Stories from Sunday, June 7, 1998

Missouri has one of the highest percentages of senior citizens in the country. In many cases our elderly citizens and their families need special assistance in a variety of areas such as healthcare, daycare and sometimes assistance with daily chores. ...

The Jackson Municipal Band opened the 1998 concert season Thursday, June 4, in the City Park. The Jackson Municipal Band began in 1920 under the leadership of A.W. Roloff. This is the 31st year for the Municipal Band's present conductor, Nick Leist. The band has engaged several outstanding groups and soloists to appear as special entertainment during the summer concerts...

Editor's Note: This is the last installment of the Jackson USA Signal's series on the Civil War in Missouri. Bernard Schaper of Jackson obtained these reports from the estate of Raymond McNeeley. McNeeley received them from State Rep. Lewis Simpson of Oregon County in the 1960s. Rep. Simpson researched these reports at the archives in Jefferson City...

25 years ago: 1973 Jackson Municipal Band, under direction of Nick Leist, will open its summer concert season Thursday evening, performing at municipal bandstand on courthouse lawn; 14 concerts are scheduled for this season, including special performances commemorating Independence Day and one during Jackson Homecomers celebration...

Welcome to the sky for the month of June. This column will try to keep you informed about celestial activities that are visible in the night sky and furnish other facts that may be of interest to you. The accompanying star chart is designed to be held overhead with the horizon markers rotated around as needed. ...

Individuals of Cherokee descent are sharing their culture at a living Indian village this weekend and next. The Intertribal Living Indian Village portrays housing, dress and lifestyles of tribes located in Southeast Missouri from the 1750s to 1850s...

In April I attended the Peter Lowe's Success Seminar 1998 in St. Louis with two friends. Since I didn't have to drive I had the opportunity to look around and see the great structures of the downtown area. As we started our journey home we came face to face with the Arch. ...

The reunion begins at 10 a.m. and continues until 4 p.m. Members of the Grindstaff family and friends are invited. A group photograph will be taken at 11:30 a.m. A potluck dinner will be served at noon. Those attending are asked to bring table service, drinks and lawn chairs...

Sixteen nursing students received their Associate of Applied Science in Nursing degrees Saturday from Southeast Missouri Hospital's College of Nursing. Graduates will go on to sit for the state Registered Nurse (RN) board exams. The class was the seventh to graduate since the hospital begin its LPN to RN education program in 1991...

"When I make a mistake," said the late New York mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, "it's a beaut." We who erred in voting for House Bills 1455 and 1463, which contained a legislative pension increase, can empathize with him. The House bill came before the Senate on Wednesday, May 13, during the grueling last week of the session that would end at 6 p.m. ...

I'D JUST like to say that with all the violence that's happening in the world and all the natural disasters that it's kind of obvious that we're living in the last days. If people would just look with open eyes they will see. It's all in the Bible. It's all there...

You know, fellow citizens, if we only knew what we were doing, we might know how well we were doing it and, heaven forbid, if it's necessary to keep on doing it. If this appears to be some Buddhist aphorism designed to confuse the Western mind, forget it. The need to know what we're doing, and how it's working out, is really a basic tenet of representative government or, if you will, democracy...

To the editor: I would like to take this opportunity to recognize those students at Central High School who took their time and energy to respond to the community recently. I live in the 1700 block of Luce Street, which is between Caruthers and Sunset. ...

In the fiscal year 1999 budget that will take effect July 1, state spending continues its steady growth. Each year since Gov. Mel Carnahan took office in 1993, state spending has grown by close to $1 billion. In his fiscal 1999 budget proposal announced in January, Carnahan proposed an increase in spending of $933 billion to nearly $15.9 billion, up from $14.9 billion in the current year. Governors propose, but lawmakers dispose. Our lawmakers raised the governor by another $26.4 million...

In Cape Girardeau County, the wheels are in motion toward a vote on the issue of countywide planning and zoning next April. This will be a sensitive matter and will need to be handled with an eye toward that fact if there is to be any chance of success. The reason is that it wasn't that long ago -- 1992 to be exact -- that county voters resoundingly rejected planning by the margin of 2-1...

