Stories from Thursday, May 16, 1996

Rob Felker and family were in New York for a bout of playgoing when, off-Broadway, they ran across "The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged)." "That was the funniest show I ever saw," said Felker, a senior at Central High School. He bought the script and, with classmate Nick Ryan, later performed one of the scenes in a theater competition...

It's easy to marvel at Dr. Dan Cotner. The Cape Girardeau dentist seems to know everyone in town. He can be found visiting people in local hospitals or nursing homes; playing piano or organ for any number of groups; or volunteering for dozens of civic and cultural organizations...

Artist Craig Thomas calls art his addiction, something he is compelled to do, whether anyone else views his work or not. Beverly Strohmeyer, director of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, said the community can be thankful of Thomas' addiction. He offers his talents whenever called...

Kids love Fred Pennington. Over the last eight years, he has spent thousands of hours volunteering at Cape Girardeau's Civic Center. Ed Slaughter, president of the Civic Center, sees Pennington as a kind of Pied Piper. "The kids stop his truck when he's driving the street," said Slaughter. "They know he genuinely cares. A lot of people just give lip service, but Fred walks the walk and talks the talk."...

Injury doesn't stop kindness A recent horseback riding accident left Julie Dale with a broken arm, but not a broken spirit for doing acts of kindness. With her regular routine and work schedule hampered by a cast from fingers to shoulder, she stopped by Hanover Lutheran Church office to see if there was anyone she might visit. ...

Why it took so long -- 400 years -- for someone to base a comedy on the excerpted tragedies of William Shakespeare is a mystery. No matter. Anyone who attends the River City Players' production of "The Compleat Works of Willm Shkspr (abridged)" will be elated that the off-Broadway production has been transplanted to Cape Girardeau for the weekend...

"Little Drops of Water" Little drops of water, Little grains of sand, Make the mighty ocean, And the pleasant land. Little deeds of kindness, little words of love, Help to make earth happy, Like the heaven above. Even though they are still children, students at the Christian School for the Young Years are thinking like adults. ...

U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson could get a head start as House Agriculture Committee chairman because of U.S. Sen. Bob Dole's decision to leave the Senate. Dole announced Wednesday he will resign by June 11 to devote full time to his presidential campaign. The governor of Kansas will appoint someone to fill Dole's seat...

The Illinois Department of Transportation will spend almost $14 million over the next five years toward construction of the Mississippi River bridge and approach work along Route 146 to the bridge. The money is part of more than $151 million the state will spend over the next five years for road improvements in the state's 13 southernmost counties...

CHAFFEE -- After four days of searching for their lost pet, Kathy Baker and her children Amy Jo and J.D. Hall were about ready to give up. But cool weather and rain, and all the other obstacles he was bound to have encountered, didn't deter the pet -- a 4-foot green iguana named Earl -- from finding his way home...

May 16, 1996 Dear Leslie, Think like a dog. That, essentially, is what DC and I must learn to do if we are to gain control of Hank and Lucy, the Hounds of Lorimier Street. So says Carla, the trainer we hired to diagnose our dog-eared home life and prescribe a solution...

Mary H. Seabaugh, 69, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, May 15, 1996, at Arcadia Valley Hospital in Ironton. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford & Sons Mount Auburn Chapel.

Mail carriers in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City collected more than 18,000 pounds of food during the recent U.S. Postal Service's annual food drive. Nationally, more than 900 post office branches participated in the annual food drive in the fourth year for the national campaign...

BLOOMFIELD -- Funeral service for Hugh DeWitt DeBerry of Bloomfield will be held at 1 p.m. today at Chiles-Cooper Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Bob Holland will officiate, with burial in Bloomfield Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 11 a.m. to service time...

JACKSON -- Viola Peak, 83, of Jackson died Wednesday, May 15, 1996, at her home. Arrangements are incomplete with McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson.

Son to Demontray Leon Blair and Amy Christine Clippard of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 3:29 p.m. Sunday, May 5, 1996. Name, Demontray Leon Anthony. Weight, 6 pounds 7 ounces. Miss Clippard is the daughter of Don Clippard of St. Louis and Sheila Hecht of Cape Girardeau. Blair is the son of Wilbert Blair of California and Barbra Walkin of Cape Girardeau...

William Kassel, 67, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, May 15, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford & Sons Mount Auburn Chapel.

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Otis E. Brown, 77, of Jonesboro, died Tuesday, May 14, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 6, 1918, in Grand Tower, son of Ellis E. and Cora Freeman Brown. He and Wanda Stevens were married in 1975 in Anna...

PERRYVILLE -- Herman "Cotton" Zahner, 76, of Perryville, died Wednesday, May 15, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 22, 1919, at Silver Lake, son of Henry and Viola Maddock Zahner. He and Dorothy DeRoe were married March 2, 1946...

Southeast Missouri State University has chartered Kappa Phi Chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma national criminal justice honor society. Members were inducted and officers installed in a ceremony this month at Crisp Hall. The organization, which has more than 170 chapters, recognizes scholastic excellence by undergraduate and graduate students in criminal justice...

Some multi-talented firefighters recently saved more than lives in Cape Girardeau -- they saved $23,000 for taxpayers. Mark Hasheider, fire department training officer, said the department received grant money for a new aircraft rescue firefighting truck for use at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. Although the ARF unit cost $218,000, 90 percent of the that amount came from the Federal Aviation Administration. The city paid the rest...

Concord Publishing House Inc. of Cape Girardeau has acquired the Dyer County Tennessean. Vyron and Cynthia Mitchell, who have owned the paper since 1981, announced the sale of the weekly newspaper this week. The transaction marked only the fourth time in its 108-year history that the Dyer County Tennessean has changed ownership...

JACKSON -- Lt. Michael Morgan, the administrator of the Cape Girardeau County jail, was named the recipient of the Timothy J. Ruopp Award. Morgan and several other members of the sheriff's department were honored at an awards ceremony Wednesday in conjunction with Law Enforcement Memorial Week...

The city of Cape Girardeau could find itself in a dilemma when it resumes handling residential trash for recycling this summer. For the past year, the city has contract with Browning-Ferris Industries to pick up recyclable materials. Like BFI, the city may be hard-pressed to find a market for the recyclable trash it collects to help recover costs of resuming operation of the city recycling center. If the market for recyclables continues to slump, trash-collection costs undoubtedly will go up...

With Kelly Transportation seeking a 75-cent increase in the cost of taxi fares, the time seems right for the city to re-examine its taxi coupon program. The city subsidizes the company through the coupon program, which was established in 1981 and has proven immensely popular among the elderly and handicapped, for whom it was primarily set up. But it also is costly to the city...

To the editor: Prompted by your Random Acts of Kindness Week, I submit this complimentary letter in recognition of outstanding student writing. Congratulations to all of the 453 students representing 101 schools who submitted their writing in the annual Southeast Missouri State University Writing Contest. And a special word bouquet to the 27 winners of the coveted Writing Achievement Awards...

To the editor: Recently KFVS-TV did a two-part series about how much our public high school seniors have learned and how their parents compare. It made me furious. What was the purpose of this survey? Perhaps it was to prove the point that students who are innocently flattered by the opportunity to appear on TV can also be made to look like poorly educated fools when placed in front of a camera and bright lights and asked to recall seldom-used facts. ...