Stories from Tuesday, March 14, 2000

The story so far: Delia's mother appears with a message for her daughter. She says there is something Delia will have to do something important but frightening and that she will always be there to guide her. Late in the night, after her mother is gone, there is an explosion outside. It is so strong that it breaks the glass in Delia's window...

On the surface, a career in teaching sounds like a cushy job. Guaranteed eight-hour days, weekends and summers off, and pat lesson plans after only a year in the classroom. It sounds good, but educators say one scratch of the surface and you'll realize that teaching is a lot more work than it seems. ...

Degrees were conferred on 482 students during December commencement exercises held Dec. 11, on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. Area residents who graduated with honors or advanced degrees as listed by hometown: Bell City: A'Lisa Michelle Odom, Bachelor of Science, major, Social Work, graduated cum laude...

BENTON -- First-year teacher Malissa Mier has a personalized list of 10 commandments on her classroom wall to manage student behavior. Mier teaches third- and fourth-grade classes at St. Denis School. Her list of commandments include rules developed with her students that are considered the most important. In addition, a series of cards with students' names are placed prominently in the room with a schedule of punishments for bad behavior...

First a confession: I'm not a big basketball fan, especially when it comes to the NBA. But come the middle of March, I succumb to a kind of madness and find myself analyzing college basketball teams I've never heard of to enter the office pool. Not only is it the big topic of conversation around the office, but my husband of 20 years is consumed by it. ...

2nd Quarter Honor Roll A Honor Roll 8th Grade -- Elizabeth Beck, Cherish Hoffman. 7th Grade -- Jimmy Chambers, Jodi Hodge. 6th Grade -- Lauren Bader, Kendall Koch, Suzanne Reischman. 5th Grade -- Christa Beck, Allissa Coomer, Edward Doyle, Brittany Koch, Amanda Obermann, Karen Obermann, Tara Propst, Caitlin Scheeter...

Through the efforts of staff and parents of children who attended the Easter Seals Child Development Center, the program of inclusive child care offered there will continue at a new location. The Include Me, Too! Educational Center opened Monday in the former convent building next to St. ...

Judy Crow was well known and well loved for her excellent writing skills, understanding of the arts, and fondness for good conversation and good food. The longtime Southeast Missourian writer could be relied on to "get it right" in her professional and personal endeavors, said former Southeast Missouri State University president Dr. Bill Stacy. And she never complained about the daily challenge she faced to ensure cerebral palsy didn't hinder her ability to communicate...

New billboards would be banned in Missouri under an initiative petition measure that could be on the November ballot. The Columbia-based Save Our Scenery Committee has collected more than 130,000 petition signatures. The organization plans to submit the petitions to the secretary of state's office in Jefferson City next Tuesday...

Henry H. Gerecke of Cape Girardeau knows he holds a piece of history in his hands every time he looks at a World War II-era letter written to his mother. The letter is signed by 21 men who were on trial at Nuremberg, Germany, for Nazi war crimes. Gerecke's father, an Army officer, was a Lutheran chaplain, and his wife had wanted him to come home to the United States...

My right foot hurts. It's a manageable throbbing, top and center, which serves as a constant reminder that I'm too old to be committing youthful indiscretions. Sit down, Mom. I'm a tattooed woman. We're not talking an only-$2-to-see-the-tattooed-lady kind of tattoo, but it's visible. It's the outline of a phoenix head engulfed in red, orange and yellow flames, about 1.5-by-1.5 inches. It took me a year to find the perfect design, and it's beautiful...

SIKESTON -- Food Giant employees now own 100 percent of the company. As of March 1, all of Food Giant's 81 stores were sold to an employee stock ownership plan or ESOP by Ken Storey, the company's founder. The ESOP provides the opportunity for all employees to share in the ownership of the company...

Oak Ridge Board of Education Agenda Tuesday, March 14, 2000 7 p.m. Action items:...

Cross Trails Medical Center, which has occupied Suite 203 at Cape Girardeau Medical Suites Condominium Complex for two and one-half years, now owns the suite. On Monday St. Francis Medical Center donated the suite of offices and exam rooms that it had been leasing to Cross Trails, handing over the deed and the keys to Cross Trails officials in an afternoon ceremony...

Teachers from throughout the region will gather for the 124th annual Missouri State Teachers Association district meeting Friday. Approximately 6,000 teachers have been invited to attend. Cape Girardeau School District will dismiss classes for the day. Jackson schools will be in session, but teachers will have the choice of attending the district meeting or local in-service professional development training...

CHARLESTON -- A former all-state basketball star who played briefly at Southeast Missouri State University has been charged with trafficking cocaine, police said. Jeramy Biles, 22, of Charleston was arrested by police last week at his residence during a search for narcotics, Charleston Police Chief Richard Couch said...

The Census Bureau is slated to open assistance centers in Cape Girardeau and Jackson today in an effort to help area residents who have questions or need help in completing their Census forms. The centers will be open through April 8. The centers will be housed at the Jackson Nutrition Center, Cape Girardeau City Hall and the Greater Dimension Church in Cape Girardeau...

The master plan for Cape Girardeau's parks is about three-fourths complete. The plan will help the city determine how to expand and better use its parks during the next 15 years, says an advisory commission. The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board met Monday night to look at how to best use existing parks and determine what sort of parks the city will need in the future...

We've all seen the memorial wreaths and crosses with flowers along highways across Missouri. Without being told, we know that someone lost his or her life there. And even though we may not know any of the particulars of the fatal accident, we are reminded that safe driving saves lives. But if we know whose death is marked by the roadside memorial, we are all the more involved in what the memorial represents: the life of someone who was near and dear to relatives and friends...

