Stories from Thursday, September 14, 1995

MARION, Ill. -- Herman O. Pfaff, 81, of Dongola, Ill., died Tuesday, Sept. 12, 1995, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Marion. He was born Feb. 28, 1914, near Wetaug, Ill., son of Frederick and Carrie Axley Pfaff. Pfaff served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was a member of the Carroll P. Foster VFW Post 3455. He had been a farmer and construction worker in the Dongola area for most of his life...

This week finds those of us in the Missouri General Assembly back in Jefferson City for the annual veto session, a constitutionally mandated period during which we consider those items vetoed by the governor. Most of the air went out of the balloon for this year's session when Sen. John Schneider, D-St. Louis, announced he wasn't going to bring up his abortion caregiver bill (Senate Bill 279) for an override attempt...

SPRINGFIELD -- Rosario Andino grew up in a family of intellectuals in pre-revolutionary Cuba, and at age 4 boldly asked one of her parents' accomplished friends to teach her the piano. "I learned how to read music before words," she says. Since then, Andino has performed through much of the Western world, with annual tours through Europe, Mexico and the United States...

JACKSON -- Jacqueline Close was going to give up on being a writer if she didn't win the first-place award for science fiction at the recent Heartland Writers Conference. "I decided if I didn't win I wasn't going to pursue fiction at all and just focus on helping him," she said, referring to her husband Ed's writing ambitions...

Late last year, the Federal Aviation Administration began discussing the possibility of closing 23 air-traffic control towers in non-hub airports across the nation. Cape Girardeau Regional Airport was among the airports on the closure list. In a new era of federal cutbacks, the air tower decision seems a natural. It would save the government about $5 million annually, and most of the airports on the list can operate fine without a tower...

Whether "Showgirls" will be shown in Cape Girardeau when it opens nationwide Sept. 22 could not be confirmed this week. Wehrenberg Theatres, which operates West Park 4 Cine, has made a company-wide decision not to show the movie because of its NC-17 rating...

Hazing contradicts the positive ideals and values Greek organizations were founded on, a mother who lost her son to hazing said Wednesday at Southeast Missouri State University. "Hazing just doesn't fit," Eileen Stevens told 600 fraternity and sorority members in a speech at Southeast's Academic Auditorium. "It's in conflict with everything you stand for."...

Three Scott County residents were injured in a two-vehicle accident near Sikeston Wednesday. Darrell Barnett, 52, of Sikeston, was traveling westbound in a car along Route HH when he failed to stop at the intersection of HH and Highway 61, said a spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol. Barnett's car was struck by a car driven by Abe Williams, 41, of Oran, said the patrol...

Son to Gary and Shelley Sachs of Altenburg, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:21 a.m. Friday, Aug. 18, 1995. Name, Paul Alfred Frederick. Weight, 8 pounds 13 ounces. Third child, first son. Mrs. Sachs is the former Shelley Fields, daughter of Alfred and Bernadine Shiplett of Robbinsville, N.C., and the late Floyd M. Fields. She is owner of Ms. Shelley's Learning Center. Sachs is a fuel technician at Lone Star Industries. He is the son of Alfred and Thelma Sachs of Frohna...

Robert C. Grossheider, 72, of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, Sept. 13, 1995, at his home. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

ST. LOUIS -- Theodore Fedler, founder of the Cape Girardeau-based AIDS Project of Southeast Missouri, died Wednesday afternoon at the John Cochran Veterans Administration Medical Center from AIDS-related complications. He was 47. Fedler moved to Cape Girardeau from Iowa in April 1993, quickly starting the AIDS Project with his companion, Travis Clayton. ...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Funeral service for Clyde B. Weatherford, Mounds Route 1, will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Barkett Funeral Chapel in Mounds. The Rev. Charles Miller will officiate, with burial in Spencer Heights Cemetery. Friends may call at the chapel from 9-11 a.m. Friday...

JONESBORO -- Herman H. Frick, 65, of Jonesboro, died Tuesday, Sept. 12, 1995, at Jonesboro Health Care Center. He was born Aug. 29, 1930, in Jonesboro, son of Dan and Doris Ferrell Frick. Frick retired from caterpillar in Peoria. He was a member of the Baptist Church and Disabled American Veterans. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War...

