Stories from Thursday, December 5, 1996

Four young women at Parker Dance Studio move to the funky rhythms of a Rickie Lee Jones tune. One is majoring in sociology, another in nursing. At a daytime class, you might find Southeast quarterback Travis Blevins learning about dance theories. Basketball center William Eley is taking dance appreciation...

Michelle Buehler is about to finish her degree in studio art at Southeast knowing there are no jobs for studio artists. But she also knows an artist whose serious about being one has to have a game plan. First there's the MFA, the terminal art degree, which she hopes will lead to a career of gallery shows and maybe a spot on a university faculty or museum staff...

MEMPHIS -- Ringing in the New Year in grand style is the opportunity for those who go to the Peabody Hotel Dec. 31. Jazz will be the entertainment in the Grand Lobby, while three bands will play rock 'n' roll in the Memphis Ballroom. The cover charge is $35 per person in the Grand Lobby and $45 per person in the ballroom...

Peppy's Sports Bar in Cape Girardeau scored big earlier this year when it managed to sign Deana Carter to a concert -- just before her country music hit "Strawberry Wine" soared to the top spot on the country charts. Peppy's general manager, Doug Armour, said he and two other clubs, one in Louisville, Ky., and Cincinnati, who he keeps in contact with, decided to sign Carter in September when "Strawberry Wine" made its appearance on the Billboard chart...

It's listed as Peppy's Sports Bar in the Cape Girardeau phone book, but that's a little misleading. Peppy's is not the place for "Monday Night Football." In fact, the combination country/pop music dance club isn't even open on Monday nights. Drawing nearly 700 people on a good Saturday night, Peppy's tries to offer a little something for everybody. ...

Flood buyout efforts in Cape Girardeau received another financial boost Monday through $300,000 from the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The additional funding, which comes from the Community Development Block Grant program, brings the total budget for the city's buyout program to $2,240,585...

The colorful license plates being seen around town don't belong to out-of-state visitors: They're the new plates now available to Missourians. More than 400 of the license plates have been distributed in Cape Girardeau since they became available statewide Nov. 6, said Norma Wildman, Cape Girardeau License Bureau manager...

Mrs. J is 81-years old and lives a lonely life. She's outlived a husband and two children. The only things she has to keep her company are her radio and her television. She uses them to listen to programs and music that support the other thing she has: her faith...

A woman who thought she was finished raising children has the responsibility of raising one more. The child's father is in prison and her mother deserted her. So great-grandmother dusted off her child-rearing skills, and once again has a toddler in her home...

Gasoline prices in the Cape Girardeau area have climbed to nearly $1.25 a gallon for regular unleaded fuel at most stations, the highest price since January 1991. Prices at the pump are about 7 cents higher than last week, with most stations charging $1.24.9 a gallon. Some stations are charging a few pennies less and at least one station is charging a penny more...

Tele-Communications Inc., which provides cable television service in Jackson and Cape Girardeau, has announced it will drop WGN, VH-1 and the Comedy Channel from its expanded basic lineup Dec. 31, and replace them with the Animal Planet and Cartoon Network...

Dec. 5, 1996 Dear Pat, When the bouquet of toxic chemicals mixes with the scent of spicy potpourri warming on the stove, Christmas must be nigh. The annual threat of holiday visitors always makes DC newly serious about our uncompleted house projects. ...

Consumers will spend from $800 to $1,100 each during the Christmas holiday shopping season. They're already off to a good start. The nation's retailers -- from discount chains to upscale department stores and toy stores to sports shops -- have been hearing the jingle of cash registers for the past month...

I JUST read the story in your paper where a deputy sheriff was killed in Cassville responding to a call. He was shot dead in the head. It just made me think how fortunate we are with our local law enforcement officers who are willing to do the job that they do when they are so underpaid by the city of Cape Girardeau and the county of Cape Girardeau...

First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's offer to make her second-term project overseeing welfare reform, issued from her perch in Australia, was rather rudely rejected stateside. First to pounce was Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, a leader who can truly lay claim to having been a pioneer in this difficult chore. "We are moving people from welfare to work," said Thompson, adding tartly, "And we don't need Mrs. Clinton to come in and mess things up."...

Is there merit to a new merit-pay policy at Southeast Missouri State University? That is what president Dale Nitzschke must decide in the coming weeks. But certainly the consensus reached on this new plan by the faculty and administration is a major accomplishment. It marks a stark contrast to past efforts to bring agreement on merit pay at the university...

