Stories from Tuesday, January 7, 1997

A select group of America's teachers were honored by their former students, in the fourth edition of Who's Who Among America' Teachers. All of the 120,000 teachers honored were selected by former students who themselves are listed in Who's Who Among American High School Students or The National Dean's List, publications that recognize 5 percent of our nation's high school and college students...

Cybertip: Tune in next week when we check out some of the oddest sites on the web via a new book about the world's weirdest web pages and the people who created them. How do you know what the best sites are on the Internet? Well, you can take someone else's word for it. Several organizations and companies devote their work to evaluating web sites...

A tape measure measures inches, feet and yards. This graduated cylinder measures fluids in both ounces and millileters. A compass measures degrees useful in finding directions. Do you know how many feet are in a mile or how many inches make up a meter?...

Sixteen-year teaching veteran Mark Koehler thinks his classroom is probably very different from most in the area because of the subject matter he teaches. He teaches morality, scripture and the history of the Christian Church to sophomores and juniors at Notre Dame High School...

Alcohol and drug abusers who cannot work primarily because of their addictions will find their pockets much emptier this year. That's because a new law that went into effect Jan. 1 bans issuing Social Security Disability Income and Supplemental Security Income disability benefits to people who claim drug addiction or alcoholism as their disability. The law also affects Medicare and Medicaid coverage based on SSDI and SSI benefits...

In the wake of unpopular programming changes, the Cape Girardeau City Council passed a resolution Monday censuring the local cable television operator for failing to consult the public. "I certainly think this is in order, to show our displeasure of their handling of our city's customers and residents," Councilman Richard Eggimann said after the resolution passed unanimously...

The Cape Girardeau City Council Monday agreed to table for two weeks an ordinance that would increase city water rates by 5 percent. During a study session prior to the council's meeting at City Hall, some council members expressed concern that they had not been provided with hard statistics indicating that increases in operating costs justified the rate hike...

Don't forget to return those videos you rented last night. Whether you know it or not, failure to return rental property -- any rental property -- could cost you up to $5,000 in fines and two to five years in a state penitentiary. Bollinger County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Hopkins said he is getting an increased number of reports of unreturned rental property from businesses, and he wants to do something about it...

State Sen. Peter Kinder has proposed legislation that would allow voters to decide whether to end affirmative action in public employment in Missouri. The measure mirrors California's Proposition 209, which voters in that state approved in November...

With a generous swipe across a furrowed brow and a breathy "Whew," we leave the holidays mercifully behind us. Don't misunderstand, I'm as sentimental as the next sap when it comes to Yuletide, eggnog and Jimmy Stewart's charming little flick. I love the Christmas season and, since there are no holidays that require lounging around the house in boxer shorts and a T-shirt, I believe Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year...

I ATTENDED several games at the University High Tournament at the Show Me Center, and I'd like to comment on how Central's fans acted. I have never experienced anything like this, booing the other team. When Scott City got the second-place trophy, they started booing. ...

St. Louisans are searching for ways to preserve their decaying city. How about securing federal designation as a historic wasteland? The trick in setting adequate salaries for members of the General Assembly is to make the pay low enough so it's not worth the effort nor high enough to encourage over-achievers...

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri suffered a setback in a circuit judge's ruling week before last. Cole County Circuit Judge Thomas Brown III ruled that the insurer broke state law in 1994 when it transferred most of its business to a new, not-for-profit subsidiary it established. ...

Cape Girardeau Countians will swell with pride next week as we watch one of our own, Secretary of State Bekki Cook, take the oath of office for her post shortly before noon on Monday. Cook, a Jackson native who graduated from Jackson High School and a Democrat, was appointed to fill a vacancy in the post in December 1994 and has served since. She is the first Cape Girardeau County resident to serve in one of the six constitutional offices of state government in 100 years...

(From the Gasconade County Republican, Owensville, Mo.) "As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever." -- Clarence Darrow, Lawyer Words of the last and famous lawyer Clarence Darrow come to mind as the State Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline of Judges pursues an inquisition against an associate circuit court judge who objected to a Missouri Supreme Court rule that is patently wrong ... ...

To the editor: I needed gas recently. I first noticed the price had gone up 6 cents overnight for the third straight week at all local stations to herald the Christmas season. I needed to check my tires, so I put a quarter in the machine. It quit before I was finished, so another 25 cents...

