Stories from Thursday, October 3, 1996

To the editor: It was with a great deal of interest that I read a recent article, "Senate lifts fetal tissue restrictions." The Senate approved a measure 87-10 that would life a ban on federal spending for research into transplanting organ tissues from aborted babies and whole organs of brain-damaged newborns into the victims of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, spinal-cord injuries and diabetes. ...

Tonight's public, open house for Broadway improvements may be the most attended yet. It is the third in a series of such events sponsored by the city of Cape Girardeau. From 4:30-7:30 p.m. at the A.C. Brase Arena Building, improvement project staff and city officials will be on hand to answer citizens' questions. Maps of Broadway, fact sheets and comment cards will be available...

JACKSON -- The James Gang is expected to rob the St. Louis Iron Mountain Railroad steam train Saturday and Sunday. The train will depart the depot Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., with a dinner train at 5 p.m. On Sunday the train will depart at 1 p.m...

Americans elect lots of people to represent their differences, but just one to represent the union, said Wayne Fields, who is considered an expert on presidential speeches and debates. The challenge for anyone seeking the nation's top office, Fields said, is to articulate a vision of the nation's unity...

The leading candidates in the 8th District congressional race have ended their debate over debates. Democratic candidate Emily Firebaugh and independent-Republican candidate Jo Ann Emerson have agreed to three debates. The other three candidates also have been invited to attend. They are Republican Richard Kline, Libertarian Greg Tlapek and Natural Law candidate David Zimmer...

Artist Paul Walker hung his acrylic "Two Lunas" at Gallery 100. Paul Walker was afraid to paint certain things when he was younger. Things like butterflies and flowers, for him the too-traditional subjects of artists. With age came a new appreciation for attempting to capture the natural world on canvas...

How "Dial M for Murder" goes down after a barbecued chicken buffet remains to be seen, but the River City Players' upcoming dinner theater production will produce some gulps in the audience no matter what. There's no mystery to this murder as we watch playboy Tony Wendice (Justin Heinrich) plot the demise of his moneyed wife Margot (Jessica Nelms). The audience also is aware that Margot and her friend Max Halliday (Steve Ruppel) have been more than friends in the past...

THIS IS pertaining to the night in September when vandals broke my windshield and window. It's a shame and a pity we have to babysit our automobiles at night because some punk teen-agers or possibly adults don't have anything better to do with their time than to vandalize and destroy other people's property. ...

On Sunday a nationwide television audience will see the first presidential debate of 1996 broadcast live from Hartford, Conn. beginning at 8 p.m. Debates played a huge role in the 1960 contest between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. The next several races saw no such nationally televised fall debates scheduled. Since 1976, though, when President Gerald Ford faced off against candidate Jimmy Carter, such debates have been a staple of the fall presidential campaign every four years...

The city of Cape Girardeau is moving firmly ahead on several fronts with major recreation projects. More than $5 million is being spent on the new Osage Park Community Center and on the Shawnee Park Softball Complex. The two projects cost $5.3 million, with the Community Center representing $3.3 million. Motel and restaurant tax money will be used to pay off the bonds that were sold to build the two facilities...

To the editor: Thank you for the wonderful article recognizing the marching bands of the area. Marching band is much like any other sport. There is a season, and the students put in countless hours training, practicing and competing. These students have to be in good mental and physical shape to compete and perform as much as two or three times a week. ...

To the editor: A recent article on the Opinion page prompted me to express my thoughts by reiterating a recent e-mail message I sent to the White House regarding the $1.3 billion reading program. I believe that in most every school the opportunity to learn to read is there. ...

SCOTT CITY -- Nine months stationed outside of Bosnia has taught a Scott City police officer a few things -- including how much he appreciates the comforts of home. Scott City senior patrolman Randy Zimmerman returned last month from Germany where he had spent the better part of nine months as Missouri National Guard Lt. Randy "Zim" Zimmerman with the 1137th Military Police Company out of Kennett. His job was to safeguard the U.S. soldiers who were a part of the American deployment into Bosnia...

"Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth. They went two and two unto Noah..." Genesis 7:8, 7:9 Noah had the ability to take the animals two at a time into the ark; he knew they weren't going to eat each other. ...

When students at Scott City schools receive their quarterly report cards this month, their parents can expect a report card about the district's achievements. "When we have our parent-teacher conferences, I plan to hand out the district report cards," Superintendent Roger Tatum said. The conferences are planned this month...

