Stories from Friday, September 8, 1995

The second annual Black Family Reunion was held in Cape Girardeau over the holiday weekend with little fanfare. Except for the approximately 3,000 blacks who participated, the event was little noticed by the rest of the community. The reunion, which is patterned after similar events in cities around the country, was started as an opportunity for blacks from this area and several nearby states to get together and celebrate their cultural heritage. ...

The nation has managed for more than two centuries without having an officially designated language. For most of that time, English has been the lingua franca of a country whose people came from varied backgrounds. The millions of immigrants who made their way to our shores sought, for the most part, to become Americans in every way. ...

Don't pack away the Bermuda shorts. If the woolly worm's predictions for Southeast Missouri are correct, winter this year will be pleasantly mild, not wild and woolly as some winters have been. If the woolly worm found ambling along the lawn of the old Thebes, Ill., courthouse this week is any indication, area residents can expect a light winter. That is because the woolly worm was a light brown...

U.S. presidents dating back to Jimmy Carter have decreed that federal buildings must be constructed downtown. It is the main reason the General Services Administration has focused on Cape Girardeau's downtown in its search for a site for a new, U.S. courthouse...

Boyd Gaming Corp. could open its Sam's Town facility in Kansas City next week. The Missouri Gaming Commission will meet Tuesday and Wednesday in Kansas City to discuss a number of topics and will hold a suitability hearing on Boyd's license application for its Kansas City gambling operation...

About 75 people jammed into Julie and Jeff Briney's restored Fountain Street house Thursday night to begin an effort to steer the planned federal building away from downtown blocks that contain a number of historic houses. The area, bounded by North Lorimier, Themis, Middle and Independence streets, is one the General Services Administration is considering for a 72,000-square-foot courthouse...

"Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day." Although it's a verse in a popular children's rhyme, few area residents expressed that sentiment last month. Area lawns and gardens showed distress after more than 30 hot, dry days. But relief came Thursday evening when a much-needed rain shower fell across Cape Girardeau...

SCOTT CITY -- A group of archery enthusiasts have shot down a proposed ordinance to ban shooting projectiles within the city. Four bowhunters and archers attended Thursday's Scott City Council study session to discuss the proposed ordinance. In the end, the council adopted a state law defining third-degree assault that would include the dangerous use of a bow. The compromise allows archers to continue to practice in the city limits...

JACKSON -- The call from emergency dispatch went out at just past 9 Wednesday night: A plane containing eight to 10 occupants had crashed near Route D. Emergency personnel responding to the scene found the medium-sized commuter aircraft actually contained 25 people. Nine were dead on arrival; three had minor walking injuries and the rest were in between...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The White House advance team has taken over the Carbondale campus of Southern Illinois University in preparation for a Monday visit by President Bill Clinton. "The White House has a certain protocol to follow, so the advance team is in charge of the preparations," said Sue Davis, the director of the university news service. "We are working with them and working out the logistics of the visit."...

Son to Bruce Manche Jr. and Pegi Lorenz of Sedgewickville, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 1, 1995. Name, Derrick Austin-Verlin. Weight, 7 pounds 15 ounces. Fourth child, third son. Miss Lorenz is the daughter of Verlin and Katie Lorenz of Fairdealing. Manche is a dock worker at Gilster-Mary Lee. He is the son of Bruce and Barb Manche of Perryville...

Oma E. Anderson, 87, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Sept. 7, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Oct. 14, 1907, near Advance to Wiley and Carrie Winchester. She married Lee Harvey Anderson in January 1927. The two owned and operated grocery stores in Cape Girardeau for many years. She later worked for 7-11 convenience stores in Cape Girardeau...

ANNA, Ill. -- Funeral service for Jo Lynda Grace Busby, Anna Route 2, will be held at 10 a.m. today at Parker-Reedy Funeral Home in West Frankfort, with Steve Shepherd officiating. Graveside service will be at 12:30 p.m. in Anna Cemetery. Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home of Anna is in charge of arrangements...

PERRYVILLE -- Irene T. Lurk, 94, of Perryville, died Thursday, Sept. 7, 1995, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Oct. 9, 1900, in Ste. Genevieve, daughter of Joseph and Wilhemia Schroeder Buehler. She and William Henry Lurk were married April 17, 1923, at Perryville. He died Sept. 12, 1965...

UNITY, Ill. -- Sarah Thompson, 70, of Unity, died Wednesday, Sept. 6, 1995, at her home. She was born June 13, 1925, at Wyatt, Mo., daughter of John Henry and Jennie Johnson Allen. She and Horace Thompson were married in 1945 in Cairo. He died in 1963...

Everett Stanley Blaylock, 86, of Cape Girardeau, died Thursday, Sept. 7, 1995, at Missouri Veterans Home. He was born Sept. 27, 1908, at Highland, son of Robert Emmett and Margaret Elizabeth Fleming Blaylock. He and Ina Jewel Murphy were married in 1942 in Blytheville, Ark. She died in October 1972...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Velva Verble, 82, of Cobden, died Wednesday, Sept. 6, 1995, at Hillside Terrace Nursing Home in Cobden. Graveside service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Cobden Cemetery, with the Rev. Ronald Burnett officiating. Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home at Cobden is in charge of arrangements...

ADVANCE -- Delores R. Bagwell, 58, of Advance, died Thursday, Sept. 7, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 10, 1937, in Racine, Wis., daughter of Caterino and Juanita Rodriguez Gerardo. She and Earnest F. Bagwell were married July 1, 1958, in Waukegan, Ill...

BENTON -- A memorial mass for Kenneth G. Gibbar of Fort Collins, Colo., will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 14 at St. Denis Catholic Church in Benton. The Rev. Normand Varone will officiate. Gibbar, 52, died Monday, Sept. 4, 1995, in Fort Collins. He was an attorney and had practiced in Scott and Cape Girardeau counties before moving to Fort Collins...

Ina Sue Lesar, 57, of Thebes, Ill., died Thursday, Sept. 7, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.