Stories from Thursday, March 18, 1999

To the editor: Sweepstakes or the lottery, whichever you choose, are both an absurd waste of time. The odds are against that you will win enough to make it worth your while. However, if you can sue a big corporation under some ridiculous exaggeration of the law, you could have a better chance of getting something for nothing...

A portion of Westfield Shoppingtown West Park Mall will look a little like Busch Stadium this weekend. It is all part of the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Tour, which will appear in the Famous-Barr corridor of the shopping center. The Hall of Fame display, more than two years in the making with 1,000 manhours, is making its first appearance outside the metropolitan St. Louis area Friday, Saturday and Sunday...

Ten Southeast Missouri State University students are headed for Wales today to student teach in elementary schools in Swansea. Three days later, 10 students from the Swansea Institute of Higher Education will arrive in Cape Girardeau to learn more about American education over a five-week period...

The Cape Girardeau Central High School choirs will perform Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium. The Central Chamber Choir and the Men's and Women's Contest Choirs will perform. The event is open to the public. Admission is free. Dina Strickert, who directs the choirs, said the students will perform songs they will be singing for a Southeast Missouri district contest. The district contest will be held at Southeast Missouri State University on March 26...

10:30 p.m. Thursday, March 11, 1999 Julie Antill stood in a corner of the nightclub and winced. A small woman, she appeared buffeted by the raucous beat emitting from the stage area in Jeremiah's. The floor throbbed. Teen-age fans of the rock band Carp cheered as lead singer Kevin Loyd let loose with a primal roar and launched into "Sick and Tired."...

Kevin Loyd, front man for Carp, screamed out his lyrics at Jeremiah's. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 10, 1999 Jonny Ford has been singing for more than an hour and is ready for a break. The front man for the Cape Girardeau band Solid State, he's excited about an upcoming performance at Jeremiah's...

Republicans have marveled with incredulity at how Bill Clinton's defenders have remained loyal to him even to the point of effectively rewriting the law on impeachable offenses and sexual harassment, the latter at least being thought to be quite nonnegotiable to them. This loyalty has been no accident, however, but the result of an ongoing calculated assessment of the relative disadvantages of remaining versus those of defecting...

For as long as many of us can remember, there have been warnings from the U.S. surgeon general on every pack of cigarettes. Until health officials decided there were risks associated with smoking, the office of surgeon general was practically an anachronism. But illnesses and even deaths attributed to smoking revived the office. In recent years, surgeons general have continued to call attention to the connection between smoking and health problems...

Too often, it seems as though government bureaucrats go through the motions of seeking public input only to do whatever it was they wanted to do in the first place. That skepticism certainly extended to a lot of bank customers who feared the FDIC would implement new rules affecting the privacy of individual accounts in spite of strong protests...

To the editor: It's in the nature of the way things work in our world: Nations spy on one another. They do this whether they are nominally friendly or openly adversarial. The principal reason for most of the spying is that national security remains, as Ford Motor Co. used to say, "Job One" for most national leaders. Bill Clinton may be a singular exception in this regard...

In a joke passed down from one class of Golden Eagles to the next during LeRoy Mason's long tenure as the Southeast Missouri State University marching band's director, a man going to heaven hears beautiful music as he reaches St. Peter's Gate. He peeks inside and sees someone on a podium conducting a band of angels. Who's that?" he asks St. Peter. "Oh, it's God," the saint says. "He thinks he's LeRoy Mason."...

Some 6,000 area teachers have the opportunity to attend the 123rd annual Missouri State Teachers Association Meeting on Friday, but only a small percentage are expected to show up for the event. The meeting, traditionally held at the Show Me Center, has been moved to Southeast Missouri State University's Academic Hall this year due to scheduling conflicts. The general session will begin at 9 a.m...

Two people have died within the week of bacterial meningitis, but health officials say no health emergency exists. A 37-year-old Cape Girardeau woman and a 3-year-old Fredericktown boy both died, but from different strains of the disease. "We don't want people to be overly frightened," said Sue Tippin, communicable-disease coordinator with the Missouri Department of Health...

Supporters of Missouri's Proposition A say the measure to upgrade the 911 system for wireless phones could be a life saver. Voters will decide April 6 whether to approve the measure, which would impose a monthly fee of up to 50 cents on wireless customers...

March 18, 1999 Dear Leslie, The approach of the Academy Awards is a reminder that 10 years have passed since I left Southern California. Ten years since our desks sat side by side and you wondered what would become of your young and pregnant daughter, and I wondered what I was doing trying to learn to surf in my 30s...

To me, Rick Hummel has the best job in the world. The St. Louis Post Dispatch veteran writer follows the St. Louis Cardinals' every hit, error and blown save. Last year, he covered Big Mac's home run bear hugs. He was there to see all of Ozzie's dazzling diving stops and all of Willie McGee's leaping snags...

ST. LOUIS -- The Rivermen of the University of Missouri-St. Louis belted two two-out home runs in the first inning on their way to a 12-1 rout of Southeast Missouri State University Wednesday. Bob Stehman hit a two-run blast and Mike Andrew launched a three-run shot in UMSL's six-run first inning which KO'd Indian starter Danny Schiltz. The Rivermen, who had four home runs on the day, added two runs in the second and four in the seventh for a 12-0 lead...

