Stories from Saturday, May 22, 1999

The Rev. Mike Harrison is known around Pocahontas as the "Cowboy Preacher." A cowboy hat hangs in his office at the New Bethel Baptist Church and he carries copies of the Cowboy Bible in his saddlebags for visitation rounds on horseback. POCAHONTAS -- When Mike Harrison finally submitted to a nearly life-long call to the ministry at age 23, he assumed it was time to put aside childish things and personal hobbies...

The Southern Gospel trio Ponders, Sykes and Wright will perform today at the Heartland Homecoming national talent search. The event begins at 9 a.m. and lasts throughout the day at Bavarian Halle in Fruitland. About 90 different performers will compete for a $1,000 first place prize...

The City of Cape Girardeau may have to look at some other options for its taxi coupon program. Kelley Transportation Co., which provides the taxi service to the city, has told city officials that it is withdrawing the bid for the $374,800 contract to provide the taxi service for coupon users...

Mae Neubauer's grandson, Mark Zimmerman, and his wife, Laura, were at Wright's Taliesin III recently and took the accompanying photographs for Neubauer. Mae Neubauer grew up on a farm in Spring Green, Wis., owned by a man the children called "The Shepherd" because he walked the land using a shepherd's cane...

It's not easy to finance a community event, said Phyllis Lipscomb. She should know. Lipscomb is president of the Cape Girardeau Riverfest Association, which sponsors the family festival in downtown Cape Girardeau each year. The organization is considering canceling the 21st annual Riverfest planned for June 11-12 due to lack of funds...

Unless financial backing is secured this weekend, the 21st annual Riverfest event could be canceled when organizers meet Sunday. "It is a definite concern at this point," said Phyllis Lipscomb, president of the Cape Girardeau Riverfest Association. "We are scheduled to meet Sunday, and we're going to review where we are then."...

U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond accused the movie industry Friday of glorifying violence. The Republican senator from Missouri said movies such as "Natural Born Killers" and "Basketball Diaries" send a bad message to troubled youth. A fantasy sequence in "Basketball Diaries," shows a trench-coat-clad student walking into a classroom and shooting his classmates...

A proposal to turn a swathe of Southeast Missouri from Cape Girardeau to Springfield into a federally-designated "biosphere reserve" may be dead, but opponents of the concept aren't taking any chances. Theresa L. Goedke, University of Missouri-Columbia department of rural sociology, said the biosphere idea was poorly presented, misunderstood and has been dropped. It was designed as a research and educational tool, Goedke said...

The women in my life have always taught me to count my blessings. Momma Mable, my baby sitter/surrogate grandmother, taught that lesson daily in my early years. Each morning she would pour herself a cup of coffee and give me a saucer of milk-coffee, humming all the while, as we prepared to listen to her favorite gospel station on the portable radio in her kitchen...

Southeast Missouri State University may not need a new off-campus home for its president. The Board of Regents has hired Dr. Ken Dobbins as the university's 17th president, replacing Dr. Dale Nitzschke who is taking a new job as chancellor at the school. Dobbins will take over July 1...

Shamela Limbaugh, left, presented the non-residential Yard of the Month Award for May to Kathy Cartright on behalf of First Assembly of God Church, 750 N. Mount Auburn Road. Shamela Limbaugh, left, presented the Yard of the Month Award for May to Randy and Chris Welland, 801 East Rodney Drive. The landscape awards are rotated among seven major areas of Cape Girardeau throughout the primary growing season...

SIKESTON -- For as long as she can remember she has wanted to help the community be the best it can be. Community service, she says, should start as a child. Laura Jennings believes in helping others, explaining that not only does it give a good feeling, it's just the right thing to do...

Power was restored by midnight Thursday night to all AmerenUE customers whose service was affected by Monday afternoon's severe wind storms. AmerenUE District Manager Doug Groesbeck said a small number of new outages continued to occur Friday. He said these outages are due to wind damage that just now is taking effect...

U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond hopes a petition drive will convince the Sierra Club to drop a lawsuit that could jeopardize federal highway funding for Missouri. Bond visited Cape Girardeau Friday as part of his continuing statewide tour to promote the petition drive...

To the editor: The Riverfest Committee 199 met this week and discussed the future of the upcoming annual historic riverfront district not-for-profit event. Various board members said that the 21st annual Cape Girardeau Riverfest desperately needed corporate or individual sponsorships and volunteer in order for the last Riverfest of this millenium to be a large as past events...

I'd like to share this poem that has a lot to say about the recent school violence: All over the grounds of the school the bodies of students lay and parents and students everywhere were starting to pray. Now our God is allowed back on the campus of school,...

Monday's storm ripped through the region with a vengeance -- uprooting trees and shearing off roofs and poles. In its wake, more than 44,000 area homes and businesses were without power. The clean-up may take several weeks for homeowners and city crews. For some, the power was off an agonizing 72 hours...

Friday marked the 50th anniversary of a killer tornado that ripped through Cape Girardeau -- leaving millions of dollars and 22 dead in its wake. Perhaps the 50-year retrospect provided residents with a sigh of relief that last week's storm -- although damaging and widespread -- paled in comparison...

The Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament being played at Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau did not exactly go as the host team had planned. Southeast Missouri State University came into the six-team tourney confident of defending its title. Instead, the second-seeded Indians were eliminated in two games. Fourth-seeded Middle Tennessee dealt Southeast its final blow Friday afternoon with a 6-4 victory in a loser's bracket game...

