Stories from Thursday, March 5, 1998

Judy Barks-Westrich works with found objects and natural fibers as displayed in this piece that will be on display at Gallery 100. Judy Barks-Westrich showed examples of her students' work during class. She has been teaching art at Cape Central High School for three years...

Republican Chuck Pierce says voters want an independent-minded, certified public accountant as state auditor. Pierce, who is Missouri's deputy state auditor, is seeking to succeed his boss, Auditor Margaret Kelly. Kelly, a Republican, has announced she won't run for another term this fall...

Cape Girardeau and the Southeast Missouri State University baseball team earned a new fan this week. Tom Hensel and his family wanted to say thank you for the care extended when his son underwent emergency brain surgery. His son, Ron Hensel, is an 18-year-old freshman pitcher for Bradley University. On Saturday he was struck in the head by an errant baseball prior to a double-header against the Southeast Indians...

A preliminary report of an analysis made by a Boston consulting firm suggests Cape Girardeau County's Welfare Reform Task Force faces some obstacles in its attempt to move people from welfare rolls to independent lifestyles with jobs. However, the report indicates cooperative networks -- such as the task force itself -- will be critical for future efforts to increase job opportunities for former welfare recipients...

Cape Girardeau councilmen say the city needs a comprehensive policy for establishing special assessments for street projects. But drawing up those policies has proved difficult. The City Council on Monday tabled action on a street assessment plan drawn up by the city staff. The council will hold a public hearing March 16 to give residents an opportunity to comment on the policy proposal...

Cape Girardeau teachers, facing elimination of staff positions and a salary freeze because of a budget shortfall, would like the Board of Education to consider alternatives. One possibility would be to place some construction projects on hold. A group of teachers from each building and every grade level has been meeting weekly to develop options. They plan to make a proposal to the Board of Education at the March 16 meeting...

Talks aimed at affiliating Cape Girardeau's two hospitals are on schedule, the administrators say, with consensus already reached on some of the thorniest issues. One of those, agreement on an ethical and religious directive, has been resolved to the satisfaction of Bishop John Leibrecht of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. Under the agreement, Southeast Missouri Hospital no longer would perform sterilization procedures or therapeutic abortions for women...

Missouri's congressional delegation expressed mixed reaction to a proposal to toughen national standards for determining drunken driving, while local law enforcement personnel and prosecutors said they favor the idea. Some lawmakers decried the proposal as yet another example of federal government intrusion in matters that were better left to the states...

March 5, 1998 Dear Julie, My friend Leslie sent a clipping from the Los Angeles Times about a baby girl rescued from a mudslide. Imagine this family's terror. In the middle of the night they hear a noise like a jet makes and the sounds of cracking trees and buckling foundations. The next moment, their house splits apart and their 9-month-old baby is wrenched from her mother's arms and disappears in the blackness, only to be found later by a neighbor, a ball of mud miraculously alive...

Students from Southeast Missouri State University stood in stunned silence Wednesday as emergency crews worked feverishly at the noon hour to free four students trapped in a vehicle that had crashed into a tree near Academic Hall. Three of the students were determined to be suffering from serious injuries. The fourth student was pronounced dead at the scene...

To the editor: It is unfortunate that the plans for construction of the new high school have run into a snag caused by the presence of a wetland on the construction site. We can approach this problem in a number of ways. Since we are dealing with a high school issue, possibly the best way to look at the situation is as an educational opportunity. I can see at least three tremendous educational opportunities that this presents...

To the editor: I read with interest Jack Stapleton's March 1 column. I certainly agree that treatment for drug and alcohol addiction is preferable to incarceration, providing that the desire for recovery is genuine. There was, however, a solution to this problem that was ignored...

To the editor: I would like to respond to the recent comment in Speak Out concerning athletics and academics in our local school district. Athletics is a component of a school district that serves the needs and provides opportunities for a large number of students in our school system. ...

From time to time, we all need to be reminded that someone out there is waiting to bilk us out of our hard-earned paychecks or our years of saving. Scams seem to come in waves like the seasons of the year. Recently, Cape Girardeau police were giving out warnings about a group calling itself the Association of Firefighters, asking for donations and making it sound like the money would be used to benefit our own fire department...

The two consultants seemed to be giving the notion that the old hospital building can be saved a little CPR at the meeting. They said the building was worth saving, even though it would cost millions of dollars to rehabilitate the long-vacant structure. If the building were razed, one of the consultants said, the neighborhood around the old hospitals would "continue to deteriorate."...

