Stories from Sunday, July 21, 1996

To the editor: This is in reference to the latest trash promoted by the new garbage-mouthed Republicans. President Clinton is an intelligent, caring and honorable man being crucified by lies and power-hungry Republican politicians never before seen in history...

Cape Girardeau travel agents said that a "nightmarish" surge in airline bookings was caused by Southwest Airlines' recent price cuts. Fares for some regions of the country, said Peggy McLain of Designing Travel in Cape Girardeau, dropped below $60 for the three-month booking period...

Benny Hinton says he's qualified to be sheriff and is interested in helping the citizens of Cape Girardeau County by providing them with a better sheriff. "I have a lot to offer," Hinton, a Democrat, said at a fund-raiser Saturday at the Elks Lake. "I have the education, training and experience to do the job well."...

Joe Sherinski, left, a member of the beautification committee of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, presented the Yard of the Month Award for July to Glenda Riggins, who lives at 2707 Independence with her husband, Gary. Jeff Hawk, left, a member of the beautification committee of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, presented the Yard of the Month Award for July to Phil and Patti Davis, 382 Barberry...

I FEEL that the director of the Missouri Department of Conservation should resign immediately. At the June 19 meeting of the Conservation Commission, Jerry Presley, who is retiring in December to take a job with Doe Run Co., agreed to allow the Doe Run lead-mining company to begin drilling at Round Springs and other strategic areas above the Jack's Fork River and Current River watersheds, which will pollute the major recreational areas that people from Cape Girardeau have enjoyed for areas. ...

An official of your state department of elementary and secondary education arrived in town this week, trumpeting the grand new federal program called "School to Work." DESE's Steve Alexander emitted the usual smooth assurances we've come to recognize from DESE spokespersons. Perhaps STW is as good as he and others in Big Education, Big Labor and Big Business say it is. At the sound of such reassuring platitudes, however, this writer is tempted to reach for a concealed weapon...

Thanks to hard work by state Sen. Betty Sims, R-St. Louis, Missouri has a new law on the books to crack down on sexual predators. Gov. Carnahan signed the measure last week in a series of stops around the state that included Cape Girardeau. The law, which will take effect Aug. ...

DU QUOIN, Ill. -- Waist deep in black water, shirtless, his skin a mottled collage of green flecks and duckweed and with a streak of mud on his forehead, where a mosquito got smeared, Jeff Thomas displays his prize. The 34-year-old Thomas is standing in the midst of a farm pond cradling a flashlight with his neck, an eight-foot pole in one hand and a dripping bullfrog in the other. He has one of those cheap, gas-station cigars clenched in his teeth. It's midnight...

A Taxpayer Bill of Rights allowing Americans to sue for wrongful collections and providing other protections against abuse by the Internal Revenue Service is on its way to the president for his signature after easy passage in Congress. Taxpayers may recover up to $1 million, or 10 times the current limit of $100,000. ...

Taking advantage of First Lady Hillary Clinton's recent foreign tour to countries where opposition reporters and commentators are routinely executed, I placed a call the other day to the Foundation for Mind Research, the home of psychic researcher Jean Houston. For those with short memories, Ms. Houston is the psychic coach of Mrs. Clinton, helping her to carry on imaginary conversations with the late Eleanor Roosevelt...

The warning signs were there for the Cape Girardeau Civic Center long before the Area Wide United Way pulled the plug on funding. Over the past year, six Civic Center board members have resigned, largely because of concerns about how the not-for-profit organization has been managed by Ed Slaughter, Civic Center board president. Four of the board members, including Circuit Judge John Grimm and treasurer Drew Laudie have resigned since June...

The Cape Girardeau Civic Center plans to reorganize its board in an effort to stay afloat. The Area Wide United Way recently cut off funding to the center over concerns about the agency's finances and apparent lack of programs. Former Civic Center board members have blamed Ed Slaughter, Civic Center board president, and Fred Pennington, the center's part-time director, for much of the problem...

Around 1,000 American Legion and Legion Auxiliary members swarmed to Cape Girardeau this weekend from all across the state to elect new officers, hear guest speakers and attend workshops all in the name of patriotism. "The American Legion is 100 percent behind the flag," said member Jack Reed of Malden...

They checked fenders and wheel wells, scrutinized undercarriages and stared under hoods. A few even kicked tires Saturday as they browsed among some 300 antique and classic cars at the Show Me Center. Some were selling. Some were buying. Some were just looking during the Smith Auction Company's Classic and Collector Car Auction, which continues today...

Most school districts in Southeast Missouri have learned to get by on tight budgets and limited resources because they are approaching their debt limit. But a constitutional amendment could allow almost 400 school districts in the state to increase their bond debt from 10 percent to 15 percent...

SWEET SPRINGS -- Commercial fishermen in Missouri and Illinois are getting report cards from the Missouri Department of Conservation. The MDC isn't grading them; it is asking them to report catches of rare fish. "These report cards enable us to learn more about the pallid and lake sturgeon," says Kim Graham, MDC fisheries research biologist. "It also allows us to find out about the status of our reintroduction program."...

Is your pond leaking? Do you have holes in your dam? If you do, then you may have a problem with muskrats. The muskrat is a short-legged animal with grayish, dark-brown hair and an 11-inch black tail that is scaly, hairless and narrow. An adult muskrat averages about 2.5 pounds, not to be mistaken for a beaver that can weigh up to 50 pounds. Muskrats will breed from spring to fall, having several litters of four to seven young...