Charlton Heston didn't part the Red Sea Wednesday. But the stage presence of the actor who played Moses in "The Ten Commandments" generated thousands of dollars for Jo Ann Emerson's congressional campaign. The Oscar-winning actor made a brief stop in Cape Girardeau Wednesday afternoon to support the independent-Republican candidate...

A scaled-down model of the Statue of Liberty is one of the first things people notice when they turn off Independence Street into the Thorngate Ltd. parking lot in the 1500 block of Independence. The statue was erected in front of the sprawling clothing manufacturing complex in 1991 to honor the sons, daughters and other relatives of Thorngate employees who were served during the Persian Gulf War...

Oct. 3, 1996 Dear Melina, DC and I just completed a stay-at-home vacation. The idea was to polish off our half-finished projects: a book I've promised to edit, an upcoming play waiting to be read, storm windows to be put up in the back bedroom, the dining room needs wallpapering, a long-neglected stack of letters begs to be answered, Hank and Lucy require remedial obedience training, and the guest bedroom's become a darkening jungle of papers, books and clothes each of us hopes the other will give the heave-ho to.. ...

CHARLESTON -- Elnora Jones, 81, of Charleston died Thursday, Sept. 26, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born May 9, 1915, in Blytheville, Ark., daughter of Buster and Della Hains Butler. Survivors include three sons, George Richardson and Willie Jones of Chicago, Tommy Jones of Charleston; three daughters, Madine Butler and Ezola Clark of Charleston, Geraldine Jones of Chicago; a sister, Christine White of St. ...

ADVANCE -- Trula Shull, 79, of Advance died Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1996, at Heartland Care Rehab Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 15, 1916, in Advance, daughter of Walter Allen and Louvena Pixley Croy. Shull had worked at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau and Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was a member of Bethel General Baptist Church...

WHITEWATER -- Paul David Jones, 23, of Whitewater died Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1996, at his home. He was born June 3, 1973, in Cape Girardeau, son of David and Kay Brown Jones. Survivors include his father of Whitewater; his mother and stepfather, Kay and Jerry Jerls of Bloomfield; six brothers, Jimmy Jones of Crump, Ronny Slinkard of Jackson, Jim Jerls of Scott City, Rocky, Scott and John Jerls of Puxico; a sister, Jennifer Jerls of Bloomfield; paternal grandparents, R. ...

SCOTT CITY -- Gary Frederick Runnels, 57, of Scott City died Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1996, at Belleville Memorial Hospital in Belleville, Ill. He was born Aug. 27, 1939, at Crump, son of Dealing and Mildred Brown Runnels. Runnels was a retired conductor with Southern Pacific Railroad. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army...

DIEHLSTADT -- George W. Fields, 82, of Berkeley died Wednesday, Oct. 2, 1996, at Village North Caring Center in Florissant. He was born Sept. 11, 1914, at Diehlstadt, son of George W. and Lelia Isabel Kirkpatrick Fields. He and Juanita Quillman were married Oct. 5, 1973...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Funeral service for Jeanne J. Hughes of Sun City, Ariz., formerly of Dongola, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Crain Funeral Home in Dongola. The Rev. Doyle Keller will officiate, with burial in Friendship Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-7 p.m. Friday...

Daughter to Joe and Lori Trepasso, 1555 Bunker Hill, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 2:41 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1996. Name, Bridget Maria. Weight, 8 pounds 12 ounces. Second daughter. Mrs. Trepasso is the former Lori Willis, daughter of Marvin and Margaret Willis of Benton, Ill. She is an account executive at the Southeast Missourian Newspaper. Trepasso is the son of Ralph and Rose Trepasso of Farmington. He is an account executive at KFVS-TV...

Two men were killed and two others seriously injured in an accident in New Madrid County, Mo., and a 20-year-old man was killed in a single-car accident on Boaz Road in Illinois. Two men were also seriously injured when a tractor-trailer collided with two Missouri Highway Department vehicles in New Madrid County...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Pearl Rothman, 87, of Mound City died Wednesday, Oct. 2, 1996, at Hillview Health Care Facility in Vienna. She was born Sept. 22, 1909, in Smithland, Ky., daughter of John and Bessie Hall Holdman. She married Roy Rothman, who died in 1969...