Stories from Saturday, November 22, 1997

To the editor: I am a freshman at Cape Girardeau's Central Junior High School, and there are a few things I would like to bring to the community's attention. At CJHS we get in trouble for giving our friends hugs. We can't wear our clothes the way we want unless it fits in with teachers' and principals' expectations of what we should look like. ...

Delicate durability describes the human body, and no where is this more apparent than in the human brain. For most of us, our mind serves us well until we no longer need it, that is, when we die. However, for others, we suffer from the ravages of dementia, a loss in intellectual function (thinking, remembering and reasoning); the mind may begin to resign before the rest of the body...

Residents of one South Cape Girardeau neighborhood gathered Friday night to learn how to organize a Neighborhood Watch. And one of the organizers hopes the new group will inspire other residents of South Cape to do the same. About 20 people met at the Second Baptist Church to hear Officers Charlie Herbst and Ike Hammonds talk about how residents can help fight crime in their own neighborhoods...

Nancy Jernigan, executive director of the Area Wide United Way, will be the guest on KRCU's "Going Public" program Sunday. Jernigan will discuss the 1997 United Way campaign and some of the agencies the United Way supports. The taped program airs at 3 p.m. on the region's public radio station, 90.9 FM...

The Cape Girardeau County Health Department issued a rabies alert for the entire county Friday. Vicky McDowell, communicable disease coordinator, said the alert was issued after health officials were notified by the state Friday morning that a specimen had tested positive for rabies. The animal was a kitten found in the Gordonville area, she said...

A youthful audience of 2,787 went delirious over the soulful singing of Clay Walker Thursday night at the Show Me Center. The Four Star Blowout concert also offered three well-received up-and-coming singers -- Mark Wills, Lee Ann Womack and Kevin Sharp in an evening that should have provided something for almost everyone...

Mary Sue Underwood looked at a electro encephalo gram (EEG) monitor showing Ron Halter's brain waves at Saint Francis Medical Center. Magnetic Resonance Imaging is used to see inside a person brain. "I...went to school and later to work in spite of it... ...

Gov. Mel Carnahan goes abroad to sell made-in-Missouri military equipment, which due to factory overproduction includes unsold minivans loaded with local deer hunters. It's been so long since the University of Missouri Tigers football team played in a post-season bowl that cheerleaders back then were known as Bloomer Girls...

The recent financial situation of the Cape Girardeau School District is reason for pause -- not panic. The district is not going bankrupt. There are no plans to fire staff or ask the voters for more tax money. But the school district will have to tighten its belt to reverse the recent trend of budgets that spend more than the district takes in. Several years of deficit spending have eaten into once-ample balances...

Some legislators are worried that lawyers may be dragging their feet in settling the desegregation lawsuit in St. Louis. The reason: The case has proved a real money-maker for far too many people. Since 1984, the state has paid more than $3.2 million in the St. Louis case to lawyers...

JACKSON -- When a college student from Panama suddenly had to drop out of A Gathering of Nations, a West Lane Elementary student volunteered her own mother to tell fellow grade-school students about life in Panama. Her mother, Ara Hoffman, is from Panama, too...

SEMissourian.com, the official web site of the Southeast Missourian, is kicking off a five-week Beanie Baby giveaway Monday. The online staff will give away 10 of the hard-to-find collectibles over the next five weeks. Individuals can register at www.semissourian.com once each day. Multiple daily entries will be disqualified...

Four Cape Girardeau students were arrested Wednesday and face possible expulsion after handling a gun that was brought onto school grounds. Central High School Principal Randie Fidler said a junior high school student stole a .25-caliber handgun from his home and took it to school with the intent to sell it to a high school student. The gun exchanged hands but the second student decided not to buy it...

Beanie Baby hunters rushed inside Ye Ole House to grab up the popular toy. When Kim Hagler and Kim Scarcella learned that Ye Ole House in downtown Cape Girardeau would sell Beanie Babies, they made their plan. A plan is a must to snag the elusive beanbag animals, one of the hottest collectibles in years...

A state grant to fund a preservation plan for the city of Cape Girardeau could be the first step in creating historic districts in the city. The $20,000 grant from the Missouri Historic Preservation Program to Cape Girardeau's Historic Preservation Commission will pay for hiring a preservationist to put the plan together, said Brian Driscoll, vice chair of the city commission...

I'm sure readers have by now noticed that I often write about the women in my life and rarely mention the men. Mom and Ma Dear have provided me with plenty of column inches during the past year, but you never hear about my male role models. For the record, there were and still are men in the picture, but you know how it is. Both of your parents influence your life through childhood, and when you grow up you get "Hi Mom" syndrome...