TUCSON, Ariz. -- It took an RBI ground ball in the bottom of the seventh for the Southeast Missouri State Otahkians to pick up their first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament. Joanna Hicks hit a hard grounder into the hole that the shortstop had to backhand. The throw came home, but it was wide and a tag could not be applied as Southeast slipped past East Carolina 2-1 in NCAA Region 2 action Friday...

ADVANCE -- In a fine, fine pitching duel, Oran came out ahead to clinch the Missouri Class 1A District 2 baseball tournament championship Friday, defeating top-seeded and host Advance 2-1. Dustin Dannenmueller struck out the final batter to seal the title for the second-seeded and state second-ranked Oran Eagles (19-5)...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Scott City's Lance Amick took seventh in the triple jump and Kelly's Nathen King took eighth in the 1,600-meter run to earn all-state honors at the Class 2A championships at Lincoln University Friday. Those placing in the top eight are named all-state...

Jason Roddy, who will graduate this spring from Cape Central High School, recently received a scholarship with Lindenwood College, an NAIA school in St. Charles, to play football. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound two-year starter was a tight end with the Tigers last season and caught 13 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns...

ST. PETERS -- Cape Girardeau Central High's girls swimming team had an impressive performance during Friday's preliminaries of the 1999 Missouri State Championships. The Lady Tigers qualified for the finals in seven events as they attempt to top their previous best-ever state finish of sixth...

SIKESTON -- Stephanie L. Rockett, 30, of League City, Texas, died Tuesday, May 18, 1999, in Houston, Texas. She was born Aug. 31, 1968, in Sikeston, daughter of Dan and Linda Rockett. Rockett was a member of Clear Lake United Methodist Church in Houston...

ESSEX -- Funeral for Geneva "Neet" Hill of Essex will be held at 2 p.m. today at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter. The Rev. M.C. Moore will officiate. Burial will be in Essex Cemetery. Hill, 80, died Thursday, May 20, 1999, at Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter...

JACKSON -- Funeral for Herbert Ross Kelsey of Clinton will be held at 10 a.m. today at the United Methodist Church in Clinton. Burial will be in Englewood Cemetery at Clinton. Consalus Funeral Home at Clinton is in charge of arrangements. Kelsey, 86, died Wednesday, May 19, 1999, near Buffalo, Mo...

MARBLE HILL -- Lloyd D. Underwood, 79, of Greenville, formerly of Glen Allen, died Friday, May 21, 1999, at the Greenville Health Care Center. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Liley Funeral Home in Marble Hill.

Donald Grueneberg, 65, died Thursday, May 20, 1999, in Jerseyville, Ill. He was born June 21, 1933, in Cape Girardeau, son of Paul and Olga Koerber Grueneberg. He lived in Cape Girardeau until 1957. He was a U.S. Navy veteran of the Korean War. He retied from McDonnell Douglas as an expediter...

Funeral for Gilbert Lynn Bates of Alton was held last Sunday at Carter Funeral Chapel in Thayer. Bill Bales officiated. Burial was in Hickory Grove Cemetery at Alton. Bates, 51, died Thursday, May 13, 1999, in Alton. He was born July 2, 1947, in Wichita Falls, Texas, son of Lynn C. and Lucile Hardwick Bates...

ORAN -- Ethyle M. Lettelier, 87, of Oran died Thursday, May 20, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 6, 1912, in Westport, Minn., daughter of Henry and Ethel C. Gilbert Bodeker. She and Ralph E. Lettelier were married March 5, 1983, in Las Vegas, Nev...

ZALMA -- Janice Mayberry, 53, of Zalma died Friday, May 21, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 7, 1946, at Zalma, daughter of Roy and Geneva Nichols Lingle. She and Don Mayberry were married May 5, 1962, at Zalma...

BENTON -- Minnie Lee Hudson, 84, of Benton died Thursday, May 20, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 23, 1915, in Crenshaw County, Ala., daughter of William and Zuma Mae Burns Abel. Hudson was a buyer and sales associate with Sears, Roebuck and Co. in Albuquerque, N.M., retiring in 1973...

ANNA, Ill. -- William Guy "Rusty" Smithey, 100, of Anna died Thursday, May 20, 1999, at Union County Hospital. He was born March 19, 1899, in Alexander County, son of Henry and Drucilla Marshlee Baldwin Smithey. He and Minnie Hazel Harvel were married Oct. 21, 1922. She died Sept. 5, 1957. He later married Nellie Dillow Aug. 4, 1960, at Mill Creek. She died July 11, 1983...

BENTON -- Louise Shockley, 80, of St. Louis died Friday, May 21, 1999, at Bristol Regional Medical Center in Bristol, Tenn. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel at Benton is in charge of arrangements.

Son to Kurt A. and Julie R. Prindle of Oran, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 6:02 p.m. Tuesday, May 11, 1999. Name, Devon Patrick. Weight, 7 pounds 10 ounces. Mrs. Prindle is the former Julie Spies, daughter of Ruth Paxton of Oran and Mike Spies of Scott City. She is employed at Kids Korner Daycare in Cape Girardeau. Prindle is the son of Rhonda Tidwell of Morley and Greg Prindle of Sikeston. He is employed at H&T Siding and Windows in Chaffee...

BERNIE -- Pearl Palmer, 78, of Bernie died Friday, May 21, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 16, 1921, at Bernie, daughter of Aud and Millie Summers Swan. She married Edgar Gerald Palmer at Bloomfield Jan. 24, 1942...