Stories from Sunday, May 2, 1999

To the editor: My knowledge of the global-warming issue is too inadequate to argue either the pros or cons of the matter. However, from what I have read it appears to me that there is room for legitimate debate on either side. What concerns me is how quickly liberals often resort to name-calling and putting labels on people who may not agree with their point of view. ...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Raising the state's gasoline tax and digging into Illinois' much-anticipated share of a national tobacco settlement are options that should be considered to pay for a major public works initiative, according to a task force report submitted to Gov. George Ryan Saturday, a source said...

25 years ago: 1974 Three bids for construction of picnic shelters and maintenance building on County Farm west of Cape Girardeau will be rejected by County Court as too costly; court Thursday agreed to meet with County Park Board next week to discuss alternatives to proposed improvements to County Farm before rejecting bids...

Descendants of John F. Miller and Lucinda (Robbins) Miller will gather May 16 in the Cape County Park for the seventh annual family reunion. The reunion will be in pavilion no. 21 in the South park (across the highway from the U.S. flag) in Cape Girardeau. Family and friends are encouraged to bring a pot luck meal, table ware, beverages and lawn chairs for a noon meal...

Woodland High School took eighth place in the Missouri Science Olympiad at the University of Missouri, April 10. The highest finish was by Blake Rhodes and Joe Blankenship, who took second in the Scrambler division. Heather Roark and Casey Grimsley took third in Polymer Detedtive, while Lisa Vandigriff and Karen Upchurch were third in Earth Sea & Sky competition...

A church youth trip to Washington, D.C. helped lead Jenifer Zinner to apply for a United States Senate page position. "We got to sit in on the Senate while we were there," Zinner said. "I looked down into the chamber and saw a bunch of people who looked like high school students. I asked who they were and found out they were pages."...

Professional makeup artist Danton Thompson shared a few of his secrets over the weekend with local dealers of Mary Kay cosmetics. About 150 Mary Kay representatives from Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois attended the two-day event held at the Holiday Inn's Oak Room. The seminar featured demonstrations and motivational speeches by the Arizona native, who works professionally under his first name...

The Southeast Missouri Press Association honored longtime newspaper publisher Barbara Hill of Dexter. She was recognized with the 1999 Mildred Wallhausen Friend of the Southeast Missouri Press Award. The award is named for the longtime Charleston Enterprise-Courier publisher who was its first recipient in 1997...

THOSE TWO punks who shot up the school in Colorado are getting just exactly what they wanted. You cannot turn the television on without seeing these boys' pictures. These boys stated in a note that they wanted to go out in a flame of glory. Repeating this day after day after day and all these special programs are exactly what these boys wanted. ...

A fascinating scenario is developing as lawmakers head back to Jefferson City for the final two weeks of this year's legislative session. Start with the fact that Gov. Mel Carnahan is incontestably the most pro-abortion governor in Missouri history...

Led by liberals such as U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., Cogress seems likely to approve another increase in the minimum wage. Congressional Republicans seem resigned to the fact of passing an increase for the second time in four years. Congress approved legislation in 1996 providing for a 90-cent an hour increase phased in over two years and, at GOP insistence, attached a package of tax relief for small business...

To the editor: I am a 16-year-old high school student. I am a sophomore, and now each day I wonder if it is going to be safe to walk through our school doors. I hear people say the violence won't happen here, but that is exactly what the other kids at their schools thought. I am even sure their parents thought it would not happen there, but it did...

Dear Editor: Special thanks to Chaffee Police Department, EMT's, Chaffee Fire Department and Delta First Responders. The people above know who they are. I wish to thank them very much for the help I received on April 26, 1999. As I was working on removing an old floor furnace in my residence, it shifted onto my right arm, pinning me between the floor joint and the furnace. This happened about 1 p.m...

Ryan Granger, a student at Jackson High School, has been selected as one of 330 students to attend the 1999 Missouri Scholars Academy. Granger, son of Tom and Kathy Granger, will attend the three-week residential program, June 13-July 3 on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus...

