Stories from Thursday, February 22, 1996

CAIRO, Ill. -- Returned Peace Corps Volunteers from Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri and Western Kentucky will gather here early next month to observe the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps. The celebration, one of many throughout the nation, will be held March 2 to commemorate President John F. Kennedy's March 1, 1961, signing of the order creating the Peace Corps...

Highway 74 opened Monday. By Wednesday afternoon, I still hadn't taken that two-mile drive over nearly virgin concrete. My friends had. They talked about the freshness of it all and the general lack of traffic. They warned me not to drive too fast; the police were out enforcing that 45 mph speed limit, they said...

CHRISTOPHER, Ill. -- Former U.S. congressman Kenneth J. Gray will be honored Friday during the Franklin County Democrats' JFK Dinner at Coello Community Center northwest of Christopher. Gray spent more than 24 years as Illinois' District 22 representative, from 1954 through 1974 and from 1984 through 1988...

Feb. 22, 1996 Dear David, The pooches are fed and playing in the yard, DC is off to work and it's too foggy to play golf. So here's a letter. Back in the '70s, Randy L. and I co-wrote a song together called "One to One." The lyrics were mine, the music his. The music was good enough for a fledgling country singer named Jolene to record. She changed some of the lyrics, though...

SCOTT CITY -- When it came to placing an ad for a new superintendent, the Scott City Board of Education decided to search the Internet. The board placed a personnel ad on the Internet in addition to using a placement service at Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Missouri-Columbia to find a replacement...

The Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau will relocate to rented quarters in the former ERA Cape Realty building at 2121 Broadway. The bureau has been housed in rented space in an office building on Mount Auburn Road. CVB officials said the move had to be made because owners of the Mount Auburn office building will rent the space to a business...

Tickets to the Lincoln Day dinner are available to the public for $12. Ken Hamblin, nationally syndicated radio talk-show host, will be featured speaker. The dinner will be March 9 at 6 p.m. at the Brase Arena Building. Only 1,200 seats are available and all seats will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, said Carol Sparkman, president of the Cape Girardeau County Republican Women's Club...

Ronald Strong Jr. to C. William and Linda Wooten; Donald Soffer to The Donald Soffer Trust; The Donald Soffer Trust to DGS No. 1 LLC; Abortion Alternative Agency of Southeast Missouri to Thomas Eftink; Randol Farms Development Inc. to Kate Shan Inc.; Randol Farms Development Inc. to Raymond and Linda Whitehead...

Neil Perkuhn, 42, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday at his home. He was born Oct. 16, 1953, in Tacoma, Wash., the son of Walter and Agnes Olson Perkuhn. Perkuhn was employed at Lohman Restaurant Equipment and Supply in Cape Girardeau. He is survived by his mother; two sons, Christopher and Justin Perkuhn, and a daughter, Misty Perkuhn, all of Cape Girardeau; a brother, Rodney Perkuhn of Puyallup, Wash.; and two sisters: Loris Kasner and Diane Peugh, both of Tacoma...

Daughter to Elmer Lee and Theresa Ann Smith, Patton Route 1, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9:03 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, 1996. Name, Savanna Skye. Weight, 5 pounds 2 ounces. Third child, second daughter. Mrs. Smith is the former Theresa Kalal, daughter of Frank and Norma Kalal of Marble Hill. Smith is the son of Jerry and Margie Smith of Patton. He is a welder with SEMO Tank and Supply at Biehle...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Josephine Brown, 72, Jonesboro Route 1, died Wednesday, Feb. 21, 1996, at her home. Friends may call at Hileman and Parr Funeral Home in Jonesboro from 5-9 p.m. Friday, and Saturday after 11 a.m. Funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Salem Lutheran Church, with Pastor Dennis Cooley officiating. Burial will be in Jonesboro Cemetery...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Charles Henry Hunter, 85, of Carbondale, died Tuesday, Feb. 20, 1996, in Cobden. He was born June 8, 1910, at Makanda, son of Charles Henry and Mary Alice Hagler Hunter. He and Ruth Elizabeth Hodges were married June 30, 1940, at Jackson, Mo...