Tennessee State's football team doesn't have the best record in the Ohio Valley Conference. Far from it. But as far as pure talent goes, Southeast Missouri State University coach John Mumford says the Tigers rank right up there with some of the nation's better NCAA Division I-AA squads...

Kris Buchheister, Southeast Missouri State University's first-year head gymnastics coach, was recently invited to speak at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Buchheister, a licensed physical therapist, spoke to members of the Future Stars Program on Nov. 15. This group consists of male gymnasts who have the potential to participate in the Olympics in the future...

Former St. Vincent High standout Scott Pingel has been named the 1997 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Offensive MVP by a vote of the conference coaches. Pingel, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound sophomore, finished the 1997 season with 98 receptions for 1,420 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also caught eight two-point conversion passes and finished the season with 118 points. He has 170 receptions for 2,303 yards and 25 touchdowns over the past two seasons...

William R. Newbern, 71, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Nov. 20, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Funeral arrangements are pending at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Robert F. Sams, 71, of Olive Branch died Friday, Nov. 21, 1997, at Sikeston Health Care in Sikeston. He was born March 13, 1926, at Olive Branch, son of William Franklin and Josephine Henderson Sams. He married Reba Christian on Dec. 24, 1951. She died on Oct. 12, 1997...

PUXICO -- Funeral service for Bonnie King of Puxico will be held at 1 p.m. today at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Puxico. The Revs. Ray Placher and Orville Huffman will officiate, with burial in Pleasant Grove Cemetery near Bell City. King, 71, died Thursday, Nov. 20, 1997, at her home...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Ivan "Sug" Boren, 77, Mounds Route 1, died Thursday, Nov. 20, 1997, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He was born Jan. 22, 1920, in Mound City, son of Fred and Nora Kinslow Boren. Boren was a retired superintendent with Swift and Co. Processing Plants and A.E. Staley and Co. He was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Mound City, Cairo Elks Lodge 651, and life member of Knights of Columbus. He was a veteran of World War II...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Naomi St. Cin Ward of Sikeston will be held at 2 p.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Larry Davis will officiate, with burial in Oak Grove Cemetery at Charleston. Ward, 67, died Wednesday, Nov. 19, 1997, at Hunter Acres Caring Center...

ANNA, Ill. -- Elma Lorena "Peggy" Baker, 91, of Anna died Thursday, Nov. 20, 1997, at City Care Center in Cobden. She was born Oct. 28, 1906, at Gale, daughter of Pete and Effie Shipman Aden. She and Sherman L. "Jimmie" Baker were married Jan. 26, 1936, at Union, Mo. He died Oct. 11, 1971...

ORAN -- Funeral service for Ethel Emily Thomas of Willcox, Ariz., was held Thursday at Westlawn Chapel in Willcox. Pastor Vic Crews officiated, with burial in Cochise Cemetery. Thomas, 82, died Sunday, Nov. 16, 1997, in Willcox. She was born June 18, 1915, in Oregon City, Ore., daughter of Lacy and Barbara McDowell Bernard. She married Cecil Thomas, who died in 1991...

CHARLESTON -- Mary Josephine Ferrell, 82, of Charleston died Wednesday, Nov. 19, 1997, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Oct. 3, 1915, in Paducah, Ky., daughter of A.G. and Eliza Chandler House. She and Galen Ferrell were married Sept. 1, 1940. He died June 7, 1996...

Walton H. Roth, 78, 2 Springview Place, died Friday, Nov. 21, 1997, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Feb. 9, 1919, at Illmo, son of Martin F. and Elsie E. Lueddecke Roth. He and Dorothy Love McGaugh were married Sept. 5, 1942, in Illmo. Roth was a 1936 graduate of Illmo High School, and attended Cape Business College...

Daughter to Henry Ray and Stephanie Joy Yamnitz Jr. of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 12:35 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16, 1997. Name, Madison Joy. Weight, 8 pounds 1 ounce. First child. Mrs. Yamnitz is the former Stephanie Seib, daughter of Twyla Seib and Michael B. Seib of Cape Girardeau. She is a supervisor at Thorngate Ltd. Yamnitz is the son of Henry and Sue Yamnitz of Patton. He is employed at Dana Corp...

Appropriately, music will be one of the attractions Sunday during the first Friends of Music Home Tour. The musical offerings will range from classical to contemporary. The tour will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday and will include three older homes near the center of town and two contemporary houses in the northern residential area. "The tour is a circle of the city," says Sina Kaiser, a member of the Friends of Music board...

JACKSON -- William D. "Bill" Schoenebeck, 52, died Friday, Nov. 21, 1997, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born July 31, 1945, in Cape Girardeau, the son of William and Evelyn Ludwig Schoenebeck. He married Rita Ann Aldredge on April 1, 1972. She survives...