A Cape Girardeau woman suffered moderate injuries Tuesday afternoon in a single vehicle accident west of the city. Kimberly D. Cunningham, 38, was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital after the 1:35 p.m. accident at County Road 314 and Country Lane...

The Cape Girardeau School District will be able to begin work at the site of a planned vocational-technical school and high-school campus in about 30 days, thanks to findings of a land survey. The district had planned to begin construction at the vocational-technical school site this year. Those plans appeared to be in jeopardy after the Army Corps of Engineers and Missouri Department of Natural Resources declared part of the area a natural wetland last month...

FARMINGTON -- Competing against nationally-ranked Lafayette in Wednesday night's Class 4A sectional at the Farmington Civic Center, Jackson High's boys basketball team showed no fear. Looking up at 6-foot-11 Lancers' center Robert Archibald, the Indians went right at Lafayette's most intimidating player in the paint...

FARMINGTON -- And the beat goes on. For the fourth straight season, Jackson High's girls basketball team dominated its Class 4A sectional game. The Lady Indians (24-2) beat Washington 58-34 Wednesday night at the Farmington Civic Center. The difference: a 22-2 third-quarter edge...

Ohio Valley Conference women's track and field keeps getting better and better -- and Southeast Missouri State University's Otahkians are continuing that trend as well. The Otahkians won their second consecutive OVC indoor championship over the weekend during competition held at Middle Tennessee State...

POPLAR BLUFF -- It was not a good night here Wednesday for the Class 3A, District 1 basketball champions. Competing in the 3A sectionals, New Madrid County Central's boys lost to Park Hills 55-49 while Doniphan's girls also were defeated by Park Hills 74-64...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Robert Kern had a huge day as Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team got some revenge here Wednesday afternoon. Kern, a former Cape Girardeau Central High standout, homered and drove in five runs as the Indians defeated Southern Illinois 11-5...

JACKSON -- George McLaird of Cape Girardeau recorded his first hole-in-one while playing golf Wednesday at Kimbeland Country Club. McLaird, 73, used a 6-iron to ace the 156-yard, No. 18 hole at Kimbeland. Playing along with McLaird were Troy Dooley, Bob Hedden and Bob Fruend...

Tim Lowery School: Scott City Class: Senior Sport: Basketball Position: Point Guard Coach: Derek McCord Week report: Lowery had a typically solid game Tuesday in Scott City's only action of the week. The 5-10 Lowery scored 16 points, making all seven of his free throws in the fourth quarter, as the state-ranked Rams held off Portageville at home 70-62. The Rams ended the week ranked sixth in Class 2A with a 24-2 mark...

MORLEY -- Mike Slipis Sr., 89, of Morley died Tuesday, March 3, 1998, at Chaffee Nursing Center in Chaffee. He was born Dec. 21, 1908, in St. Louis, son of George and Katherine Hrynak Slipis. He and Mabel Irene Pratt were married Oct. 24, 1933. She died Jan. 6, 1984...

Hazel Hagerty Rowan, 99, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, March 3, 1998, at Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Services. She was born Dec. 11, 1898, at Des Arc. She and Raymond Hagerty were married Jan. 2, 1921. He preceded her in death. She later married Lee Rowan May 10, 1963. He also preceded her in death...

SIKESTON -- Altha L. Heuring, 87, of Sikeston died Tuesday, March 3, 1998, at Sikeston Health Care. She was born Sept. 16, 1910, in Advance, daughter of William Monroe and Flora Mae Devore McClain. She and Gregor Heuring were married Sept. 11, 1934, at Benton. He died Nov. 26, 1995...

Mary Catherine Kluesner, 60, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, March 3, 1998, at her home. She was born June 15, 1937, at Jackson, daughter of John and Lorene Koehler Horrell. She and William Tom Kluesner were married Jan. 7, 1956, at Jackson. Kluesner was a central service technician at Southeast Missouri Hospital more than 22 years. She was a member of St. Vincent's Catholic Church, and a charter member of Knights of Columbus Ladies Auxiliary at Jackson...

BENTON -- Letcher A. Bom, 94, of Benton died Tuesday, March 3, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Feb. 11, 1904, in Henderson, Ky., the son of Jacob and Lena Bonenberger Bom. He married Margaret Ellen Wise March 22, 1926, in Benton. She survives...

McCLURE, Ill. -- Fred L. Burton Sr., 60, died Tuesday, March 3, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 28, 1937, at Wolf Lake, son of William and Mollie Ellon Knupp Burton. He and Carolyn Keifer were married. Burton worked as a truck driver for Rose Brothers and Jerry Lipps companies...

PERRYVILLE -- Dorothy Florence Turner, 57, of Perryville died Wednesday, March 4, 1998, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. She was born March 13, 1940, in Perryville, daughter of Henry and Ester Weibrecht Ehlers. She married Laverne Turner July 14, 1956, in St. Louis. He died Nov. 18, 1993...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Lois Jane Lingle, 80, died Wednesday, March 4, 1998, at the Union County Hospital in Anna. She was born June 7, 1917, in Cobden. She married Clyde H. Lingle April 4, 1937, in Cobden. He died March 12, 1982. She was of the Baptist faith...

Beulah Stewart, 93, of Chesterfield died Wednesday, March 4, 1998, at the Missouri Masonic Home in Chesterfield. Funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Cracraft-Miller Chapel in Jackson.

Funeral Mass for the Rev. Francis L. Seyer of Waterloo, Ill., will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Waterloo. Bishop Wilton Gregory and the Rev. James Seyer will officiate. Friends may call at the church from 4-9 p.m. today, and Friday from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. The rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. today and Friday...

DEXTER -- Miranda Marie Grimes died at birth Monday, March 2, 1998, at Lucy Lee Hospital in Poplar Bluff. Survivors include her parents, Robert and Amanda Grimes of Dexter; paternal grandmother, Wilma Rodgers of Dexter; maternal grandparents, Jim and Karen Oldham of Dexter; paternal great-grandparents, Arvel and Wilda Menley of Bloomfield and Irene Leach of Farmington; and maternal great-grandmother, Betty Abare of Texas...

Ralph Maupin, 93, of Grand Blanc, Mich., died Tuesday, March 3, 1998, at his home. He was born June 26, 1904, in Union City, Tenn., son of John and Bertha Presley Maupin. He and Irene Hager were married Oct. 22, 1945, in Hernando, Miss. She died Feb. 8, 1981...

SCOTT CITY -- Willard E. Austin, 75, of Scott City died Wednesday, March 4, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 5, 1922, in McLain County, Ky., son of Embert and Marie Cobb Austin. He and Gladys Woosley were married Sept. 24, 1943, in Breman, Ky...

GRAND CHAIN, Ill. -- Funeral for Charles W. Inman of Grand Chain will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Grand Chain Congregational Church. The Rev. Mike Heston will officiate, with burial in Masonic Cemetery. Friends may call at Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak from 6-9 p.m. today...

Funeral for Georgia Witting of Cape Girardeau will be held at 1:30 p.m. today at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. Burial will be in Memorial Park. Witting, 92, died Sunday, March 1, 1998, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Sept. 27, 1905, at Enon, daughter of Elijah and Alice Campbell Farris. She and Morris John Witting were married June 14, 1931, at Eldon. He died March 12, 1988...

Ernest Frank "Red" Foster, 82, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, March 4, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born May 3, 1915, in Cape Girardeau, son of Ernest Brown and Marie Beatrice Hitt Foster. He and Beatrice "Bea" Price were married 57 years ago...

PERRYVILLE -- Donald A. Hunt, 66, of Perryville died Wednesday, March 4, 1998, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. He was born Jan. 20, 1932, in Perry County, son of Leslie and Agnes Sutterer Hunt Sr. He married Dorothy Baer. Hunt was a plasterer. He was a member of St. Vincent's Catholic Church, Knights of Columbus, and booster member of American Legion Post 133...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Graveside service for Jennie Louise Horton of Olive Branch was held Monday at National Cemetery in Mounds, Ill. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel in Cape Girardeau, Mo., was in charge of arrangements. Horton, 78, died Saturday, Feb. 21, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

BLOOMFIELD -- Ethel Mae Young, 82, of Bloomfield died Tuesday, March 3, 1998, at Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter. She was born Nov. 22, 1915, in Missouri, daughter of Robert Lee and Johnnie Lee Chamberlin Short. She and Paul Elbert Young were married Aug. 14, 1943. He died March 5, 1979...

CHARLESTON -- Virley Agee, 75, of Franklinton, N.C., died Monday, March 2, 1998, at Duke Medical Center in Durham, N.C. She had formerly lived in Sikeston and Charleston. She was born Nov. 30, 1922, at Haley, Ark., daughter of Mamie and Grover Jennings...