Stories from Saturday, January 16, 1999

To the editor: Someone must respond to W.T. Woods' Jan. 5 letter. Expressing an opinion is one thing, but to blatantly give false data as documented fact is something far beyond irresponsibility. I am fed up with Bill Clinton and his attack dogs like James Carville, Larry Flynt and a local wannabe, W.T. Woods, and all of their denying and diversions. I am bored with their pathetic partisan attacks and character assassinations in their attempts to whitewash our White House tar baby...

SIKESTON -- The Jaycees will donate $55,000 to the Missouri Delta Medical Center Foundation for the relocation and renovation of the hospital's kidney dialysis unit. The donation will be made Tuesday in a ceremony at the hospital. The kidney dialysis unit serves patients from six Southeast Missouri counties and operates six days a week. Over 8,000 treatments are given annually...

PERRYVILLE -- The Board of Aldermen has announced Perryville's road improvement projects for 1999. The five projects on the list are Edgemont Boulevard and Cloe, Gray, North Moulton and Jefferson streets. The streets are asphalt with no curb or gutters. They will be replaced with a concrete surface and curbs and gutters will be installed...

"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:3 The message is simple and clear: Churches, despite their denominational differences, should work together for the good of the Christian faith. Despite its simplistic message, the spirit of Christian unity is not always easily achieved. It can mean dealing with some tough theological issues...

DO YOU have a job where you work certain hours almost every day? Do you have a job where you very seldom have to work a weekend or holiday? Do you have a job where you know physically where you're going to be in the institution, what jobs, what tasks you're going to be performing? Do you have a job where you can get a break and a lunch or supper hour on a routine basis? Do you have a job where your back isn't hurting all the time? If so, congratulations. ...

Cape Girardeau County mirrored the nation in declining crime last year. That's the good news. The number of criminal cases filed by the county prosecutor's office dipped slightly from 1997 to 1998. The 2,025 felony and misdemeanor cases handled by the prosecutor's office showed a decline of 31 cases...

Mineral Area College has joined forces with the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School to beef up training for local industries. The partnership offers a new associate of applied science degree with classes offered at the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School. This cooperative venture should benefit both students and area employers...

After averaging more than $3.5 million and 48 building permits a month during the first 10 months 1998, Cape Girardeau construction permits declined in November and December. When the year's totals were compiled by Brenda D. Schloss, administrative secretary of the city's inspection services division, it showed a total of 550 permits had been issued in the amount of $39,785,496 during 1998...

Southeast Missouri State University hopes to recruit more Illinois students by offering a tuition break. The Cape Girardeau school announced Friday it will offer a tuition break to eligible students in 35 Illinois counties beginning this fall. The area covers all of Southern Illinois and extends to the Springfield area to the north...

In two days many of us will commemorate the life of a national hero by taking a day off from school or work. Like only a handful of other phenomenal Americans, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has had a specific day set aside by our national government to honor his works on behalf of "we the people."...

Southeast Missouri State University basketball coach Gary Garner has a philosophy about handling adversity that he imparts to his team often. "We have a saying, `It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it,' " said Garner. Garner will find out quickly if the Indians have truly taken that saying to heart because they are coming off a heartbreaking 71-70 loss to Murray State Thursday night as the Racers hit an incredible shot with one-tenth of a second remaining...

Things got a bit too close for comfort late, but Cape Girardeau Central High boys basketball coach Brett Reutzel wasn't about to complain. Reutzel was more than happy to pocket a 45-41 victory over visiting New Madrid County Central Friday night. "It got a bit too hairy there at the end," said Reutzel with a smile. "But we've played several close games like this that we've lost, so it's nice to win one of them...

Like long-range investors, the Scott City Rams didn't put much stock into Notre Dame's productive first quarter. Instead, the seventh-ranked Class 2A team showed patience, stuck with it's long-term goals and coasted to a profitable 76-65 retirement of Notre Dame Friday night...

