Stories from Tuesday, February 24, 1998

CyberTip: A new contest begins this week at SEMissourian.com. Make your picks for the top five Academy Awards and you might win free movie tickets to Cape Girardeau's Wehrenberg Theaters. Two people will win two movie tickets each week. We'll provide a running total of our entrants' Academy Award choices each week...

Jeshua Tullias painted artwork to be folded into a Japanese fan during Saundra Fiddler's art class. Jo Peukert taught Japanese greetings to her social studies class. Peukert visited Japan for three weeks last summer on a educational trip. It's 2:28 in the afternoon the other day, a couple minutes before the bell will announce the close of another school day, and a few students in Jo Peukert's Period 8 social studies class are getting anxious...

The Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway, designed to lower flood stages upstream and adjacent to the floodway during major river flooding, has not been used since the flood of 1937, but it remains ready. The Memphis District Army Corps of Engineers and Coast Guard marine safety office at Memphis will conduct a joint exercise this week to assure that the floodway is ready...

The Mardi Gras spirit featured at the Downtown Merchants Association's annual auction and party Saturday night will mean a more festive look downtown this Christmas holiday season. A portion of the proceeds from this year's event will be used to repair and purchase new downtown holiday lights...

WOODLAND -- Remedial math teacher Linda Whitener enjoys teaching her students to apply their skills to real life. All levels of math are embedded in everyday life, she said; students sometimes just don't realize it. "I write tons of word problems and stories using their names and interests and career choices in real life situations," said the 24-year teaching veteran. ...

A large group of Cape Girardeau school employees attended a Board of Education meeting Monday night to express their desire to be involved in planning the 1998-99 school district budget. Some 200 people -- mainly district teachers and noncertified staff -- attended the meeting to support staff representatives who addressed the board. ...

The final phase of channel improvements for Cape Girardeau's Cape LaCroix Creek-Walker Branch flood-control project is under way. Crews are relocating electrical and sewer lines from the Walker Branch area, said city planner Kent Bratton. Channel improvements on the latest phase of the project will focus on Walker Branch from just north of Kingsway Drive to the intersection of Cape Rock Drive and Perryville Road, a distance of just more than a mile...

BENTON -- Supporters cheered as Circuit Judge Anthony J. Heckemeyer stepped down from the bench Monday to run as a Democrat for Congress. About 60 supporters packed the courtroom to hear Heckemeyer announce his candidacy. He wore his black judge's robe when he entered the courtroom with his wife, Betty...

St. Mary's Cathedral Grade School has received honors for its Accelerated Reader Program. The program is part of the larger Reading Renaissance program, which combines technology, motivation and individualized instruction to support extensive reading practice. After reading any of the more than 22,000 books used within the program, students' comprehension is confirmed using computer-generated tests...

"The only form of fiction in which real characters are not out of place is history." -- Oscar Wilde History intrigues me. Whether it's U.S. history, local history or my own family lore doesn't really matter, I enjoy learning about the past. I think history offers lessons relevant to our future. It also provides a sense of tradition and stability...

President Clinton says he has a sure-fire way to cut teen-age smoking: Raise the federal tax on a pack of cigarettes by more than a dollar. That is part of the proposed federal settlement with tobacco companies. This is the same settlement that, for a few billion dollars, would protect those companies from a good deal of future legal liability. This is the same settlement that generates a good chunk of revenue Clinton is counting on to balance the federal budget...

Although government contracts with the lowest bidder have become a way of life in the United States, there are plenty of examples that show cost isn't always the best determining factor. But now a legislative proposal for the nation's massive highway program threatens to produce a congressional showdown that would make low bids secondary to racial and gender preferences...

I'M RESPONDING to the Speak Out comment that women at Southeast don't play at the same level as men. They don't profess to play at the same level as men, and the caller mentioned he didn't want to pay money to watch an inferior game. Tell that to the 17,000 people who attend the Tennessee games or the sellout crowds that attend U-Conn or the crowd that attended the Division II final and semi-final games here at SEMO a couple of years back. ...