Kansas City's third riverboat casino and the state's eighth started rolling dice and dealing cards at 6 p.m. Wednesday following the Missouri Gaming Commission's 3-0 vote of approval earlier in the day. But, like the six casinos that opened in Missouri over the past 18 months, Kansas City's latest riverboat, Judy's Prize, which won't be going anywhere...

The Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday night unanimously recommended the City Council approve plans for a residential subdivision despite opposition from nearby residents. The council will consider the issue Monday night. Commissioners said they had no choice but to approve the preliminary plat for the 28-acre site at the southeast corner of Sprigg and Bertling because it met all city zoning and subdivision regulations. The land is zoned residential...

Southeast Missouri State University's interim president wants to know if the university has too much bureaucracy and is overstaffed in some areas. The interim president, Dr. Bill Atchley, said Wednesday he plans to assess the situation. Atchley told a meeting of the Faculty Senate that the university needs to be run efficiently and must secure more private funding...

Wading slowly up a creek for 20 minutes only to wind up dead at your destination is no one's idea of a pleasant late-summer evening. But Sgt. Mike Ressel considers it fun. Ressel and seven of his Missouri National Guard comrades crept up Cape La Croix Creek Wednesday to attack and capture a Bailey bridge being held by six fellow guardsmen...

Sept. 14, 1995 Dear Julie, Sometimes words stop at my brain pan, roll around a few times and then fly off into the atmosphere. I can't get hold of them no matter what, and finally am left wondering if some ideas exist beyond the ability of words to convey meaning...

Clouds of sawdust floated about and the sound of cattle mooing echoed through the barn as Laura Ernst, 15, of Perryville sat in a lawn chair doing her homework assignment. But the sights and sounds didn't distract Ernst, who had just finished showing her steer in the 4-H-Future Farmers of America show Wednesday afternoon. She is a member of the Biehle-Cloverleaf 4-H Club...

Area students are among some 15,000 high school seniors who are semifinalists in the 41st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These students have a chance to continue in the competition for about 6,900 Merit Scholarship awards, worth about $26 million, to be offered next spring...

A mix-up over a federal grant to help Missourians with AIDS is costing Cape Girardeau residents suffering with the disease. There are about 70 people in Southeast Missouri who benefit from the Ryan White grant, named for a boy who became a national figure before dying of AIDS. Grant money pays for food, housing, utilities, medicine and doctor bills...

PATTON -- Entertainer Ron Cole will bring his message on living drug and alcohol-free to students at Meadow Heights High School Friday. Cole, an entertainer who promotes a drug-free message through musical impersonations, will perform at 1 p.m. at the high school gym for students in grades 5 through 12. He will also entertain at a dance later in the evening...

Bouncing baby boys were contestants in the SEMO District Fair baby contest Wednesday evening. Three awards were given in five age categories. First place winners in the contest include Robert Lee Crader III, son of Bob and B.J. Crader of Cape Girardeau, 3-6 months; Trey Wallace, son of Donald and Lori Wallace of Advance, 6-9 months; Cody Cox, son of Jeff and Kassie Cox of Cape Girardeau, 9-12 months; and Adam Brown, son of James and Kellie Brown of Jackson, 12-17 months...

The London Theatre '96, a 10-day study tour of the London theater scene, will be sponsored by the University Theatre at the end of December. Participants will attend performances of Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap," Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard," a Shakespearean play and a holiday pantomime...

The Ill-Mo Boys, a group of musicians known for old-time country music from the Midwest, will perform free concerts Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday concert will be held at 7 p.m. at the amphitheater at Trail of Tears State Park. The concert Sunday will be presented at 4:30 p.m. at Bollinger Mill State Historic Site...

ORAN -- Make way for the big tents because the circus is coming to town and it's been almost five years since one last visited Oran. Walker Brothers Circus will present a performance Sunday at the Tilles Memorial City Park in Oran. The midway will open at 1 p.m. and the performance begins at 2 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Oran Chamber of Commerce...