Stories from Wednesday, September 13, 1995

Dorothy Klein will retire at year's end as executive director of the Area Wide United Way. She has served this organization and the region tirelessly for 18 years. She directs hundreds of volunteers each year, which in itself is no small task. Klein also coordinated the combination of the Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City campaigns into a single, massive fund-raising effort that benefits the entire area...

Unusual words and questionable usage go hand in hand. A networker recently announced that Dr. Kevorkian has "just assisted in a 20-tooth suicide." Granted that "20-tooth" for "20-second" is an unusual creation, questionable usage is the front runner in the examples noted within the past month or so...

The SEMO District Fair Baby Contest winners in the girls division were announced Tuesday. Ribbons were awarded to first, second and third places in each of five divisions. Bailey Reanee Swinford, daughter of Tina Steger and John Swinford of Chaffee, won first place in the zero-3 months category...

The smell of freshly baked banana bread floats through the air as the loaves are sliced for judging. Grace Hoover has the difficult, but enjoyable, task of judging each baked good entry for the SEMO District Fair. Judging for the 4-H exhibits began Tuesday morning. Livestock judging begins today...

More than 300 prospective students and their parents from six states are expected to attend "Show Me Day" Saturday at Southeast Missouri State University. Show Me Day, scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Show Me Center, is an opportunity for high school juniors and seniors to check out their college options, said Juan Crites, the school's admissions director...

Agenda Wednesday, Sept. 13, 7 p.m. City Hall, 401 Independence Hearings Request of David O. Patrick Trust for a special use permit to assemble computer cables at 1809 N. Kingshighway. Request of St. Francis Medical Center for a special use permit to allow parking spaces smaller than the minimum required size in a parking garage...

The Golden Age Adult Day Care program will sponsor a heart and blood pressure session Thursday at 1 p.m. at the center, 4 N. West End Boulevard. Lisa Job of St. Francis Heart Institute is the instructor. All senior citizens are invited. The center also will sponsor a fun day at the center Friday beginning at noon. For more information call 334-8337...

JEFFERSON CITY -- The Missouri Department of Corrections is looking for a few (not-so-good) men. State prison officials haven't turned Marine recruiters, but they are now studying ways to secure more qualified recruits for what is known as the Regimented Discipline Program...

Cooler days have arrived, and that is certainly a relief to area school children and teachers. Several area schools dismissed classes early during late August as temperatures hovered around the 100-degree mark. While dismissing early proved inconvenient for many parents, it is doubtful much learning could take place under such sweltering conditions...

About 20 years before the mule became the state animal, Rocky Stroder of Jackson became interested in mules. "Dad brought home one and I decided that I had to have two," he said. Stroder still likes his mules in pairs; he entered two 8-year-olds into competition at this year's SEMO District Fair...

College students can bank on student loans, local lenders say. President Clinton in a visit to Carbondale, Ill., Monday accused Republicans of caving in to the banking industry to ditch his direct college loan program. His plan calls for cutting out the middle man -- banks and other lending institutions -- and giving federal money directly to students via the colleges and universities they attend...

Apples are bigger, tastier and better in quality, but they might be fewer this fall. "We have a good crop of apples," said David Diebold, of Diebold Orchards in Benton. "It's not a bumper crop, but a good one." LaDonia Beggs, of Pioneer Apple Orchard at Jackson, and Bill Hartline of Alto Pass, Ill., agree...

Mary Brewer stood amid orange highway barricades and braved traffic that sometimes whizzed by at 45 mph Tuesday morning to raise money for literacy efforts in Cape Girardeau. Not everyone whizzed by Brewer's station at William Street and I-55. She was one of a team of volunteers from the Target store. By the end of the morning, the team sold out of the special-edition YELL newpapers they were hawking...

A few weeks back in this space I poked fun at local radio with the premise that if you expect fine and varied listening choices on the Cape Girardeau airwaves, forget it. One area station, which I dubbed Sorta Rock Radio, invited me to their studio and put me on the air for while to discuss the subject and music in general. I must say they were a pretty gracious bunch...