Back in the 1980s, officials at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville began considering innovations that would benefit the school and put the university on the map, so to speak. One idea was to stop burning natural gas in the campus power plant, which produces steam for heating and cooling the campus...

To the editor: President Clinton is again trying to push legislation through Congress requiring trigger locks on firearms. Society is being blamed for the tragedy that took place in Michigan, in which a 6-year-old girl was killed by a 6-year-old boy who had taken a stolen gun to school. ...

To the editor: The Easter Seals Child Development Center emphasized inclusion and integration. This proved to be a two-way winner for all children. Not only did learning take place, but more importantly values of acceptance, empathy, compassion and a genuine willingness to help each other was seen on a daily basis as the children interacted. This facility is the only one in our community that provided this type of classroom setting...

All it took to tell Gary Garner that his life's work was meant to be spent coaching basketball was a two-year stint in real estate that was as frustrating as it was successful. Garner had just been fired -- somewhat surprisingly -- at Drake after the 1988 season. Unsure about what the future held in store for him, he spent the next two years in real estate sales...

Though neither coach knew as much as they would like to have known late Monday morning, Southeast Missouri State coach Gary Garner and Louisiana State coach John Brady each knew enough to respect each other's team. Garner said he stayed up until 3 a.m. watching what little film he had on the Tigers, who are the fourth seed in the West region and Southeast's first-ever opponent in the NCAA national tournament...

Revelations in life often come at times and places you least expect. For former Cape Central swimmer Jason Owen, a revelation occurred last week in a swimming pool in Buffalo, N.Y. Competing in the NCAA Division II swim championships, Owen, a freshman at Drury College in Springfield, won the national championship in the mile freestyle...

ST. LOUIS -- Southeast collected 21 hits as it swept St. Louis University in a women's softball double-header Monday, winning the opener 10-3 and the nightcap 5-3. Southeast (5-4) banged out 12 hits in the opener and took advantage of four St. Louis errors for nine unearned runs...

MARBLE HILL -- Fred T. Cotner, 78, of Marble Hill died Monday, March 13, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 11, 1922, near Glen Allen, son of Albert and Iris Buckingham Cotner. He and Minnie C. Hedger were married July 10, 1955. She died Nov. 21, 1989...

SIKESTON -- Stella Mae Pryor, 86, of East Peoria, Ill., died Saturday, March 11, 2000, at her home. She was born Feb. 1,1914, at Cooter, daughter of George M. and Jessie Reynolds Lee. She married Roy F. Pryor, who died May 30, 1979. Formerly of Sikeston and Marquette Heights, Ill., she attended First Church of the Nazarene in Sikeston...

BLOOMFIELD -- Joseph Allen Baker Sr., 83, of Bloomfield died Saturday, March 11, 2000, at Harry Truman VA Medical Center in Columbia. He was born March 31, 1916, at Avert, son of James Monroe and Lottie Ann Curd Baker. He and Christine Towery were married Dec. 25, 1939, at Caruthersville...

THEBES, Ill. -- Billie Dalton, 62, of Thebes was found dead Thursday, March 9, 2000, at her home. She was born Dec. 10, 1937, in Las Vegas, Nev. Survivors include a daughter, Rebecca Gallagher of Olive Branch. Graveside service will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Rosehill Cemetery, with the Rev. Billy Don Heady officiating...

Judith Ann Crow, a longtime employee of the Southeast Missourian newspaper and local historian, died Monday, March 13, 2000, at age 71. She resided at Fountainbleau Lodge. Crow was born May 14, 1928, at Campbell, daughter of Clarence A. Crow and Alwena Bremicker. Her father died in 1935 and her mother married Norman Lee Howlett in 1946. The family lived in Campbell until 1948, when it moved to Poplar Bluff. In 1952 they moved to Cape Girardeau. Mr. Howlett died in 1963 and Mrs. Howlett in 1979...

Son to Rich and Angie Davis of Sullivan, St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, 5:36 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, 2000. Name, Trevor Allen. Weight, 4 pounds 8 ounces. Mrs. Davis is the former Angie Gentry, daughter of Mike and Donna Gentry of Cape Girardeau. She is employed at Paramount Hat. Davis is the son of Doug and Betty Voelker of Cape Girardeau and Richard and Mary Davis of Texas. He is parts manager at West Brothers Chrysler...

BELL CITY -- Patsy Ruth Whittenburg, 68, of Bell City died Monday, March 13, 2000, at her home, following an extended illness. She was born June 2, 1931, at Tucker. Friends may call at Morgan Funeral Home in Advance from 5-8 p.m. today. Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Bell City United Methodist Church. Burial will be in Pleasant Hill Cemetery near Advance...

SCOTT CITY -- Delbert "Brady" Bryant, 79, of Scott City died Sunday, March 12, 2000, at Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Services of Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 9, 1920, at Sturdivant, son of Hayward and Maude Bryant. He first married Erma Held Uelsmann July 11, 1957, in Cape Girardeau. She died Jan. 17, 1989. He and Elizabeth Ward Gentry were married April 14,1990, at Scott City...

JACKSON -- Robert David Minton, 90, of Jackson died Monday, March 13, 2000, at his home. He was born March 12, 1910, in Cape Girardeau, son of Charles David and Hester Smith Minton. He and Willa Slinkard were married April 2, 1930, in Newark, N.J. Minton worked at Sebek Packing Co., then moved to New York City and worked as a steelworker on the Empire State Building and George Washington Bridge. ...

MARION, Ill. -- Floyd William Kelley, 70, of Marion died Monday, March 13, 2000, at his home. He was born March 12, 1930, at Madison, son of James W. Kelley and Altha Sharp Mowery. Kelley was a retired factory employee and was an inspector with the A.O. Smith Corporation. He was an Army veteran of the Korean War and a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars...