Stories from Saturday, September 2, 1995

For more than 50 years, the estrogen-replacement drug, Premarin, has been a part of daily life for millions of menopausal women. As its name implies, Premarin is extracted from the urine of pregnant mares. With an estimated 8 million women currently taking the drug, and some 43 million women entering menopause, the pregnant mare urine industry is booming. ...

The Lyme Disease Support Group will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in classrooms A and B of the Regional Cancer Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Co-sponsored by Southeast, IV Care and Option Care, the group is open to Lyme disease patients, their families and other interested individuals...

"Relaxation" will be the program topic when the Menopause Support Group meets Monday at Southeast Missouri Hospital. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in classrooms C and D of the Hospital's Regional Cancer Center. Barb McKeon, nurse counselor at Southeast, said the group is open to women older than 35. The support group focuses on helping women adjust to menopause and its emotional and physical impact...

After years of running roughshod over Muslims in Bosnia, the Serb rebels today seem ready to negotiate a U.N.-brokered peace deal with the Bosnian government. Serb military victories and territory-taking didn't rein in the Serbs. Rhetoric also has been an ineffective tool for dissuading the Serbs' resolve to overtake Bosnia and purge Muslims from the nation. Nor did humanitarian concerns affect the Serbs' willingness to approach the peace table...

Freedom From Smoking, an American Lung Association program, will be offered at St. Francis Medical Center beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6. This seven-week plan uses a behavior-changing approach meant to teach participants how to become non-smokers. Participants quit the third week and receive material and knowledge to help them remain non-smokers the following weeks...

Dr. C.F. Ernst, 73, has been giving blood since he was 17 years-old. He had given 29 gallons and three pints of blood to the American Red Cross blood drives. Arthur Free of Chaffee reached his ten gallon mark after giving blood last Wednesday at the American Red Cross Blood Mobile...

It isn't something parents like to think about: guns and violence in schools. Granted, incidents of violence in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois are much lower than in urban areas. But it is there nonetheless, lurking, nagging at society's conscience...

With a new superintendent at the helm, the Meadow Heights school district hopes to rebuild trust and get on with the business of educating children. The board of education chose well with Cheri Fuemmeler as superintendent. She has served as elementary principal the past seven years and interim superintendent through the summer's crisis...

To the editor: Too often today we only read in the paper about the awful things people do to others and the poor treatment their receive from uncaring human beings. We are writing this letter as a testimonial that this isn't always the case. For the past almost four years, our mother, Mary D. ...

Cape Girardeau officials hope to convince the Federal Aviation Administration to fund the Regional Airport control tower operation under a cost-sharing plan. City officials say that would be far better than losing federal funding entirely. "That is the only way to go," said J. Fred Waltz, airport board chairman. "We have no options."...

How many hands does it take to build a peanut butter sandwich for hungry flood victims? Not many when Raymond Primonato is on the job. Primonato, 10, was honored for his volunteer efforts as the Super Kid of Summer through the Jackson Wal-Mart. He was part of the Red Cross flood-relief efforts from the first splash of the Mississippi River overflowing its banks. ...

U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson is in the majority these days and he likes the feeling. "It's a lot better than being in the minority," Missouri's 8th District Republican told the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce First Friday Coffee. The eight-term congressman from Cape Girardeau presided over the House during the opening session this year. It was a "good feeling to know that the majority is with us," he said...

They say bad things come in threes, but three in one day? Only me. It was just this week, on my day off, when I had three simple errands to run. Get a library card. Get a physical at the health department. Buy a kitchen table. Sounds easy, right? It all started at an area library that will remain nameless. ...

Churches in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City will ring their bells at 9 a.m. today, commemorating Victory over Japan Day. On Sept. 2, 1945, representatives of Japan signed the official statement of surrender aboard the USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. Representatives of all Allied nations were present for this event, which ended World War II...

I'VE GOT a question for the Southeast Missourian staff, or maybe directly to Peter Kinder: If Mr. Kinder chooses to run for governor against Mel Carnahan and wins, which I'm sure he could, would he continue his columns in the paper? I hope, so because I would miss them if he didn't...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Ervin Oscar Nichols, 88, of Cairo, died Friday, Sept. 1, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Nov. 3, 1906, in Atkins, Ark., son of Horace and Sara Bell Nichols. Nichols was a retired pipefitter and welder. He was a member of Pipefitters and Welders Local in Paducah, Ky...

CHARLESTON -- Wilbert Oliver Morris, 69, of Charleston, died Thursday, Aug. 31, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Aug. 28, 1926, in Pulaski, Ill., son of Orland and Laura Earley Morris. Morris was a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Chester E. "Jack" Pearson, 80, of Cobden, died Thursday, Aug. 31, 1995, at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale. He was born Jan. 11, 1915, in Cobden, son of Roscoe and Millie Peterman Pearson. He and L. Mae Campbell were married Aug. 19, 1938, in Jackson...

Area Boy Scouts will have an opportunity to sign up during School Nights for Scouting in September. The Shawnee District, in cooperation with are Cub Pack and Scout Troop leaders, and area schools are participating in the annual membership drive. As an incentive, boys who join Cub Scouts or Boy Scouts during School Night for Scouting will receive a free St. Louis Rams T-shirt...

JACKSON -- Verna Rhodes, 77, of Jackson, died Friday, Sept. 1, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 25, 1917, at Hines Landing, daughter of Floyd K. and Clara E. Wiggins Hines. She and James B. Rhodes were married Sept. 14, 1935. He died June 5, 1987...

JACKSON -- Tarry Dale Stone, 48, of Kansas City, died Tuesday, Aug. 29, 1995, at his home. He was born Oct. 15, 1946, in Jackson, son of Leon Edward and Edna Maye Heatley Stone. He and Peggy Strahan were married Dec. 20, 1964. She died April 27, 1969...

Cape Girardeau County Eugene Jackson et al. to Carl Amos; Lawrence and Ruby Schott to Kenneth and Judith Baer; Ricky Werner et al. to Ricky Werner and Michael Thies; Albert and Olivia Ostendorf to Margaret and Kenneth Ostendorf; Leon and Bernice Jansen to Larry Jansen...

JACKSON -- Weldon Leon Slinkard, 84, of Jackson died Friday, Sept. 1, 1995, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson.

McGEE -- Brian K. Smith, 30, of McGee, died Thursday, Aug. 31, 1995, at his home. He was born Aug. 26, 1965, at Chillicothe, Ohio, son of Robert and Ruth Gire Smith. He and Mary Fuwell were married July 1, 1995, at Lowndes. Smith moved to Martin, Tenn., in 1984 from Chillicothe, and then recently moved to McGee. He formerly worked in an oil field. He was a member of Weakley County Coon Club in Dresden, Tenn...