Stories from Tuesday, July 8, 1997

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Janet Wigfall, right, a general equivalency diploma instructor, checked classes Gestel Davis will need to complete her GED at the Cape Girardeau Vocational-Technical School. Peggy Moore of Chaffee studied geometry to get her general equivalency diploma. Moore was one of several people who were laid off from Thorngate in Chaffee in June 1996...

After three residents of Vincent Park Drive objected, the Cape Girardeau City Council reversed itself and voted to deny George and Lora Lee Eaker a special use permit to put a double-wide mobile home on Vincent Park Drive in the northern part of the city...

Melvyn King and his wife, Debbie Clark, are spending their vacation on a trip through the Midwest. The couple left Minneapolis June 24 and hope to arrive in New Orleans July 18 -- not bad time since they are traveling by bicycle. The biking duo -- dressed in white, long-sleeved, sun-protective clothing with hats that have a French Foreign Legion-looking neck drape in the back and a tiny rearview mirror attached, rolled into Cape Girardeau Monday afternoon via Ste. Genevieve on U.S. Highway 61...

Like Neil Armstrong's words when he first stepped foot on the moon, the first photographs transmitted by rover Sojourner from the surface of Mars also will go down in history. Sojourner rolled off its escort Pathfinder after the lander came to rest on the surface of Mars Sunday. Scientists will use Sojourner's photos to scrutinize the surface of Mars closer than ever before possible...

Schnucks Cape Midtown will close July 26, little more than two years after Schnucks Markets Inc. acquired the former Del-Farm National Supermarket from Loblaw Companies, Ltd. "Sales have continued to drop at the Midtown store," said Marie A. Casey, a spokeswoman for Schnucks Markets who was in town Monday...

The announcement that Schnucks will close its midtown location later this month came as a surprise to many area businesses late Monday. The closing represents a big blow to the neighborhood, said Dennis Meyer, owner of Meyer Supply Co. He heads up the Haarig Area Development Association...

Gov. Mel Carnahan Monday vetoed a bill that would have banned partial-birth abortions. He said he did so because the bill didn't allow an exception for protecting the mother's health. Carnahan said the legislation was unconstitutional because it didn't contain a health exception. He said the U.S. Supreme Court has required that exception in rulings as recently as 1992...

JACKSON -- Jackson Mayor Paul Sander announced at Monday night's Board of Aldermen meeting that public hearings on the City Comprehensive Plan update will be held. The board approved a motion for payment of $453.22 to Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission for the update of the plan...

Cape Girardeau City Council Agenda Monday July 7, 1997 Consent ordinances, Second and third readings Placing stop signs on the drive from Osage Community Centre at Kingshighway and on Kenneth Drive at Cape LaCroix Road. Allowing the police chief to file complaints relating to application of the minimum property maintenance codes...

SCOTT CITY -- Police officers in Scott City would start citing children for running stop signs on their bicycles if a councilman gets his way. The issue was brought before the council Monday by two Scott City residents who said they have almost hit children at the intersection of Maple and Fifth streets...

THERE'S A lot of fuss being made right now about not having the money to hire an extra kindergarten teacher at Clippard Elementary. Washington has had an extra teacher for three years now. She taught my friend's son's fifth-grade class, then his sixth-grade class, and this year she'll teach a first-grade class so that they will have a reduced class size in first grade. ...

To the editor: I am writing in response to Walter Williams' recent column, "Decent people should ask if a law is moral." The esteemed Dr. Williams has long been an eloquent advocate for economic conservatism. However, after years of crusading for a theory, it is easy for any of us to take our beliefs for granted. ...

For a long time there has been considerable interest in a four-lane highway between Cape Girardeau and Paducah, possibly even an interstate route that could link I-55 with I-24 and I-57. Most of the interest, however, has been at either end of the proposed route in Missouri and Kentucky. ...

The problem of what to do with radioactive waste produced by nuclear energy plants has been around for quite a while. The solution, it seems, is no nearer at hand than when the first nuclear facility went on line decades ago. Now six Midwestern states that originally set about forming a compact to handle such waste produced in Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin have decided they cant come up with a workable plan. ...

ULLIN, Ill. -- Construction of a $7 million, 200-bed, regional prison facility is expected to start near here early this fall. "We have tentatively set Sept. 4 as a groundbreaking date and will start building the next day," said Wesley Box, a managing partner of Western Corrections Inc., a private prison company headquartered in Albuquerque, N.M...

