Stories from Wednesday, April 5, 2000

Container gardening, a term in gardening circles that is quite popular right now, refers to growing flowers, vegetables and even shrubs in pots that are placed on a patio or deck. The containers used are traditionally clay pots, large plastic pots, concrete urns or some of the new lightweight expanded foam pots...

To the editor: Recently I was watching the Christian channel on cable TV. A minister/faith healer was presiding over a revival. People would be led up to the stage where their illnesses or diseases were announced. To my amazement, the minister used an Emeril Lagasse-type arm movement complete with the word "Bam!" The afflicted person, of course, would fall to the stage floor and exhibit seizure activity for five to 15 seconds. ...

Both Cape Girardeau hospitals serve hundreds of area residents each year with heart surgery programs. The good news is both St. Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri Hospital match or exceed national success rates for heart patients. Both hospitals use the Society of Thoracic Surgeons' national database to analyze their programs. This comparison underscores the fact both programs are consistently performing above national averages...

Come August, Cape Girardeau voters may be asked to extend the city's half-cent transportation sales tax. Since 1995, revenue from the tax has funneled into a Transportation Trust Fund for street improvements and construction projects throughout the city. The tax expires this year...

To the editor: Chickens seem to be coming home to roost with regard to the immunity from ordinary rules that the Cuban exile community seemingly enjoys. Through the long history of this nation's obsession with Fidel Castro Ruz, one of the ways we have tried to embarrass him is by passing laws whose object is to put living in revolutionary Cuba in the same category as living in a burning house. ...

PERRYVILLE -- Voters said "no" resoundingly to Propositions Y, E, and S on Tuesday, leaving school officials surprised at the failure of the two tax levies and bond issue. The propositions, aimed to raise Perryville School District salaries and improve and construct facilities were victims of an anti-tax backlash, said Dr. Stephen Doerr, school superintendent...

Cape Girardeau voters strongly supported an $18 million bond issue to fund construction of a new high school in Tuesday's election. The bond issue would also create schools that would bunch fewer grade levels together within the Cape Girardeau School District...

BENTON -- Scott County is going to get a new jail. Voters overwhelmingly passed a half-cent county sales tax on Tuesday, with 3,443 in favor and 1,540 against. The more groups county commissioners met with, the more positive they felt about the bond's passage, said Walter Bizzell, first district commissioner...

JACKSON -- Jackson voters defeated two school funding measures that would have alleviated overcrowding and increased funding for operating costs. Voters said no to the Jackson School District's proposed $5.3 million bond issue, 2,302-2,775, or 55 percent, against the measure. A four-sevenths majority or 57 percent, was needed to pass the measure...

BENTON -- Nineteen percent of the registered voters in Scott County participated in Tuesday's election, choosing new members to area school boards and city offices. Scott City voters selected new council members in each of four wards, a mayor and filled two seats on the school board...

JACKSON -- All four members of the Jackson Board of Aldermen up for re-election Tuesday ran unopposed. Re-elected in Ward 1 was Dave Ludwig with 529 votes. Dave Reiminger was re-elected in Ward 2 with 566 votes. Third Ward Alderman Larry Cunningham received 615 votes...

Incumbents Dwayne Kirchoff and Charlie Roberts were re-elected to three-year terms on the Nell Holcomb school board Tuesday. Kirchoff had 97 votes and Roberts 78 to challenger Kim McLard's 43. With 96 votes, Daryl McNeely was elected to a special one-year term to complete the term vacated by Debra Followell...

Voters re-elected incumbents Dr. Bob Fox and David Goncher to positions on the Cape Girardeau Board of Education Tuesday. Candidates competed for two, three-year positions on the school board. Fox won in all but two precincts, carrying 3,224 votes, including absentees. Goncher edged out challenger Martha Zlokovich by 101 votes in a 2,237-2,136 decision...

JACKSON -- Newcomers Mark Baker and Brent Wills won seats on the Jackson Board of Education following Tuesday's election. Two three-year terms were available in the contest. Wills bested all candidates by receiving 3,097 votes in the four-way contest, followed by Baker with 2,325 votes...

DELTA -- By a six-vote margin, voters in Cape Girardeau County approved a waiver of the Proposition C rollback in the Delta School District. The vote was 165 to 159. The issue needed a simple majority to pass. "That's pretty close," said school Superintendent Tom Allen...

