Stories from Friday, May 24, 1996

ALTENBURG -- Leo Petzoldt, 73, of Altenburg died Thursday, May 23, 1996, at Vencor Hospital in St. Louis. He was born Dec. 12, 1922, in Wittenberg to Oscar and Concordia Lohman Petzoldt. He married Myrtle Dreyer Feb. 7, 1945. She survives. Other survivors are a daughter, Pat Hecht of Altenburg; two brothers, Harry and Lewis Petzoldt, both of Frohna; two sisters, Arline Koenig of Frohna and Dorothy Winter of Perryville; three grandchildren and a great-grandchild...

Saying that "the most basic fundamental duty of our government is to keep people safe in their homes and in their streets," Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Ferrell updated a packed meeting of Sikeston citizens on the success of the Weed & Seed program yesterday...

The days of free medical treatment are over at the Cape Girardeau County Jail. After the jail exceeded last year's $40,000 budget for medical expenses, Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan decided to implement a program in which county prisoners are charged $10 for every visit they take to the doctor's office...

The district office of U.S. Sens. Christopher Bond and John Ashcroft will hold "Listening Post" forums May 29 in Perryville, Marble Hill and Jackson. Todd Voorhes, staff assistant, will visit with constituents. The forum will be set up at Hoeckele's Bakery at Perryville, 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.; at the Gray law office in Marble Hill, 1:30-2:30 p.m., and at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce office, 3:30-4:30 p.m...

SIKESTON -- Bootheel celebrities will face off Saturday in the fight against hypertension. The Scott County Heart Health Coalition, along with several businesses and agencies, is sponsoring "Throw Down on Hypertension," a celebrity basketball game slated for 3 p.m. Saturday inside the Sikeston Field House...

Paragon Pictures' Jim Harris, geophysicist Dr. David Stewart and best-selling author Robert Vaughan will mingle with attendees and conduct workshops at this summer's Heartland Writer's Conference. The 1996 Heartland Writers Conference will be held Aug. 1-3 at the Coach House Inn in Sikeston. The conference will offer workshops by established writers and New York City-based editors and agents, along with writing competitions and critiques...

MAY GREENE School's principal, faculty, planners and participants need to be commended for the delightful, inspiring program given recently honoring Miss May Greene. Talks by former and current faculty and students were uplifting and positive, well received by the attentive, floor-sitting student body. The maypole dance by the sixth grade was a work of art showing discipline and dedication. All this crowned with cake and punch was a positive event for students and all...

The 1996 session of the General Assembly ended Friday with the dog that didn't bark. What keystone of Gov. Mel Carnahan's agenda failed to get through? The answer, of course, is a tax-cut bill. The session was only a few days old back in January when Gov. ...

Something called the use tax has been in the news quite a bit recently, but most Missourians are probably confused about what it is and probably aren't concerned that it affects them. In fact, the latest developments regarding the use tax will hit taxpayers squarely in the pocketbook as the Missouri Department of Revenue pursues a policy gone amok...

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following letter was sent to Cranston Mitchell at the Board of Probation and Parole in Jefferson City: As prosecuting attorney of Cape Girardeau County, I am writing on behalf of the people of this county to urge the Board of Probation and Parole to deny parole at this time for rapist Charles O'Howell...

BELL CITY -- Lois M. Coleman, 69, of Bell City, died Wednesday, May 22, 1996, at her home. She was born Aug. 9, 1926, in Stoddard County, daughter of William Leslie and Georgia Mae Page Dunivan. She and Lora Coleman were married May 5, 1941, at Bloomfield. He died March 12, 1979...

SIKESTON -- Bernice Deane, 76, died Thursday, May 16, 1996, in Los Angeles, Calif. She was born March 16, 1920, in New Madrid County, daughter of Odes and Vada Vaughan Godwin. Deane had worked at International Shoe Co. in Sikeston. Survivors include a son, John Deane of Santa Ana, Calif.; a sister, Blanche Brooks of California; four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren...

MORLEY -- Clara E. May, 97, of Morley, died Thursday, May 23, 1996, at Sikeston Convalescent Center. She was born April 20, 1899, at Brownwood, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson Thomas Carlton. She married Jasper Creal May, who died March 15, 1968...

