Stories from Friday, September 10, 1999

Since the first reported cases of AIDS in the early 1980's over one-half million people in the United States have developed this condition and about half of them have died, leaving the death toll for this disease more than four times the number who died in the Viet Nam War...

Unfortunately for allergy sufferers, common ragweed grows well in Southeast Missouri. Ambrosia, nector of the gods in Greek mythology, provides for great strength and immortality. The ambrosia in our area, more commonly called ragweed, certainly falls into the category of having great strength and seeming immortality...

The issue of human organ donations and transplants is just about as serious as any topic can be, particularly when a life is at stake. Two recent incidents that are related only because they involve kidneys serve to illustrate the seriousness of organ donations...

While most of us enjoyed a day off from work on Labor Day and spent the time near a barbecue grill or with family and friends or doing nothing, dozens of area residents were hard at work all day long at the annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon that raises money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association...

To the editor: I endorse Mayor Al Spradling III's suggestion that a part of the old Mississippi River bridge be retained in order to provide a good view of the river. The Missourian has noted in the past that seeing the river is important to both visitors and residents, and the Missourian's lead editorial Sept. 7 correctly noted that the city is "sorely lacking" in "grand vistas of the river."...

To the editor: STEVE MOSLEY Cape Girardeau...

To the editor: This is a story of a Labor Day holiday spent in the Cape Girardeau area which my family and I will never forget. We will remember it because on this weekend we were touched by both the very wise and the very foolish. It all started when I decided to close my engineering office in St. ...

The old-age wrinkles are becoming too much to bear at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. So the building's interior is getting a facelift. The library at 711 N. Clark St. will be remodeled this fall with new paint and carpet. An exact date for the work has not been set...

Several places will become off-limits for parking or driving beginning this weekend in anticipation of the SEMO District Fair, Cape Girardeau police said. No parking signs will be placed around the Arena Park area today. Parking enforcement won't begin until 10 a.m. on Sunday, police said. Any vehicles parked illegally will be towed away at the owner's expense, and a traffic ticket will be issued, they said...

Plans to extend Nash Road westward to intersect with Highway 25 at Blomeyer, which have been on the back-burner a number of years, could be escalated in the near future. Dan Overbey, Southeast Missouri Regional Port director, said a four-mile extension of Nash Road (Route AB) from the BioKyowa plant west to Highway 25 at Blomeyer would alleviate heavy truck traffic to the port and industries along Nash Road and would be an asset to farmers in the area wanting an alternate route to the industrial park, the port and Scott City area.. ...

Looking for better ways to travel between Scott City and Cape Girardeau? The Missouri Department of Transportation did, and couldn't find any. A two-year study to determine the feasibility of building a new road between the two cities found the costs too high for the benefits it would bring, said DawnRae Vaught, MoDOT project manager...

Protecting groundwater is an effort everyone should be involved in, believe members of the Cape Girardeau County Groundwater Committee. To help people understanding how easily groundwater can be contaminated, the committee is sponsoring a life-size illustration of a typical Cape Girardeau County well on the sidewalk in front of the A.C. Brase Arena at the Southeast Missouri District Fair, which begins on Sunday...

Having done just about everything I can for Cape's tourism, here are a few tips about Chester and Perryville. I don't know much about traveling. I just know what I like. Or something like that. There's been some hoopla recently about turning our fair River City into a tourist magnet...

Positive things are happening in Cape Girardeau County, says Gerald Jones, the county's presiding commissioner. "There's a lot of things going on right now," said Jones, who was guest speaker at the Cape Girardeau Lions Club meeting, held at the Holiday Inn Wednesday. "And, more things are coming up in the future."...

An injured Oran woman was first taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital and then transferred to St. Francis Medical Center late Wednesday night to be near her injured children. Lisa Scherer, 34, of Oran was the driver of a minivan that collided with an Oran School District bus on Scott County Road 264 just off Missouri Highway 77 between Chaffee and Oran. The accident occurred about 4 p.m...

Local golfers can help an area charity just by playing an 18-hole scramble at Kimbeland Country Club in Jackson. The 4th Annual Ronald McDonald House Charities Golf Tournament, sponsored by the McDonalds restaurants of Southeast Missouri, will be played Oct. 11. It is a four-person scramble...

Got an itch to dance or act on stage? Auditions will be held today and Saturday for an original theatrical ballet that will be performed in December. It will benefit the Community Counseling Center. The production, entitled "Carol's Dream," is a take-off of the traditional Christmas Carol. It was written by Cape Girardeau native Dana Goodin Vanoni, who works as a professional dancer and teacher in northern Italy...

SIKESTON -- A fire that burned a woman's mobile home on Labor Day was started by two teen-age boys according to the Sikeston Department of Public Safety. The fire occurred Monday at approximately 5 p.m. when two boys found a book of matches. One of the boys struck a match and then stepped on it, thinking the match was out...

If Ricky Smith's back isn't hurting by now, it probably will by the end of the year. Not so much because the New Madrid County Central running back could carry the ball 30 times in a game. But more because he carries the whole team on his shoulders when he does it...