Cape Girardeau public school administrators and a committee representing teachers have agreed to disagree regarding a proposed salary schedule for certified teachers. Dr. Dan Tallent, school superintendent, and Dr. Steve DelVecchio, the district's business manager, met with members of the Community Teachers Association salary committee last week to discuss the salary schedule and fringe benefits portions of the teachers' salary package. ...

Southeast Missouri State University announced Monday it has extended the contract for interim athletic director Carol williams through June 30, 1998. Williams has been serving as interim AD since March when Dr. Richard McDuffie resigned to accept a position as athletic director at Eastern Illinois University...

JACKSON -- Chaffee Legion scored two runs in the seventh inning of the nightcap to complete a district sweep of a doubleheader with Jackson Monday night. Chaffee won the opener 10-0 before it claimed the nightcap 3-1. Justin Braun picked up the win in the first game, which ended via the 10-run rule after six innings. Braun allowed six hits, fanned eight and walked nobody...

When Cape Ford & Sons American Legion's scheduled opponent Manchester backed out late Sunday night, Festus stepped in and proved to be a rugged replacement for the local squad Monday night at Capaha Field. But Cape battled back from an early 4-0 deficit to claim an 8-5 win over last year's state champion Legion team. The win improved Ford & Sons to 25-11. Festus fell to 15-6...

BENTON -- Scott Simion held off Shawn King and Jerrod Hull to take home the biggest payday of his career with a victory in the Winged Sprint competition Saturday at Missouri International Racepark. The victory was worth $3,000 for Simion, of Christopher, Ill., and was his first since returning to Winged Sprint competition after a two-year absence...

PERRYVILLE -- Edna M. Vinson, 79, of Bridgeton, formerly of Perryville, died Sunday, July 6, 1997, at DePaul Health Center in St. Louis. She was born Sept. 17, 1917, in Chester, Ill., daughter of Pius and Marcella Brewer Moonier. She married Amos Paul Vinson, who died March 31, 1976...

BERTRAND -- Funeral service for Katie A. Thornton Greer of Bertrand will be held at 3 p.m. today at Shelby Funeral Chapel in East Prairie. Burl Britt will officiate, with burial in Dogwood Cemetery near Charleston. Greer, 87, died Sunday, July 6, 1997, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston...

VIENNA, Ill. -- Graveside service for Edith M. Peeler of Vienna, formerly of Dongola, will be held at 11 a.m. today at Dongola American Legion Cemetery. The Revs. Steve Wilkinson and Ron Cox will officiate. Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna is in charge of arrangements...

SCOTT CITY -- Funeral service for Alice Miranda Bohannan of Scott City will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City. Larry Dowdy will officiate, with burial in Lightner Cemetery. Friends may call at the chapel from 4-8 p.m. today...

CHARLESTON -- Sylvia Denise Campbell, 27, of Charleston died Thursday, July 3, 1997, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born July 1, 1970, at Charleston, daughter of Tommy Tipler and Helen Campbell. Campbell attended Charleston High School...

Anna Lucille Keathley, 91, of Ellisville died Sunday, July 6, 1997, at her home. The former Anna Harris was born April 6, 1906, near Cape Girardeau. She first married Elwood Overbeck, and later married Thomas Keathley. Survivors include a son, Bobby Overbeck of St. Louis; three grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren...

Funeral Mass for James Statler of Austin, Texas, was held Saturday at St. Louis Catholic Church in Austin. Burial was in Cook-Walden/Capital Parks. Statler, 44, died Thursday, July 3, 1997, in an Austin hospital. He was born Nov. 6, 1952, in St. Charles, son of Don and Inez Statler. He and Juanita Rocha were married in March 1972...

Gov. Mel Carnahan has appointed Howard L. Wood of Bonne Terre to the Missouri Conservation Commission. "Howard is an avid outdoorsman who is committed to wildlife conservation," Carnahan said. "He has been a member of the Conservation Federation of Missouri for 20 years, and he served as its president in 1984-85."...

DEXTER -- Ernestine Webb, 80, died Saturday, July 5, 1997, at Oakdale Community Hospital in Oakdale, La. Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter is in charge of arrangements.

Daughter to John E. and Karen S. Wilkinson of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9:44 a.m. Monday, June 30, 1997. Name, MacKenzie Brooke. Weight, 6 pounds 7 ounces. Sixth child, fourth daughter. Mrs. Wilkinson is the former Karen Schaefer, daughter of Jean Schaefer of Cape Girardeau and the late Walter Schaefer. ...

Billy Lee Kester, 65, of Cape Girardeau, died at 5:10 p.m. Monday, July 7, 1997, at his home. Funeral arrangements were incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.