Stories from Wednesday, August 2, 1995

Last week the city of Cape Girardeau bid farewell to J. Ronald Fischer as its city manager. He served this city admirably during the past seven years. Fischer leaves big shoes to fill. He brought a plain-speaking, commonsense approach to the job. He mended fences that were fractured during the previous administration. Much of his early time was spent as peacemaker. He excelled at compromise and calm deliberation. He not only got the job done, he got it done well...

Just a few weeks ago, it looked as if the city of Cape Girardeau couldn't afford to even consider the notion of a buyout in flood-prone areas. That changed when Gov. Mel Carnahan announced the state will help some towns pay for local buyout costs. Buyouts aren't cheap, but neither is flood damage. In the long run, a buyout in flood areas may save money for the city of Cape Girardeau as well as state and federal coffers...

Riverboat gaming is in its early development in Missouri and has been controversial at times, but the fact remains it has been financially beneficial to education. Riverboat gaming is funding the state's new school foundation formula with approximately $80 million dollars for fiscal year 1996. ...

"A computer is no longer a luxury," an airborne networker tells us over and over again. "It's a necessity." On the same TV station, the same voice has announced: "We now have a place where you can dump your garbage tomorrow." Is this what we need a computer for? But perhaps our informant will dump his garbage yesterday. Sufficient unto the day is the garbage thereof...

Jackie and Kent Reese looked over plans for the 2,800-square-foot house they will build in Old Hickory Estates at Jackson. Hopes and dreams are taking shape daily in city lots and along country roads. New homes in various stages of completion give hint to the dwellings they will become...

The Municipal Band will strike a jazz theme when it performs its free concert at the Capaha Park Band Shell at 8 tonight. Ronald Nall will be joined by guest conductor Bob Hoppmann. Selections include "Change of Pace March," "Overture in Pop Style," "Serenata," "West Side Story" and selections from Cole Porter...

In the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the grunge group Nirvana sings of perceived angst predominant among today's youth. At a Team Spirit conference going on in Cape Girardeau, 115 teens from throughout Southeast Missouri are learning they need not feel overwhelmed by problems in their communities. Working together, they can help solve the problems, particularly those caused by drug and alcohol use...

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County's assessed valuation climbed a significant $36 million in 1995 from the 1994 figure. Total assessed valuation for real estate and personal property is $547,883,507 this year. County Assessor Jerry Reynolds said that number would drop by $4 million because of a new state law passed at the end of the last legislative session...

PATTON -- Fictitious names were added to the student rolls at Meadow Heights School District, likely generating more state money than the district was entitled to. The names of 17 fictitious students appear on the rolls for 1990-91, and 17 others appear on the rolls for 1991-92, a state school official found...

With the help of my trusty-but-tattered dictionary, I learned the true meaning of a hullabaloo weekend in St. Louis. Some friends talked me into going to a downtown store called Hullabaloo. Hullawhat? I wondered aloud. Webster defines hullabaloo as "a confused noise; uproar; used to hush children." I might have guessed that it had something to do with a violent sneeze...

I ENJOY reading Speak Out and I particularly enjoy the Democrat callers who whine about what is going on in Congress since the 1994 election. I was raised a Democrat and even voted for Clinton in 1992, but I was also raised as a law-abiding gun owner and was totally against Clinton signing the Brady bill in last year's assault weapons ban. ...

MARION, Ill. -- A 3-year-old boy was killed when his bicycle with training wheels ran into the path of a dump truck here Monday. Joshua Trevor Lence died Monday evening at Marion Memorial Hospital from injuries sustained in the accident. Williamson County Coroner Monty Blue said Lence rode his bike into the path of a dump truck, driven by Gary Pritchett, 29, of Goreville, Ill...

The Transportation Trust Committee has spent $3,000 on an advertising campaign to get citizens of Cape Girardeau to vote in favor of a half-cent sales tax on Tuesday's ballot. According to a report filed Tuesday with the Cape Girardeau County Clerk's Office, the committee reported $6,980 in contributions, mostly from area businesses. Among them, Lone Star Industries, SEMO Ready Mix Inc., Rose Concrete Products, Delta Asphalt and Delta Concrete each gave $1,000 to the 15-member committee...

Daughter to Russ and Sandy McNeely of Scott City, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:36 p.m. Monday, July 24, 1995. Name, Megan Raschelle. Weight, 5 pounds 14 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. McNeely is the former Sandy Burger, daughter of Charlie and Carol Burger of Scott City. She is a cashier at Wolohan Lumber. McNeely is parts technician at Auto Zone. He is the son of Don and Lola Wolfenkoehler of Cape Girardeau and Larry and Glenda McNeely of St. Peters...