Jackson demolished Sikeston last week 35-0 in what figured to be a much closer game going in. With that mission accomplished, Jackson will take on a new objective this week: Operation Stud Stopper. Kickoff is at 7:30 tonight in Jackson. The defensive game plan is simple enough. Stop Tyrone Griffin and you will most likely stop Sumner...

Southeast Missouri State University head men's basketball coach Gary Garner is losing a key member of his staff. Tom Schuberth, one of Garner's assistants at Southeast the past two seasons, has resigned to accept a job as head coach at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tenn...

Scott City pounded Portageville 44-12 last year, but one can't judge a game by what happened last year. Case and point: Last Friday night. The Rams, who blew out Malden 39-12 in 1998, suffered a 30-0 setback to the Green Wave last week. So Scott City, which returns one starting offensive player and three on defense from last year's team, can't be the obvious favorite going into this game either when it hosts Portageville...

Southeast Missouri State University's women's soccer team was hoping to take a break from official play Saturday night to face some of the top young talent in Southeast Missouri. But a planned exhibition game at Houck Stadium against the River Eagle Club team has been canceled. The contest was to serve as a fund raiser for the fledgling Southeast program and Otahkian coach Heather Nelson hoped to make it an annual event...

COLUMBIA -- Charleston basketball product Ricky Frazier is among a class of 10 named Thursday to the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame. The new members will be inducted during a dinner Oct. 29 in Columbia. They represent the 10th induction class since the hall began in 1990...

In a battle of Cape Girardeau high school softball rivals, Central's Lady Tigers knocked off Notre Dame's Lady Bulldogs 8-3 Thursday afternoon at Notre Dame. Central improved to 8-6 while Notre Dame fell to 5-6. The Lady Tigers had 13 hits, led by Amber Voerg and Ashley Foutch with three each and Trisha Klipfel with two. Foutch belted a home run and drove in four runs while Voerg had two RBIs...

PERRYVILLE -- Funeral Mass for Glen J. Favier of Perryville will be held at 10 a.m. today at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. Burial will be in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Friends may call at Young and Sons Funeral Home from 6:30-9:30 a.m. today. Favier, 85, died Wednesday, Sept. 8, 1999, at Perry County Memorial Hospital...

CHARLESTON -- Betty Mathis, 58, of Louisville, Ky., died suddenly Sunday, Sept. 5, 1999, at Wyatt. She was born May 11, 1941, at Charleston, daughter of Eugene and Johnnie Mae Tidwell Scott. Mathis lived in Kentucky more than 36 years. Survivors include a son, Daniel "Sporty" Mathis of Charleston; two daughters, Brenda Scott and Angela Mathis of Louisville; three sisters, Johnnie Scott of Chicago Heights, Ill., Rosie Scott and Ernestine Webster of Harvey, Ill...

SIKESTON -- Bessie L. Gardner, 101, of Sikeston died Wednesday, Sept. 8, 1999, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Aug. 14, 1898, in Thaxton, Miss., daughter of Jesse and Nancy Angeline Slaughter Russell. She married M.G. McCoy and Walker Taylor, who preceded her in death. She later married Thomas W. Gardner, who died March 23, 1980...

Olive A. Huck, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Sept. 9, 1999, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Oct. 26, 1909, at Ste. Genevieve, daughter of Andrew L. and Agnes Hoog Melcher. She and Raymond J. Huck were married Nov. 18, 1937, in Ste. Genevieve. He died in January 1971...

Clyde A. Mason, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Sept. 9, 1999, at his home. He was born March 22, 1915, at Fredericktown, son of John S. and Daisy May Campbell Mason. He and Kathleen Branham were married in 1948 in Piggott, Ark. Mason was a mechanic at St. Louis-Cape Bus Line 31 years, and at Anderson Clark 10 years, retiring in 1983...

Dennis W. Edwards, 50, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Sept. 8, 1999, at his home. He was born Aug. 11, 1949, in Metropolis, Ill., son of Harry Glenn and Adeline Minnie Kotter Edwards. He and Rose Lynn were married April 7, 1989, in Cape Girardeau...

BELTON, Texas -- Mertha Louise "Mickey" Miller, 64, of Belton, Texas, died Tuesday, Sept. 7, 1999, at Crestview Manor in Temple, Texas. She was formerly of Cape Girardeau and Benton. She was born March 27, 1935, at Elco, Ill., daughter of Millard Wardell and Faithe Deloris Poole Miller...

ORAN -- Allana Justine Hulshof, 67, of Oran died Wednesday, Sept. 8, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born July 15, 1932, at Coral Gables, Fla., daughter of Arthur and Louise Metts Sole. She and Joseph Hulshof were married April 18, 1956...

Son to Jeremy David and Jodi Lynn Walz of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 11:17 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1, 1999. Name, Jeremy David Jr. Weight, 6 pounds 6 ounces. First child. Mrs. Walz is the former Jodi Massa, daughter of E. Joe Massa of Ripley Tenn., and Gloria J. Aubuchon of Huntsville, Ala. Walz is the son of David Walz of DeSoto and Joanne Lincoln of Whitewater. He is employed at Rapco...

Kenneth Wayne Emmons, 48, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, September 8, 1999, at St. Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born May 5, 1951 in Cape Girardeau, the son of Eugene and Mildred Emmons. He and Teddi Heath were married February 4, 1977 in Jefferson City...