Stories from Saturday, June 29, 1996

To the editor: First of all, I would like to thank the Southeast Missourian for giving me the opportunity to participate in the Missouri Freedom Forum in Cape Girardeau. While attending the Freedom Forum, I gained a much deeper respect for the society that we live in. I also learned more about owning and operating a business...

To the editor: When I heard the news of the passing of Congressman Bill Emerson, I felt as though I had lost a member of my immediate family. Since I moved to Southeast Missouri some eight years ago, Bill Emerson has been very much a presence in my life...

It was 10 short years ago this week that Gary Rust purchased the Southeast Missourian from the Canadian-based Thomson Newspaper chain. At the time of the sale, Rust promised to provide Cape Girardeau and the region one of the finest daily newspapers in the country in terms of news, market penetration and value for both readers and advertisers. It is a promise the staff and ownership have worked hard to deliver...

The chairman of the Missouri Gaming Commission is worried that the state's gambling market is saturated. The commission intends to analyze the market to determine how many more gambling licenses will be granted. Poppycock. This is just another example of a state commission making up new powers and taking them on. ...

JEFFERSON CITY -- When Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson unveiled the final phase of Wisconsin's dramatic welfare reform program, he told the state's citizens: "W-2 means the end of the automatic welfare check. We believe that everyone is capable of some level of work, and W-2 will help participants move directly into work at the earliest possible time. This comprehensive replacement for welfare will demand more of participants, but in the long run it will provide independence and a future."...

Flat Iron Structures Co., of Longmont, Colo., is the apparent low bidder on the main structure of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, to be constructed across the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau, according to Missouri highways officials. The Missouri Highways and Transportation Department received six bids on the new bridge Friday...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Union Planters Corp., an $11.4 billion multi-bank holding company headquartered at Memphis, Tenn., and Financial Bancshares Inc. of St. Louis, have announced a definitive agreement for Union Planters to acquire Financial Bancshares in a tax-free exchange of stock...

Next time you're in Chambersburg, Pa., don't be surprised if you run into an old friend in the town square. The Pennsylvania city's Civil War memorial and fountain bear a striking resemblance to the fountain and memorial in Cape Girardeau's Courthouse Park on Lorimier Street...

Missouri Secretary of State Bekki Cook's refusal to reopen the filing period for the 8th District congressional seat wasn't a last-minute response to the death of U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson but a decision researched well in advance. Jim Grebing, communications director for the secretary of state, said Friday that Cook's office researched the intricacies of Missouri's new election law well in advance of Emerson's death...

Now that Bill Emerson has been laid to rest, the nasty politics in the 8th District can begin with full vigor. The question of who will succeed the eight-term congressman sprang to the minds of most people immediately after hearing that Emerson had passed away Saturday...

What goes around, comes around very seldom in Cape Girardeau where there currently is only one revolving door in the whole city. But that will change when work is completed next week on a revolving door for the Federal Building on Broadway. The new door on the front of the Federal Building will be the second in the city. The other has been a fixture at Southeast Missouri Hospital for years...

Most likely, one service station seemed the same as the next to Mark and Janice as they turned onto the Cape Girardeau exit Wednesday to gas up on their way from Arkansas to Iowa. They probably didn't feel the same way when they pulled back onto the highway after spending a tumultuous -- but ultimately rewarding -- afternoon at the Cape Citgo service station on Route K and Interstate 55...

SIKESTON -- Norman Sissom, 55, of Sikeston, died Thursday, June 27, 1996, at his home. He was born April 14, 1941, in St. Louis, son of Henry Caspar and Thelma Sissom. Sissom was a self-employed mechanic, and member of Eagles at New Madrid. Survivors include three sons, Jeff and Bobby Sissom of Woodland, Calif., James Sissom of Colorado; his mother, Thelma Johnson of Sikeston; a brother, Allen Sissom of Woodland; five sisters, Gennie Steadman, Darlene Kellough and Dina Rodriguez of Woodland, Helen Beeson of Sikeston, Lillie Curtis of Cedartown, Ga., and four grandchildren.. ...

SIKESTON -- Odis Alexander Davidson, 91, of Sikeston, died Thursday, June 27, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born Oct. 16, 1904, in Gentown, Miss., son of Johnny Samuel and Berdie Idella Peterson Davidson. He and Lizzie Evelyn Stines were married in July 1924. She died April 24, 1979. He and Georgia Hays Henderson were married Aug. 23, 1980, in Sikeston...

PATTON -- Alma Kathryn Brotherton, 85, of Patton, died Friday, June 28, 1996, at Jackson Manor Nursing Home in Jackson. She was born Nov. 30, 1910, at Glen Allen, daughter of Anthony and Maggie Mouser Seabaugh. She and Willie Ray Brotherton were married April 13, 1931. He died Aug. 13, 1956...

LEOPOLD -- Alvin B. Vandeven, 68, of Leopold, died Friday, June 28, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 25, 1928, at Leopold, son of Gerhard and Anna Thele Vandeven. He and Helen Louise Glastetter were married Aug. 8, 1953...

St. LOUIS -- Bessie Marie Brenneisen, 97, of south St. Louis County, formerly of Cape Girardeau and Scott City, died Thursday, June 27, 1996, at her home. She was born Aug. 18, 1898, at Benton, Ill., daughter of Michael and Laura Rapp Valentine. She married Leo Falentine Brenneisen June 5, 1916. He died in 1980...

SIKESTON -- Private service for Jack L. Bell of Las Vegas, Nev., will be held today at Elmwood Cemetery in Blytheville, Ark. Nunnelee Funeral Home is in charge of local arrangements. Bell, 64, died Sunday, June 9, 1996, in Las Vegas, following an extended illness...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Georgina "Jean" Fisher, 85, of Dongola, died Thursday, June 27, 1996, at Union County Hospital in Anna. She was born Sept. 10, 1910, in Ohio, daughter of Francis and Frieda Clepper Ludlow. She and Audie Fisher were married Aug. 24, 1929. He died April 27, 1996...

Son to Jeffrey Dale and Jennifer Michelle Cook, Oran Route 1, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 12:26 a.m. Thursday, June 20, 1996. Name, Ryan Dale. Weight, 6 pounds 5 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Cook is the former Jennifer Florek, daughter of Bill and Dorthy Thompson of Oran. Cook is the son of Benny and Vera Cook of Oran...

Griffins Cafe & Spirits, 118 Themis in downtown Cape Girardeau, will close operations about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. Saturday will be the final day for the restaurant, said Wayne Griffin, who cites a slowdown in business for the closing. Griffin and his wife, Lisa, are owners of the business, which opened more than eight years ago...

Darrick Smith may be something of an `old man' as far as the Kohlfeld Capahas are concerned, but he proved Friday night that he can still wield a pretty mean bat. Smith, the Capahas' most experienced player -- he is in his 13th year with the team -- blasted a two-run homer and a three-run double to spark a 9-4 victory over the Evansville (Ind.) Outlaws at Capaha Field...

Trent Summers doubled home two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning as Cape Senior Babe Ruth rallied for a 10-9 victory over Paducah Junior Legion Friday night. The hit was the third of the night for Summers and made a winner out of White Sox pitcher Chris Canfield, who went the distance. Canfield struck out four, walked two and gave up eight hits...

Chigger bites can leave an itchy memory of a hike through the woods. Summertime is the time of year for sitting in the sun, working in the yard or trekking through beautiful realm of Mother Nature. Which of course means getting deep fried, put on a slow boil and chewed up by some of Mother Nature's more nasty children...