Stories from Thursday, September 25, 1997

The Girardot Rose Chorus of Sweet Adelines, International are rehearsing for a two-night presentation of a show called "Broadway Memories." The 6:30 p.m. dinner shows Oct. 24-25 at the Port Cape Restaurant and will feature 16 popular Broadway songs performed a cappella by 20 women from Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Oak Ridge and Southern Illinois...

MALDEN -- Some people in the Missouri Bootheel felt a little shaking Tuesday night from a minor earthquake. No damage was reported. The U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Service in Golden, Colo., said the earthquake was centered about 20 miles north-northeast of Kennett and had a preliminary magnitude of 3.2. An earthquake of that magnitude would not be expected to cause any damage, said Waverly Person, a geophysicist at the center...

Halloween Happenings will be held Friday, Oct. 17, at the A.C. Brase Arena Building, sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department. Activities start at 6 p.m. with a coloring contest for children ages 3 and 4 and for children ages 5 to 7. A pumpkin carving or pumpkin decorating contest will be held for children ages 8 and 9 and ages 10 to 12. Participants must bring their own pumpkin, carving tools and supplies...

The Cape Girardeau County unit of the American Cancer Society held its annual Volunteer Recognition Dinner to recognize the efforts of more than 100 of its volunteers. The dinner was held Thursday, Sept. 18, at the Cape Girardeau Country Club. During the dinner, the local unit presented two new awards...

One day, Greg Jones stuck his left hand in a box and with his right hand painted the effect. Jones' art always has been personal. "That's how I felt, stuck in a box," he said. But Jones didn't stop there. Late one night he took the painting to two different color copying shops to see what they could make from it...

Fall fashions with a French flair will be on tap for the 19th annual Zonta Fashion Show. The "Evening in Paris" show will be held Monday, Sept. 29 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center. Dinner and cocktails begin at 6 p.m. The fashion show starts at 7:15 p.m...

TO THE taxpayers of the Missouri and especially to the county of Cape Girardeau, I wish to extend a heartfelt thank you for all the assistance you have given me through the years. You don't know me or my children, but you have been so generous. I'm divorced, and my children are owed thousands of dollars in back child support. ...

I returned home last Thursday from picking up my daughter, Reagan, from kindergarten to discover a message on my answering machine from my sister, Penny, who lives in Fayetteville, N.C. "I know this is a real short notice, but do you want to meet me in Nashville tomorrow and go with me to a women's conference this weekend? I ended up with an extra ticket." I sat on the edge of the bed and laughed. ...

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon is promoting a $304 million plan that he says could jump-start sluggish negotiations to end busing in the 25-year-old St. Louis desegregation case. Negotiations are in the 17th month after U.S. District Judge George Gunn appointed former Washington University Chancellor William Danforth as mediator...

After serving Missouri as state auditor for 14 years, Margaret Kelly has announced that she won't seek re-election to the fourth full term she surely could have won next year. Kelly is the first woman to have served in statewide office, and she has proven to be a formidable vote-getter in the campaigns for that office she waged in 1986, 1990 and 1994. ...

To the editor: I would like to thank you for the coverage your paper has given to issues relating to faith and spirituality, especially the recent coverage regarding the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I am grateful to be a member of a church body that, in this day and age of road rage and market segmentation, is taking Jesus at his word, that he is "the way, the truth and the life." The ELCA is committed to building bridges and not walls between people of faith.. ...

To the editor: To establish my credentials, I am a 55-year-old bicyclist who has never owned an automobile nor had an automobile operator's license. Kelle Lane, addressing a sort of open letter to bicyclists, purports to be concerned over the dangerous situation in which bicyclists find themselves while the traverse the Mississippi River Trail. ...

PERRYVILLE -- Billie Mills loves Perryville and over the last year and a half she's seen houses she hadn't seen in years. That's because St. Joseph Street -- Perryville's main drag and its only through street going east and west -- has been under construction since the beginning of last summer...

Although first-day enrollment figures indicated Jackson schools had surpassed Cape Girardeau's, enrollment totals submitted Wednesday show that Cape Girardeau public schools still have the most students in the county. Nearly every school in the area experienced enrollment increases this year. ...

Southeast Missouri State University's fall enrollment has topped the 8,200 mark. The university's official enrollment Wednesday totaled 8,234, up from 7,843 after the first day of classes Aug. 25. The fall 1996 total was 8,219. The official headcount is taken four weeks into the semester and submitted to the state's Coordinating Board for Higher Education...

After 105 years in a British cemetery, the remains of Lakota Chief Long Wolf will be returned home to Wounded Knee, S.D., for burial. His great-granddaughter and great-great-grandson of Cape Girardeau will be there. Mary Red Hawk Nave and her grandson Cody Nave, 7, will take part in the tribal ceremonies...

JEFFERSON CITY -- The earthquake struck at 11:27 a.m. Wednesday along the New Madrid Fault, collapsing buildings and killing hundreds of people in Cape Girardeau County. Fortunately, the disaster was only scripted make believe for a training exercise...