THE EDITORIAL Sept. 7 entitled "College-bound test results are blurred" makes reference to the trend of schools today to inflate grades and to boost students self-esteem, which has replaced knowledge as a primary goal in primary and secondary schools. ...

JACKSON -- Two used buses will help alleviate some problems with Jackson's routes, but are only a quick fix to a bigger problem, superintendent Howard Jones said. On the first day of school, most buses carried a half load in the morning. But in the afternoon, students piled on and some buses had 10 or more students over capacity before substitute buses and their drivers were called out...

JACKSON -- While his fellow tourists ambled around Jackson's police headquarters Tuesday, Mayor Paul Sander tacked a business card with his work, home and car telephone numbers onto a bulletin board. After all, he toured headquarters at least twice after being elected mayor in 1993. It was that year he decided to invite aldermen on annual trips through every city department...

JACKSON -- When Beverly Nelson looks through this year's snapshots of Safety City, U.S.A., her face glows with pride. The pictures show lots of children -- most of them sitting on bicycles, all of them wearing helmets. Other shots are of Jackson Noon Optimist members and police officers teaching bicycle safety...

The Southeast Missourian asked people how they felt about Jackson's growth and if they were concerned that it might lose its small-town charm. Nick Seabaugh: "Jackson is growing so fast. I like it the way it is now. I would not like the big population and not having anywhere to go without a lot of people running into you."...

DEXTER -- Nella Mae Reynolds, 97, died Tuesday, Sept. 12, 1995, at the Dexter Memorial Hospital. She was born Dec. 15, 1897, at Bernie, daughter of Frank and Liza Jane Huffman. She married E.J. Reynolds Aug. 25, 1918, at Powe. He preceded her in death Feb. 11, 1989...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Wesley "Bobe" Hodges of Sikeston will be held at 11 a.m. today at Ponder Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Jerry Reynolds will officiate, with burial in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Hodges, 87, died Monday, Sept. 11, 1995, at Sells Rest Home in Matthews...

WAPPAPELLO -- Graveside service for Bertis Harold Kimmel of Wappapello will be held at 9 a.m. today at Essex Cemetery in Essex. Chaplain Ron Spell will officiate. Friends may call at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter after 8 a.m. today. Kimmel, 67, died Monday, Sept. 11, 1995, at his home...

SCOTT CITY -- Funeral service for Reginald Dale Schenimann of Sikeston will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City. Burial will be in Lightner Cemetery here. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-9 p.m. today...

Graveside service for Dorothy R. Seabaugh of St. Louis will be held at 1 p.m. today at Lorimier Cemetery. Drehmann-Harral Funeral Chapel in St. Louis is in charge of arrangements. Funeral service was held Tuesday at the chapel. Seabaugh, 90, died Sunday, Sept. 10, 1995, at Jewish Hospital in St. Louis...

KEWANEE -- Florence Opal Minehart, 68, of Kewanee, died Monday, Sept. 11, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, from injuries received in an automobile accident. She was born Sept. 25, 1926, near East Prairie, daughter of John Barton and Nancy Pearl Johnson Zuck. She and Butch Minehart were married May 23, 1943...

Lloyd J. "Rocky" Dycus, 68, of Cape Girardeau, died Monday, Sept. 11, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Oct. 3, 1926, in Dyersburg, Tenn., son of Abner and Addie Dycus. He was formerly of Bernie. Dycus was a truck driver with General Motors in Michigan. He was a musician and a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and the Korean War...

Twin son and daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Jones, 206 Hillvale, Southeast Missouri Hospital, Thursday, Aug. 31, 1995. Tyler Stephen was born at 5:01 p.m. and weighed 6 pounds. Mallory Lynn was born at 6:01 p.m. and weighed 5 pounds 14 ounces. The couple has one other daughter. ...

Two of the most frequently asked questions are "How can I get my poinsettia from last Christmas to bloom again this year" and "How will I be able to get my amaryllis to bloom again?" September seems a bit too early to be thinking about the holidays, particularly when it is still hot and dry. ...

Evelyn Thiele kneaded the bread dough before putting it into a pan. Georgiann Smith of Cape Girardeau measured the ingredients for potato bread and put them into her breadmaker machine. A little control is left to the user of a breadmaker by pressing the proper buttons...