To the editor: In recent weeks we have read a lot about the scientific advances that have allowed mankind to clone Dolly the sheep and about the Chicago scientist who intends to clone human beings. Recently we read about an embryo that was kept on ice for seven years and then implanted in the mother's womb and grown until the time of its birth. ...

To the editor: My husband and I were fortunate to be among those who heard Dr. James Sifferman in concert at Southeast Missouri State University. This member of the music faculty has performed throughout the world and has taught piano at prestigious conservatories abroad. What a privilege is was to drive a short distance, walk a block or so and be able to hear him perform in concert at Academic Hall...

Cape Girardeau County Auditor H. Weldon Macke will file for re-election today, the first day of filing for the 1998 fall election. "When I entered office in 1969, I made a pledge that my office would always be open to all the public. I have kept that promise," said Macke...

JACKSON -- A Dutchtown flood-control project got a financial boost Monday when the Cape Girardeau County Commission gave the newly formed village an $8,000 loan. The loan provides the local match needed by the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a feasibility study for a flood-control levee at Dutchtown...

Judy Beussink, chief deputy clerk of the Cape Girardeau County Commission for the past 20 years, and members of her family waited in line all day Monday to ensure that her name will be first on the ballot for county collector. "If that's not dedication, I don't know what is," Beussink said...

Will the third time be the charm for Austin Peay's Governors? Will Southeast Missouri State University's Indians be able to continue their impressive late-season run all the way to Nashville? The answers to those important questions will come tonight when Southeast and Austin Peay square off in an Ohio Valley Conference Tournament first-round game. The tipoff at Dave Aaron Arena in Clarksville, Tenn., is set for 7 p.m...

On the surface, it doesn't appear as if Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team has a chance of beating Eastern Kentucky tonight. But Otahkian coach Ed Arnzen prefers the optimistic approach. The way Arnzen sees it, as long as his team is still playing, it has a shot...

STE. GENEVIEVE -- Scott City's girls spoiled Valle's senior night and handed the Lady Warriors a 45-40 loss Monday in high school basketball action. Jessica Dees tallied 15 points and had a team-leading eight rebounds for Scott City (17-5). Becca Gowin, out for a couple of weeks with a sprained ankle, returned to the court and added 11 points...

GRAY RIDGE -- Graveside service for Oadus G. White of Gray Ridge will be held at 2:30 p.m. today in Garden of Memories Cemetery at Sikeston. Friends may call at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter from 1-2 p.m. today. White, 96, died Sunday, Feb. 22, 1998, at Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Center in New Madrid...

CHAFFEE -- Rozella Martin, 67, of Granite City, Ill., died Sunday, Feb. 22, 1998, at Cape Canaveral Hospital in Cocoa Beach, Fla. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee.

Dr. Jo Robert Cochran, 73, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Feb. 23, 1998, at the Lutheran Home. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Jennie Louise Horton, 78, of Olive Branch died Sunday, Jan. 22, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 26, 1919, at Auburn, daughter of Clarence Earl and Lela Henrietta Stewart Lowder. She and Jay M. Horton were married Aug. 27, 1942, at Hillsboro...

Senno A. "Butch" Schilling, 76, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Feb. 22, 1998, at Missouri Veterans Home. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

ORAN -- Billie Dover, 68, of Oran died Sunday, Feb. 22, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 28, 1929, in Big Spring, Texas, daughter of Ezra Sherman and Sophia Brown North. She and Durward Dover were married Feb. 15, 1946...

Graveside service for Robert S. Lindsay of Cape Girardeau will be held at 11 a.m. today at Memorial Park. The Rev. Brendan Dempsey will officiate. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Lindsay, 92, died Monday, Feb. 23, 1998, at the Lutheran Home...