Four houses have been razed and four more are scheduled to go as part of Southeast Missouri Hospital's plan to create "green space" around its facility. Across town at St. Francis Medical Center, work on a new medical offices building is progressing...

Sept. 25, 1997 Dear Sandy, "If you see a shadow move, there's something there." That was the parting advice of our waitress at the Black Bear Restaurant in Gatlinburg, Tenn. She was referring to the recent spate of bear sightings in town. Food for the bears in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is scarce this year so they've been coming down to feed in dumpsters right in the middle of this tourist town...

A lot of people who follow Ohio Valley Conference football might take a look at Eastern Kentucky's 0-3 record and think the Colonels are really down this year. Think again. Sure, the Colonels are winless so far. But one look at who they've played kind of explains their problem getting into the victory column...

It appears as if quarterback Justin Martini will make his first start of the season this week for Southeast Missouri State University's football team. With Heath Graham still feeling the effects of a concussion he suffered during last Saturday's 17-3 loss at Murray State, Southeast coach John Mumford said Martini is likely to get the nod for this Saturday's game at Tennessee-Martin...

JACKSON -- Jackson High's big invitational softball tournament that was rained out last Saturday will instead be played this Saturday. Sixteen teams, including all of the local squads and many of the top teams from the St. Louis area, will take part...

BENTON -- Gary Wright was a master of lapped traffic Sunday night in the first ever Figidaire All Star sprint car feature at Missouri International Race Park. Wright's eighth All Star win of the year was worth $4,000. Kelly Kisner crossed the line in second in the 40 lap race. Joey Saldana took third and Tyler Walker fourth...

The `real season' doesn't begin until February, but Southeast Missouri State University's women's tennis team will get an early jump on things this weekend. Southeast will play the first of three scheduled fall competitions when the Otahkians participate in the St. Louis University Tournament Friday through Sunday...

MOREHOUSE -- James H. Plunk, 68, of Morehouse died Wednesday, Sept. 24, 1997, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Dec. 4, 1928, in Adamsville, Tenn., the son of William Rufe and Jesse Franklin Gladdish Plunk. On Aug. 13, 1955, he married Anna L. Andrews in Hernando, Miss...

Charlie Meadows Luton, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Sept. 24, 1997, at the Lutheran Home. He was born March 20, 1907, near Bandana, Ky., son of Nicholas Howard and Josephine Palmer Luton. He and Anna Ervin were married Aug. 6, 1932. Formerly of Olmsted, Ill., he worked at Sinclair Refinery many years. He then operated a plumbing and well-drilling business, retiring in 1979. He was a member of the United Methodist Church in Olmsted...

MARBLE HILL -- Juanita M. Seabaugh, 66, of Marble Hill died Tuesday, Sept. 23, 1997, at her home. She was born Nov. 30, 1930, at Senath, daughter of Otis and Carrie Jackson Sanders. She and Bob G. Seabaugh were married Oct. 18, 1951. Seabaugh was a member of First United Methodist Church...

Effie Marie Deevers, 92, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Sept. 24, 1997, at Ratliff Care Center. She was born Aug. 25, 1905, at New Madrid, daughter of Charles Luther and Mary Elizabeth Clark Wren. She and Alma Deevers were married March 21, 1929, at Jackson. He died in September 1985...

JACKSON -- Elsie M. "Susie" James, 50, of Jackson died Tuesday, Sept. 23, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 17, 1946, near New Wells, daughter of Otis and Beulah Gastineau Brown. She and Jimmie E. "Jim" James were married Nov. 28, 1964...

Steve Hahs, 89, of St. Louis died Thursday, Aug. 21, 1997, at his home. He was born Nov. 24, 1907, near Oak Ridge, son of David and Josie Godwin Hahs. He and Viola M. Hitt were married in Jackson. Hahs had worked at William R. Warner Co., and retired from Laclede Gas Co...

HOWARDVILLE -- Claudette Jane Porter, 44, of Howardville died Sunday, Sept. 21, 1997, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. She was born Dec. 20, 1952, at Catron, daughter of J.B. and Margaret McCorkle Rowe. Porter was a 1971 graduate of Lilbourn High School, and attended a junior college in Gary, Ind...

Daughter to Dwight E. Buckner and Anita Marie Neeley of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 2:14 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, 1997. Name, Kelsey Anne. Weight, 8 pounds 15 ounces. Ms. Neeley is the daughter of Ann Neeley of Jackson and Ray Neeley of St. Louis. She is a hairstylist at Regis Hairstylists. Buckner is the son of the late Warren and Dolores Buckner. He is a recycling driver with city of Cape Girardeau...

A New Madrid man died Wednesday morning after the car he was driving started a chain reaction of three accidents. A tractor-trailer struck Jeff Foster, 19, as he stood on the side of the road seven minutes after his car hit a utility pole near Bernie...

PERRYVILLE -- Robert L. "Bob" Wisely, 43, of Perryville, died Wednesday, Sept. 24, 1997, at his home. He was born Dec. 11, 1953, in East St. Louis, Ill., the son of Kermit C. and Marjorie E. Montgomery Wisely. He was an over-the-road truck driver. He served in the U.S. Army and spent 18 years with the Army National Guard in Perryville...