Stories from Saturday, October 4, 1997

To the editor: There seems to be considerable confusion in the Ozarks about what the Sierra Club is and is not. The Ozark Chapter of the Sierra Club is a grass-roots group with around 10,000 members in Missouri out of about 625,000 members nationwide. This is a state organization and deals with statewide conservation, legislative and political issues. Our members determine our positions...

State Treasurer Bob Holden touted the value of savings to fifth graders at Clippard Elementary School Friday. Holden visited the school to promote the "Dollar$ and $ense" program in which banks assist schools in teaching money management to students...

Terri Baker believes in a good massage, especially one that combats cellulite. The Cape Girardeau woman is a believer in endermologie massage, which uses a vacuum-cleaner-like device with rollers. "It feels like a massage," she said. "It doesn't hurt."...

IN ANSWER to the caller's whining about Cape Central's sporting events: If the news media are treated the same as parents, students and fans, I don't blame them for not giving Central good news coverage. What I have seen and heard for several years is school personnel telling the fans what they can and can't do. ...

Stroke is a brain attack -- a medical emergency. It is a sudden loss of brain function that occurs when the vital blood supply to a part of the brain is interrupted. Movement, vision, thinking and even consciousness may be impaired depending upon the affected part of the brain...

Greetings from abroad. I arrived just a few days ago at Stansted Airport, where my husband was anxiously waiting and eager to begin showing me the beautiful countryside and our home in England. After a leisurely drive through the peaceful countryside with gentle, sloping hills and freshly plowed farm fields, we arrived at Shimpling Hall cottage, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, a charming two-bedroom cottage house that would be home for at least the next year...

It was a rehearsal that county officials hope never to play out for real: An earthquake along the New Madrid Fault devastates the region. It registers 7.7 on the Richter scale. Hundreds are dead. Thousands of structures have collapsed, including schools and the Mississippi Bridge...

A recent earthquake study at Stanford University revealed an interesting fact: St. Louis is safer from earthquake risk than nine other cities surveyed, including Boston. The study also concluded that San Francisco is a safer place to be than Boston during a major earthquake...

To the editor: While the big tobacco deal shows signs of stalling in Washington, it's time to turn attention to a better piece of legislation that would make immediate progress against teen smoking. It is Congressman Sanford Bishop's Tobacco Use by Minors Deterrence Act. While the tobacco settlement takes an extraordinarily narrow approach to teen smoking, Bishop's bill presents an innovative team approach that includes retailers, employees, law enforcement, families and kids themselves...

To the editor: In regard to your Page 1 story on cab service, I have complete sympathy for the handicapped, but why doesn't the Veterans Administration provide a lift vehicle for residents of the veterans home? Also, no public service company can provide service at all times to all people on short notice...

Marriott International Inc., which provides food services for Lacey's On The Hill Restaurant and Southeast Missouri Hospital, and Sodexho Alliance, food service provider at Southeast Missouri State University, have merged their food service and facilities management businesses...

Suffering from a runny nose, watery eyes, congestion and a generally sneezy feeling? How about earache, dizziness -- or just plain loss of balance -- and nausea? Patients with both those sets of symptoms are keeping doctors around the region busy as allergy season winds up and ear infections make the rounds...

Richard Kinsey and Kenny McCormack are ready to accept some responsibility for the supposed moral downturn in the United States. They will join nearly 50 other Promise Keepers from Southeast Missouri to "Stand in the Gap" today in Washington, D.C. Nearly 500,000 men are expected to gather this afternoon in the National Mall for "Stand in the Gap: A Sacred Assembly of Men." They will pray for their families, churches and the nation...

Cape Girardeau schools Superintendent Dr. Dan Tallent updated business leaders on new construction plans during the Chamber of Commerce First Friday Coffee meeting held at the Show Me Center. The district will begin taking bids for site work Tuesday at 1 p.m. for the new elementary school to be built near the Sprigg-Bertling intersection, Tallent said. A ground-breaking ceremony will be held at the site at 1 p.m., Wednesday...