FROHNA -- Paula Anita Verseman, 85, of Frohna, died Monday, July 31, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 21, 1910, at Frohna, daughter of Theodore Samuel and Lina Koenig Kaempfe. She and Alvin Walter Meyer were married April 14, 1940. He died May 28, 1981. She and Ernst Verseman were married April 19, 1988...

MARION, Ill. -- Joshua Trevor Lence, 3, of Marion, died Monday, July 31, 1995, at Marion Memorial Hospital, from injuries received in a vehicle-bicycle accident. He was born Aug. 30, 1991, in Carbondale, son of Johnathan E. Lence and Kimberly Ann Fox...

WAPPAPELLO -- William C. Willis, 88, of Wappapello, died Saturday, July 29, 1995, in Wichita, Kan. He was born March 6, 1907, at Boncton. He and Millie McKinley were married Sept. 28, 1948, in Corning, Ark. Willis had lived here since 1953. He had been a member of IBEW in St. Louis 68 years...

PUXICO -- Lula Lemmon, 82, of Puxico, died Monday, July 31, 1995, at Dexter Nursing Center. She was born April 9, 1913, at Kinder, daughter of William and Annie Doublin Way. She and Eugene Lemmon were married June 17, 1961, at Jackson. He died in 1964...

PERRYVILLE -- Nellie Grace Grantham, 91, of Perryville, died Monday, July 31, 1995, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Nov. 6, 1903, in Bollinger County, daughter of Charles and Ann Halbrook Goldsmith. She and Rayford Grantham were married Nov. 14, 1928. He died Feb. 9, 1971...

Funeral service for George Irwin Meikle of Afton, Okla., will be held at 10 a.m. today at Sherman-Schrag Funeral Chapel in Grove, Okla. Dick Sanders will officiate, with burial in Rolston Cemetery in Afton. Meikle, 62, died Sunday, July 30, 1995, at his home...

SIKESTON -- Carl L. Hunt, 75, of Jennings, died Monday, July 31, 1995, at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. He was born Aug. 4, 1919, in Bloomington, Texas, son of Homer and Lida Holman Hunt. He and Lois Ellen Gage were married June 30, 1946, in Victoria, Texas. She died July 3, 1995...

CHARLESTON -- Guy Eula Johnson, 64, of Charleston, died Sunday, July 30, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Feb. 24, 1931, in Hickman, Ky., daughter of Edgar and Annie Dupree Davis. She and Ernest Johnson were married in 1949...

SIKESTON -- Harry Lynn Jimerson, 61, of Sikeston, died Thursday, July 27, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born April 19, 1934, in Sikeston, son of Louis and Carrie Turner Jimerson. He married the former Annie Griffin. Jimerson was owner/operator of Jimerson Service Station...

Gladys Haman, 82, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Aug. 1, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

Parents Without Partners Cape SEMO Chapter #519 has scheduled an orientation for prospective members at 7 p.m. tonight in the Harris Room of the Community Counseling Center located at the corner of Silver Springs and Bloomfield Road. Parents who are divorced, widowed or legally separated or have never been married are encouraged to come and learn about, and possibly join at that time...

America's Tots and Teens will be hosting a beauty pageant for girls and boys ages birth to 19 years at the West Park Mall 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19. No experience is necessary. Contestants are welcome from any area to enter. Prizes include trophies, crowns, banners, savings bonds, diamond watches and more...

Tickets for SEMO Fair activities go on sale this week. The box office opens Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Tickets for the Holly Dunn, Aaron Tippin and Ricky Van Shelton concerts can be purchased at the Fair office, over the phone or can be ordered by mail. The concerts will be Sept. 14-16...

The Central Pool will be closed all day Saturday for a Youth Triathlon sponsored by the city's Parks and Recreation Department, the Cape Swim Team and Cape Bicycle. The Cape Swim Team will host a meet at the pool in the afternoon. For more information, call the Parks and Recreation Department at 335-5421 or the Central Pool at 335-4040...

Are you looking at petunias that are 16 inches tall with a few flowers perched atop of "leggy" almost-leafless stems? What happened to the beautiful, compact, leafy plant you bought last spring? The petunia is still a popular bedding plant, although now surpassed by impatiens and vinca as more practical for our hot summers. ...