Stories from Wednesday, December 31, 1997

To the editor Eighteen months have passed since Linda and I arrived in Cape Girardeau and at Southeast Missouri State University. Time truly does pass very quickly. The holiday season seems an appropriate time to tell everyone how much we appreciate the friendship which the people in Southeast Missouri have extended to us. We feel very much at home here and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the wonderful people of Cape Girardeau and the surrounding communities...

Thanks for special gifts at Christmas I'D LIKE to say a special thank you to Sue who works at the Beverly nursing home on Independence. I just want to say thanks for bringing the money by so I can get my subscription and get my newspaper, and also thanks for the clothes and the suit and the other stuff she brought by. We appreciate it. It made our Christmas much, much better...

Common Sense Comeback? A recent report by an independent commission on women in the military may represent the first signs of common sense replacing political correctness. Over the last decade, feminist pressure and cowardly politicians unwilling to resist have tried a bizarre experiment that has undermined military morale and readiness. ...

Reaching a goal can be exhilarating and satisfying. In the case of the Area Wide United Way, achieving the goal is all these things and more. That's because local dollars will be plowed into 24 community agencies to help people in need. People helping people remains a cornerstone of the United Way...

Three recent cases in Cape Girardeau County provided a stark reminder that child abuse and neglect is not be far from home. -- A Burfordville woman pleaded guilty in the flagrant neglect of her 8-year old-child. The child had been born blind and with use of only 10 percent of his brain. ...

To the editor: Every Tuesday the Southeast Missourian delivers The Mini Page to Millersville. My class and I would like to thank you for providing us with this fun and educational tool. We look forward to the theme for the week, the reading and the activities it provides. Often I find the themes relate to units I am covering or will be covering. It's nice to use The Mini Page as supplemental material for these units. Thanks for supporting our future through the children, reading and education...

Riverport Terminals Inc., a grain-bagging company, will move into the Southeast Missouri Regional Port early next year. "We'll be moving here immediately," said Gary Hascall, RTI president. "We've been working on this project the past three years, and we're ready to get it on the road."...

BENTON -- When Karen Diebold moved to Benton from Atlanta, Ga., her phone bill tripled from about $90 to over $270 a month, although her calling habits stayed the same. Her teen-age children call their friends from school, and she calls the doctor's office and pharmacy. But from the Diebold's home in Benton, many of those calls are long-distance...

JACKSON -- The line trailed down the hallway as taxpayers waited to pay their county taxes before today's Dec. 31 deadline. Both real estate and personal property taxes are due today. The late penalty automatically begins Jan. 2. "It has been, very, very, very busy today," Collector Harold Kuehle said Tuesday...

Three proposals included on the April 7 ballot could make increasing tax rates and borrowing money easier for Missouri school districts. But few area districts would be immediately affected by the proposals if passed. Missouri legislators decided last spring to allow voters to consider three state constitutional amendments regarding school finance issues, and Gov. ...

In July, Southeast Missouri and the surrounding region could have achieved up to 26,676 minutes of sunshine. In November, the maximum number of sunny minutes dropped to 18,352. And in December, the maximum dipped still further to 17,989 minutes. When those precious minutes of daylight start dwindling, local therapists say, the number of clients complaining of depression increases...

We swore we wouldn't spend more than $1 a week on Lotto. Two dollars, tops. Ah Florida, land of white sand, retirees and Lotto. In this state, the lottery is less of a statewide game to fund education and more of a religion. It isn't like Powerball in Missouri, where several states share the game. ...

JACKSON -- "The Cemeteries of Cape Girardeau County" won't become a bestseller and won't even be published, but to genealogy researchers it will be an awfully good read. The database being compiled by the Cape Girardeau County Genealogical Society will include information about everyone known to have been buried in the county. With the number of known cemeteries at 199 and many small family cemeteries still to be discovered, the database will be a boon to genealogists...