PERRYVILLE -- Most election results here were predictable, because five of seven races in Perry County involved only one candidate. Nevertheless, voter turnout of 3,954 was above average, said Randy Taylor, Perry County clerk. He attributed it to three school-related propositions...

Two new faces will join the Cape Girardeau City Council while an incumbent will return. Hugh White, Matt Hopkins and Jay Purcell were elected Tuesday to three open seats. Purcell was the lone incumbent and ran unopposed. He collected 600 votes in Ward 3...

SCOTT CITY -- Residents will see new leadership in city government, but no drastic changes will come overnight, says the new mayor. Scott City voters Tuesday elected Tim Porch mayor. Three men filed for the four-year term. Porch received 499 votes, Rodney Holloway 157, and Glenn "Pete" Sturm 41, including absentees...

CHARLESTON -- Mississippi County voters decided a number of issues Tuesday. A total of 2,109 ballots, including absentee ballots, were cast in the elections, about 24 percent of total registered voters. In county elections, Ann Black, Charles A. "Chuck" Davis and Jane Duenne were elected to four-year Health Center trustee terms with votes of 1,030, 1,010 and 1,030, respectively. Dr. Ron Peterson also ran unopposed for a two-year unexpired Health Center term. He received 1,546 votes...

Incumbent Ben F. Ellis Jr. was elected to his fourth term as mayor of Marble Hill in Tuesday's election. Ellis with 176 votes easily outdistanced the two other candidates in the race, Jim Johnson with 106 votes and Russell Masterson with 56 votes. "It shows that people have put their trust in the direction the board is going, that they have been satisfied with our work and hope it will continue" Ellis said. "I hope we can all work together for continued growth in Marble Hill."...

BLOOMFIELD -- Mark Richmond received the most votes in Tuesday's Advance Board of Education election to unseat incumbent Tony Jenkins. Richmond compiled 323 votes, followed by 304 for incumbent Rodney Cantrell and 298 for Jenkins. Richmond had previously served six years on the board...

Incumbents held their own in races for the boards of education in Bollinger County. In the Leopold School District, six candidates were vying for two positions on the board of education, and the two incumbents won re-election. Re-elected to three-year terms were Gary Vandeven with 87 votes and Joe Bohnsack with 82 votes. Other candidates and their votes were Mary Ambrose Jansen, 30; Pamela Horrell, 23; Karen S. James, 20; and Roberta Jansen, 19...

Carley sat on the lap of her mother, Tamilla House, placing colored pegs in a board. Through the guidance of House, this play session for Carley, a 3-year-old with Down syndrome, was also a form of therapy. House isn't a licensed therapist, but she has become an expert in her daughter's therapy through working closely with trained specialists the First Steps early childhood intervention program has coordinated for Carley...

Fiddle player Dennis Stroughmatt was on the road playing with another band when word came that his band, locally known as The Brown Baggers, had been chosen to perform on Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion." The band, which uses the name Bons Temps Rouler when it performs outside the area, was one of six groups chosen in the program's annual competition to find the best musicians from towns with populations of less than 2,000. ...

A manhunt for a fugitive suspected of running over an 11-year-old black girl last October in Steele died in a traffic accident, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said. Gregory Owen Reid, 36, of Blytheville, Ark., died in a one-car accident Saturday near Crossville, Tenn., said William G. Eubanks, special agent in charge of the FBI's St. Louis office...

Plastic orange cones, construction equipment and detour signs will be part of the landscape in Cape Girardeau for the coming months. And they could last much longer if voters extend the Transportation Trust Fund sales tax to pay for major street improvements...

Sikeston High School student David Schuchart flexed his wired, gloved hand and a robot hand mimicked his moves. The 10th-grader made the robotic hand and then compared its moves to that of a standard machine gripper. Schuchart concluded his "bio-hand" worked better...

Regional bragging rights will be on the line today for both the Southeast Missouri State University baseball and softball teams when they take on Southern Illinois. Southeast's baseball squad will cross the river and make the relatively short trek to Carbondale for a 3 p.m. game with the Salukis...

