Stories from Wednesday, February 7, 1996

Government buyouts after the flood of 1993 apparently saved taxpayer dollars in 1995. A report by the Missouri Emergency Management Agency shows that 1995 spring floods costs only about 5 percent of the hefty flooding bill two years before. The same area flooded both years, although the flooding wasn't nearly as extensive last year. But since the government bought out about 4,000 residential properties in 1993, the people simply weren't there 1995 to file claims...

PATTON -- After seven months in limbo, the Meadow Heights school board finally can start repaying its debts. The district owes $44,242 to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. In July, the board discovered that incorrect attendance figures were reported to the state from 1990-1992. At least 17 fictitious students were added to attendance records...

Action, Monday, Feb. 5, City Hall Consent Ordinances (Final readings) Amended city code on handicapped parking. Approved placement of yield signs on Stony Point and Crown Point Drive. Approved placement of stop signs on Chesapeake Avenue, Lakewood Drive, Northbridge Drive, Yorktown Drive and Greenbrier Driver...

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce will organize a committee to study possible sites for a new federal building. The group will report its findings concerning the economic advantages and disadvantages of various sites to the city and the General Services Administration, the federal agency in charge of building construction...

Missouri's Health Facilities Review Committee took no action regarding St. Francis Medical Center's decision to purchase an MRI system the hospital had been leasing for several years. The committee met Monday in Jefferson City to discuss the purchase...

Many Southeast Missourians have watched science fiction become reality. Books that described trips to the moon or other planets used to fire the imaginations of young readers who now watch casually as powerful rocket boosters lift astronauts into space. ...

The U.S. Coast Guard closed the upper Mississippi River, from St. Louis to Cairo, Ill., to vessel traffic late Monday, but on Tuesday, employees of Luhr Bros. Inc. were busy working on the river. Forty-three barges broke away from the Luhr Bros. Marine Division fleet at Gray's Point, south of Cape Girardeau, and split into two groups before becoming embedded in ice...

One candidate stayed home, another watched a John Wayne movie and the third thawed out frozen water pipes on the night voters decided which ones would be on the general election ballot for Cape Girardeau Ward 3 councilman. Incumbent Jack Rickard and challenger Jay Purcell will be the candidates in the Ward 3 election to be held April 2...

Southeast Missouri State University wants to make the campus more "user friendly" and streamline its operations. Those are two of the targets of the school's new strategic plan. Tied to that is development of a campus master plan. Consulting firms are helping school officials develop the master plan, which should be completed by June...

The city of Cape Girardeau wants a scenic entrance from the new Mississippi River bridge. Colonial Cape Girardeau Foundation hopes to get out from under its land-purchase debt and move ahead with efforts to raise money to turn old St. Vincent's Seminary into a cultural center and museum...

BROWNWOOD -- Two teen-aged cousins died early Tuesday in a house fire in this small community near Advance. Although authorities don't yet know the cause of the fire, they do not suspect foul play. The bodies of Marty Robinson, 18, of Brownwood and his cousin Paul Shepard, 17, of rural Advance were discovered by firefighters after the blaze was extinguished...

Whenever life doesn't quite work out the way some people think it should, there is a tendency toward fire and brimstone tirades and claims that sacred rights have been violated. Attention shoppers: Frequently life throws things your way that may not seem or even be fair and that may even be the result of uncaring or unethical -- though not necessarily illegal -- actions by individuals or society in general. However, that does not mean rights have been violated...

LET ME respond to the caller about the Cardinal Caravan and who were the real fans at the Arena Building. The way I look at it, I went because when you have all the free beer you can drink and hot dogs to munch on, it's better than staying home on a dreary Friday night and watching C-SPAN...

JACKSON -- Twenty-five children's services vendors and hundreds of kids and parents packed the Primary Annex Tuesday night for the first Kid Care Fair. Sponsored by the Jackson Primary Annex Parent-Teacher Organization, the event was billed as an opportunity for parents to learn about the services available for their children...

