Stories from Wednesday, February 16, 2000

To the editor: I think it is a travesty of justice that John Rocker is being suspended for speaking his mind. I just don't get why his free speech is being compromised by the very people, the news media, who use it most. It amazes me how the media have twisted his phrases like "fat monkey" into racial slurs. ...

To the editor: As a former co-worker of Tamara Zellars Buck's when she was with a now-defunct publication targeted toward African-American readers, I respect her journalistic work and talents. I only wish that she would have been a little more broad in her Feb. 14 article ("Old church buildings serve new purpose") to include other churches in her piece such as the Metropolitan Community Church of Southeast Missouri at 519 Broadway...

Voters will decide April 4 on a bond issue to continue significant changes in Cape Girardeau's schools, including the closing of Schultz school and the construction of a new high school. Approval of the bond issue would extend for 20 years -- three years longer -- a levy approved by voters in 1997 to pay off the bonds. But the total school levy wouldn't go up...

They tell us that conservatism is dead that Republican presidential contenders better swim to the political center before they drown in the fringes of an outdated philosophy. Don't believe it, Mr. Bush. Liberals never conceded the widespread appeal of conservative ideology as embodied in Ronald Reagan. They attributed his popularity to his charismatic personality...

To the editor: The Feb. 12 Southeast Missourian had an article that really tells just what Jesus means when he says, "They give me lip service, but their heart is far from me." I am referring to the Methodist ministers who are rebelling against their church and supporting gay marriages. I wonder if these ministers ever really read the Bible. In Revelation, when Jesus talks to the churches, he says seven times, "Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches."...

THIS IS an answer to the question about why more people don't get out to vote. It's real simple. We don't get out and vote because we know the city leaders are going to do what they want, one way or another. It doesn't matter how we vote. THE REPUBLICAN presidential candidates are dwindling down. We're down to only three now. Alan Keyes is my man. He'll tell you what he thinks, and he'll tell it to you straight...

Remember when? For most people out of high school those two words conjure up memories of childhood sweethearts, cruising the strip on a Friday night and broken curfews. To the music lover, it evokes images of Hi-Fi stereos, vinyl records and a good set of headphones...

What is this time? by Jason Kesterson What is this time then? this brief nothing road, nameless route between winter and spring? these weeks, a park bench waiting for the grounds around it to mature and catch up. what is this time then? perhaps a bus stop that...

by Esmerelda Quackenbush "Eye of the Beholder" is a startling journey into obsession, the story of an intelligence agent so taken with a beautiful killer he cannot bear to apprehend her. Set in the surreal world of a high-tech voyeur, the tale follows him across the country as he embarks on a desperate quest for this enigmatic femme fatale...

by Mark Bastable In these islands from which the Pilgrims set sail, there abide certain journalists who forge a lucrative career from no more than making gentle fun of the Americans. And I am using the word 'gentle' here in its very narrow sense of 'violent'. These commentators take delight in mocking the citizens of the fifty States. They deride superciliously. They sneer and they cavil. And all for twenty pounds per column inch...

The Lords of Acid rule over Mississippi Nights: by Jaysen Buterin Arachibutyrophobia: the fear of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth. 8.2 billion dollars: the amount of money the U.S. Government has thus far spent on pickle research...

Each issue of OFF! highlights a someone who has achieved success in his/her field. This issue's pick is Rich Comeau of Cape Girardeau. THE STATS: Married for 9 years with a son, Danny, age 7, aka Mr. Manners An alphabet lesson: a is for acoustics, b is for bacteria...

A vocational school by any other name. Last month the Cape Girardeau Board of Education approved a recommendation to rename the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center. Although director Harold Tilley, who recommended the name change, believes it will take several generations before the school is referred to as anything other than the "vo-tech" school, he hopes people will recognize its new emphasis on providing workers skilled in technology as well as vocational training.. ...