ESSEX -- Eloise McMullin, 86, of Essex died Monday, Feb. 23, 1998, at Vintage Villa Nursing Center in Dexter. She was born Feb. 23, 1912, at Essex, daughter of Clint and Pearl Patterson Ellis. She and Glen Allen McMullin were married Nov. 5, 1932. He died Aug. 27, 1968...

Robert B. Dubrey Jr., 65, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Feb. 22, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Sept. 27, 1932, in Cudahy, Wis., son of Robert B. and Grace O'Dell Dubrey Sr. He and Peggy Mueller were married Oct. 22, 1966, in Las Vegas, Nev...

Memorial service for Dr. George W. Ringland, 107 N. Sunset, will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Christ Episcopal Church. The Rev. Than Pyron will officiate. Friends may visit with the family immediatley following the service. Ringland, 81, died Saturday, Feb. 21, 1998, at the home of a daughter in Albuquerque, N.M...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Bonnell Lamburth of Tamms died Monday, Feb. 23, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Jones Funeral Home in Tamms is in charge of arrangements.

Theodore O. (Ted) Suedekum, 91, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Feb. 23, 1998, at the Lutheran Home. He was born January 20, 1907, in rural Cape Girardeau County, son of William, Sr. and Anna Witzel Suedekum. He and Ernestine Eggimann were married June 5, 1929 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau...

Son to Richard J. and Scarlett J. Dittlinger of Cape Girardeau, St. John's Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, Monday, Feb. 9, 1998. Name, Conner Nicholas. Weight, 7 pounds 9 ounces. Mrs. Dittlinger is the former Scarlett Below, daughter of Marilyn Steck of Cape Girardeau and Sam Below of Delta. She is a social worker with Division of Family Services. Dittlinger is the son of Neil and Barbara Dittlinger of Benton. He is employed at Dittronics Inc. in Benton...

MILLERSVILLE -- Albert Ray Propst, 74, of Millersville died Monday, Feb. 23, 1998, at his home. McCombs Funeral Home at Jackson is in charge of arrangements.

PERRYVILLE -- Jean A. Bachmann, 62, of Perryville died Saturday, Feb. 21, 1998, in Perryville. She was born Aug. 21, 1935, in University City, daughter of Edward and Alfreda Malone Rathert. She and Hubert Bachmann were married Nov. 30, 1957. Bachmann had been a secretary for Bell Telephone in St. Louis and Cape Girardeau. She was a member of Zion Lutheran Church, its Ladies Aid and Lutheran Women's Missionary League...

HAYTI -- A Bragg City woman was killed Monday morning when her vehicle struck a truck head-on. Opal Duncan, 77, was killed on U.S. Highway 412, about four miles west of Hayti, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The accident occurred when her eastbound vehicle crossed the center line and struck an oncoming 10-wheel trailer truck driven by Brandon McCutcheon, 20, of Dexter...

Funeral service for Alberta Garrett of Cape Girardeau will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel. The Rev. Wiley Reed will officiate, with burial in Fairmount Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 6-8 p.m. today...

JACKSON -- Kenneth John Suhr, 84, of Jackson died Sunday, Feb. 22, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 11, 1913, in Oak Ridge, son of Frederich C. and Josephine Wilke Suhr. He and Verna Mae Thompson were married Aug. 20, 1942, at Gordonville...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Beatrice Dowdy of Sikeston will be held at 1 p.m. today at Ponder Funeral Home, with the Rev. Jake Lawson officiating. Burial will be in Dogwood Cemetery near East Prairie. Friends may call at the funeral home from 9:30 a.m. until service time...

Oscar Poston, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Feb. 23, 1998, at the Lutheran Home. He was born Nov. 16, 1912, at Laflin, son of A.L. and Catherine Hahs Poston. He and Leola C. Seabaugh were married Sept. 23, 1932, in Jonesboro, Ill. She died March 26, 1997...