Stories from Saturday, October 5, 1996

When Margaret Kelly took office as state auditor, she made a pledge to uphold the Missouri Constitution. If elected governor, Kelly says she will refocus her commitment to the constitution and restore voter confidence. "I believe the constitution's words created a firm bond between me and the taxpayers," Kelly said...

Carol Sarff is one of the counselors at the Cape Girardeau County Health Center who talk with people to determine whether HIV testing is needed. With HIV and AIDS being discussed more openly than ever, more people who put themselves at risk wonder if they have it...

The CHAMPS for cancer patients and their families will meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the St. Francis Health and Education Center. Better Breathers Club meets Wednesday The Better Breathers Club will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Cape Girardeau Public Library...

Southeast Missouri Hospital will offer a foot care clinic Monday through Friday from 8:15 to 3:15 at the hospital's Regional Cancer Center. The clinic will also be held at Main Street Fitness Center in Jackson from 8:15 to 3:15 on Oct. 16 and 17, and again at Doctors' Memorial Clinic, Frohna, from 8:15 to 3:15 on Oct. 30...

Health screenings are available on a walk-in basis Monday through Friday from 8 am. to 4:30 p.m. at Main Street Fitness Center, 410 W. Main in Jackson, or at Southeast Missouri Hospital's Home Health office, 760 S. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau, from 8 a.m. to noon on Thursdays...

Former Apollo 13 astronaut James Lovell Jr. doesn't think of himself as a hero. He said it was teamwork by National Aeronautics and Space Administration employees on the ground that allowed him and two other astronauts to return home on their lunar-module-turned-lifeboat...

To ensure everyone has a chance to register for the Nov. 5 elections before Wednesday's deadline, two voter-registration outlets will be open today from 9 a.m. to noon, said Rodney Miller, Cape Girardeau County clerk. The voter-registration office in the annex of Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau, and the county clerk's office, 1 Barton Square in Jackson, are open today for those who may not have a chance to register during the week...

"Proposition A is not good news for Missouri business." That was the message Dan Mehan delivered at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee. Mehan, vice president of governmental affairs for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, said approval of Proposition A, a proposal to increase Missouri's minimum wage to more than $6 an hour in January and up to $7.80 over the next decade, could hurt the people the measure is meant to help...

There are times when being a bachelor isn't too bad. I have to do things for myself, which is a situation that many people try to avoid. I have heard so very often how someone won't cook a meal unless they're entertaining a visitor. A lot of single people won't go out to eat or go to a movie by themselves...

I JUST finished traveling the new stretch of Lexington and also Sprigg Street. It is a shame the tax dollars that were spent on these streets and for them to be as a rough as they are. Lexington with all of the patches, and it's rough concrete, it's not smooth. The same way with the blacktop on Sprigg Street. It's just too rough. I hate to see the tax dollars wasted on streets like that...

Most schools in outstate Missouri have been fortunate enough to avoid the violence that plagues many urban schools. But drugs have infiltrated even the most rural schools, and discipline is a problem that many teachers battle every day. Government's answer to most every problem is money. Lots of it. Such is the case with the Safe Schools Act, which will pump millions of dollars into Missouri's schools...

The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri has had a busy summer. The shelter is literally overrun with animals. More than 2,800 animals have been taken to the shelter since June. Of those, 530 were adopted and 177 were returned to owners. The shelter serves from Farmington to Sikeston. Part of the problem resulted from Farmington's shelter being closed while a new facility was built. But far too many owners refuse to spay or neuter their pets...

To the editor: Isn't it amazing the way we try to pigeon-hole everything in politics? For example, liberal vs. conservative, Democrat vs. Republican, caring vs. extremist, with the list going on forever. My own experience and core beliefs are not strictly aligned with any of these but, as with most Americans, probably would be a mixture of many...

To the editor: We need a return to prayer in our schools and all their activities. Look at the facts. Has our country been better off since it became wrong to pray? How about the increase in violence, drugs, freedom of sex, abortion, murder -- you name it...

KARNAK, Ill. -- The Rev. Vernon McClellan, 81, of Karnak died Wednesday, Oct. 2, 1996, at the Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah, Ky. He was born Sept. 9, 1915, in Karnak to George and Clara Davidson McClellan. McClellan had been the pastor of the Karnak Pentecostal Church for 32 years and for six years at the Tamms Pentecostal Church...

ANNA, Ill. -- Paul D. Dixon, 65, of Anna died Friday, Oct. 4, 1996, at his home. Funeral arrangements are pending at the Hileman & Parr Funeral Services in Jonesboro.

OLMSTED, Ill. -- Irene E. Bierbaum, 82, of Olmsted died Friday, Oct. 4, 1996, at Vencor Hospital in St. Louis. She was born Oct. 22, 1913, at Villa Ridge, daughter of John and Mattie Henderson Edwards. She was employed as a meat cutter in grocery stores in Pulaski and Alexander counties before her retirement...

MATTHEWS -- Funeral service for Mona June Moore, Matthews Route 1, will be held at 2 p.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston. Dr. Jim Guffie will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park Cemetery at Sikeston. Moore, 74, died Thursday, Oct. 3, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Funeral service for Gerald A. Wilkerson of Algonquin will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms. The Rev. Jimmy Keller will officiate, with burial in McCrite Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home Sunday from 11 a.m. to service time...

MARBLE HILL -- The Rev. Jonas Elzie Long, 87, of Marble Hill died Thursday, Oct. 3, 1996, at Bond Nursing Care Center. He was born Nov. 5, 1908, at Scopus, son of Francis Marion and Martha Jane Cook Long. He and Nancy E. Garland were married July 20, 1928. She died Oct. 23, 1945. He later married L.B. Estes Aug. 16, 1946. She died May 21, 1995...

SIKESTON -- David Eugene Bell, 52, of Melbourne, Fla., died Friday, Oct. 4, 1996, in an automobile accident at Highway 62 and Interstate 55. He was born March 4, 1944, in Missouri, son of Robert and Dorothy L. Summers Bell. He and Mary Marriott were married Sept. 14, 1983, in Melbourne...

Daughter to Randal Rowdy and Susan J. Burns of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 1:14 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 1996. Name, Faith Nicole. Weight, 7 pounds 11 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Burns is the former Susan Bailey, daughter of Harvey Bailey and Sharon Bailey of Sikeston. She is employed at Lee-Rowan. Burns is the son of Howard Burns and Ludene Burns of Jackson. He is a mechanic at Cape Toyota Suzuki...

Southeast Missouri State University's Board of Regents elected Cape Girardeau lawyer Don Dickerson as its new president Friday. "Thank you very much. That is the easiest election I have been through," he remarked during a brief meeting at the University Center...