Here today, gone tomorrow! That buzzing or droning noise you've heard the past few weeks is beginning to subside. A few more weeks -- maybe even days -- and the "periodical" cicadas will be gone for another 13 to 17 years as the new hatch hibernates underground, awaiting its coming out party sometime in the next century, 2011 to 2016...

Rob and Sherry Vaandergraf are just starting the paperwork to have their home put on the National Register of Historic Places. But the Vaandergrafs are worried that the Missouri Department of Transportation plans for a new highway might threaten their old house...

Call it the law of averages. Colder-than-average temperatures this weekend are balancing out the hotter-than-average temperatures that hit Southeast Missouri in May. Chris Noles, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., says El Nino shouldn't be blamed for this cold snap...

Bailey is sure to be a talk-show host. At least, she could pass for one right now. If only these cable shows were hiring 2-year-olds, she'd be hired on the spot. Our youngest daughter has entered the Talking Zone. This isn't exactly the Twilight Zone, unless you're trying to sleep in the middle of one of her monologues...

The reports of the Chicago Bulls' demise were apparently greatly exaggerated. After the Bulls had to struggle to get past the Pacers in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals, and after Utah swept aside the Lakers in four games in the Western Conference Finals, all talk turned to the likely end of the Bulls' dynasty...

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- The McDowell Capahas suffered through a rare lopsided doubleheader sweep Saturday as a strong Evansville team romped to 5-1 and 13-2 home victories. "Needless to say, it wasn't too good a day for us," said Capahas manager Jess Bolen, whose squad fell to 5-3. "Evansville has a good ballclub. They hit the ball very well and got a lot better pitching than we did. We didn't play very well."...

Snakes need our help. These animals have been misunderstood for too long, and their role in nature is too little appreciated. THE FEAR OF SNAKES According to the National Wildlife Federation, at least 20% of the U.S. population suffers some degree of snake fear. ...

The Cape Girardeau Central Booster Club will hold its annual fund-raiser golf tournament July 10 at Bent Creek Golf Course in Jackson. The four-person scramble will feature morning and afternoon tee times, at 8 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. There will be three flights of competition...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department will offer a 4 on 4 summer basketball league, tentatively scheduled to begin July 2. The league, which will be held on Tuesday and/or Thursday, is open to any churches, businesses or independent teams that wish to enter. Participants must be 18 years of age...

The Cape Central Tigers' Baseball Camps will be held this summer in three sessions. Camp I, dealing with pitching, will be June 15-17. Grades 7-10 will meet from 9-11:30 a.m. and grades 3-6 will meet from 1-3:30 p.m. Camp II, dealing with hitting, will be June 29-30 and July 2. Grades 7-9 will meet from 9-11:30 a.m. and grades 3-6 will meet from 1-3:30 p.m...

Kelly High baseball coach Mike Scott will be holding the first annual Kelly Hawks Baseball Camps this summer. Those entering grades 4-6 will meet from 9 a.m.-noon June 8-10 while those entering grades 7-9 will meet from 9 a.m.-noon June 11, 12 and 15...

The first annual McDowell Capahas golf tournament, to benefit the Capahas baseball team, will be held June 19 at Bent Creek Golf Course in Jackson. Entry fee is $65 per person for the four-person scramble. Lunch will be served at noon, followed by a shotgun start at 1 p.m. The deadline to enter is June 12. There will be numerous prizes...

The fourth annual Capaha Field Committee Baseball Camp will be held June 11-12 at Capaha Park in Cape Girardeau. Ages are 7 through 16. The cost is $50. Times are 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. both days, with lunch served at noon the second day. All campers will also receive a T-shirt...

Southeast Missouri State University's athletic department will once again be holding a variety of summer camps this year. Coaches and players of the respective sports at Southeast will direct the summer camps. Following is a listing of the dates, ages and cost of all the camps that have not yet started...

