Stories from Friday, May 2, 1997

To the editor: Many of our younger citizens don't have the faintest idea of what our Constitution is. This is understandable when one realizes that our government schools are not too anxious for the students to know. Many of them even go so far as to imply that the Constitution is outdates, that it was drawn up for use in the horse-and-buggy days...

JACKSON -- The design and moving of Route J near Procter & Gamble Paper Products Co. will be the topic of an open house public meeting May 13. The Missouri Department of Transportation will hold the three-hour session from 4 to 7 p.m. in the lower level of the Knights of Columbus Hall at Jackson...

President Clinton is paying close attention to the recommendations of the Summit for America's Future. He's hoping for word on what Kenneth Starr is up to. State legislators are reported ahead of schedule before the adjournment deadline. Wise taxpayers realize there is danger in giving lawmakers too much time to think up new taxes...

It is often difficult to make honorable decisions, but state Rep. Mark Richardson of Poplar Bluff made the right choice by stepping down as the Missouri House of Representatives Republican leader following his arrest for driving drunk. Shortly after he resigned the leadership post Tuesday, Richardson pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated and endangering a child. ...

Mildred Wallhausen has strong opinions -- enough to fill a weekly newspaper column for more than 60 years. But if you meet Millie -- as she is known to all acquaintances, old and new -- you also find a charming 83-year-old who has energy to spare. And nothing makes her eyes light up like talking about newspapering, then and now...

To the editor: Quite early in life, we begin to use or at least learn about the use of initials as abbreviations. Possibly our parents sent us on an errand or to do a chore PDQ, which meant pretty darn quick or something of that nature. At least we got to the point, which meant to get on the job and get it done. ...

Two children were seriously hurt in separate accidents Thursday night. A 7-year-old Cape Girardeau boy was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital in critical condition after being struck by a car on Broadway near Capaha Park. The accident occurred at 8:30 p.m., and the victim's name was being withheld because of the seriousness of his injuries...

About 50 people gathered in prayer on the steps of Cape Girardeau City Hall Thursday in one of many gatherings to mark the National Day of Prayer National Day of Prayer has been celebrated by hundreds of thousands of people since it was established in 1952 by the U.S. Congress...

FRUITLAND -- New subdivisions, industry and businesses have generated new interest among some Fruitland area residents to establish a sewer district. Between 900 and 1,200 new residences, including homes and mobile homes, are expected to be occupied in the area before the end of the year...

Cape Girardeau School Superintendent Dan Tallent was given a surprise award Thursday night at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Educators of the Year Awards ceremony. The chamber presented Tallent with a resolution honoring him for his efforts in getting a $14 million bond passed in the April 1 election...

Congress passed the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996 to deregulate the nation's local telephone markets. But a year later consumers are getting a busy signal as long-distance companies square off with the Bell telephone companies and GTE over efforts to bring competition to the local level...

Real motorists prefer the thrill of meeting a timber truck on a blind curve (with a bridge, of course) on a two-lane highway. To get to Brumley, you must take the road less traveled. In the pursuit of highway facts, I proved last week how difficult it is to get from Cape Girardeau to almost anyplace else in Missouri that is west of here...

The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents awarded the first Vandiver Show Me State Award to Malden's Bootheel Education Center Advisory Committee. The action came at the regents' meeting this week. The new award is named for Willard Duncan Vandiver, who served as the school's fifth president...

Hola! Como estas? That's a common e-mail greeting that some Notre Dame High School students use. The students in Donna Zahner's Spanish class, that is. Zahner, with the help of Joyce Seyer, Notre Dame librarian, have begun using Internet letters to teach composition techniques...

It will be months before Lois Roberts of Cape Girardeau will be able to start physical therapy for injuries she received in a car accident north of Columbia last month. Roberts and her friend, Janetta Sacshe of Cape Girardeau, were returning home from a trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when the car they were riding in was hit head-on. Sacshe, who was driving, was killed...

Dr. Robert Hamblin, director of the Center for Faulkner Studies, will be the guest Sunday on KRCU's "Going Public" program. The Southeast Missouri State University English professor will discuss Southern literary heritage and famed author William Faulkner...

Nothing is official until he is actually enrolled in school and practicing with the football team. But there appears to be no question that Heath Graham will be wearing a Southeast Missouri State University uniform next season. Efforts to reach Graham -- who is finishing up the semester at Southern Mississippi -- have been unsuccessful, but his mother confirmed earlier this week that her son was planning to move to Cape Girardeau in a few weeks and was looking forward to enrolling at Southeast and wearing an Indian uniform in the 1997 season.. ...

Local baseball fans looking for some high-quality high school baseball action this weekend will be in for a treat at the Cape Central Big 8 Invitational. The eight-team tournament begins today with four games and will conclude Saturday. All teams will play three games in the two-day event that will include three games at Capaha Field tonight. All other games will be played at either the Central or Notre Dame fields...

SCOTT CITY -- When Nathan McGuire is not on the mound, Notre Dame is not much more than a .500 baseball team this season. But luckily for the Bulldogs, McGuire has pitched seven games this season -- and has won every one. In a key Class 2A district game Thursday, Notre Dame beat Scott City on the road 3-0 and in all likelihood locked up the No. 1 seed in the upcoming district tournament...

MCCLURE, Ill. -- Funeral service for Walter Enke of McClure will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson, Mo. Chaplain Art Kelley will officiate. Burial will be in Russell Heights Cemetery at Jackson, with graveside rites by VFW Post 3838 of Cape Girardeau, Mo...

GLEN ALLEN -- Jennifer Lynn Winder, 23, of Glen Allen died Wednesday, April 30, 1997, at Parkland Health Center in Farmington. She was in an automobile accident in November 1995, and had been in a comatose state since that time. She was born Aug. 2, 1973, at Florissant, daughter of Richard Warren and Sharon Kay Hunt Winder...

Funeral service for Everette Delbert Fry of Bokeelia, Fla., will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Neil Stein will officiate, with burial in Fairmount Cemetery. Friends may call at the chapel from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday...

SCOTT CITY -- Thressia A. Hamilton, 66, of Renault, Ill., formerly of Scott City, died Wednesday, April 30, 1997. She was born Feb. 20, 1931, in Fornfelt, daughter of Clarence and Alma Hoffman Jackson. She married Don G. Hamilton. Hamilton was a member of Our Lady of Good Counsel, and American Legion Auxiliary 1215, both in Renault...

The Rev. Robert Harris Sr., 78, 628 S. Benton, died Wednesday, April 30, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Nov. 17, 1918, in Durant, Miss., son of Henry and Maggie Cook Harris. He and Bernice Crawford were married Aug. 1, 1953, in Elkhart, Ind...

Margaret G. Reed, 69, 272 Rockport, died Wednesday, April 30, 1997, at her home. She was born July 20, 1927, in Merchantville, N.J., daughter of John Morrison and Edith Lavender Godwin. She and Richard H. Reed were married April 15, 1950, in Merchantville...

MORLEY -- Robbie H. Mays Partin, 92, of Morley died Wednesday, April 30, 1997, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born April 26, 1905, in Lamar, Ark., daughter of Robert Zachary and Lula Oakley Johnson Hutchins. She first married Joe W. Mays Dec. 30, 1920, in Hagarville, Ark. He died May 12, 1970. She later married George F. Partin Oct. 29, 1973, at Vanduser. He died March 4, 1986...