Stories from Tuesday, June 9, 1998

The Gene E. Huckstep Pavilion in Cape Girardeau County North Park got a boost from local unions. The Southeast Missouri Contractors Association and the Southeast Missouri Building Trades Council are donating the labor, equipment and some supplies to build the pavilion...

It's that time of year when we begin thinking of trips to the seashore, the mountains or Disney World. Whether you can really get away or daydream from home, the Internet can help you with your travels. Joni: We can start at my favorite place, Disney. We're planning a trip this summer. Even if I didn't have kids, Disney would be my favorite place...

Randy Holdman, former Cape Girardeau Regional Airport manager who more recently worked in construction management and real estate development for Drury Southwest Inc., has become assistant administrator for Farmington. The move marks a return to his home area: He is a native of nearby Bonne Terre, and his parents live in Farmington...

The Cape Girardeau Civic Center has provided for the community, and now it needs the community to provide for it. The Civic Center will hold its second silent auction and wine-tasting benefit at the Holiday Inn Convention Center June 20 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m...

MARBLE HILL -- Bollinger County voters will decide Aug. 4 whether to repeal the Blue Law that prohibits the sale of some items on Sunday. A simply majority is needed to repeal the Blue Law. The Bollinger County Commission recently decided to submit the issue to the voters...

Suzanne Burke, 8, worked on her wall shelf in a crafts project class sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department. Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Youth Golf instructor Jodi Smith helped Jeremy Kelley, 13, with his putting at the Cape Girardeau Jaycees Golf Course...

Massman Construction Co. of Kansas City has anchored barges along the Illinois shore before starting work on the Illinois approach span to the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge. The bridge will cross the Mississippi River from East Cape Girardeau, Ill., to Cape Girardeau and will replace the existing bridge...

June is recognized as the month for weddings, but at the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri it also marks the beginning of puppy and kitten season. Program coordinator Cynthia Kothe said the humane society gets a daily supply of animals when warm weather arrives. Although on Monday no new animals had arrived by midafternoon, a number of animals were found in the shelter's drop box where they had been left anonymously overnight...

Geoffrey Roth, director of Riverside Regional Library, says he might have a solution to the library's need for a bigger facility and Cape Girardeau County's need for archive and storage space. Roth and library board members suggested Monday the two groups, along with some others, might want to join in a collaborative building project...

The president of Haarig Area Development Corp. says he doubts a Springfield businessman's plans to redevelop the old St. Francis Hospital building will come to pass. The Haarig group voted Monday night to endorse the Happy Hollow site for a possible new federal building in Cape Girardeau...

After last week's column, I received a somewhat mysterious phone call from my uncle Terry asking that I call his daughter. It seems I'd forgotten my cousin Darla when listing all my left-handed relatives. You'd think with so few of them in the family, I'd be able to keep track better...

Few recent episodes in the General Assembly have been as fouled up as the legislative pension increase passed during the last 48 hours of this year's session. It offers a cautionary tale about the perils and pitfalls of lawmaking in our imperfect democratic system...

Also winning final passage this year was a pension increase for teachers that makes Missouri's teacher retirement system one of the highest paying in the nation. The increase is a hefty 8.7 percent for educators, including those already retired. Recipients must have completed 30 years of teaching to qualify for full benefits...

To the editor: I'm dizzy. Not acutely so, like Jimmy Stewart in "Vertigo." Not even blonde bombshell dizzy like tabloid tart Anna Nicole on, say, "Celebrity Jeopardy." It's worse than that. Much worse. My dizziness stems, as may yours, from the fact that the streets of Cape Girardeau have been gutted like a shoe store in the wake of Imelda Marcos. Or worse yet, any warm-blooded trophy kill hanging in Ted Nugent's rec room...

Area fast-pitch softball enthusiasts are once again in for their annual June treat -- the Kelso Klassic Invitational Tournament, featuring some of the top teams in the Midwest. The 14th edition of the Kelso Klassic, featuring 17 teams, will be held this weekend, with playing beginning Friday night and continuing through Sunday afternoon...

Mike Manning of Poplar bluff set a course record with a time of 18:16 at the Tywappity Trails 5K Saturday near Chaffee. Last year's champion, Bryan Kelpe of Cape Girardeau, finished second and Ron Keller placed third. On the women's side, the overall winner was Carlen Keller of Cape Girardeau. Kimberly Dial placed second and Stephanie Bennett took third...

Doris Stubenrauch and Larry Burford won the SEMO Horseshoe Association's tournament held Saturday at Schindler's Tavern in New Hamburg. Brad Miller and Sharon Chapman placed second and Irv Vandeven and Randy Senciboy finished third. On Sunday, Ron LeGrand and Ginard Rehkop took first at the Knights of Columbus in Leopold...

The Kohlfeld Scorpions Rugby Club began the summer season by finishing third in the Gateway 7's Tournament last Saturday in St. Louis. The Scorpions went 3-2 on the day, with victories against Springfield, St. Louis Bombers `B' and the University of Missouri. The losses were against the Kansas City Rugby Football Club and St. Louis Bombers `A.'...

George W. Kuehn, 81, of Memphis, Tenn., died Sunday, June 7, 1998, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis. He was born April 2, 1917, in Cape Girardeau, son of William R. and Julia Sandbach Kuehn. He and Thelma Adah Casey were married April 7, 1941, in Holly Springs, Miss...

SIKESTON -- Charles Howard David Garrett, 31, of Sikeston died early Saturday from a gunshot wound while working at Kellett Oil Co. He was born April 10, 1967, at Chaffee, son of Oscar Raymond and Paula Gaye Toney Garrett. Garrett was a clerk and station attendant at Kellett Oil Co. He had also been a cook at Bessie's Restaurant...

KARNAK, Ill. -- Funeral for Casper Kuhlman of Karnak will be held at 1 p.m. today at Wilson Funeral Home. The Rev. Floyd Stout will officiate, with burial in Anderson Cemetery at Boaz. Friends may call at the funeral home from 10 a.m. until service time...

Ralph Wilson Davis, 80, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, June 7, 1998, at his home. He was born April 8, 1918, at Blodgett, son of Samuel and Rosa Haman Davis. He and Ursula Schrock were married Feb. 12, 1946, in Cape Girardeau. Davis was a lifelong resident of Cape Girardeau. He was employed by Glenn Bishop Construction, and then worked at Southeast Missouri State University 23 years, retiring in 1985...

SIKESTON -- Dorothy Donner, 81, of Sikeston died Monday, June 8, 1998, at her home. She was born Oct. 7, 1916, in Henderson, Tenn., daughter of Calvin and Ethel Jackson Hatcher. She and Joseph A. Donner were married Oct. 7, 1933, in Blytheville, Ark. He died May 18, 1989...

Daughter to Bryan Wayne LaPlant and Keasha Marie Brown of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 8:36 a.m. Tuesday, May 26, 1998. Name, Becca Reane. Weight, 7 pounds 12 ounces. First child. Ms. Brown is the daughter of Dennis and Pamela Furlong of Cape Girardeau and Perrie and Tish Brown of Toledo, Ohio. LaPlant is the son of Robert and Linda LaPlant of Desloge and Kenny and Linda Rogers of Bluffton, S.C. He is employed at Lynn Enterprises...

Rosalea Hall, 90, died Monday, June 8, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Chapel.