Stories from Saturday, January 9, 1999

Planned school holidays in January and February will be canceled for Cape Girardeau students to make up days missed because of bad weather. Superintendent Dan Tallent said that Jan. 18 and Feb. 15 originally had been set aside to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and Presidents Day. However, after canceling classes four days in December and January, school officials opted to use both holidays as makeup days...

"We're Science," a tongue-in-cheek program that answers listeners' questions on a variety of science topics, is scheduled to debut locally Sunday on KRCU radio. The program will air at 3:30 p.m. on 90.9 FM. The half-hour program is produced by KUMR, the public radio station at the University of Missouri-Rolla...

In the wake of opposition from the Missouri attorney general, the board of directors at St. Francis Medical Center has voted to cease merger discussions with Southeast Missouri Hospital. Thirteen of the board's 14 members attended a meeting that was called after Attorney General Jay Nixon announced Thursday he opposed the hospitals' merger. Nixon's announcement came at a news conference at his Cape Girardeau office...

Freezing rain and drizzle closed schools and left motorists and pedestrians skating on thin ice Friday. The storm closed the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. Public Works crews in Cape Girardeau and Jackson spent the day battling ice. "We have our ice skates on," airport manager Bruce Loy said Friday afternoon...

Students in Cape Girardeau can complete a two-year degree from Three Rivers Community College without ever stepping foot on the Poplar Bluff campus. The program is a collaboration between Three Rivers, the Cape Girardeau School District and Southeast Missouri State University...

It's funny how much perspective you can gain watching reruns of "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Law and Order." That's what I've been doing, you know. Sure, I've given birth to a healthy baby boy and been relieved of some gallstones that were making life extremely difficult, but other than that, I haven't done much of anything else...

Since its inception in June 1997, Cape Girardeau's Ethics Commission hasn't had a single case to consider. The commission can act only on official complaints directed at the mayor, city council members, city manager, chief purchasing officer, city judge and advisory board members. No complaints have been filed, so the commission has met only to establish bylaws and elect officers...

Greg Jones is leaving Cape Girardeau and his post as director of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri. His one and a half years at the arts council has infused new ideas and energy into the organization. He will be sorely missed at the helm. Jones begins work in mid-February as the creative arts coordinator for the Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio. In this impressive position, Jones will oversee 42 in-house arts instructors...

To the editor: Democrats have been screaming and crying partisan politics for months over the possible impeachment and now over the actual impeachment of our immoral and self-serving president. From listening to all the far-left media propaganda on TV and reading many articles in the local Speak Out column, I have come to the conclusion that the Democrats would prefer changing our system of government from an elected representative process where the majority rules to a system of rule by polls. ...

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- It's already been a successful road trip for Southeast Missouri State University's surging basketball team. A victory tonight would make it about as perfect a road trip as Southeast coach Gary Garner could imagine. The Indians, in first place in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 5-0 record -- Southeast is 8-5 overall -- will take on Tennessee Tech in a 7:45 p.m. tipoff at the Eblen Center. Tech is 1-3 in the league, 5-7 overall...

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team had its momentum temporarily halted Thursday night with an 82-75 loss at Middle Tennessee. The Otahkians have an opportunity to regain that momentum tonight -- but they certainly face a tall order...

The fourth annual Tiger Shootout has been shot down in its icy tracks. Today's five-game lineup has been canceled, becoming yet another casualty to the weather. All high school sporting events throughout the region Friday were canceled due to freezing rain which fell earlier in the day...

POPLAR BLUFF -- Cape Central's girls basketball team jumped out to a 12-point lead in the first quarter and went on to avenge one of its two loss this year with a 59-38 victory over Poplar Bluff Thursday night. Kim Aslinger netted a game-high 21 points as the Lady Tigers improved to 8-2 by winning at Poplar Bluff High School for the first time since 1984. The Lady Mules had beaten Cape Central by two points in the recent HealthSouth Holiday Classic...

Son to Daniel Aaron and Jennifer Anne Laudie of Lake St. Louis, St. Mary's Hospital in St. Louis, 7:58 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 22, 1998. Name, Matthew Daniel. Weight, 6 pounds 4 ounces. First child. Mrs. Laudie is the former Jennifer Maxwell, daughter of Diane Maxwell of Cape Girardeau and Jim Maxwell of Dallas, Texas. ...

Robert Newell, 92, of Oak Ridge died Friday, Jan. 8, 1999, at Chaffee Nursing Center. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson.

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Marie A. Davie, 81, of Jonesboro died Friday, Jan. 8, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna.

MARBLE Hill. -- Tyler Wade Rhodes of Marble Hill died Wednesday, Jan. 6, 1999, at St. Louis Children's Hospital after being born there earlier that day. He is survived by his parents, Kevin and Melissa Howell Rhodes of Marble Hill; a sister, McKenzie Rhodes of Marble Hill; paternal grandparents, Milford and Brenda Rhodes of Glen Allen; maternal grandparents, Jerry and Janet Howell of Marble Hill; great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents...

KELSO -- The funeral Mass for Sister Augusta C. Georger has been rescheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Kelso. Visitation will be after 9 a.m. Wednesday at the church until the time of the Mass. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapels in Scott City is in charge of arrangements...

Jerry K. Cora, 57, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Jan. 7, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born April 26, 1941, in Cape Girardeau, son of A.J. and Jacqueline Marlen Cora. He and Kathryn F. Windeknecht were married April 30, 1965, in Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON -- Rosa L. Sitzes, 79, of Sikeston died Thursday, Jan. 7, 1999, at Clearview Nursing Center. She was born Sept. 3, 1919, at Sikeston, daughter of William Charlie and Laura Latimer Thompson. She and Hubert E. Sitzes were married Sept. 20, 1936. He died March 23, 1991...

CHAFFEE -- Dimple Goin, 78, of Munford, Tenn., died Thursday, Jan. 7, 1999, at Baptist Memorial Central Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn. She was born March 22, 1920, at Canalou, daughter of Wayne and Ruth Ann Taul Wright. She and Gerald Goin were married June 4, 1938. He died Feb. 28, 1978...

DEXTER -- Dr. Vernon E. McKillip, 78, of Dexter died Thursday, Jan. 7, 1999, at Dexter Memorial Hospital. He was born Jan. 15, 1920, in Madison, S.D., son of Irl and Mary Donavan McKillip. He and Bernice Lindblad were married June 24, 1942, in Sioux City, Iowa...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Floy Adams, 71, of Olive Branch died Thursday, Jan. 7, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 14, 1927, in Massac County, daughter of Dennis and Floy Coryell Swanner. She and Lindell L. Adams were married Jan. 23, 1944, in Cypress...

MARBLE HILL -- Oliver Kirkpatrick, 88, of Marble Hill died Friday, Jan. 8, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 21, 1910, at Marble Hill, son of Ollie Ray and Ida Mae McPherson Kirkpatrick. He and Thelma Baker were married March 1, 1932, at Fredericktown...

CHAFFEE -- Debbie Ann Landeros Taylor, 46, of Chaffee died Friday, Jan. 8, 1999. She was born July 2, 1952, daughter of John and Marilyn Davis Dohogne Jr. She married Manuel Landeros Jr. Oct. 17, 1970. He preceded her in death Aug. 21, 1983. She was a homemaker and a member of the St. Ambrose Catholic Church, Daughters of St. Ambrose and the SEMO Chapter HOG Club...

The Stephen Ministry program at the Missouri Veterans Home is seeking volunteers to help with the spiritual care of residents at the home. Stephen Ministry is a care-giving program that deals with one-on-one visits among a Stephen minister and resident at the home. All conversations remain confidential...