Many Missourians are old enough to remember when a U.S. senator from our state was removed from the Democratic national ticket because he had been treated for depression. Years after the event, the man responsible for the decision, George McGovern, admitted he had made a serious mistake in judgment, that removing Tom Eagleton from the ticket raised doubts among voters who were better informed than himself...

Editor's note: The accompanying star chart is designed to be held overhead with the horizon markers rotated around as needed. When facing a particular direction, the corresponding horizon marker should be at the bottom. The chart is accurate at 10 p.m. near the beginning of the month and around 8 p.m. near the end of the month. Constellation names are typed in all capital letters and star names are lower case letters...

My month-long sojourn to Nevada, Mo. was an interesting, learning experience. While I liked the town and my co-workers there, it is very nice to be home. I'm glad I didn't miss the rest of the school year. The request to go to Nevada was sudden and unexpected. ...

Seven days and counting. That's the time remaining before the official start of Random Acts of Kindness Week. The week begins next Sunday, which is Mother's Day, and runs through May 16. A rather large reminder will go up early this week as two Kindness banners will be stretched across Broadway -- one near Southeast Missouri Hospital and another near the Southeast Missourian offices...

Saturday seemed a picture perfect outdoor day with blues skies, bright sunshine and temperatures hovering in the mid-70s. Roger Brown spent the afternoon working up a sweat indoors -- moving furniture and setting up clothing racks at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. It will open Friday at its new site at 610 Independence...

Southeast Missouri State University wants to help Bootheel families get off the welfare rolls. The university has launched the Bootheel Initiative. Southeast will assess the short-term needs of Bootheel families as a whole, and train and assist agencies and organizations on how best to provide services...

Ah, there's nothing like the great outdoors. The fresh air, the horse manure and that lovely spring pollen in the air. It's enough to make me sneeze. But despite my body's less than welcoming reaction to life's allergens, Cherokee Ridge is nothing to sneeze at...

MARTIN, Tenn. -- Saturday was an all-around good day for Southeast Missouri State University's softball team. The Otahkians won their first two games in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament -- and standout shortstop Jenny Oermann was named the league's Player of the Year...

Cape Central's baseball team had a chance to play for the Big 8 Tournament championship Saturday, but the Tigers threw it away. And kicked it. And dropped it. And let it slip right through their mitts. Central (12-10) committed 11 errors in the championship semifinal game against Mt. Vernon Saturday, ultimately losing 12-5 at Capaha Field...

What in the name of 3-point baskets and slam-dunks is going on down in Scott City? Nobody is saying for sure. But word has it -- and some fairly reliable sources have confirmed it -- that there has been a movement within the Scott City School Board to not rehire Derek McCord as boys basketball coach...

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team continued its steady climb toward the top of the Ohio Valley Conference standings. The Indians picked up a pair of big victories Saturday as they swept a doubleheader from Morehead State, romping 10-2 and 12-2. The squads will conclude the weekend series with a noon single game today...

BENTON -- Kelly won its own four-team Hawk Invitational Saturday by slipping past Scott City 10-8 in eight innings in the finals. Earlier, the Hawks downed East Carter County 9-5 while Scott City edged Jackson 8-7. Jackson came back to rout East Carter 18-3 in five innings for third place...

Cape Girardeau Central High's girls soccer team picked up its third tournament championship of the season Saturday when the Lady Tigers edged Notre Dame 1-0 in the finals of the Optimist Spring Classic. Kim Aslinger scored a second-half goal, with an assist from Leslie Wagoner, as the Lady Tigers improved to 17-1-1 with the win at the Southeast Missouri State University intramural fields...

RICHMOND, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's track and field team failed to bring home a third consecutive Ohio Valley Conference outdoor championship. But the Otahkians' second-place performance here Saturday served the school's entire women's sports program well...

Trees and forests will grow on their own, without any management. Nearly every acre of forest in Missouri was harvested between the 1800s and the late 1920s, and much of the cut-over land subsequently was burned repeatedly and subjected to uncontrolled livestock grazing...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department will hold its 12th annual Hershey Track & Field Meet June 12 at the Central High School track complex. The meet, which will begin at 9 a.m., is open to boys and girls ages 9-14. Events that will be offered are 50, 100, 200 and 400 dashes; 800 and 1,600 runs; standing long jump; softball throw; and 4x100 relay...

