Stories from Sunday, January 28, 1996

Thomas M. Howell, 69, of the Cape Girardeau Veterans Home, died Friday, Jan. 16, 1996, at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center at Farmington. He was born July 3, 1926, at Judsonia, Ark. He was a veteran of World War II, having served in the Army. He was a self-employed truck driver for over 20 years and then owned a peach orchard in Campbell for 16 years...

A mailing address for the Missouri Army National Guard's 1137th Military Police Company in Germany has been established. For mail directed to a specific soldier, write the rank and full name on the top line of the following address: Department of the Army, 1137th Military Police Company, CMR 470 Building 1369, APO AE 09165...

There was a time when new mothers got a luxurious weeklong stay in the hospital after giving birth. Those days are long gone; most insurance companies now require women to be discharged 24 hours after the baby is born. So health-care workers are heading into the home to make sure mother and baby are fine after delivery...

The Abundant Life Church in Gordonville broke ground yesterday in preparation for the building of its new childrens' home and multi-purpose facility. The 3,200-square-foot building, called The Shepherd's Cove, will be used as a temporary housing facility for troubled teens, a daycare center for children of substance abusers and a base for several of the church's existing programs...

Inset photo, Ashley Miller thinks the fire helmet is too big for her. Girl Scout Troop $209 in Jackson stands beside the 1,000-gallon pumper truck at the Fire Department. At right is troop leader Sandy Miller. A ladder truck was one of several fire fighting vehicles the Girl Scouts were shown...

Jim Harper holds a log home in a glass bottle. He gives one of these to everyone who has a log home built by his business. This is the Harper kitchen in the log home. Harper says he and his family enjoy the log immensely. Harper feels nature is usually important to owners of log homes. He even built a log garage...

Vandeven spends most of her quiet days in her shop, where she can sew a quilt in about two-and-a-half hours. Working at home, where she is also able to raise a family, was an important factor for Vandeven in starting her commercial sewing business. Vandeven says she takes quilts that have been started by others and finishes them herself...

There are other items that Bodenstein has made by hand -- a pillowcase doll and a clown. Over 70 years ago, when Alma Bodenstein of Gordonville was about 10, she began sewing a quilt for her mother. She quilted "off and on," but began taking it seriously 30 years ago...

Any doubt that 1996 will be a real barnburner of a campaign year was dispelled this week by an announcement from the AFL-CIO. In a bold attempt to reverse the 1994 election results, Big Labor has budgeted $35 million for a massive and unprecedented effort to target and defeat 75 Republican members of Congress. The result of any such effort, were it to prove successful, would be a return to lopsided Democratic control, with a Speaker Gephardt and a Majority Floor Leader David Bonior...

While I have attempted, obviously unsuccessfully, to hide my fiscal inclinations for lo, these many years, I have reached an age in which I no longer worry about bearing such a stigma, even in polite society. I confess, for anyone interested, that I am a flaming right-wing, radical state budget conservative. There, I've confessed, and I can't tell you what a relief it is to get that off my chest...

Think back to the Kennedy-Nixon television debate of 1960. Going into the debate, John Kennedy, the young, charming gentleman was deemed vulnerable to the wily, experienced veteran of innumerable political battles, Richard Nixon. But in the event, Kennedy was smooth, relaxed, articulate and photogenic. Nixon was stern, somber, sulky, stiff and sweaty...

Gov. Mel Carnahan's surefire vote-grabber of a tax cut is attracting some opposition from, of all places, powerful legislative leaders in his own political party. More than that, thoughtful voters, from corporate executives to mill laborers to owners of service businesses also are questioning the proposal to lower the state sales tax by a quarter-cent...

BENTON -- Scott County Assessor Teresa M. Houchin will set up temporary offices to answer questions about the 1996 personal property lists. The temporary offices will be in Sikeston, Chaffee and Scott City this week. In Sikeston the offices will be at the Heritage House and City Hall from 9 a.m. until noon Tuesday. On Friday the office will be at Chaffee City Hall and Nutrition Center, and at the City Hall in Scott City from 9 a.m. until noon...

Learn to Lobby, a program sponsored by Missouri Citizens for the Arts, will be offered at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Holiday Inn Executive Room. Information will be provided on arts issues facing Southeast Missouri, the state and nation. Making the presentation will be Anthony Radich, executive director of the Missouri Arts Council, and Linda Milne, executive director of Missouri Citizens for the Arts...

Today's anniversary of the tragic Challenger shuttle mission is a reminder of how often the combined resources of science and technology fail their human masters. Few Americans will forget the vision of those white contrails billowing in an azure sky following the liftoff and subsequent blast...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Opal Barker, 88, of East Prairie, died Saturday, Jan. 27, 1996, at the East Prairie Nursing Center. She was born Feb. 6, 1907, at East Prairie, daughter of William R. "Ren" and Alice C. Elliott Morgan. She lived her entire life in Mississippi County. She was a retired school teacher, having taught in the rural Mississippi County schools and the East Prairie schools...