JACKSON -- The city of Jackson is venturing into cyberspace. The Board of Aldermen approved a joint effort with the Jackson Chamber of Commerce to establish a 60-page website that will highlight the city's recreational, industrial, educational and residential benefits...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- His team's first Ohio Valley Conference road excursion of the season is something Southeast Missouri State University women's basketball coach Ed Arnzen certainly won't be putting in any highlight films. A little more than 48 hours after being losing by 28 points to Austin Peay in their OVC opener, the Otahkians took it on the chin by 28 again as Tennessee State romped 82-54 Monday night at the Gentry Center...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Saturday afternoon, Bubba played and the Indians paid. Monday night, Monty watched and the Indians waltzed. Southeast Missouri State University's basketball team, after being burned by Austin Peay's Bubba Wells in its Ohio Valley Conference opener, bounced back with a 71-53 win over Tennessee State...

JACKSON -- With its tight confines, dim lighting and formidable inhabitants, the Jackson Multipurpose Building, home court of the Jackson High girls basketball team, must seem something like a dungeon to visiting teams. Nonetheless, early in Monday's game visiting Poplar Bluff seemed right at home. The undaunted Lady Mules controlled the first quarter -- leading the entire period -- and the opening minutes of the second...

Southeast Missouri State University athletic director Richard McDuffie is one of four finalists for the position of athletic director at Eastern Illinois University. EIU, like Southeast, is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference and competes on the NCAA Division I-AA level in football and on the Division I level in all other sports...

DELTA -- The top-seeded Delta girls rolled in the first round of their own Delta Tournament Monday night, defeating Puxico 71-33. In other first-round games, No. 5 Dexter upset No. 4 St. Vincent 39-32; No. 2 Portageville advanced past No. 7 Woodland 67-45; and No. 3 Chaffee beat No. 6 Oran 61-33...

PARMA -- Edward Krummel, 70, of Parma died Sunday, Jan. 5, 1997, at Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter. He was born Dec. 9, 1926, in St. Louis, son of Clarence and Myrtle Young Krummel. Krummel had lived in Parma six years. He was a carpenter, and veteran of the U.S. Army...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for Robert Junior Kemp of Immokalee, Fla., was held Monday at Shelby Funeral Chapel in East Prairie. William Eugene, a son, officiated. Burial was in East Prairie Memorial Park Cemetery. Kemp, 66, died Thursday, Jan. 2, 1997, at Columbia Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla...

Funeral service for Bradley D. "Tiny" Followell, 448 County Road 638, will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at McCombs Funeral Chapel in Cape Girardeau. His brother, the Rev. Dwayne Followell, will officiate. Burial will be in Memorial Park. Friends may call at the chapel from 4-8 p.m. today...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Florence E. Ring, 79, of Tamms died Monday, Jan. 6, 1997, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was born Feb. 24, 1917, at Wolf Lake, daughter of William and Elsie Castleman Davis. She married Earl Ring, who died Dec. 30, 1994...

0Photo/Graphic CHARLESTON -- Daisy Jessie Hines, 91, of Charleston died Sunday, Jan. 5, 1997, at Charleston Manor. She was born July 17, 1905, in Henderson, Tenn., daughter of William and Maggie Norris Long. She and Buster Hines were married Dec. 19, 1930. He died April 8, 1977...

FESTUS -- The Rev. John C. Shrum, 76, of Festus died Sunday, Jan. 5, 1997, at St. Anthony Hospital in St. Louis, following a brief illness. He was born June 5, 1920, in Sikeston, son of Jesse E. and Frances C. Black Shrum. He and Evelyn Ruth Scott were married June 21, 1954, at Festus...

MARBLE HILL -- Ruby Gertrude Bailey, 83, of Marble Hill died Monday, Jan. 6, 1997. She was born Aug. 29, 1913, at Steele, daughter of Noah and Carrie Wyatt Robinson. She married James F. Bailey, who preceded her in death. Bailey was a retired nurse assistant...

Son to William Myron and Ann Wintermantel of Ithaca, N.Y., hospital there, 9:37 p.m. Monday, Dec. 23, 1996. Name, Michael David. Weight, 8 pounds 7.2 ounces. First child. Mrs. Wintermantel is the former Ann Statler, daughter of the Rev. and Mrs. Earl G. Statler of Cape Girardeau. She is a graphic artist at Cornell University in Ithaca. Wintermantel is the son of Cathy Wintermantel of Indianola, Iowa, and the late Myron Wintermantel. He is a research pathologist at Cornell University...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Otho Ferguson, 92, of Mounds died Monday at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Visitation is from 9-10 a.m. Wednesday at the Barkett Funeral Home in Mounds. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday.