Stories from Saturday, March 7, 1998

Cape Bible Chapel will host its 1998 Missions Conference March 13-15. Dr. Walter Baker will be the speaker. Baker is associate professor emeritus of world missions at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas. He served as a missionary in Haiti and the West Indies for 10 years and on the faculty at L'Ecole Evangelique De La Bible and Lancaster Bible College...

David Lee Brown, 41, of Jackson, and Jodie Leanne Boaz, 30, of Jackson. Randy Davidson, 41, of Jackson, and Ella Lorraine Haupt, 41, of Jackson. Daniel William Neill, 21, of Cape Girardeau, and Lea Anne Pettit, 24, of Cape Girardeau. Dallas Clayton Sutton, 28, of Chaffee, and Katrina Denise Spears, 27, of Chaffee...

Missouri marks the beginning of the spring tornado and severe weather season with an annual statewide tornado drill Tuesday. At 1:30 p.m., cities and counties will activate their individual methods of notifying the public of a weather emergency. Schools, businesses and individuals will also participate...

Stitch by stitch they create a patchwork of beauty, develop friendships and even help missionaries overseas. Many area churches benefit from the financial support of quilting bees. The groups spend about six to eight weeks quilting and then donate the money earned from quilt sales back to the church...

Firefighters Friday responded to a report of a fire at an abandoned house only to find out that its owner had set the fire to get rid of the structure. Officials of rural fire departments in the area said they often are called to such fires. They asked that people notify authorities before setting large fires...

The 13 city fee increases to be proposed to voters April 7 would raise an additional $63,000 in annual revenue, City Manager Michael Miller told the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee Friday. Voters also will decide a proposed change to the City Chater...

"You can't get a good job in Cape if you're on welfare. They look at you like you're doing something wrong, when all you're trying to do is get off the system."So says Michelle, a grocery-store cashier in Cape Girardeau, who mirrored the preliminary findings of a community analysis completed by a Boston consulting firm, Mt. Auburn Associates. Peter Kwass presented the preliminary report to Cape Girardeau County's Welfare Reform Task Force recently...

Some choosy little real-estate shoppers are starting to arrive in the region, a sure sign spring is on its way. Purple martin scouts have been spotted in the Dexter and Sikeston areas and may be arriving in Cape Girardeau soon to find housing for their flocks...

Just a few weeks ago, I told Patrick about a spat my parents had had many years ago. I guess I was a little prejudiced in my story, because afterwards Patrick told me my sister and I were always taking my mother's side. "That's easy to do, because Dad's always wrong," I explained...

The idea is nothing short of ridiculous. Legislation proposed in the Missouri Legislature would commute death-row sentences for those inmates willing to donate a kidney or bone marrow. Its sponsor, state Rep. Chuck Graham of Columbia, calls it a life-for-a-life bill. More aptly, it should be called prisoners-make-desperate-attempt-to-save-their-hides bill...

Pep rallies for athletics are commonplace. But cheers and all-school recognition for academic excellence are being held as well. Central High School last week honored more than half of the student body during its third annual Academic Pep Rally. That is an impressive number...

To the editor: As has been reported in your newspaper, the Gibson Recovery Center of Cape Girardeau is in the process of starting a new program under contract with the Missouri Department of Corrections. Under this program, the Gibson Recovery Center would assist individuals in making the transition from a Department of Corrections facility to being a productive citizen. ...

To the editor: On Feb. 28, two outstanding youth events happened in Cape Girardeau: an afternoon rally featuring motivational speaker Penny Lea at the Holiday Inn Convention Center and a Christian concert that night given by Rebecca St. James at the Arena Building. As a mother of teens, I had the great privilege of attending both of them with my son and some friends. I hope and pray that the impact of the message delivered in both places will be great...

To the editor: We have many volumes of laws on the books, but we are in desperate need of one more. We need a law against special prosecutors who investigate something that isn't illegal. Whether President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky had sex or not is none of prosecutor Kenneth Starr's business, because they broke no laws. ...

The USA Women's National Volleyball team will play the Russian National team in a best-of-five match at the Show Me Center April 14. The contest will mark the first time an international match has been played in this area. Both team are using the tour, which also includes stops in Memphis and the Illinois cities of Dekalb, Quincy and Normal, to prepare for the World Championship next November in Japan. ...

BLOOMFIELD -- For a quarter, it seemed quite possible. At halftime, an upset win still was within reach. Then came the eight minutes that Randal White likely will remember for a long while -- and would just as soon forget. Notre Dame High's girls basketball team held Scott City scoreless in the third period and went on to win Friday's Class 2A, District 2 Tournament championship game 41-22 at Bloomfield High School...

BLOOMFIELD -- Entering Friday night's Class 2A, District 2 championship game with the second-seeded Scott City Rams, the fifth-seeded Woodland Cardinals were hot. With that said, Scott City's performance in the first half of the title game might best be described as boiling...

PATTON -- In an exciting conclusion to the Class 1A, District 3 Tournament at Meadow Heights High School, top-seeded Valle broke a fourth-quarter tie and defeated second-seeded Marquand 57-51 Friday night. Brian Meyer tossed in a game-high 25 points for Valle, which will move onto Monday's sectional action with a 24-5 record...

GLEN ALLEN -- A Bollinger County man was killed and two other people were seriously injured in an accident on Highway 34. Wesley W. Williams, 18, of Glen Allen was killed when the car in which he was a passenger was struck by another vehicle Thursday night...

PUXICO -- William J. Hobbs, 88, of Puxico died Thursday, March 5, 1998, at Puxico Nursing Center. He was born Sept. 27, 1909, at Dudley, son of Sherman Jacob and Rachel Stringer Hobbs. He and Audra L. Reasons were married in 1939 in Poplar Bluff. Hobbs lived in the Dudley area the past 50 years. Prior to that he had lived in Michigan and St. Louis. He was a retired livestock and crop farmer. He was a member of Hobbs Chapel Church near Dudley...

Cline O. Devenport, 73, of Chanute, Kan., died Thursday, March 5, 1998, at his home. He was born Aug. 14, 1924, in Cape Girardeau, son of Claude O. and Grace Noland Devenport. He first married Louise McLaird, who preceded him in death. He and Mable Wolfe had been married 27 years...

JACKSON -- Juanita Rose Paradise, 82, of Lake Worth, Fla., died Thursday, March 5, 1998, in a Lake Worth hospital. She was born June 29, 1915, in Jackson, daughter of William A. and Ida Browning Rose. She first married Gilbert Loos Aug. 20, 1935. She later married Leigh Paradise Sept. 20, 1952, who died in May 1985...

GLEN ALLEN -- Wesley Wayne Williams, 18, of Glen Allen died Thursday, March 5, 1998, in an automobile accident near Glen Allen on State Highway 34. He was born June 20, 1979, in Cape Girardeau, son of Danny "Bubba" and Dorothy Hopper Williams. Formerly of Scott City, he attended Wesleyan Church...

Dennis A. Jordan, 38, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, March 6, 1998, in Cameron. Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Dr. Velmer A. Fassel, 78, of San Diego, Calif., died Wednesday, March 4, 1998, in San Diego. He was born April 26, 1919, at Frohna. He and Mary Katchske were married July 25, 1943, in Cape Girardeau. Fassel was a graduate of Perryville High School, received a bachelor's degree from Southeast Missouri State University in 1941, and a Ph.D. from Iowa State University at Ames in 1947...

ANNA, Ill. -- Louie D. Miller, 83, of Anna died Thursday, March 5, 1998, at Union County Hospital. He was born in September 1914, in Pomona, son of Jesse and Anna Duty Miller. He and Gladys M. Jones were married Nov. 7, 1936, in Jonesboro. She died March 19, 1997...

MARBLE HILL -- Anna Swift, 90, of Marble Hill died Thursday, March 5, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Oct. 4. 1907, in Burnham, Pa., daughter of Paul and Mary Mihalich Zarkovich. She married Charles P. Swift, who died Aug. 1, 1960...

Son to Scott D. and Kelly D. Starzinger of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 10:04 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25, 1998. Name, Jacob Scott. Weight, 8 pounds 13 ounces. Second child, first son. Mrs. Starzinger is the former Kelly Gaulding, daughter of Robert and Wanda Gaulding of Jackson. She is a registered nurse at St. Francis Medical Center. Starzinger is the son of Don and Judy Starzinger of Jackson. He is a computer systems engineer at Computer Resource Group...

CALUMET CITY, Ill. -- Wayne F. Dexter, 75, of Calumet City and formerly of Ullin, died Friday, March 6, 1998, at St. Margaret Hospital in Hammond, Ind. He was born Sept. 15, 1922, in Pulaski County, son of Frank and Myra Mumford Dexter. He married Rosetta Schultz on Sept. 15, 1954. She died April 25, 1985...