BLOOMFIELD -- Joseph Allen Ryan, 41, of Bloomfield died Thursday, Jan. 25, 1996, at Dexter Memorial Hospital. He was born March 18, 1954, in Rochester, N.Y., son of Alfred Ryan and the late Charlene Holifield Ryan. A former employee of Hudson Foods in Dexter, he had been a resident of Bloomfield for the past year...

PERRYVILLE -- Mae V. Weinkein, 75, of Perryville died Friday, Jan. 26, 1996, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Feb. 21, 1920, in Perry County, daughter of the late Edward and Anne Bangert Weiss. She married Ivan Weinkein Nov. 28, 1948. He died Aug. 2, 1994...

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. -- Thomas (Tom) J. Gowen, 39, of Perryville died Friday, Jan. 26, 1996, at Baptist Hospital in Blytheville, Ark. He was born Feb. 2, 1956, in Bloomsdale, the son of the late Vernon Grover Gowen Sr. and Mae L. Boyer Gower. He married Geri Keith on Feb. 22, 1974...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Alida A. Birkhead, 83, of East Prairie died Friday, Jan. 26, 1996, at East Prairie Nursing Center after an extended illness. She was born April 21, 1912, in Iron Mountain, Mich., daughter of the late Albert and Beda Floodman Peterson...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Elnora Ditto, 65, of Jonesboro and formerly of Cobden, died Friday, Jan. 26, 1996, at Jonesboro Health Care Center. She was born Feb. 16, 1930, in Cobden, daughter of the late George R. and Mary Edith Leggans Pender. She married John Albert Ditto Jr. on Jan. 18, 1946, in Alton. He died Aug. 9, 1981...

JACKSON -- Sylvester Hitchcock, 82, of Jackson died Saturday, Jan. 27, 1996, at his home. Friends may call from 4-8 p.m. today at McCombs Chapel in Jackson. The service will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the funeral home. Other funeral information will be announced later by McCombs...

One of the most common cause of friction in any relationship -- whether the couple has been together a few months or 1,000 years -- revolves around money. One partner's idea of a good buy is the 20 pound bulk jar of pickled eggs while the other one thinks that having a telephone isn't worth the expense...

It started as an average, routine Tuesday for most people in Southeast Missouri: Children went to school, parents went to work, the space shuttle Challenger took flight. But the routine ended 73 seconds after liftoff when the Challenger exploded. All seven members of the crew were killed, including a teacher from New Hampshire...

The Cape Girardeau schools foundation board approved bylaws Saturday morning. Now, say members of the foundation board and the Board of Education, it's time for both entities to put aside recent controversies and get down to business. Saturday's action came in the wake of school board member Terry Taylor's call to disband the foundation, a private fund-raising arm for the school district, because of letters by foundation president Kathy Swan criticizing school board members...

HEY, IT'S the new and improved, slicker than slick, Willie model with a brand new, old, new Democratic idea. "I will tell anybody anything they want to hear." I HEARD that Kathy Swan, the president of the Cape school foundation, said that the current school board was lacking leadership and sending the school district into a downward spiral. It sure seems to me that's what the problem was when she was on the school board. I think the current school board is doing a good job. Keep it up...

I WANT to comment about the resident's speech. I'll have to say one thing: He gave a good speech. He's smooth. They don't call him slick for nothing. So you've got a good picture of how he works. But it's what he said that I don't like. He tried to take credit for the Russian missiles not pointing at the United States. ...

Imagine you are floating down your favorite stream. You are enjoying the beautiful scenery. There are trees along the stream; deer ahead of you on the gravel bar; fish striking your lure. . . Then you notice an eroding stream bank. You also notice that there are no trees or vegetation growing on the stream bank. Would this create problems for the streams? Do trees play an important role in the function of the stream? The answer would be "Yes!"...

The United Bowhunters of Missouri will hold their Annual Bowhunter Festival and Auction on Feb. 10 in Columbia, Mo., at the Best Western Inn. The Festival will include display booths and seminars from bow-hunting experts. Keynote speakers at the banquet will be T.J. Conrads, Editor/Publisher of "Traditional Bowhunter Magazine" and E. Donnall Thomas Jr., author of "Longbows In The Far North." An auction will follow the banquet...

There is nothing like snow or a frigid morning to bring the birds to the feeder. I wondered if something strange had happened to the goldfinch, house finch, chickadees, pine siskins. They weren't showing up to be fed. There the feeder hung, almost full, just swinging in the wind. ...

Southeast Missouri State University's social work department has received a $125,000 state grant to train students to work in the area of child welfare. The grant is from the Missouri Department of Social Services' Division of Family Services (DFS)...