It was not a good night for our basketball team Monday, primarily because we ran into an extremely talented Louisville squad and the Cardinals put it to us 91-69 in our last non-conference game of the season. As a coach, it always bothers you to lose. If you were playing the Lakers, you'd want to win the game...

When high school basketball fans think of the Charleston Blue Jays basketball team, the terms "zone defense" and "half-court offense" don't usually come to mind. But that's what the normally high-powered Blue Jays used to win their 12th University High School Christmas Tournament title Tuesday night at the Show Me Center. With the halftime score tied 33-33, top-seeded Charleston pulled away in the second half from No. 2 Kelly to claim the tourney title 70-55...

To say that Scott City High is a guard-oriented team would be an understatement. So opposing coaches know what they'll see from the Rams. Nevertheless, no coach as yet has devised a defense to stop Tim Lowery and Jon Beck. Lowery, a senior point guard, and Beck, a junior shooting guard, combined for 51 points in Scott City's 63-48 win over Cape Girardeau Central in the third-place game in the 53rd annual University High School Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center Tuesday night...

When Jackson opened up a 10-point lead in the second quarter Tuesday night, a lot of Indian supporters might have thought their team was ready to blow out Delta. But Jackson coach Steve Burk knew better. He knew the Bobcats were too scrappy and too well-coached to succumb to the Indians easily...

All things considered, Oran coach Mitch Wood figures his team had a pretty good showing during the 53rd annual University High School Christmas Tournament. The Eagles, seeded eighth out of 16 teams, lost their opening-round game by one point to ninth-seeded Woodland...

Daughter to Toni Renee Pettet of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 5:19 p.m. Monday, Dec. 22, 1997. Name, Kelsey Dawn. Weight, 6 pounds 7 ounces. First child. Miss Pettet is the daughter of Susan Pettet and Gary Eldridge and Jack and Tammi Pettet, all of Cape Girardeau...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Marie Aters, 78, of East Prairie died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 1997, at the East Prairie Nursing Center after an extended illness. She was born Jan. 26, 1919, in Rosiclaire, Ill., the daughter of Zenith and Clyde Harris Johnson. She married Charles "Gus" Aters on Oct. 10, 1936. He died Dec. 2, 1992...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Audrey Lentz of Cairo died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 1997, at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah, Ky. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo.

Mildred "Honey" Haas of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., died Monday, Dec. 29, 1997, at Palm Beach Memorial Hospital. She was born Aug. 10, 1913, at Leadwood. She was formerly of Cape Girardeau. Survivors include a daughter, Gretchen Fee of Cape Girardeau; three sisters, Louise Zuckweiler, Ruth Parry and Eileen Karsch of Palm Beach Gardens; two granddaughters; and four great-grandchildren...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for James Franklin Haley Sr. of East Prairie will be held at 10 a.m. today at Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie. The Rev. Richard Farquhar will officiate, with burial in Dogwood Cemetery. Haley, 59, died Monday, Dec. 29, 1997, at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Bessie Beatrice Jackson, 82, of East Prairie died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 1997, at her home. She was born March 24, 1915, in East Prairie, daughter of Ed and Laura Doom Coffer. She married Maloy Wilson Jackson on June 24, 1933. He survives...

CHAFFEE -- Clara Vandeford, 79, died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 1997, at Chaffee Nursing Center. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Home in Chaffee.

The Southeast Missourian asked people about their family history. Liz Overy: "The Friedrich family originated in the 1700s in Germany. My grandfather came over here in the late 1800s when he was very young. My dad was born here in Jackson in 1917." Sue Dickerson: "I can trace my family back six generations. The Peetz family came over in the 1800s from Germany, and we still have relatives there. Our family started out here in the Tilsit area."...

The Cape Girardeau County Genealogical Society is one of just 12 such groups in the U.S. and Canada recently awarded grants from Broderbund, a company which manufactures genealogy software. The winners were chosen by a panel of judges that includes representatives of the National Genealogical Society, the Federation of Genealogical Societies and Broderbund...