Daughter to Michael David and Teresa Mae McLinden, 2433 Windy Hill, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 1:52 a.m. Friday, May 17, 1996. Name, Abigail Leigh. Weight, 10 pounds 7 ounces. First child. Mrs. McLinden is the former Teresa Parker, daughter of Clara Parker of Cape Girardeau and Thomas Parker of Evansville, Ind. McLinden is the son of Mike McLinden of Cape Girardeau and Helen McLinden of Quinton, Okla. He is employed at Huck's Convenient Store...

ORAN -- Velma Ida Eftink, 78, of Oran, died Wednesday, May 22, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 17, 1918, at Oran, daughter of Albert and Rosalia Welter Dannenmueller. She and Frank John Eftink were married May 5, 1936. He died Dec. 18, 1970...

Jim James, 79, of Millersville, died Thursday, May 23, 1996, at his home. He was born Aug. 10, 1916, at Mayfield, son of Enoch and Selley Angel James. He and Eula Long were married Oct. 11, 1938. She died Jan. 19, 1974. He and Phyllis Angel were married April 16, 1976...

SIKESTON -- Ann Catherine Hoeller, 90, of Sikeston, died Thursday, May 23, 1996, at Clearview Nursing Center. She was born March 16, 1906, in Benton, daughter of Anton Herman and Mary Agatha Dannenmueller Miederhoff. She and Frank Peter Hoeller were married May 29, 1928, in Sikeston. He died Feb. 3, 1974...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Bernadine Sadler, 67, of Jonesboro, died Thursday, May 23, 1996, at her home. She was born Sept. 13, 1928, in Jonesboro, daughter of Clarence A. and Virgie Bass Tweedy. She and Irval "Bill" Sadler were married Aug. 9, 1947, in Piggott, Ark...

BLOOMFIELD -- Carmaleen Thorn, 72, of Bloomfield, died Wednesday, May 22, 1996, at her home. She was born Jan. 29, 1924, daughter of Frank and Ethel Lawrence Walker. She married Cecil Thorn, who died Dec. 20, 1995. Thorn was employed with Missouri Division of Family Services in Bloomfield about 25 years. She was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church, and served in many areas of the Sunday School and church...

A plan to end state-funded desegregation in Kansas City not only would eliminate taxpayer financing of the failed program but would also end costly litigation challenging the federal mandate, Missouri's attorney general says. The plan also would allow the school board to take back control of their district, said Attorney General Jay Nixon...

Even before it began traveling the country, the 1996 Olympic torch took off on a journey of its own. After five prototypes and two years of work, a team of professors and students at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta created a flawless torch design. Every set of Olympic Games gets a new torch design...

The first recorded Olympic Games began in Olympia, Greece, in 776 B.C. The flame was born in a temple erected by ancient Greeks to honor Hera, a powerful mythical god, historians say. The ancient Greeks used the sun's rays to light a flame using skaphia, a type of crucible. Now a parabolic mirror helps light the flame, which is carried to a public ceremony and handed to the first torch runner...

SIKESTON -- Sikeston will receive more than $18,000 in state funds for its Weed & Seed program, Gov. Mel Carnahan announced during a visit Thursday. Operation Weed & Seed, conducted through the U.S. attorney's office in St. Louis, was introduced in Sikeston about a year ago. It was a response to the city's out-of-control drug problem and the resulting violence...

School reunions create ties that bind, but the strings get all snarled up if they aren't tended. Maybe next year. Or 2005 for sure. The annual alumni banquet at the school in my favorite hometown is coming up -- or possibly has just been held. I have for most of my life never been a school-reunion aficionado, so excuse me if my facts are a little fuzzy...

Brucher street residents are looking outside at finished asphalt instead of gravel today for the first time. It is the first gravel street improved under the new Transportation Trust Fund, established with a half-cent sales tax passed in August 1995...

The Salvation Army will host Meals with Friends May 28-31 at 701 Good Hope. The free meals will be served from 4:30-6 p.m. Anyone is welcome to enjoy the meal at no cost. No meal will be served on the Memorial Day holiday. The menu: Tuesday -- Tacos, tortilla chips, refried beans and ice cream...

ST. LOUIS -- From the start of Thursday's Missouri Class 4A sectional, the Vianney Golden Griffins made it perfectly clear to the Cape Girardeau Central High Tigers the calendar was forwarded to 1996. The field was the same one on which the Tigers nipped the Griffins 3-2 in 1994, a win which propelled Cape Central toward the 4A state crown...