Dwight Tanksley and Kenny McCormack were so moved by their first Promise Keeper event that they immediately decided to attend the "Stand in the Gap" rally in Washington, D.C. The event begins at noon today at the National Mall. About 500,000 men are expected to fill the area to pray for their families and the nation...

It's amazing how much your hearing and your perception changes after you become a parent. I grew up in the stereotypical nuclear family household, but my parents weren't Mother and Father, my sister and I weren't Dick and Jane, and we didn't have a dog named Spot...

CHAFFEE -- The Homecoming football game Friday night at Chaffee High between the Red Devils and Scott City Rams was an ugly one on many accounts. The score -- 59-0 Rams -- was ugly and on many accounts the play was sloppy, with penalty flags flying throughout the game against both teams...

Sikeston 40, Dexter 8 Jefferson City 49, Poplar Bluff 12 Scott City 59, Chaffee 0 Malden 49, Charleston 24 Caruthersville 13, East Prairie 12 Thayer 55, Hayti 14 Kennett 14, Portageville 0 Perryville 20, DeSoto 12 St. Vincent 19, Crystal City 14 Valle 25, Fredericktown 3...

With apologies to Willie Nelson, the Jackson High football Indians will be on the road again when they face Class 2A Lutheran North of St. Louis today at 1:30 p.m. The contest marks the third straight road game for the 4-0 Indians, but coach Carl Gross downplayed the significance of that saying, "It's just another ride."...

Eastern Illinois University's Panthers had an extremely tough time running the football last weekend against the second-best rushing defense in the Ohio Valley Conference. That's the primary reason EIU coach Bob Spoo says he is genuinely concerned entering today's 5 p.m. Ohio Valley Conference game against Southeast Missouri State University at Houck Stadium...

Area high school softball teams are hoping home cooking is just what they need as the district playoffs get under way in earnest today. All three district tournaments involving Southeast Missouri squads will be held in the area. Cape Girardeau Central is hosting Class 4A, District 1; Perryville is hosting Class 3A, District 1; and Kelly is hosting Class 2A, District 1...

DESOTO -- Perryville used two touchdown runs by Ben Kohm and a 99-yard interception return to defeat DeSoto 20-12 Friday night. Perryville improved to 2-3 while DeSoto fell to 1-4. Kohm came into the game as Southeast Missouri's leading rusher with 626 yards and added second-quarter touchdown runs of two and 73 yards. Kohm's two runs staked Perryville to a 14-0 lead...

Daughter to Don R. and Amy E. Riley, 2832 Themis, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 10:57 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, 1997. Name, Allison Brianne. Weight, 6 pounds 5 ounces. Mrs. Riley is the former Amy Marr, daughter of Denny Marr and Dorothy Marr of Republic. She is a clerk at Wink's Convenience Store. Riley is the son of Donald Riley and Martha Riley of Cape Girardeau. He is a customer service assistant at Lowe's...

ANNA, Ill. -- Funeral service for Grace Ellen Choate of Anna will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Gospel Assembly Church. The Revs. Dennis Fitzsimmons, Walter Stevenson and John Marlow will officiate, with burial in Anna Cemetery. Friends may call at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna after 5 p.m. today, Sunday until 1 p.m., and then at the church until service time...

PUXICO -- Cassie Willson, 85, of Puxico died Thursday, Oct. 2, 1997, at Lucy Lee Hospital in Poplar Bluff. She was born July 22, 1912, at Puxico, daughter of Lewis O. and Olive Christian Kitchen. She and Carl Willson were married Sept. 21, 1930, in St. Louis. He died May 17, 1977...

DEXTER -- Bessie M. Shipman, 98, of Dexter died Friday, Oct. 3, 1997, at Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Services of Cape Girardeau. She was born March 28, 1899, near Dexter, daughter of Thomas L. and Carrie Tracer Allstun. She and William Earnest Shipman were married March 10, 1916, at Dexter. He died Dec. 19, 1975...

JACKSON -- Anthony Taylor Streiler was stillborn Wednesday, Oct. 1, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Survivors include his mother, Linda Lou Streiler of Jackson; and maternal grandparents, Ricky and Christina Streiler of Jackson...