Lara Golike, a senior at Cape Central High School, recently signed a letter of intent to play tennis at Southeast Missouri State University. Golike was a four-year player at Central who is known for her doubles play. She was a three-year doubles state qualifier, playing with a different partner every year...

Southeast Missouri State University will hold its annual women's golf scramble June 12 at Jaycee Municipal Golf Course in Cape Girardeau. The four-person scramble will begin at 8 a.m. and will be followed by lunch. Cost is $55 per person. For more information contact Southeast volleyball coach Cindy Gannon at 651-2997...

Lance Schlick, Jackson's only four-year all-state wrestler in the school's history, recently accepted a wrestling scholarship at Lindenwood University, an NAIA school in St. Charles. Schlick, a 135-pounder, was 35-3 during his senior year, losing all three of his matches to Jake Hopson of Oakville. He amassed 124 wins (31 per year) during his high school career and ranks second in school history on the all-time win list...

JACKSON -- Kimberly S. Schweer, 41, died Saturday, May 1, 1999, at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson.

JACKSON -- Mary Jane Cracraft, 76, of Jackson died Saturday, May 1, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 6, 1922, at Pocahontas, daughter of Otis and Bertha Reck Thompson. She was married April 24, 1942, to Gene "Rusty" Cracraft in Cape Girardeau...

Nettie M. Winder, 85, of Jackson died Saturday, May 1, 1999, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel.

EAST PRAIRIE -- Louise James Cobb, 73, of Sikeston, formerly of East Prairie and Lakeland, Fla., died Saturday, May 1, 1999, at the Charleston Manor Nursing Center. She was born in Puxico April 26, 1926, daughter of the late W.M. and Maude Raymer James. She had lived in East Prairie most of her life where she attended the First Church of God. On Dec. 7, 1946, she married Richard Cobb, who survives the home...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Zola May Cummins of East Prairie died Saturday, May 1, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was 86. She was born Oct. 29, 1912, in Irvington, Ill., daughter of the late Charles Jay and Mabel Ellen Mitchell Whittenberg. On July 4, 1949, she married Charles E. Cummins at Irvington. He survives...

A New Madrid County man was killed Saturday morning in a one-vehicle accident, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Richard Frank, 39, of Matthews was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident occurred at the junction of Route H and FF, two miles west of Matthews. The car Frank was driving traveled south through the intersection and struck a utility pole head on...

A graveside service will be at 2 p.m. today at the Bollinger County Memorial Park Cemetery near Marble Hill for Anita B. Baker, 68, of Cape Girardeau. She died Friday, April 30, 1999, at her home. A memorial service and funeral will begin at 5:30 p.m. at Cape LaCroix United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Ron Watts officiating...

At midnight tonight, the Star Wars hype will kick into high gear. Monday marks the official start for both book and toy sales for the new Star Wars movie, The Phantom Menace. Toys R Us in Cape Girardeau plans to open the store at 12:01 Monday morning, according to Marc Edwards, one of the managers. He expects collectors and enthusiasts to begin lining up much earlier...

A two-car, head-on collision closed the Mississippi River Bridge for more than an hour Saturday night. Three people were transported by ambulance to Southeast Missouri Hospital. Two males were traveling in one of the cars, coming from Illinois. The eastbound car carried a family, two females and one male...

A rockwork pedestal keeps this mailbox secure. A mailbox that resembles a pig hints at the owner's livelihood. This mailbox resembles the owner's house. Only a few years ago, people went to great trouble to find a mailbox that signified their career, sense of humor or favorite hobbies...

"What's New in Cardiac Diagnostic Services" will be the program topic when the Mended Hearts Club meets Tuesday at Southeast Missouri Hospital. The program will be held at 6 p.m. in the hospital's Generations Family Resource Center. It is free and open to the public...

St. Francis Medical Center is offering a new service. The Osteoporosis Support Services Team can help people diagnosed with osteoporosis learn ways to treat it, strengthen their bones and lower their risk for fractures. In addition, you will be informed about how medications and good nutrition can prevent further bone loss...