The performance of American students compared to their global counterparts continues to be fodder for study after study. American students, it seems, continue to lag behind in math and science scores. But a new study suggests that this shortfall isn't due to too little homework or too much television. ...

To the editor: I noticed that you had a comment in your Speak Out regarding the cable-TV franchise. One of the concerns that person had was over the increase in cable rates in the last two years. The other concern was about the location of Channel 6 in the system...

To the editor: My 12-year-old son was burned on his right leg in September. He was in the hospital for nine days. You couldn't ask for better care. No doubt about it, he had a bad leg. But this is why Medicare is in trouble. Medicare wasn't involved here, but I am a veteran with a 100 percent service-connected disability. ...

Counselors at Notre Dame High School soon may have a new yardstick to measure incoming freshmen. Eighth-graders attending a number of parochial schools in the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese, which includes all of Southeast Missouri, took the EXPLORE ACT standardized test in September. If a diocese testing committee approves the move after reviewing test results, students could be required to take the EXPLORE next year to gauge their academic achievement prior to entering high school...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Cairo firefighters scaled a 75-foot evergreen Wednesday to decorate the towering pine with 116 strings of Christmas lights. The tree was decorated as part of Cairo's annual Christmas Stroll, to be held Saturday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. About 1,000 people are expected to walk through the streets of Cairo, which will be lined with luminaries and Christmas decorations...

GLEN ALLEN -- Graveside service for Kelly Mims of Glen Allen will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Russell Heights Cemetery in Jackson. There is no visitation. McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson is in charge of arrangements. Mims, 42, died Monday, Dec. 2, 1996, in a car accident on Highway ZZ near Glen Allen...

CHAFFEE -- Funeral service for Raymond Kelly Marshall Jr., Chaffee Route 1, will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ in Morley. The Rev. Don Russell will officiate, with burial in New Morley Cemetery at Morley. Friends may call at the church after 4 p.m. today...

NEW HAMBURG -- Funeral Mass for Edward "Shorty" Glastetter, New Hamburg Route 1, will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Lawrence Catholic Church. The Rev. Ralph Duffner will officiate, with burial in the church cemetery. Friends may call at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Benton after 4 p.m. today. The rosary will be at 7, and Knights of Columbus service at 7:15...

CHARLESTON -- Helen Campbell, 58, of Charleston died Wednesday, Dec. 4, 1996, at East Prairie Nursing Center. She was born March 21, 1938, in Henson, daughter of Herman and Hattie Canady Carroll. Campbell was a member of Mercy Seat Baptist Church. Survivors include five sons, Calvin Sr. ...

William Robert Hindman, 68, 2310 N. Sprigg Street Road, died Wednesday, Dec. 4, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Oct. 11, 1928, in Jonesboro, Ill., son of Paul and Olive Casper Hindman. He married the former June Carey. Hindman was a driver with Carl Baggett Line several years, and then was a driver 31 years with Commercial Transport...

SIKESTON -- Lenn Allen Parks, 58, of Sikeston died Wednesday, Dec. 4, 1996, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. He was born Dec. 17, 1937, in Sikeston, son of Henry Arthur and Gladys T. Williams Parks. He and Floetta J. Martin were married July 8, 1961, in Sikeston...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Raymond E. Williams, 84, of Cobden died Wednesday, Dec. 4, 1996, at his home. He was born Feb. 11, 1912, in Trask, son of the late Arlie and Pearl Smith Williams. He married Rita Baggott on April 21, 1937, in Union County, Ill. She survives him...

Edwin Hamilton, 70, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Dec. 4, 1996, at Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Center in Cape Girardeau. Hamilton was born Jan. 4, 1926. The funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

Son to Charles Gary and Angela Renee Barwick, 1617 Themis, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:05 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, 1996. Name, Andrew Christopher. Weight, 7 pounds 10 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Barwick is the former Angela Hahn, daughter of Robert Hahn and Dorothy Hahn of Cape Girardeau. Barwick is the son of Glenna Barwick of St. Charles. He is a sonographer at Southeast Hospital...

BENTON -- Funeral service for Jimmy Joe Fowler of Benton will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City. The Rev. David Pringle will officiate, with burial in Lightner Cemetery at Scott City. Friends may call at the chapel after 3 p.m. today...