BLOOMFIELD -- Everett Lee Talley, 78, of St. Louis, died Tuesday, Feb. 20, 1996, at Alexian Brothers Hospital in St. Louis. He was born March 29, 1917, at Bloomfield, son of Albert and Isa Corbin Talley. Talley had lived in St. Louis 45 years, and retired after 30 years service with Fisher Body. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II...

PERRYVILLE -- Harold "Joe" Glaub, 44, formerly of Perryville, died Tuesday, Feb. 20, 1996, at North Charleston Trident Regional Medical Center in North Charleston, S.C. He was born Feb. 22, 1951, in Perry County, son of John and Esther Ruch Glaub. He married the former Amelia Cahoon...

Funeral service for Burton P. Loomis of St. Louis will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at McCombs Funeral Chapel in Cape Girardeau. The Rev. Charles B. Dreyer will officiate, with burial in Lorimier Cemetery. Friends may call Saturday at the funeral home from 9:30 a.m. to service time...

URBANDALE, Ill. -- Gladys Wright, 93, of Urbandale, died Tuesday, Feb. 20, 1996, at Daystar Care Center in Cairo. She was born July 26, 1902, in Smithland, Ky., daughter of John and Bessie Hall Holdman. She married John Samuel Wright, who preceded her in death...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Funeral service for Catherine Rees Gratop of Daytona Beach, Fla., will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo. The Rev. Arnold Hoffman will officiate, with burial in Cairo City Cemetery at Villa Ridge. Friends may call at the funeral home Monday from 9 a.m. to service time...

MARBLE HILL -- Violet E. Bradow, 67, of Round Lake Beach, Ill., died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 1996, at Round Lake Beach. She was born Jan. 1, 1929, in Greenbrier, daughter of Ernest and Opal Storz. She and Alfred Bradow were married Feb. 18, 1984. Bradow was a member of Round Lake American Legion Auxiliary...

It has been said there are but two things in life that are certain: death and taxes. It may be so. But for the bulk of this nation's history, taxes weren't the costly cluster of complexity they are today. It wasn't until 1913 that 38 states approved the 16th Amendment to the Constitution allowing Congress to collect income taxes. But even then the income tax was a flat tax collected on incomes that exceeded $82,000 in today's economy. Things certainly have changed...

Lynn Dempster recently announced she will resign from the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents after almost five years on the board. Dempster, a Sikeston businesswoman, made her decision after she suffered a slight stroke. By stepping down, and slowing down, Dempster is following her doctor's prescription for a long, robust life. Godspeed, Mrs. Dempster...

Citing lack of support, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department will not pursue a proposal to issue $500 million in bonds to make up for shortfalls in anticipated roads funding. The primary effect of this decision will be to delay by up to one year some projects included in a three-year roads plan outlined by the department last year...

When people encouraged Joe Gambill to campaign for a Cape Girardeau County Commission seat in 1994, he had reservations. He said he wasn't sure getting involved in politics was a good idea, and he certainly didn't want to lose an election. Gambill won in his district, taking the two-year commission seat Jan. 1, 1995...

The Healthier Communities Committee will hold a town hall meeting tonight at 6 at the Salvation Army, 701 Good Hope, to hear residents' concerns about health and quality-of-life issues in Cape Girardeau County. The meeting is one in a series being held around the county. Committee members are trying to identify what issues concern residents and how those issues may be addressed, said Charlotte Craig, director of the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center...

All of us know some real-life versions of the characters in "Greater Tuna," a two-act comedy about life and death in the small-minded town of Tuna, Texas. The fun starts when all those characters live in the same imaginary town. The play opens at 7 tonight at the River City Yacht Club in the Port Cape Girardeau Restaurant. Tickets are $5 for that performance and no food or alcohol will be served...

The four winners of Southeast Missouri State University's annual Concerto and Aria Competition will perform for the public in a concert Tuesday. The concert, which also will feature the University Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Sara Edgerton, will begin at 8 p.m. in Academic Auditorium...