The St. Louis Cardinals will conduct a baseball tryout camp July 20 at Sikeston's VFW Stadium. The camp, for players ages 17 through 20, will begin at 10 a.m. and last until approximately 3 p.m. American Legion players must have a written permission slip from their manager or coach to participate...

PERRYVILLE -- Fred W. Boxdorfer, 97, of Perryville, died Friday, June 5, 1998, at Perry County Nursing Home. He was born June 7, 1900, in Perry County, son of George C. and Mary Rodewald Boxdorfer. He married Edna Marie Klobe on July 27, 1922. She died Jan. 2, 1984...

GRAND CHAIN, Ill. -- Ada B. Jones, 73, of Grand Chain, died Saturday, June 6, 1998, at Southgate Health Care Center in Metropolis. She was born Sept. 6, 1925, in Dover, Tenn., daughter of Dossie and Orbia Bryant Baker. She was a member of the Living Waters Pentecostal Church in Metropolis...

ANNA, Ill. -- Billy Don Elkins, 73, of Anna, died Friday, June 5, 1998, at his home in Anna. There will be no service. Friends may attend a memorial at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna from 1 to 3 p.m. today.

Edna M. "Sue" Gibson, 91, of 322 N. Lorimier died Saturday, June 6, 1998, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 29, 1906, in Highland, Ill., the daughter of Louis Q. Miller and Louisa Vaugniaux Miller. Mrs. Gibson was a registered nurse. She worked for the Cape Girardeau Public Schools for 20 years as a school nurse...

ANNA, Ill. -- Brenda Tweedy Laster, 45, of Jonesboro, Ill., died Friday, June 5, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 27, 1952, in Anna, daughter of Corky and Ruth Brimm Tweedy. She married Kenny Laster. She is survived by a daughter, Joeby Laster, of Anna; her father of Anna; a sister, Kathy Rion of Anna; and a grandson...

CHAFFEE -- Herbert Lee Houseman, 70, of Cassville, formerly of Chaffee, died Friday, June 5, 1998, at the Terrace Hills Care Center in Cassville. He was born Oct. 16, 1927, at Chaffee, son of Herbert Lee and Nellie Jane Skelton Houseman. He had been employed at Mable's Cafe in Chaffee and was a member of the Assembly of God Church in Cassville...

Memorial service for Barbara L. Frisbie of Cape Girardeau will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Christ Episcopal Church. Rectors Ken Truelove and Brant Hazlett will officiate. Following the service, the family will receive friends at 3 o'clock at the church...

SIKESTON -- Charles Howard David Garrett, 31, of Northwest Street in Sikeston, died Saturday, June 6, 1998, from a gunshot wound in an armed robbery at Kellett Oil Co. Garrett was the attendant on duty. He was born April 10, 1967, in Chaffee, son of Oscar Raymond and Paula Gaye Toney Garrett of Sikeston...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Mayme Jacobson, 96, of Cairo died Friday, June 5, 1998, at Daystar Care Center in Cairo. She was born Oct. 20, 1901, in Fulton, Ky., daughter of George and Margaret Brown Edwards. She was a telephone operator for the Illinois Central Railroad until her retirement...

ANNA, Ill. -- Mary Walton "Toodie" Hill, 94, of Anna died Friday, June 5, 1998, at the Jonesboro Health Care Center. She was born Nov. 23, 1903, at Ware, daughter of Winstead Davie and Annelise Bush Walton. She married John W. Hill on Dec. 10, 1923. He died Aug. 25, 1965...

There's nothing little about the Mississippi River. It's grand in every way, from its size to its rich history. Over the centuries, the Mighty Mississippi has been the subject of everything from toasts to boasts. Mark Twain wrote that the winding river was "the crookedest river in the world."...

Jean Bell Mosley's new autobiography, "For Most of the Century," is only available in serialized form in the Southeast Missourian. Return each week for her continuing story. Publication date for "The Crosses at Zarin," the book I had largely written on the banks of Wessel's Pond, was Tuesday, August 1, 1967. ...