Desmond Lee, former owner of Lee-Rowan in Jackson, donates thousands of dollars to St. Louis charities each year. The Southeast Missourian asked, "What local charities or organizations would most deserve some money if Lee were to turn his attention to Jackson?"...

JACKSON -- City Collector Beverly Nelson is asking Jackson taxpayers to remember her office's new address. All city offices have moved to 101 Court St., and all correspondence, including bill and tax payments, should be mailed to the new address. This assures the collector that payments will reach her office in a timely manner...

MCCLURE, Ill. -- Wanda Lucille Hurtt, 77, of Winfield, died Monday, Feb. 5, 1996, at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield. She was born June 1, 1918, in McClure, daughter of Harry and Mary Alma Carrow Palmer. Hurtt retired as a punch press operator at American Can Co...

Mass for Helen Hartmann of Columbus, Ohio, was held Feb. 2 in the chapel of a Columbus cemetery. Hartmann, 75, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 1996, in a Columbus hospital. She was born Dec. 13, 1920, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Raymond and Katherine Ford. She and Thomas Hartmann were married in 1942...

CHARLESTON -- Hines Offord, 80, of Charleston died Monday, Feb. 5, 1996, at the VA Medical Center in Marion, Ill. He was born Dec. 12, 1915, in Lexington, Miss., son of Will and Lottie Tidwell Offord. He and Thelma Ivy were married Oct. 5, 1951. Offord had lived in Charleston since 1984. He was a member and associate elder of Holy Trinity Church of Deliverance. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II...

CHAFFEE -- Paul V. Dumey, 69, Chaffee Route 2, died Monday, Feb. 5, 1996, at his home. He was born Dec. 15, 1926, at Chaffee, son of Edward Joseph and Syvilla Alma Gosche Dumey. He and Ima Jean Sills were married May 22, 1951. Dumey served in the U.S. Army 20 years, and was a veteran of the Korean War. He was a member of St. Ambrose Catholic Church and VFW Post 3127 in Chaffee, and Disabled American Veterans Chapter in Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON -- Viola Hatchett, 59, of Sikeston, died Sunday, Feb. 4, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 18, 1936, in Sikeston, daughter of Columbus and Viola Washington Hatchett. Hatchett was a member of St. John Baptist Church...

PERRYVILLE -- Dorothy A. Stueve, 76, of Perryville, died Monday, Feb. 5, 1996, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Feb. 27, 1919, in Perryville, daughter of George Vest and Alma Litsch Sherrill. She and Adolph Stueve were married April 12, 1947. He died July 5, 1985...

ADVANCE -- Paul Shepard, 17, of Advance, died Tuesday, Feb. 6, 1996, in a fire at the home of his cousin in Brownwood. Morgan Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

BROWNWOOD -- Marty Robinson, 18, of Brownwood, died Tuesday, Feb. 6, 1996, in a fire at his home. Morgan Funeral Home at Advance is in charge of arrangements.

NEW WELLS -- Dorothy Brown, 54, of New Wells died Monday, Feb. 5, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 11, 1941, at New Wells, daughter of Wilbert and Eleonora Dreyer Lorenz. She married Albert Brown Aug. 15, 1959...

Son to John and Crystal Edyvean of Sikeston, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 4, 1996. Name, John Bernard Jr. Weight, 5 pounds 2 ounces. Mrs. Edyvean is the former Crystal Bewley, daughter of Dale and Kay Hanks of Sikeston. Edyvean is the son of Larry and Joan Boyer of Sikeston. He is employed at Rent-A-Center...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Sara M. Looney, 81, of Paducah, Ky., died Tuesday, Feb. 6, 1996, at her home. She was born May 17, 1914, daughter of Dr. James and Alice Cleary McManus. She married J.M. Looney, who preceded her in death. Looney had been an assistant corporate secretary at First Bank and Trust Co. in Cairo. She was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church...

Mary Blue is a teacher who years ago traded chalk for typewriter ribbon. The Southeast Missourian distribution area became her classroom. "I always tried to pass something on that would be a learning experience," said Blue, sipping from a cup of tea while seated at her trim, black dining table...