Stories from Saturday, August 15, 1998

Mark Graham directed choir members during a practice at the First Assembly of God Church. Pastor Graham is responsible for the music and multi-media the church has during services. The Greater Dimension Church Choir was led in a gospel song by Calvin Bird during practice at the church located on South Sprigg...

The Missouri Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting Aug. 25 on a plan to construct an Interstate 55 interchange on Route E near Oak Ridge. The meeting will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Oak Ridge School cafeteria. No formal presentation is planned. Instead, the meeting will give people an opportunity to view plans for the interchange and speak with MoDOT representatives...

Five years ago, the mandatory police training standards in Missouri not only were the worst in the U.S., they were among the lowest in the world. Thanks to legislated minimum standards, the establishment of the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission and new continuing education requirements, Missouri's officer training standards now rank among the top 25 states...

The last time Richard Young saw his wife, Patricia, she was seated at the kitchen table of their dream home in rural Cape Girardeau County near Pocahontas. She was watching the birds eat at the new bird feeder in the cold January air and recording what birds visited in her journal...

Drunken driving is a crime officials throughout Cape Girardeau County try to combat at every level -- in the legislature, the courthouse, the roadway and the schoolroom. Although the number of DWI cases is slowly dropping statewide, officials in Cape Girardeau County continue to battle the problem aggressively...

Congressional candidate Tony Heckemeyer lashed out Friday at Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, accusing her of being a tool of the insurance industry. The Sikeston Democrat charged that Emerson's support for a bill to limit liability in Superfund pollution-cleanup cases amounted to a conflict of interest...

Planned improvements to Hopper Road will start with a public hearing Monday night when the Cape Girardeau City Council will hear plans to improve Hopper from Kage Road to Oak Ridge Road, a distance of more than 330 feet. "Basically what this is is just intersection work," said city engineer Mark Lester. "It's part of the Phase 1 of the Hopper Road extension."...

I've been having a running e-mail conversation with Heidi Nieland over the past two weeks about my pregnancy and how it's affecting my life. We all know Heidi's a funny girl, but I just didn't realize how funny she was until this series of messages...

To the editor: I would like to comment about the doctors' surgery center that everyone is complaining about. Cape Girardeau is really behind on medical services such as this. I have had surgery in hospitals in Memphis, Cape Girardeau and St. Louis, and never have I had the experience I just had in Amarillo, Texas. I just returned from there after my brother had serious surgery on his neck at a surgical center that a group of doctors built to offer their patients better service and lower cost...

At one time or another, almost everyone misses a day of work. The problem often becomes: Who will do the work when an employee is absent? School districts face the same kind of challenge when teachers are away from the classroom. A shortage of qualified substitute teachers has made the task all the more difficult...

Over the next couple of weeks, area students will return to classrooms. Getting kids to school is one challenge. Keeping them there is an even bigger job. The Cape Girardeau NAACP is working to inspire young people to stay in school. Its "Back-to-School/Stay-in-School" program was recently recognized by the national organization...

To the editor: As most of you are aware, Notre Dame High School has completed its move to our new campus. We will now continue our journey of quality education and unloading the boxes. The purpose of this letter is not to inform of our move but instead to recognize the community that made it happen...

Gary Rust, owner of Rust Communications and the Southeast Missourian newspaper, was one of 11 people appointed Thursday to serve on the Missouri Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The announcement of Rust's appointment was made by Melvin L. Jenkins, director of the Central Regional Office for the commission...

Southeast Missouri State University football coach John Mumford believes the Indians can be a much improved team this season. And a great deal of that optimism is based on an offense that returns nine starters from a unit that came on strong toward the end of last year...

The Southeast Missouri State University volleyball team was picked to win its sixth consecutive Ohio Valley Conference crown as it topped the pre-season poll released Friday. Southeast received six first-place votes and 78 points overall while last year's OVC tournament champion Tennessee Tech collected the other four first-place votes and 72 points to finish second in the poll...

Clarice Ouita Harrelson McMullin, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Aug. 11, 1998, at the home of a daughter in High Ridge. She was born Nov. 22, 1913, at Flat River, daughter of William T. and Rosa Lee Hugon Windle. McMullin attended Mineral Area College, and received a master's degree from Southeast Missouri State University...

DEXTER -- William H. "Bill" Ashworth, 95, of Dexter died Thursday, Aug. 13, 1998, at Vintage Villa Nursing Center. He was born Feb. 20, 1903, near Dexter, son of William James and Cynthia Ellen Weatherly Ashworth. Ashworth was a retired farmer, and attended the General Baptist Church. He lived along Dudley Route 1 all his life until moving to Dexter in 1990...

BENTON -- Mona Verneal Weems, 43, of Benton died Friday, Aug. 14, 1998, at her home, following an extended illness. She was born Aug. 25, 1954, in Stoddard County, daughter of Joe R. and Wretha M. Cobb Williams. She and Michael Weems were married Dec. 2, 1972...

SIKESTON -- Carson L. Pitman Jr., 70, of Sikeston died Thursday, Aug. 13, 1998, at South Sunflower County Hospital in Indianola, Miss. He was born July 8, 1928, in Pitman, Ark., son of Carson L. and Maudie Quertermous Pitman Sr. Pitman was a title one loan officer with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, retiring in 1975...

ANNA, Ill. -- Nora M. Hinkle, 89, of Anna died Thursday, Aug. 13, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was born Sept. 26, 1908, in Jonesboro, daughter of Charles and Eliza Dodson Dover. She and Clarence Hinkle were married Aug. 6, 1927, in Jonesboro. He died June 1, 1971...

CHAFFEE -- Clarene Elizabeth Musgrave, 45, of Chaffee died Thursday, Aug. 13, 1998, in an automobile accident near Chaffee. She was born July 20, 1953, at Portageville, daughter of Edward Lee and Goldean Tatum Williams. She and Eugene Musgrave were married May 1, 1970...

FROHNA -- Funeral for Alma F. Martin of Frohna will be held at 2 p.m. today at Brazeau Presbyterian Church in Brazeau. The Rev. Jim Duncan will officiate, with burial in the church cemetery. Friends may call at the church from 1:30 p.m. until service time...

John W. Peetz, 75, of Mountain Home, Ark., died Friday, Aug. 14, 1998, at Baxter County Regional Hospital in Mountain Home. He is formerly of Cape Girardeau. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Paula Marie Lynn Browning, 41, of Olive Branch died Friday, Aug. 14, 1998, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 7, 1957, at Cape Girardeau, the daughter of William Earl and Mary Margaret Pascal Lynn. She married Loren "Wayne" Browning. He died Oct. 6, 1997...

Son to Kirby Len and Claudine Rhea Sokolowski of Advance, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 5:56 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, 1998. Name, Brandon Kyle. Weight, 7 pounds 2 ounces. Second child, first son. Mrs. Sokolowski is the former Claudine Lemons, daughter of Jack and Carol Lemons of Essex. Sokolowski is the son of Otto and Barbara Sokolowski of Advance. He is employed in the engineering department of Standley Batch Systems...

ST. JAMES -- Eugene Edward Miller, 89, formerly of Scott County, died Sunday, Aug. 2, 1998, at the Missouri Veterans Home in St. James. He was born Jan. 26, 1909, at Scott County, son of Henry David "Jack" and Anne Laura Koch Miller. His wife, Geneva Alice Klages Miller, preceded him in death...

We preachers entertain fanciful thoughts that unbelievers scan public statements like this, hungry to fill some spiritual deficiency in their lives. Plenty indeed are hungry. But the fact is, fellow Christians, you and I are mostly alone as we read this...