Silver Lake -- Leo J. Doll, 65, of Silver Lake, died Friday, July 19, 1996, at Silver Lake. He was born Nov. 10, 1930, at Silver Lake to Lon and Mary May Doll. He is survived by an aunt. He worked in the parts room at Sabreliner, from where he retired. He was a member of the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Silver Lake. He was involved in the Knights of Columbus, American Legion Booster, American Veterans Boosters and held membership in Fleas and the Sportsmen's Club, all of Perryville...

WICHITA, Kan. -- Rachel Emma Gillispie died Thursday, July 18, 1996, at the Lakewood Heights Nursing Home in Wichita. She was born Nov. 13, 1914, in Bonne Terre, daughter of the late Lawrence E. and Lena S. Radle Rhodes. She married Clyde Baxter Gillispie in Cape Girardeau on July 31, 1943. He died Dec. 16, 1993...

SIKESTON -- Mary Ella Ray, 85, died Friday, July 19, 1996, at Sikeston Health Care. She was born Nov. 15, 1910, at Diehlstadt to the late George and Bessie Cox Stuppy. On July 15, 1928, she married the Rev. Lawrence E. Ray at Sikeston. For five years Ray served as president of the Charleston Baptist Association Women's Missionary Union. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Sikeston...

HOLLAND, Mich. -- Charles Ray Hagy, 29, died Friday, July 19, 1996, at Holland. Funeral arrangements are pending at Watkins and Sons Funeral Service in Dexter.

ST. LOUIS -- Virginia Marguerite Gloeckner, 89, of the Bethesda Dilworth Memorial Home in St. Louis, formerly of Scott City, died Saturday, July 20, 1996, at the home. She was born Feb. 11, 1907, at Ancell, daughter of the late Joseph H. and Alice Rosmerski Mirgeaux. She married Albert A. Gloeckner on Oct. 7, 1925. He died Sept. 28, 1948...

SIKESTON -- Gladys Seigle Tatum, 79, of Charleston died Friday, July 19, 1996, at Sikeston. She married Harvey Leon Tatum. Survivors include a son, Roger L. Tatum of Scott City, and a granddaughter. She was preceded in death by her husband, four sisters and a brother...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Raymond Beegle, 58, died Friday at his home in Mounds. Funeral arrangements are pending at Barkett Funeral Home in Mounds.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Lex Elwood "Honeybee" Brown, 73, of Baton Rouge, formerly of Olive Branch, Ill, and Bardwell, Ky., died Friday at Baton Rouge Health Care. Brown was born in Bardwell, son of the late Samuel Lex and Ruby Todd Brown of Tamms. Brown was retired from the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 198 of Baton Rouge and was a member of the Capital Area Bee Keepers, who honored him in 1987...

PERRYVILLE -- Leona M. Ponder Meyer, 72, of Perryville died Friday, July 19, 1996, at her home. She was born June 3, 1924, at Apple Creek, daughter of the late William and Clara Trapp Ponder. She married Clemens T. Meyer, who died Nov. 4, 1989. Meyer had been a top-stitcher at International Shoe Co...

BERNIE -- Charles C. Green, 76, of Bernie died Saturday, July 20, 1996, in Poplar Bluff. He was born Jan. 31, 1920, in Malden, son of the late William C. and Fredia Harlan Green. He married Velma Gidcumb on Sept. 13, 1941, at Bloomfield. He was a resident of Bernie and a retired delivery truck driver for Bernie Lumber Co. He was a veteran of World War II...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Beulah Abercrombie, 100, of Tamms died Friday, July 19, 1996, at her home. She was born April 5, 1896, near Tamms on the Grapevine Trail (Delta Community), daughter of the late Milford and Willie Parrott Miller. She married John Abercrombie on April 6, 1912, and he died May 5, 1991...

ELCO, Ill. -- Carrie I. Dickerson, 68, of Elco, Ill., died Friday upon arrival at the Memorial Hospital in Carbondale, Ill. She was born July 1, 1928, in Elco, daughter of Joseph Lessar and Mabel (Sharp) Lessar. She married James Dickerson. She was a member of the Elco Pentecostal Church and the Royal Neighbors of America. She was a homemaker...

DEXTER -- Mary Grace Robinson, 85, died Saturday, July 20, 1996, at Central Gardens Residential Care Center in Dexter. She was born April 21, 1911, at Mountain Glen, Ark., daughter of the late Bert T. and Mary E. Morgan Carter. She married Dee B. Robinson on June 6, 1928, in Knobel, Ark. He died Aug. 15, 1994...

Deanna Estes followed through on a fairway shot toward the 10th hole during the Lassies Classic. Lisa Stanfield watched her putt on the 16th hole of the Cape Girardeau Country Club. Beth Mapes reacted to her drive on the No. 4 tee. For two days in July the golf course at Cape Girardeau Country Club is transformed into the course at St. Andrews in Scotland for the annual Lassies Classic women's golf scramble...

I'm beginning to get feverish from a malady which, so far as I know, is not listed in medical books or brochures. I call it Vicariously Induced Muscle Soreness, Breathlessness and Dizzy High Flight Syndrome. I know a cure for it, but I don't choose to take it, such cure being just not to watch the Olympic games...

The Salvation Army, at 701 Good Hope, will be serving Meals With Friends Monday through Friday. Serving time is 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Any individual is welcome to come and enjoy a hot, nutritious meal in a cool, friendly atmosphere at no cost. The following menu will be served:...