Cape Girardeau Central High's girls soccer team likely will again be the team to beat in Southeast Missouri, though Jackson and Perryville are seeking to begin gaining ground when the season kicks off Monday. And small schools Notre Dame and newcomer St. Vincent hope to take advantage of the split of Missouri's former single classification as members of the new Class 1A-2A...

Alice M. Pecaut, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, March 16, 1999, at Fountainbleau Lodge. She was born June 29, 1910, at Perryville, daughter of William and Catherine Ruch LaRose. She and Vincent S. Pecaut were married in November 1931 at Perryville...

Funeral for Neomi Marguerite Quinton of Cape Girardeau will be held at 1 p.m. today at Follis-Sonderman Funeral Home in Fredericktown. Gene Gainer will officiate, with burial in Christian Cemetery at Fredericktown. Quinton, 80, died Monday, March 15, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center...

PERRYVILLE -- Funeral Mass for Olitha C. Berkbigler of Perryville will be held at 11 a.m. today at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Rev. Kevin Fausz will officiate. Burial will be in St. Joseph Cemetery at Highland. Friends may call at Young and Sons Funeral Home from 6:30-10:45 a.m. today...

McCLURE, Ill. -- Clyde V. Dunn, 82, of McClure died Wednesday, March 17, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He was born Dec. 13, 1916, at Thebes, son of Clyde F. and Ida Mae Mohser Dunn. He and Dorothy Fuller were married March 4, 1939, at McClure. She died in 1989...

CHAFFEE -- Funeral for William T. Thompson of Chaffee will be held at 7 p.m. today at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee. The Rev. Watis Harrell will officiate. Graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Ash Grove Cemetery in Ash Grove, with the Rev. Hank Foster officiating...

PERRYVILLE -- Clara Irene Wann, 78, formerly of Perryville, died Tuesday, March 16, 1999, at St. Joseph Healthcare Center in St. Charles. She was born June 16, 1920, at Elvins, daughter of Thomas and Pearl Gann Wann. Survivors include a brother, Roy Wann of Cahokia, Ill.; and a sister, Lee Thomas of St. Charles...

SIKESTON -- Francis Richard Jenkins, 68, of Sikeston died Tuesday, March 16, 1999, at his home. He was born Jan. 13, 1931, at Morehouse, son of Albert and Mary Vanover Jenkins. He and Lillian Hubbard were married June 18, 1948, at Sikeston. Jenkins was a machine operator at Potlatch Corp. He was a member of Trinity Chapel, and the founder and a member of the Gospel Jubileers...

SIKESTON -- Bessie Mae Ward, 91, of Sikeston died Tuesday, March 16, 1999, at Sikeston Health Care Center. She was born Jan. 12, 1908, in Dundee, Miss., daughter of Felix and Jennie Boxley. Ward had lived in Sikeston since 1972, and was a member of St. John Missionary Baptist Church...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Donald R. DeWitt, 57, of Cobden died Tuesday, March 16, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 21, 1941, at Millcreek, son of John A. and Bessie Lorene Harvel DeWitt. He and Rosemary Higgins were married Dec. 26, 1966, in Springfield...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Wilma Taylor, 60, of Mounds died Tuesday, March 16, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 28, 1938, in Mound City, daughter of William and Ethel Clanahan Glenn. She married Richard Taylor, who preceded her in death...

DUDLEY -- Henry George, 85, of Dudley died Wednesday, March 17, 1999, at Dexter Memorial Hospital. He was born June 13, 1913, in Dyersburg, Tenn., son of Jarden and Florence Lee Rigsby George. He had lived in Alabama for several years before moving to Dudley in 1978. He attended the Dudley Baptist Church...

THEBES, Ill. -- Howard Wiley Clutts, 90, died Wednesday, March 17, 1999, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept. 27, 1908, in Thebes, the son of Vernell and Clara Murphy Clutts. He was first married to Stella Adams, who preceded him in death. He married Gladys Waddell July 4, 1976, in Thebes. She died Jan. 9, 1993...

Verda Irene Criddle, 96, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, March 15, 1999, at the Lutheran Home. She was born June 30, 1902, at Drum, daughter of James Franklin and Mary Nevada Hartle Stroder. She and William Smith Criddle were married Nov. 25, 1920, at Hickory Grove. He died April 13, 1996...

BERNIE -- Funeral for Ormal Faye Noyes of Bernie will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at Rainey Funeral Home in Bernie. The Rev. Maxwell Lewis will officiate, with burial in Bernie Cemetery. Noyes, 65, died Tuesday, March 16, 1999, at Twin Rivers Medical Center in Kennett...

Son to Dr. Dean Ellis and Dr. Jodianne Carter of Auburn, Ala., Eastern Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 24, 1999. Name, Ethan Carter Ellis. Weight, 5 pounds 8 ounces. First child. Carter is the daughter of Jim and Judy Carter of Kansas City and formerly of Cape Girardeau. Carter and Ellis are ophthalmologists in Auburn and Opelika. He is the son of Joe and JoAnne Ellis of Cassville...