Stories from Friday, August 7, 1998

To the editor: Following the election cycle of 1996, a great deal of attention was paid to the buying of voters by political candidates in Southeast Missouri. There is no doubt that such activities threaten the democratic nature of our form of government and should be dealt with harshly...

Muscle weakness, becoming easily fatigued, impairment of sensation, tremor, visual disturbances, bowel, bladder and sexual dysfunction, as well as depression, are some of the common signs and symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a chronic, often disabling, disease of the central nervous system and its symptoms may be as mild as numbness in the limbs or as severe as paralysis and loss of vision. ...

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education approved a driveway construction bid and the sale of property during a special meeting Thursday. School board members awarded the contract for construction of a bus driveway at Alma Schrader Elementary School to Lappe Cement Finishing. The company's $21,886 bid for the project was lower than the $51,333 bid submitted by Sides Construction...

Annette Trout, a Southeast Hospital Hospice volunteer, said a book called 'Hymns of Faith & Inspiration' is one of the favorites of hospice patients she visits. Carol Keppler, coordinator of volunteers for Southeast Missouri Hospital Hospice has about 30 patients enrolled in the program...

I'D LIKE to make a couple of points about the proposed surgery center here in Cape Girardeau. First of all, I'd like point out that the physicians are trying to do a service to the area. The hospitals charge enormous balloon fees, and the physicians are trying to keep the cost within the reach of the general population. ...

Back in the early 1980s, school districts were deciding to open earlier and earlier. Urban districts traditionally had waited until after Labor Day to start schools, but even some city districts were opting for earlier starting dates, because it allowed more flexibility in scheduling the school year without pushing classes well into June of the following year. Districts in smaller communities and rural areas, however, had long planned on starting sometime in August...

A trend that is highly visible in the Cape Girardeau area also is reflected in a national survey of religious schools: Construction of schools with religious ties is booming. With the new Notre Dame High School and Eagle Ridge Christian School ready to open their doors this fall, Cape Girardeau is having its own spurt of school construction, which includes major projects in the public system as well. The Jackson School District continues to add facilities as well...

Bruce Ford taped up his arm before the bareback event at the Sikeston Jaycees Bootheel Rodeo Thursday night. Ford of Kersey, Colo., has been rodeoing for 35 years. He wears a shoulder brace because of a dislocated shoulder. SIKESTON -- It's the busted knees and the battered shoulders and the bad backs and the sprains and the strains and the pain...

WOLF LAKE, Ill. -- Sixteen-year-old Brad Dodd went squirrel hunting Wednesday afternoon in a thick woods called Pine Hills. Family members, friends, the Union County Rescue Squad and bloodhounds would spend the rest of the rain-drenched night hunting for him...

And it wasn't even my driveway. But I come by gaping at skilled work naturally. To me, it's like watching Picasso paint houses. It has been a busy week in our neighborhood, thanks to my unofficial duties as sidewalk superintendent of my new neighbor's driveway project...

A pair of Notre Dame High School graduates will soon have the rare opportunity to take in the sounds and sights of Newcastle, England. And while they are there, they'll also get to play plenty of soccer. Jason Frank and Matt Vollink are both members of the Quincy (Ill.) College soccer team that will be in Newcastle Aug. 10-20 to play a five-game series against English teams...

Daughter to William Todd and Leah Marie Weber of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:45 a.m. Friday, July 31, 1998. Name, Kaitlyn Nichole. Weight, 7 pounds 2 ounces. First child. Mrs. Weber is the former Leah Michel, daughter of Maxine Michel of Cape Girardeau and Sam Michel of Union. She is a secretary at St. Francis Medical Center. Weber is the son of Bill and Fay Weber of Jackson. He is a technician at TG(USA)...

FARMINGTON -- William Charles Wulfers Sr. of rural Farmington died Wednesday, Aug. 5, 1998, at his home. He was 79. He was born Oct. 7, 1918, in Cape Girardeau, the son of Anthony and Opal "Toon" Wulfers. He married Dorothy Mae Schlepphorst. He was a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church of Farmington, LePere-McCallister American Legion Post #416 in Farmington and was a former member of Elks Lodge #1765 BPOE...

PERRYVILLE -- Karla M. Berkbigler Pavlovsky, a nurse at Perry County Memorial Hospital, died Thursday, Aug. 6, 1998, at the hospital. She was 35. She was born Feb. 18, 1963, in Perryville, the daughter of Bennett and Wanda Brewer Berkbigler. She married Charlie Pavlovsky Jan. 11, 1986. He survives...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Homer L. Horn, 53, of Mounds died Wednesday, Aug. 5, 1998, at his home. He was born Nov. 22, 1944, in Cairo, son of Homer F. and Anna Crippen Horn. Horn was a retired truck driver. He was a member of First Baptist Church in Mounds, and Masonic Lodge 255 in Donnellson...

CHAFFEE -- Anita K. Pennington, 46, of Chaffee died Thursday, Aug. 6, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 17, 1952, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Paul and Gladys Mae Day Eifert Jr. She and Michael R. Pennington were married June 10, 1972...

DEXTER -- Funeral for Dustin Noah Gaines Christian of Dexter will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter. The Revs. David Looney and George Hill will officiate, with burial in Hagy Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

ZALMA -- John Ray Dyle Sr., 64, of Zalma died Wednesday, Aug. 5, 1998, at his home. He was born July 27, 1934, in Chester, Ill., son of Harry C. and Edna V. Wheat Dyle. He and Virginia Fern Kirkpatrick were married Feb. 1, 1963. Dyle was a retired carpenter and baker. He was a member of the Cape Girardeau Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints...

ADVANCE -- Wanda Lee Stephens, 69, of Cahokia, Ill., died Wednesday, Aug. 5, 1998, at Memorial Hospital in St. Clair, Ill. She was born Sept. 14, 1928, in Arab, daughter of William Franklin and Leafy Cato Rowe. She married Melvis F. Stephens. Stephens was a member of Abernathy Chapel Church at Arab, Zalma Eastern Star, Harmony White Shrine of Jerusalem in Cahokia, and was an advisor for Rainbow Girls Assembly 12 in Cahokia...

ORAN -- Funeral for Walter W.C. Temme of DeSoto, formerly of Oran, will be held at 11 a.m. today at Dietrich-Mothershead Funeral Chapel in DeSoto. The Rev. Boytt Willis will officiate, with burial in Woodlawn Cemetery in DeSoto. Temme, 86, died Wednesday, Aug. 5, 1998, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Crystal City...

MARBLE HILL -- Mahala C. Mayfield, 87, of Marble Hill died Thursday, Aug. 6, 1998, at her home. She was born Oct. 19, 1910, near Marble Hill, daughter of Louis S. and Fanny C. Aldrich Welker. She and Melvin Mayfield were married April 16, 1933. He died Jan. 31, 1966...

Wilma Marie Meisenheimer, 80 of Cape Girardeau passed away Wed., August 5, 1998 at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, MO.She was born April 5, 1918 in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Albert W. and Grace Marie Mullins Ervin. She and Robert W. Meisenheimer were married in Cape Girardeau December 24, 1937. He died January 24, 1979...