. Haertling, 88, of Altenburg, died Tuesday, July 25, 1995, at her home. She was born Sept. 7, 1906, at Pocahontas, daughter of Fred and Katherine Perr Ruehling. She and Edgar A. Haertling were married Sept. 21, 1924. He died Jan. 23, 1991...

DEXTER -- Mary T. Litzler, 85, of Dexter, died Tuesday, July 25, 1995, at Dexter Nursing Center. She was born May 9, 1910, at Dexter, daughter of Michael A. and Mary Dietsch Litzler. Litzler was a retired sewing machine operator, and member of a Catholic church in Portland, Ore...

OLD APPLETON -- Marie Katherine Abbott, 72, of Old Appleton, died Wednesday, July 26, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 16, 1923, in McGowan, Ky., daughter of Andrew J. and Janie Francis White Simpson. She and Leemon Boyd Abbott were married March 3, 1947, in Piggott, Ark...

McGEE -- Hester M. Howell, 82, of Taft, Calif., died Tuesday, July 25, 1995, in Taft. She was born Nov. 11, 1912, at Wills, daughter of Rudolph and Cora Bell McDonald Barks. She married James William Howell, who died in 1978. Formerly of McGee, she moved to Taft in 1994. She was a member of Seventh Day Adventist Church...

JACKSON -- Jerry Lee Helderman, 65, of Jackson, died Wednesday, July 26, 1995, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Crystal City. He was born May 10, 1930, in Cape Girardeau, son of Earl and Corrine Childs Helderman. He and Patricia Phelan were married June 20, 1953, in Jackson...

JACKSON -- Funeral service for Mary Emma Amos of Jackson was held Tuesday at Cracraft-Miller Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Janet Hopkins officiated, with burial in Zion United Methodist Church Cemetery at Old Appleton. Amos, 66, died Sunday, July 23, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

Walter J. "Dub" Niswonger, 67, 257 Capaha Trail, died Tuesday, July 25, 1995, at his home. He was born Nov. 7, 1927, at Cape Girardeau, son of Walter W. and Viola Mary Hagon Niswonger. He and Ruby B. Cronenbold were married Feb. 1, 1950, at Osceola, Ark...