Stories from Wednesday, October 23, 1996

To the editor: When Independent/Republican candidate Jo Ann Emerson offers a platform based on "continuing to fight for Southeast Missouri," she asks that we judge her candidacy on the basis of the record of the late Congressman Bill Emerson. Since her campaign seems to be based on promising to maintain that track record, we are forced to evaluate it as a measure of her candidacy...

I HOPE to make the girl driving at Cape Rock and Kingshighway aware of what she did. I was behind her at the stop light, and she threw out a cigarette butt. She not only littered, but she could have started a fire. Does anyone know how long it takes for a cigarette butt to decompose, if ever? Maybe if we would start embarrassing those who do they would think before they messed up this world we all live in. ...

Political candidates are like relatives who come for a long visit: You can't wait for them to leave, and they don't seem so bad after they've gone. The kid who caught the baseball in right field at Yankee Stadium is well on his way to the major leagues if he can learn to chew tobacco and spit in an umpire's face...

Missouri pumps about $100 million each year into desegregation efforts in the Kansas City School District. Over the years, the horror stories of wasteful spending and missing monies have trickled out. But before- and after-school day care paid by the state? This is the height of absurdity...

About 200 people flunked a mandated drug test for school bus drivers and applicants in Illinois last year. The state started keeping a central clearinghouse of school bus drivers who flunked drug tests in July 1995. Illinois officials proudly announced the high detection rate last week. ...

To the editor: Meadow Heights Student Council would like to thank all those who helped to make the October blood drive a success. Special thanks to the Patton Lions Club, volunteer workers, cookie bakers and the Jackson McDonald's. Our goal was 40 units of blood, and we got 42 units. We really appreciate the community's support of this endeavor...

To the editor: So now it is claimed that Bekki Cook restored credibility to the office of Missouri Secretary of State. What a laugh. She truly botched the opportunity to return the office to the stature it had lost due to the shenanigans of former Secretary of State Judi Moriarty...

A new statewide plan for higher education that calls for sharing of resources and expertise should work, said presidents at Southeast Missouri State University and two regional community colleges. The presidents are confident because the three institutions already are doing many of the same programs outlined in the higher education blueprint...

Another 240 acres of prime industrial property may soon be added to the Greater Cape Girardeau Development Corp.'s portfolio. The development group last weekend signed a purchaser's agreement with Armstrong World to purchase a large tract of land adjacent to the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. It is about a half-mile from Interstate 55...

Getting ready for an election is tough enough without last-minute changes in ballot wording, area county clerks said Tuesday. Judges shouldn't be allowed to change the wording on ballot issues within a few weeks of the election, they said. But that is what has happened in Missouri...

A new section of a nationally accepted building code is meeting with resistance from at least one Cape Girardeau councilman. Every three years, Building Officials and Code Administrators International revises its thick books full of rules for building safe homes and businesses. The City Council then adopts the BOCA code as its own, including the revisions...

More than 25 industries in the Nash Road Industrial Park alongside Interstate 55 south of Cape Girardeau provide employment to more than 1,500 workers. Much of the industrial park's development during the past 35 years has been attributed to the Greater Cape Girardeau Development Corp., which was founded in 1959...

Most people feel invisible while sitting inside their cars. We at the Southeast Missourian do our best to keep you readers on the cutting edge of scientific developments, so I'm including a special tip from "Ask Anne & Nan" in my body of work this week...

SCOTT CITY -- The actual time will be 12:30 p.m. Thursday, but the year will seem much earlier in Scott City as a vintage touring train will steam its way through this historic railroad town. Union Pacific's Southern Scenic touring train, which features passenger cars from the 1950s and '60s being pulled by a 1944 steam locomotive, is scheduled to stop in Scott City, a nearly 100-year-old railroad town, between noon and 1 to pick up passengers. It is on a tour from St. Louis to Little Rock, Ark...

JACKSON -- Many businesses here will be affected by the Board of Aldermen's decision Monday night to discontinue commercial trash pickup. The city will continue to offer free residential service, but as of Jan. 1, 1997, will no longer offer commercial service...

The Southeast Missourian asked, "Should Missouri follow the example of a few other states which allow voters to cast their ballots at a polling place before Election Day?" Eva Baughn: "Probably not, especially in this election year. I think it's been pretty uneventful for the past six months. If something happened and you already voted, you couldn't change your mind."...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Foster H. Barnes, 92, of Cairo died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He was born Sept. 8, 1904, in Metropolis. His wife, Jennie, died in 1977. Barnes had owned Barnes Printing Shop. He was a member of Cairo Elks Lodge 651 and the Typographical Union...

Ethel Etta Chrismer, 78, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born May 31, 1918, in Wolf Lake, Ill., daughter of the late William and Bertha Harris. She married Harry W. Chrismer in 1952 in St. Louis. He survives...

Gary Wayne Stewart, 52, of Overland died Monday, Oct. 21, 1996, at Deaconess West Hospital in St. Louis. He was born Oct. 29, 1943, in Cape Girardeau, son of Elbert and Maxine Revelle Stewart. Survivors include a daughter, Deidre Stewart; his mother, Maxine Farrar; a brother, James Farrar; a sister, Elnita Porterfield; and a grandson...

ANNA, Ill. -- Joe Sadler, 63, of Anna died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 1996, at his home. He was born July 1, 1933, at Ware, son of Irvin L. and Velma W. Wilde Sadler. He and Betty Jo Lindsey were married Aug. 7, 1964, at Marion. Sadler was part owner of ARM Land Trust, affiliated with Carbondale Ready-Mix. He was a member, Sunday School teacher, usher and trustee at First Baptist Church, and a member of Teamsters Local 347...

MINER -- J.T. Brown, 16, of Miner died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 1996, at his home. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel of Sikeston is in charge of arrangements.

Funeral service for Mary Diane Hays of Poplar Bluff will be held at 11 a.m. today at Cotrell Funeral Chapel in Poplar Bluff. The Rev. Bill Fox and Betty Fox will officiate, with burial in Qulin Cemetery. Hays, 52, died Monday, Oct. 21, 1996, at her home...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Vernon Lee Piipke, 50, of Cobden died Monday, Oct. 21, 1996, at Marion Memorial Hospital. He was born Aug. 31, 1946, in Willmar, Minn., the son of Theodore Lewis and Ethel Mae Irwin Piipke. He married Elizabeth M. Pitcher. Piipke was a member of the Shiloh Baptist Church and a retired laborer...

Degrees were conferred upon 258 students during summer semester commencement exercises Aug. 2 on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. Area students who graduated with honors or advanced degrees: Advance: Lana Quinette Vance, bachelor's degree in health management, cum laude...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Junior Lee Howard, 59, of Jonesboro died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 1996, at his home. He was born June 2, 1937, in Johnson County, son of Hosea and Martha Dunn Howard. He and Shirley Hubbard were married Feb. 14, 1957, in Goreville. Howard had worked at Central Foods in Cape Girardeau, Mo...

Daughter to Brian Ralph and Michelle Ann Mueller, Perryville Route 2, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 1:38 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15, 1996. Name, Emma Lois. Weight, 9 pounds 5 ounces. First child. Mrs. Mueller is the former Michelle Welker, daughter of Donald and Ann Welker of Perryville. She is employed at Immanuel Lutheran School. Mueller is the son of Ralph E. and Lois Mueller of Perryville. He is a farmer...

The dinning room in the home has exposed log walls and hardwood floors. A tongue and groove system is used to join the logs together. "People who love nature love log homes," said Jim Harper, who built his own log home and now has them built for a living. "That's why you don't see too many log homes in the city."...