Dr. Carroll F. Towey, chief of the program services branch of the U.S. Department of Education, presented the Secretary's Award for Outstanding Adult Education and Literacy Programs during a breakfast Tuesday at the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Joe Aden will return to Dongola High School gymnasium Saturday night to be honored by the school as the "Athlete of the 20th Century." A new trophy case will be named after Aden, the East Cape Girardeau mayor for more than 20 years. The 6-foot-2-inch guard, forward and postman when needed scored more than 3,000 points during his prep career at Dongola in the late 1950s. He was third in the nation in scoring average his senior year, with a 36.6 points a game...

Evidence that former state senator John Dennis left his mark on the area can be found throughout the counties he represented for 16 years. Dennis, 82, who also served for many years as sheriff of Scott County before becoming state senator, died Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000, after a long battle with Parkinson's disease...

Three Southeast Missouri lawmakers are sponsoring legislation that would require ethanol to be added to gasoline sold in the St. Louis area. The bill also would allow cities and counties elsewhere in the state to mandate use of the alternative fuel...

It has been almost nine years since Cape Girardeau joined the ranks of Missouri cities with historic-preservation ordinances or programs. Although she isn't coming to mark the anniversary, it is a good reason to celebrate, said Jo Ann Radetic, certified local government coordinator for the state...

Southeast Missouri State University has 8,524 students enrolled spring semester, final census figures show. Southeast has 7,183 undergraduate students, up from 6,960 a year ago. Total graduate student headcount stands at 1,341, up 14.4 percent from last spring, school officials said...

JACKSON -- Boys basketball games at Jackson just won't be the same next year. Steve Burk, Jackson's coach for the last 20 years, told the Southeast Missourian Tuesday that he will be retiring upon season's end. "It's time," said Burk. "I've been here 20 years and it's been good. But it's demanding and time consuming and it's a good time to step away from the game. I just think for me, I'm at a point where I just need to step away and see if I can't relax a bit."...

Notre Dame's gymnasium was no place for wimps Tuesday night. In a game that featured a possible broken cheek bone, flying bodies everywhere, an intentional foul and 67 free throws, the Bulldogs won the foulfest over Perryville 66-46 at senior night at Notre Dame Regional High School...

CHARLESTON -- Charleston High's boys basketball team has had something of an up-and-down season, but the Blue Jays were strictly up Tuesday night. Playing their final home game, the Blue Jays showed that they just might be ready for a strong district showing as they destroyed Cape Girardeau Central 78-48...

Four seniors on Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team will play the final home game of their college careers tonight when the Otahkians face Belmont. The non-conference contest is set for a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Show Me Center...

You could not ask for a better college basketball atmosphere than we had at the Show Me Center Saturday. I salute our fans for turning out in record numbers and giving us the support you did. When we gave you something to cheer about, we had the great reaction from fans that makes college basketball such a great game...

Southeast Missouri State University's softball team has been picked to repeat as the Ohio Valley Conference champion in preseason balloting by the league's head coaches. The Otahkians, winners of five consecutive regular-season titles, received five of eight possible first-place votes for 63 points...

Former National Football League player Wally Hilgenberg will be the featured guest speaker at Thursday night's United Methodist Men's Sports Ceremony. The event will begin at 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church Sanctuary at 1307 North Main Street in Sikeston...

KENNETT -- A strange break in a hostile gymnasium and clutch free-throw shooting by Ronald Watson helped Scott City pad a slim one-point lead in the final 30 seconds for a thrilling 74-66 victory over Kennett Tuesday night in boys high school basketball action...

MATTHEWS -- Lola Beatrice Garner, 90, of Matthews died Sunday, Feb. 13, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born April 4, 1909, in Terre Haute, Ind., daughter of William F. and Eva May Modesett Lewis. She and Robert L. Garner were married April 14, 1950, in Boise, Idaho. He died June 17, 1992...

Norman Schwieger, 79, of Olmsted, Ill., died Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000, at his home. Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak is in charge of arrangements.

PERRYVILLE -- Funeral Mass for Irma Rae Petot of Perryville will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Rev. Kevin Fausz will officiate. Burial will be in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Friends may call today at Young and Sons Funeral Home from 5:30-9 p.m. and from 6:30-9:30 a.m. Thursday...

