Stories from Friday, March 1, 1996

To the editor: There was discussion in the newspaper concerning funds that were misspent by Dr. Coleen Kivlahan, director of the Missouri Department of Health. Given the amount of funds and the total lack of explanation, most -- if not all -- managers in private enterprise would have been fired immediately...

Golden Cat's Product Development Quality Control Lab on Airport Road has donated three used chemical instruments to Southeast Missouri State University. The SEMO Regional Crime Lab received a mass spectrometer Finnigan Ion Trap, which will be used to analyze drugs in "street" form and in urine, said Dr. Robert Briner, director of the crime lab...

Cape Girardeau County residents along with people across Missouri will join in observing Severe Weather Awareness Week March 4-8. The annual observance is designed to increase public awareness about the weather hazards and disasters common to Missouri, including tornadoes, flash floods and lightening...

Mrs. United States, Sheri Rose Shepherd, will be in Cape Girardeau to help raise money for Mid-America Teen Challenge's 11th annual Spring Banquet March 15 at 7 p.m. at the Show Me Center. Shepherd, the guest speaker, will talk about her triumph over a life of drugs, bulimia and depression, a background similar to those of Teen Challenge participants...

Orchestras from Cape Girardeau Central High and Junior High schools will perform Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Central High auditorium. The eighth-grade orchestra will perform "Crystal City March" by Mark Williams, "Classical Contours" by Robert Frost, and an arrangement of an original fiddle tune, "Cripple Creek."...

SCOTT CITY -- A new monument in Scott City Park will honor area veterans. The memorial will contain names of veterans on a series of black, granite slabs in one-inch-high white lettering. The monument will be identical to one in Jackson. "The concept of the project is a memorial that goes on and will serve a function in the future," said George Pendergrass, chairman of the project. ...

Determining a child's name, age and address following an automobile accident can be a futile endeavor for emergency services personnel. But thanks to CHAD, he Children Have An iDentify program, stickers attached to child safety seats give the vital information in the event the child or adults can't speak...

John C. Danforth, a former U.S. senator from Missouri, will speak Thursday at Southeast Missouri State University. The lecture, the second in the university's Public Issues Forum series, will be at 7:30 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom. Danforth is expected to discuss his political career and life and his views on current political events...

The Cape Girardeau area chapter of American Association of Retired Persons will meet at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Grace United Methodist Church, Caruthers and Broadway. New officers will be installed and members will be given the opportunity to register for participation in the Leisure Time Fair to be held May 6...

My last column described more than 20 years' identification with and admiration for Patrick Buchanan. That Pat is a fierce, loyal and effective fighter for causes he believes in is beyond contest. The question becomes: For what principles or causes, these days, does he fight?...

To the editor: According to recent news stories, the leaders of Cape Girardeau and Jackson, along with the Cape Girardeau County Commission, are combining forces to make Cape Girardeau County park land available for the construction of a state juvenile facility. How can these people even think of using this land for anything other than park purposes?...

Rep. Mel Hancock, R-Springfield, says he will be back with a version of a tax-limitation amendment that goes further than Amendment 4, whose fate Missouri voters will decide on April 2. Hancock, father of the original tax limit he spirited to voter approval in 1980, is to be commended for his interest. ...

When local, state and federal authorities recently raided a dog-breeding operation in Shannon County, they were overwhelmed by the poor conditions, both of the facilities and the animals they found there. Nearly 200 dogs were killed because they were beyond saving...

In the past 35 years since it was created by President John F. Kennedy's order, the Peace Corps has sent more than 140,000 Americans to more than 90 countries in an effort to educate less-developed countries in everything from reading basics to water and sanitation systems...

More funding for Cape Girardeau's driving-while-intoxicated police patrol, Safety Village and other programs is in store thanks to a new federal grant and program. Dan Needham, director of the state Division of Highway Safety, said Thursday that Cape Girardeau has been selected as Missouri's pilot city for the Safe Community Program...

While alternative sources of funding are being pursued for the Mississippi River bridge project at Cape Girardeau, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department has placed the project on its tentative bidding schedule for May. Jim Murray, the department's Sikeston-based district engineer, said the state must secure federal funding by late March before accepting bids in May on the project. ...

PERRYVILLE -- Residents of Perry County could lose their flood insurance and become ineligible for federal disaster assistance unless the county complies with federal flood-plain regulations. The Federal Emergency Management Agency Wednesday announced that Perry County will be suspended from the National Flood Insurance Program effective April 1...

