Stories from Friday, December 13, 1996

To the editor: I would like to comment about the recent cable controversy here in our area. I feel like and have felt for a long time that we have been at the mercy of TCI Cable since the company arrived in our fair city. We have been subjected to gradual prices increases over the years and really have never had much to show for the extra money we are having to pay each month. ...

To the editor: I am writing in response to a Dec. 5 letter from Harold Reed of Leopold regarding health care. I would like to commend Mr. Reed for his concern for the way taxpayers' dollars are used for health care. Some home health companies are guilty of abusing the system. To say that "all of these home health providers are a rip-off to the patients and the taxpayers" is a misnomer...

The new Missouri license plates are appearing on vehicles, and the new design and colors are a welcome change from the old plates, which varied in color depending on what kind of vehicle they were on. The new plates sport the same bright and clean appearance for all vehicles. The white background with its stylish spots of color, including a wavy line representing Missouri's river heritage...

With the reward total officially at $4,600, information about a string of burglaries at the homes of elderly Cape Girardeau residents is flowing into the police department. But in spite of this useful information, the burglars are still at large, and many elderly residents are worried about who might be the next victims...

With just over two weeks until the Jan. 1 deadline, there has been no headway in negotiations between KFVS-TV and cable provider TCI. TCI official Tom Cantrell said that with time running out he has serious doubts about the Cape Girardeau television station's future on cable...

Armed with maps, overhead projectors, highlighters, attendance figures and a variety of opinions, a committee is looking at how best to redraw the boundaries of Cape Girardeau's public elementary schools. Steve Trautwein, chairman of the Attendance Area Study Committee, is sure a plan will be ironed out by the February deadline, and maybe sooner...

Southeast Missouri State University wants to spend more than $30 million to renovate six campus buildings and construct a technology center in the next five years. Southeast wants to renovate Academic Hall at a cost of $12.5 million. The project could require president Dr. Dale Nitzschke and other university officials to relocate their offices temporarily to other buildings...

JACKSON -- Mayor Paul Sander will ask the Board of Aldermen Monday to endorse formation of a task force to study the feasibility of building a multipurpose community center in the city. With Jackson's growing population, Sander believes such a facility is needed, and at the very least merits in-depth consideration...

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is finished testing Lone Star Industries Inc., and it will take about six months to compile data before Lone Star can be approved for a permit to burn hazardous wastes. The Cape Girardeau Lone Star plant uses hazardous wastes as fuel in the production of cement. It has been burning waste products for fuel since 1992, with the state's permission. This is the first year the Department of Natural Resources required permits...

The best part of writing a column is thinking someone out there is reading it. Or finding an old photo to share with you. Occasionally, readers of this column tell me they like a particular column. This lets me know there are a few loyal readers in addition to my wife and mother. From time to time, readers provide additional information or a tidbit for a future column...

'Tis the season to be jolly, but area civic organizations are finding 'tis not the season of giving freely. Donations to both the Salvation Army and the Mid-America Teen Challenge fund-raising campaigns have come in at a trickle since Thanksgiving. Both organizations are relying on these campaigns to raise funds for important projects...

Time is running out for needy children this Christmas. Donations will only allow volunteers to fill about half of the Toybox applications this year. Go buy something for a child NOW. Buy whatever you like, because whatever you buy will make a child happy this Christmas...

Daughter to Terry Lynn James and Jessica Lynn Speakman of Kelso, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 3:20 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, 1996. Name, Kaylynn Nicole. Weight, 8 pounds 7 ounces. First child. Miss Speakman is the daughter of Becky Westrich and Paul Westrich of Scott City, and Ric Speakman of Cape Girardeau. James is the son of Terry W. James and Pamela James of Fruitland, and Debbie Schnurbush of Perryville...

JACKSON -- Anton A. Birk, 82, of Jackson died Wednesday, Dec. 11, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 16, 1914, at Tilsit, son of Otto and Frieda Lange Birk. He and Alene Neumeyer were married Sept. 13, 1940. She died June 24, 1981. She later married Glenora Lacey Hoffman Nov. 16, 1985. She died Jan. 1, 1996...

Iris Dorine Southard, 91, of Leavenworth, Kan., died Thursday, Nov. 21, 1996, at Colonial Manor Nursing Home in Lansing, Kan. She was born Feb. 9, 1905, in Bentonville, Ark., daughter of Henry Clue and Elsie Bell Davis King. She and Eugene Lloyd Southard were married March 1, 1948. He died May 12, 1996...

GORDONVILLE -- Funeral service for Leo Roy Skelton of Caruthersville will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Christ Lutheran Church in Gordonville. Pastor D. Lee Cullen and the Rev. Richard Rickus will officiate, with burial in the church cemetery. Friends may call at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson from 4-8 p.m. today...

PERRYVILLE -- Eleanor E. Lawrence, 86, of Perryville died Wednesday, Dec. 11, 1996, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born March 16, 1910, in Perry County, daughter of Ferdinand and Emma Boxdorfer Klobe. She and Ernest G. Lawrence were married July 15, 1933. He died Dec. 24, 1990...

PARMA -- Helen Wagner, 87, of Parma died Thursday, Dec. 12, 1996, at Miner Nursing Center in Miner. She was born Jan. 19, 1909, at Potawatami, Kan., daughter of Ferdinand and Kathrine Tammen Bultman. She and Virgil Earl Wagner were married June 26, 1930, at Parma. He died March 13, 1962...

ADVANCE -- Mary Hart, 88, of Advance died Thursday, Dec. 12, 1996, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 9, 1908, in Advance, daughter of Charles E. and Lula U. Raver Rainey. She and Gilbert Hart were married April 9, 1940, in Poplar Bluff. He died July 7, 1968...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Larry Bevil, 49, of Cobden died Thursday, Dec. 12, 1996, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Marion, following a lengthy illness. He was born June 22, 1947, in Anna, son of Dennis Lewis and Georgia Norton Smith. He and Linda Foster were married Nov. 28, 1985...

STEELE -- Howard Clayton "Bo" McCollum, 70, of Steele died Wednesday, Dec. 11, 1996, in Cape Girardeau. He was born Dec. 18, 1925, at Steele, son of John L. and Ora Crews McCollum. He and Maxine Robinson were married Sept. 5, 1950. McCollum was postmaster at Steele many years. He was a member of First Baptist Church. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army...

ULLIN, Ill. -- Eva White, 92, of Ullin died Thursday, Dec. 12, 1996, at Magnolia Manor in Metropolis. She was born Oct. 23, 1904, in Ullin, daughter of Richard and Sophia Staduacher Echols. She married John White, who died Oct. 26, 1962. White was a member of First United Methodist Church...

OAK RIDGE -- Funeral service for Dellia L. Mangels of Oak Ridge will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. The Revs. Janet Hopkins and Lloyd Bollinger will officiate. Burial will be in Zion United Methodist Church Cemetery at Old Appleton...