Stories from Saturday, November 14, 1998

To the editor: I was watching the morning news and heard a piece about how President Clinton thinks gun shows harbor criminals and promote criminal acquisition of firearms. The program stated he has asked for a committee to investigate a solution to this problem. My understanding is that the Clinton administration in its continuing battle to take away the right to bear arms and the right to trade freely would like to make gun shows illegal...

The Area Wide United Way has raised 65 percent of its $625,000 fund-raising goal. Contributions collected so far total $408,250. Twenty-five service agencies in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City will receive funding from money raised during the 1998 campaign...

JACKSON -- The tax bills are in the mail. The Cape Girardeau County collector's office began mailing tax bills Tuesday. "We are mailing about 5,000 to 6,000 a day," said Collector Harold Kuehle. He said all of the tax bills should have been mailed by next Tuesday...

A statue of Mary and the Christ child adorns the top of a manmade mound on the seminary grounds. The mound sits along a tree-lined path. The Rev. Louis Derbes showed a collection of first edition books written by Mark Twain housed in one of the seminary's museum rooms. Many first edition books and other rare books can be found in the seminary library...

The idea of a regional Lutheran high school received a real boost recently from area Lutheran congregations. Members from 14 Lutheran churches were surveyed about helping to develop and fund a secondary school. An impressive 80 percent of those responding gave the project a thumbs up. This kind of solid support should give the project momentum...

Construction of a new vocational-technical school is progressing, thanks to a swap of some swampy land. The Cape Girardeau School District has traded 2.8 acres of wetland on the school site for seven acres of farmland that will become wetland on a farm north of Cape Girardeau. That swap allowed the school board to officially resolve state and federal issues and finally award a bid for site work...

To the editor: The articles in the Sunday edition of the Southeast Missourian by Jean Bell Mosley have been greatly appreciated. Her ability to describe the events of her life merits praise. I am sure her stories brought back memories to many readers. Thanks, Mrs. Mosley, for giving us the pleasure of knowing you and for extending a ray of sunshine among the dark clouds we see so much of in today's world...

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson says the Senate should reject an international agreement aimed at curbing global warming. The Clinton administration's acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations signed the 1997 U.N. Kyoto Protocol on Thursday in New York. It would require the United States to take steps to sharply reduce emissions of heat-trapping gasses like carbon dioxide from automobiles and industry...

The Safe House for Women wanted to provide transitional housing for women but needed money to purchase property. The Federal Home Loan Bank based in Iowa has money available through competitive grants for low-income housing throughout the Midwest. It was looking for projects...

Wish you could catch a bus to work? Wondering if a van could take you to appointments with the doctor? A committee studying transportation in Cape Girardeau County wants to know. The ad hoc committee, which is examining the need and feasibility of countywide transportation services, is conducting a survey of transportation needs...

West Park Mall is charging $5 admission to shop Sunday night, but customers aren't complaining. Their favorite nonprofit organizations will benefit, and the shoppers will have a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree or one of more than 100 door prizes...

Two years ago Pam Sander said it was time for the next step in recycling -- for consumers to buy products using recycled materials. That message is now being conveyed nationally. "If you're not buying recycled, you're not really recycling," is the 1998 theme for America Recycles Day, which will be observed across the nation Sunday...

November has been a month of many expectations for me. A special celebration for Patrick and me, the arrival of our second child and the beginning of the holiday season were only a few of the things I've been eagerly anticipating this month. The last thing I expected was the car accident I was involved in last week...

Dangerous. That's the first word that comes to Gary Garner when he thinks about tonight's season opener for the 1998-99 Southeast Missouri State University basketball Indians. Garner is not about to say that Southern Illinois-Edwardsville -- a Division II squad that was hit extremely hard by graduation -- is a great team...

With both football teams already assured of disappointing seasons, pride and local bragging rights will take front and center stage for Southeast Missouri State University and Southern Illinois today. The squads -- with a combined 5-15 record and 11-game losing streak -- will close out their seasons with a 12:30 p.m. kickoff at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale...

Paul Kowalczyk, who has an extensive business background, said he would be able to put that expertise to good use if he is hired as the next athletic director at Southeast Missouri State University. Kowalczyk, one of two finalists for the Southeast post, was in Cape Girardeau Friday to meet with coaches, administrators and members of the local media...

Sure, Christian Brothers University is only a Division II school. And last season the Lady Bucs basketball team wasn't exactly a juggernaut, as evidenced by their 7-20 record. But what occurred two seasons ago still sticks in Southeast Missouri State coach Ed Arnzen's craw. So don't expect the Otahkians to take the visitors from Memphis, Tenn., lightly in both teams' season opener tonight at 5:30 in the Show Me Center...

Reacting to a lunging save that kept a rally going, Murray State University volleyball coach Dave Schwepker bolted from his courtside seat in a burst of excitement. He stood a few feet from the court, exhorting his team to battle on, when the ball grazed Houck Field House's ceiling, fell back to the court and was mishandled by one of his Racers...

SIKESTON -- Anna I. Kirksey, 91, of Sikeston died Thursday, Nov. 12, 1998, at her home. She was born Nov. 25, 1906, in Hazelton, Ind., daughter of William and Sarah Thorn. She married Isaac Kirksey in 1936, who died in 1973. Kirksey was formerly of Hazelton and Jensen Beach, Fla...

SIKESTON -- Mattie W. Bridges, 84, of Sikeston died Thursday, Nov. 12, 1998, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Nov. 10, 1914, at Cuba Landing, Tenn., daughter of R.E. and Elizabeth Rains Horner. She married Steven Walter Bridges, who died in 1991...

Ruby L. Magee, 90, of Pine Bluff, Ark., died Friday, Nov. 13, 1998, at Davis Life Care Center in Pine Bluff. She was born Aug. 14, 1908, in Savannah, Tenn., daughter of J.R. Graves and Cora Rasetta Byrd Bowen. She and the Rev. Guy Magee were married April 1, 1928, in Wilson, Ark. He died Feb. 18, 1989...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Billy Joe Eickelman, 71, of Tamms died Friday, Nov. 13, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 22, 1927, in Sandusky, son of Claude John and Kathleen Delores Provo Eickelman. He and Paula Miller were married Dec. 22, 1946...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Jeremy Brett Kasper, 25, of Jonesboro, died Thursday, Nov. 12, 1998, at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Survivors include his mother and stepfather, Brenda and Gary Nobel of Jonesboro; his father, Bill Kasper of Wolf Lake; a sister, Christian of Jonesboro; two half brothers, Monte Kasper of Kankakee, Anthony Kasper of Cairo; a half sister, Courtney Kasper of Anna; two stepsisters, Melissa and Angela Nobel of Belleville; maternal great-grandfather, Guy Smithey of Anna.. ...

ADVANCE -- Frank Kalinski, 73, of Advance died Friday, Nov. 13, 1998, at his home, following an extended illness. He was born Oct. 1, 1925, in Decatur, Ill., son of Frank O. and Nellie Oyler Kalinski. He and Shirley Corbin were married Sept. 14, 1951, in Advance...

Kathleen E. Rudert John, age 83, of Rogers, AR, formerly of Cape Girardeau, passed away Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1998 at Rogers Rehab & Living Ct. She was born June 5, 1915, in Cape Girardeau, to Benjamin and Carolyn LaCroix Rudert. She was educated at St. Marys School and graduated from Central High School. ...