The folks at SIU Press are prompt and witty with a very satisfactory explanation. Well, almost. Fair is fair. This will be the final chapter in the mystery-book-in-the-ironclad-envelope saga. Southern Illinois University Press, you will recall, mailed what felt like a slender, hardbound volume in a padded envelope with no obvious means of being opened -- at least not without sharp objects and the potential for generating shredded packing material all over my desk...

I'M CALLING to inform everyone that our country is doomed unless something changes soon. Apparently, the career politicians in Washington are so involved in getting re-elected that they have lost sight of reality. They bad-mouth and vote against one another simply because one side is Democrat and the other side is Republican. ...

A temporary above-ground steam line around Academic Hall will pave the way for repairs to a 30-year-old utility tunnel at Southeast Missouri State University. The temporary line will allow the university to continue to supply steam to the south end of the campus while repairs are made to the tunnel, said Don Neumeyer, utilities engineer for the university's facilities management department...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Tickets for Tim McGraw's April 12 appearance at the SIU Arena will go on sale Saturday. Joining McGraw's Spontaneous Combustion Tour will be Faith Hill. Tickets will be available at the usual outlets, including Disc Jockey Records in Cape Girardeau...

MARBLE HILL -- Lillian Williams, 93, of Marble Hill, died Thursday, Feb. 29, 1996, at El-Nathan Home. She was born Feb. 11, 1903, in Duncan, Okla., daughter of John Germany and Amanda Jane Norman Hart. She and John Williams were married May 24, 1924, in Oakland, Calif. He died in 1962...

BLOOMFIELD -- Graveside service for Jewel Alpha Chancellor of St. Louis will be held at 2 p.m. today at Bloomfield Cemetery, with the Rev. Dallas Reagan officiating. Friends may call at Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home after 10 a.m. Chancellor, 88, died Thursday, Feb. 29, 1996, in St. Charles...

SCOTT CITY -- Howard F. Clover, 83, of Scott City, died Wednesday, Feb. 28, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept. 15, 1912, in Grand Tower, Ill., son of Eli Calvin "Dick" and Josephine Rhodes Clover. He and Vivian Mezo were married Oct. 24, 1938...

SCOTT CITY -- Cornelius John Blattel, 65, Scott City Route 1, died Thursday, Feb. 29, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 19, 1930, at Scott City, son of Herman and Blanche Hamm Blattel. He and Irene Uhrhan were married May 8, 1954, at Benton...

Daughter to Gary Dean and Christina Marie Huffman Jr. of Oak Ridge, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 6:22 a.m. Friday, Feb. 9, 1996. Name, Ella Dawn Marie. Weight, 7 pounds 2 ounces. First child. Mrs. Huffman is the former Christina Morris, daughter of LaWanda Stelling of Cape Girardeau and Lenard P. Morris. Huffman is the son of Onzie Huffman and Gary Huffman of Oak Ridge. He is employed at Kelley Transportation Co...

SCOPUS -- A Bollinger County resident was killed in a single-vehicle accident Thursday afternoon. Michael Stevens, 22, of Marble Hill was killed when his truck ran off the road twice and struck a tree about two miles south of Scopus on Route B, said a spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol...

SCOTT CITY -- It began as a business club project at the high school and turned into an annual boost for the local economy. Area business owners say they can tell a difference when Buy Local week begins. The fifth annual campaign, sponsored by the Future Business Leaders of America, begins Monday...

SIKESTON -- Chief Jim Leist started his first Citizens' Police Academy with a dose of humor. Thursday night he passed out a cartoon depicting a policeman standing before a crowd of people. A sign behind the officer said "Community Meeting," and the caption reads: "The police chief has called to say he's been delayed, but he would like for you to go ahead and start criticizing without him."...

Nineteen jazz bands from Southeast Missouri will perform Saturday at Cape Girardeau Central High School's 17th annual Jazz Festival. Performances begin at 9:30 a.m. and continue through 5 p.m., with a break for lunch. The festival is open to the public and admission is free at the high school auditorium...

JONESBORO, Ark. -- Frito Lay Inc., a giant in the snack chip industry, will build a 400,000-square-foot, $85 million manufacturing facility in Northeast Arkansas. Frito Lay will be the fourth major company to locate in the 800-acre Craighead Technology Park at Jonesboro, where company and city officials will gather at 10:30 a.m. today for a groundbreaking ceremony...