OAK RIDGE -- Matt Stroup netted 20 points as Chaffee High's boys basketball team picked up its first win of the season Friday night by downing Oak Ridge 62-49. Chaffee (1-9) also received 14 points from Mike McLard. "It's a load off our shoulders," said Chaffee coach Jim Stoverink of win No. 1. "In my two-and-a-half years here, that was probably the best defensive game we played. It's the first time we've held someone under 50 points."...

Southeast Missouri State University football coach John Mumford announced Friday that defensive line coach Jay Thomas has resigned to accept a job as defensive line coach at Jacksonville State in Alabama. Thomas was on the coaching staff at Southeast the past six seasons...

Tom Kelso, the strength and conditioning coach at Southeast Missouri State University, has been chosen by fellow colleagues in the Ohio Valley Conference as the OVC's 1999 Strength and Conditioning Professional of the Year. The award, which recognizes coaches who have shown excellence in their strength training and conditioning programs, is sponsored and coordinated by the National Strength and Conditioning Association...

CHAFFEE -- Anthony "Tony" Garito, 84, of Chaffee died Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Dec. 7, 1914, in Norwich, N.Y., son of Angelo and Grace Natoli Garito. He and Helen Stubbs were married Dec. 21, 1947. She died June 3, 1993...

Chandois L. Foster, 86, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Jan. 15, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Dec. 11, 1912, at Vanduser, son of Erie H. and Hettie E. Bugg Foster. He first married Marie Reiker July 31, 1940. She died in September 1973. He later married Opal Henson in July 1976. She died in May 1986...

THEBES, Ill. -- Robert Glenn Dare, 72, of Rosiclare died Friday, Jan. 15, 1999, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Marion. He was born April 27, 1926, at Sikeston, Mo., son of Earl and Lillie Fairless Dare. He married the former Nellie Davis...

POPLAR BLUFF -- Freda Billingsley, 93, of Poplar Bluff died Wednesday, Jan. 13, 1999, at Mark Twain Caring Center in Poplar Bluff. She was born April 24, 1905, in Rockford, Ill. She and H.C. Billingsley were married July 3, 1920. He died in August 1969...

DEXTER -- Alice Ecord, 86, died Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999, at Twin Rivers Medical Center in Kennett. She was born May 22, 1912, in Watts, Okla., daughter of Thomas and Cora Bell Fitzgerald Hudgins. Formerly of Kansas, Ecord had lived in Missouri the past 60 years...

THEBES, Ill. -- Funeral for the Rev. Cloy Myers of Thebes will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms. The Rev. Curtis Alderson will officiate, with burial in Rose Hill Cemetery at Thebes. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

Son to Marcus Andrew and Sandra Lynn Latham of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 2:58 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 7, 1999. Name, James Andrew. Weight, 7 pounds 11 ounces. Mrs. Latham is the former Sandra Cribbs, daughter of Jerry and Virginia Nichols of Prudenville, Mich., and the late James Cribbs of Marston. Latham is the son of Eugene and Carolyn McCaig of Caruthersville, and the late Herman Latham of Wardell. He is employed at Cape Girardeau Country Club...

Mildred Virginia Hook, 83, of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, January 15, 1999 at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born December 29, 1915 at Fornfelt, the daughter of Meade Wilson and Louisa Virginia Stepp Ireland. She married Rev. Thomas William Hook on November 12, 1943 at Valley Park. He preceded her in death on March 22, 1977...

Good Shepherd Lutheran Chapel will offer a 10-week series on parenting issues beginning Jan. 24. The class, which will be held from 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. each Sunday, will use both video lessons and group discussions. The lessons are based on the book "Raising Kids Who Turn Out Right" by Tim Kimmel...

A recent Religion News Service story reported that Jan. 23 some 2,000 pages of the private diaries of atheist activist Madalyn Murray O'Hair will be sold at an auction to help pay off creditors and back taxes. O'Hair mysteriously disappeared along with a son, a granddaughter and $600,000 in 1995. ...