Stories from Wednesday, June 24, 1998

Among the latest rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court is word that state prison inmates are protected against discrimination by the Americans With Disabilities Act. Among those whose appeal was rebuffed were officials of 34 states who said the law has already led to unreasonable demands by prisoners...

Moving through Congress is a bill that attempts reform of the difficult and complex matter of filing bankruptcy. And this occurs against the backdrop of a booming economy in its eighth year of expansion -- and record bankruptcy filings. Indeed, it is the dramatic increase in personal bankruptcies that is driving the first major reform effort in 20 years...

I received a letter June 22 from Senator Kit Bond who was a close friend of Gene Huckstep. These are some excerpts from the letter. "I very much appreciated receiving the copies of the editorials on Gene Huckstep. We will long-remember him with great fondness, humor, and love. ...

The Southeast Missouri Hospital Foundation will hold its annual Pennies from Heaven Auction Friday night at the A.C. Brase Arena Building. A silent auction will be held from 5 to 7:30. Chug's Auction Service will start the oral auction at 7:30. Items on the auction block will include Cardinals baseball tickets, Princess Beanie Babies, a Pentium computer and monitor, glassware, crystal and china, savings bonds, golf equipment, an aerial tour of Cape Girardeau, gym memberships, fine jewelry and gift certificates to local businesses.. ...

The Cape Girardeau post office will offer a pictorial cancellation Thursday in honor of the 1998 Air Race Classic. The Cape Girardeau Regional Airport is a "must-stop" for the all-women's air race, which began Tuesday in Santa Fe, N.M. More than 40 pilots will begin arriving today at the local airport...

Dr. SueAnn Strom, vice president for student affairs at Southeast Missouri State University, has accepted a position as associate vice president for academic and student affairs at Macon State College in Macon, Ga. "We are extremely pleased that Dr. ...

Dr. Dale Nitzschke has signed on for another three years as president of Southeast Missouri State University. The Board of Regents offered the three-year contract Tuesday, and Nitzschke accepted. The new contract begins July 1 and goes through June 30, 2001...

JACKSON -- A proposed package of 19 road and highway improvements for Cape Girardeau County calls for everything from widening a section of Interstate 55 to creating an inner belt from downtown Cape Girardeau to Mount Auburn Road. Jackson Mayor Paul Sander called the package "a 20-plus-year plan" for improving traffic flow throughout the county...

Area educators aren't impressed by portions of education legislation signed into law by Gov. Mel Carnahan Wednesday. Carnahan signed Senate Bill 781, a law designed to end state financing of court-ordered school desegregation in St. Louis and Kansas City. The law also makes possible the first charter schools in the state and orders numerous changes to the St. Louis City School District...

Six professional baseball players with area ties -- including one who started the season in the major leagues but has since been sent down to the minors -- have met with mixed results so far this year. Following is a rundown of how the six were faring through early this week:...

The high school baseball season has long been over, but a few area players continue to accumulate postseason honors. The 1998 Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association All-State Baseball Teams were announced today with six players in the immediate area earning the distinction...

CHAFFEE -- Chaffee's VFW American Legion baseball team felt like it owed Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons a little something. Consider the debt repaid. Back on June 3, Cape destroyed visiting Chaffee 21-1 in a District 14 game. But Tuesday night, host Chaffee got some revenge with a 7-5 District 14 victory over Ford & Sons...

Southeast Missouri State University's women's gymnastics program has announced the signing of Jessica Bagwill from New Port Richey, Fla. Bagwill won the AAU Level 9 state title in Florida and qualified for the USGA Nationals as a Level 10 gymnast. Bagwill joins recent signee Michelle Walker from Canada as gymnasts who will compete for the Otahkians next season...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department will sponsor a 3-on-3 sand volleyball tournament July 12 at Arena Park. Entry fee is $31.50. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three places. Entry forms and rosters are due July 9. The format of the tournament will depend upon the number of entries. Entry forms are available at the AC Brase Arena Building, Osage Community Centre, or can be mailed upon request...

A memorial service for Hazel Jennings will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church. Jennings, 90, died Sunday, March 1, 1998, in Laguna Hills, Calif. She was born in Kentucky, and moved to Missouri at an early age. She was a graduate of Sikeston High School and William Jewell College, and attended Will Mayfield College...

CHAFFEE -- Robert Aaron Clark, 72, of Pineville, N.C., died Sunday, June 21, 1998, at his home. He was born April 10, 1926, in Pittsfield, Mass., son of Walter and Hazel Betty Clark. Clark served in the U.S. Navy 20 years, retiring in 1968. He then was an equipment operator with the city of Chula Vista, Calif., retiring in 1986...

SIKESTON -- Graveside service for John A. Swinney Jr. of Sikeston will be held at 2 p.m. today at Garden of Memories Cemetery. The Rev. David Maze will officiate. There is no visitation. Blanchard Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Swinney, 30, died Monday, June 22, 1998, at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis...

Nellie E. Simpher, 97, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, June 23, 1998. She was born Sept. 1, 1900, in Cape Girardeau County, daughter of John Oliver and Sarah Hobbs Ramsey. She and Albert John Simpher were married July 17, 1920, in Cape Girardeau. He preceded her in death...

CHAFFEE -- Opal Marie Holder, 90, of Chaffee died Tuesday, June 23, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 2, 1908, at Sikeston, daughter of William Gaines and Mary Demetrius Black Freeman. She first married Clarence "Dutch" Barron, who preceded her in death. She later married Carrol Holder Sept. 1, 1951. He died Oct. 12, 1974...

Son to Joseph William and Michele Lynn Holt of Altenburg, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 12:16 a.m. Thursday, June 11, 1998. Name, Tyler Joseph. Weight, 7 pounds 8 ounces. First child. Mrs. Holt is the former Michele Abrisz, daughter of Paul and Judy Abrisz of Old Appleton. She is a legal assistant for attorneys Hahn and Mulcahy. Holt is the son of Harvey Holt and Pam Holt of Altenburg. He is a technician at Crown Equipment Co...

Betty Sue Presley Mosier of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, June 23, 1998 at 3:05 a.m. She was born in Oran to the late George Robert and Bodie Olivia Bledsoe Presley. She married James C. Mosier on October 3, 1967 at the Methodist Church in Sharp, Kentucky...

JACKSON -- Launched with a $5,000 donation from NationsBank, a capital campaign has begun to make improvements in the Jackson Chamber of Commerce office. Now run by chamber secretary Marilyn Foster, the office will have an additional occupant in a few months. The chamber recently announced plans to hire an executive director/economic developer in partnership with the City of Jackson...

The Southeast Missourian asked people about their camping experience. Brad Davis: "The only time I camp is when I go trout fishing on opening day at Montauk when it's pretty cold. The heater in my friend's pop-up camper wasn't working last time, so I had the sleeping bag zipped up to my nose."...

Each year, top students in a graduating high school class are honored by earning the distinction of being named valedictorian or salutatorian. The student who has the highest grade point average in the graduating class is named the valedictorian. The student with the second highest grade point average is named the salutatorian...

History is full of famous duos: Romulus and Remus, Gilbert and Sullivan, Batman and Robin. But of all the prominent pairs over the ages, perhaps my favorite is Ben and Jerry. That's because the ice cream produced by that Vermont institution is the closest to homemade of any store-bought brand I know. And what could be better during the hot summer months than a scoop of homemade ice cream? (Unless it's two scoops.)...