Stories from Thursday, June 13, 1996

Trumpeting the event as the official beginning of summer, organizers have put a little of everything into Riverfest '96, Friday and Saturday in downtown Cape Girardeau. Riverfest is funded solely by sponsorships, so there's no admission or concert fee charged to visitors. And while there, families can enjoy a variety of music, rides and shows...

Audry Eldridge of Jackson is not in favor of the use tax that voters will decide on in November. He says he's still dealing with the last one. Eldridge is the owner of Midwest Sterilization Corp., which sterilzes medical equipment, and he has been paying the use tax for years...

The phone rang four times. Dean Sams was panting when he picked it up. It was a Tuesday, and Lonestar, the band Sams created, was leaving for a few days on the road. There were dry cleaning and instruments to pick up, appointments to be made, equipment to pack...

On-time delivery of first-class overnight mail in the Cape Girardeau area is above the national average. "We've been running about 94 percent on-time delivery," said Mike Keefe, Cape Girardeau postmaster. The U.S. Postal Service reported this week that it posted a record 90 percent on-time delivery rate...

@$: Capital costs drive city budget Summary: The City Council likely will approve the $50.5 million budget Monday. By Mark Bliss Capital projects are driving much of Cape Girardeau's city budget. The city's $50.5 million fiscal 1997 budget is divided almost equally between general operations and capital improvements...

SIKESTON -- As a child growing up in a family of ministers, Billie Fair knew all about the life of a Southern Baptist preacher, but she never thought she would be one. "If you'd have told me six years ago that I'd be a Southern Baptist preacher, I'd have said I was having a mid-life crisis," Fair said...

Thunderstorms moved across Cape Girardeau County Wednesday dumping 2.75 inches of rain and pea-sized hail on Cape Girardeau. Power lines and trees were knocked down and streets were flooded during a mid-afternoon storm that dumped the hail. A 13-year-old boy was hit by a car as he tried to cross the street during a mid-afternoon downpour...

June 13, 1996 Dear Leslie, I awake to a headache, a child crying in a nearby yard, a lawn mower droning blocks away. The humidity is high and the sunshine weak. "Feels like I've been rode hard and put up wet," the country song goes. Time to get into a celebratory mood. ...

REYNOLDSVILLE, Ill. -- Funeral service for Mary Smiddy of Reynoldsville will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Hileman and Parr Funeral Chapel in Jonesboro. The Rev. Raymond Oxford will officiate, with burial in Goodbread Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 6-8 p.m. Friday...

Funeral Mass for Sister Vincent Clare Hauptmann was held May 29 at Loretto Center in Webster Groves. Hauptmann, 95, died Tuesday, May 28, 1996. A native of Cape Girardeau, she received a bachelor's degree in elementary education and master's degree in religious studies at Webster University...

MARBLE HILL -- Mary "Lisa" Jones, 42, of Cologne, Germany, died from a heart attack Thursday, June 6, 1996, in Cologne. She was born Feb. 20, 1954, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of George R. and Berniece Hawkins Barker. She and Terry Dale Jones were married March 29, 1971...

BERNIE -- Alowese Massey, 60, of Bernie, died Tuesday, June 1, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 23, 1935, in Nimmons, Ark., daughter of Roland T. and Helen Winniger Baker. Massey had lived in the Bernie area all her life. She owned and operated Wezzie's Paper Doll Lounge in Dexter...

BLOOMFIELD -- Opal Jewell Jarrell, 74, of Bloomfield, died Wednesday, June 12, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 26, 1921, at Bloomfield, daughter of Pryor and Sara Bess Harper. She and Charles Monroe Jarrell were married Feb. 22, 1941. He died May 17, 1984...

Son to Billy Ray and Cindy Jane Heisserer Jr. of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 11:11 a.m. Friday, May 31, 1996. Name, Brady William. Weight, 6 pounds 11 ounces. First child. Mrs. Heisserer is the former Cindy Bock, daughter of Larry and Shirley Bock of Jackson and the late Jane Bock. She is employed at Drury Southwest. Heisserer is the son of Bill and Betty Heisserer of Jackson. He is employed at Sides Construction Co...

Approximately 85 area high school students are taking part in the Missouri Freedom Forum on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. Freedom Forum is a three-day leadership training program for students who have completed the 10th, 11th or 12th grades. The Wednesday-through-Friday workshop stresses American principles of individual freedom, good citizenship, entrepreneurship and limited government...

DEXTER -- Judy Lee Honeycutt, 49, of Dexter, died Tuesday, June 11, 1996, at her home. She was born Feb. 12, 1947, in Grand Island, Neb., daughter of Wendell R. and Nada Lee Dilling Sparks. She and Harrel Honeycutt were married Dec. 18, 1971, in Kansas City, Kan...

ANNA, Ill. -- Funeral service for Lester O. Miller will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Anna United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Richard Sullins officiating. Burial will be in Anna Cemetery. Friends may call at Hileman and Parr Funeral Home in Jonesboro from 5-8 p.m. today, and at the church Friday from 11 a.m. until service time...

JACKSON -- Cramer W. LaPierre, 92, of Carefree, Ariz., died Saturday, June 1, 1996, at his home. He was born March 31, 1904, in Jackson, son of M.G. and Margaret Struthers LaPierre. He married the former Nancy Sage. LaPierre attended Jackson schools, Southeast Missouri State University, and the University of Missouri...

President Clinton's announcement that the government intends to provide expanded medical benefits to Vietnam veterans who suffer from the effects of exposure to Agent Orange and to their children with spina bifida comes as welcome news to veterans, who long have tried to convince the government that Agent Orange is responsible for the ills that many suffered after the conflict...

We likely haven't heard the end of a federal judge's ruling that a book by Rush Limbaugh could be temporarily banned from a fourth-grade classroom at Montvale Elementary School In Virginia. The judge didn't really rule on the heart of the issue -- freedom of speech -- but declined to issue a temporary restraining order against a teacher who took the book from a student, saying only four days were left in the school year and such an order would do little good...

Competition for volunteers in Cape Girardeau is stiff, so the American Cancer Society is grateful for its dedicated group of fund-raising volunteers. Dozens of people received awards Wednesday night at the Cape Girardeau Country Club during the American Cancer Society's annual meeting and awards banquet...

In an effort to preserve the integrity of the neighborhood, a request by Holigan Family Investments Inc. to rezone an area near Lexington Avenue and North Sprigg Street was denied by the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission last night. The public hearing dealing with the proposed change from Residential-1 to Residential-2 status drew nearly 15 residents of the area to the council chambers to voice their opposition to the plan. ...