Athletic directors of schools in the SEMO baseball conference will meet this morning in an attempt to resolve a dispute whether some games played this year will count as conference games. Most of the conference coaches, after meeting prior to the season, were under the assumption that only the second game between conference teams would count as league games. ...

JACKSON -- Chaffee pitcher Matt Stroup told coach Brian Horrell he didn't have his best stuff. It's doubtful that Jackson's hitters agree. Stroup, a junior right-hander, struck out nine and gave up just six hits and two walks as the Red Devils (5-3, 2-2) notched a 5-2 SEMO Conference win over Jackson (4-3, 1-2) at Legion Field Tuesday...

PERRYVILLE -- It took almost the entire game, but Cape Girardeau Central High's girls soccer team finally pushed across a late goal as the Lady Tigers slipped past host Perryville 1-0 Tuesday afternoon. Amber Voerg scored the only goal of the contest with about four minutes remaining as she put in a corner kick from her sister, Ashlie Voerg, who earned an assist...

MADISON, Ill. -- Southeast Missouri State's David Fulton earned medalist at the 12-team Billiken Intercollegiate Gateway National Tuesday to help Southeast to a second-place finish overall. Fulton tied with teammate Bryan Johnson and Marquette's Mark Wentz with a two-round total of 147. Fulton, who had rounds of even-par 71 and 5-over 76, won the individual championship in a playoff...

BLOOMFIELD -- Eunez Pullum, 79, of Bloomfield died Monday, April 3, 2000, at Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter. She was born June 27, 1920, in Ravenden Springs, Ark., daughter of Arthur R. and Sudie Higgs Lashley. She and Andrew "Bud" Pullum were married Oct. 15, 1941. He died Dec. 21, 1969...

Beulah "Boots" Loucks, 80, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, April 4, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

PERRYVILLE -- Gilbert J. Layton, 91, of Perryville died Tuesday, April 4, 2000, at Perry County Nursing Home. He was born July 3, 1908, at Silver Lake, son of Houston and Anna Hennecke Layton. He and Catherine Walsh were married Nov. 23, 1936. She died Aug. 1, 1953...

GRAND CHAIN, Ill. -- Wayne E. Jerdon, 71, of Grand Chain died Monday, April 3, 2000, at Massac Memorial Hospital in Metropolis. Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak is in charge of arrangements.

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Funeral for Laura B. Davis of Naples, Fla., will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Crain Funeral Home in Dongola. The Rev. Don Poole will officiate. Burial will be in Mt. Zion Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after noon Saturday...

JACKSON -- Memorial service for Senior Petty Officer Mark D. Adams of Grand Haven, Mich., will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. Dr. Brian Anderson will officiate. Friends may call at the funeral home Saturday from 12:30 p.m. until service time...

Adopted daughter to Charles and Mary Stucker of Cape Girardeau. Name, Addie Mae LaSae. Born Monday, Feb. 10, 1997. First child. Mrs. Stucker is the former Mary Barks, daughter of Jane Barks of Cape Girardeau, and the late Dorman Barks. She is employed at Monroe Enterprises. Stucker is the son of the late Edwin and Clara Stucker of Ellsinore. He is a nuisance abatement officer with city of Cape Girardeau...

CHAFFEE -- Funeral for Jim Kinnison of Chaffee will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee. The Rev. Joe Payne will officiate. Burial will be in Union Park Cemetery. Friends may call at the chapel after 6 p.m. today. Kinnison, 70, died Monday, April 3, 2000, at his home...

All Clubs Day was held March 27 at New Salem United Methodist Church. Lamplighters Club hosted the meeting, and Lee Anderson presided. The devotional was given by Judie Herbst. Gala Volz was elected to represent FCE on the county extension board. Quilt tickets were handed out, Verna Vogel reminded members of tours this year, and it was noted volunteers are needed to judge at 4-H County Achievement Day...

This week has been very hectic at work. I think my nerves were shot and everyone knew it. Computers down, United Way funding requests due, payroll to figure and still no computer.... you get the idea. Then along comes Lorene Wood with a new cookbook for me. Wow! Now that will lift my spirits and calm my nerves. I rolled my chair back, took a deep breath and thumbed through the book. Several recipes jumped out at me and I would like to share a couple with you. Thank you, Lorene, you made my day...