Funeral for Traci N. Taylor of Cape Girardeau will be held at 11 a.m. today at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. Randy Alford and the Rev. Cy Smith will officiate. Burial will be in Fairmount Cemetery. Taylor, 19, died Sunday, Feb. 13, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital...

PERRYVILLE -- Norma W. McFarland, 84, of Perryville died Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000, at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. Louis. She was born Feb. 7, 1916, at Minnith, daughter of Walter and Louise Boland Heberlie. She and Walter Leslie McFarland were married June 19, 1937. He died Sept. 1, 1980...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Betty S. Griffith, 67, of Cairo died Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 20, 1932, daughter of James and Ruby Goins Caldwell. She and Charles Griffith were married. He died in 1993...

ANNA, Ill. -- James Grant Kelley, 73, of Anna died Monday, Feb. 14, 2000, at his home. He was born July 4, 1926, in Anna, son of Jesse and Grace Phillips Kelley. He and Virginia Lee Elkins were married July 18, 1947, in Jonesboro. She died July 12, 1986...

JACKSON -- Funeral for Alvin A. Rhodes of Jackson will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. The Rev. John Rice will officiate. Graveside service will be at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Francis Memorial Park in Bonne Terre. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4-8 p.m. today...

SCOTT CITY -- Fred Charles Burger, 76, of Scott City died Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000, at Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born June 20, 1923, at Pittsville, son of Ervin and Marie Burger. He and Irene Adams were married June 27, 1949, in Hot Springs, Ark...

SIKESTON -- Elaine Crone, 64, of Sikeston died Sunday, Feb. 13, 2000, at her home. She was born Jan. 19, 1936, in Lexington, Tenn., daughter of Grady and Jewell Goff Bailey. She married Dixon Crone in Sikeston. Crone was a salesclerk at Homestead and had been a waitress at Lambert's Cafe. She was a member of Murray Lane Baptist Church...

PUXICO -- Minnie Hastings Bloomdied May 15, 1978. She later married Harry Edwin Bloomquist Dec. 31, 1978, in Palm Beach County, Fla. Bloomquist worked most of her life on a farm. She worked in defense plants in St. Louis during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. She owned a restaurant in Advance, and worked at a country music radio station in Palm Beach, Fla., before retiring...

Daughter to Kent L. and Nancy Jane Pitts of Cobden, Ill., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 11:35 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 23, 2000. Name, Grace Anna. Weight, 7 pounds 6 ounces. Mrs. Pitts is the former Nancy Vaughn, daughter of Ray and Annette Vaughn of Cobden. She is a radiologic technologist at St. Francis Medical Center. Pitts is the son of Wayne and Judy Pitts of Wolf Lake, Ill., and the late Linda Manus of Anna, Ill. He is a corrections officer at the U.S. Federal Penitentiary in Marion, Ill...

BENTON -- Senator John Clint Dennis, 82, died Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000, at Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 31, 1917, at Patton, son of Walter and Mary Kitchen Dennis. He and Myrtle Pratt were married Dec. 2, 1939, in St. Charles...

When I was a little girl, my Mother always made bonbon cookies for Valentine's Day. Because she was most often a room-mother to my school class, she often served the bonbons during our school Valentine's Day party. In grade school everyone exchanged valentine cards, but in 1962 at the ripe old age of 11, I received a 6-foot valentine from the boy who lived up the street. I was the envy of the school...

Recipe Swap readers have been very busy this week answering recipe requests and sharing some of their favorites with us. It is wonderful to have mail from so many different area recipe lovers. I need to respond to a recipe request from a Mrs. D in Altenburg. ...

"Does not our lives consist of the four elements?" Sir Toby Belch inquires in Act II, Scene 3 of William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." His drinking companion, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, replies, "Faith, so they say, but I think it rather consists of eating and drinking." "Thou art a scholar," Sir Toby responds, "let us therefore eat and drink."...