Stories from Friday, April 14, 2000

To the editor: I am in strong disagreement with your editorial position on Highway 34 as printed in your paper April 3. I would agree that improvements around Marble Hill, Piedmont and Jackson should be given consideration for early construction. However, your conclusion that a major upgrading isn't justified is not credible...

To the editor: I have read all of the articles in the Missourian concerning VIP Industries. I find some of the comments being made about Hillary Schmittzehe offensive and troubling. Knowing Hillary, I would be most surprised to hear him make any statement in his own defense, but I will attempt to give him a little credit...

Few individuals in Missouri have a better perspective of the state's efforts to improve the lives of mentally retarded residents and others who have mental impairments than Al Spradling, a well-known lawyer and former state senator who is also the father of Cape Girardeau's mayor, Al Spradling III...

I'D LIKE to comment about the Jackson School Board's disappointment that the tax increase didn't pass. Don't they ever think about the seniors in this town who are financially stretched to the limit and cannot afford any more taxes? This proposed tax increase included money to increase teachers' salaries. Isn't that just wonderful. Did the people on a fixed income get a raise? No. Get real. This town is too expensive to live in for the elderly...

Being a veterinarian doesn't exempt Dr. Charles Cox from being a sucker for his dog's big brown eyes when it comes to extra treats. Still Cox tries to resist because he knows that obesity is the most common hindrance to a healthy old age for dogs and cats...

America has come a long way in the past century in preventing death and disease in children. Disease and death from diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella and other infectious diseases are at or near record lows due to vaccination. Vaccination has been one of the most successful disease prevention strategies in public health, and in some cases infectious diseases have been essentially eradicated. ...

PERRYVILLE -- Perryville School District voters on April 4 rejected three funding proposals by a 2-to-1 ratio, and the Board of Education wants to know why. The school board will hold three public meetings to hear voters explain their concerns and why they rejected the proposals, which would have provided bond proceeds and tax-levy funding for recruitment and retention of staff, driver's education instruction, building maintenance and construction of an upper-elementary school...

Dry conditions and afternoon winds that reached 8 mph kept Cape Girardeau County firefighters busy Thursday. One of the blazes, a 30-acre brush fire off Route FF and Larch Lane, was started by a neighbor burning a brush pile. The fire simply got away from him, said Chief Marty Schuessler of the Fruitland Volunteer Fire Department...

Southeast Missouri Hospital is maintaining financial stability, but like hospitals nationwide it must deal with the fiscal challenges resulting from continued reduction in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements, says the hospital's administrator. Southeast Administrator James W. Wente outlined those challenges and the hospital's accomplishments during the past year at the Southeast Missouri Hospital Association's annual meeting Thursday night...

If you've had an otherwise full life but still want something sacred, here's your chance. When I was growing up on Kelo Valley in the Ozarks west of here, events that seem so ordinary today were monumentally important in the scrapbook a young boy keeps in his mind about his young life...

BENTON -- A Sikeston man was arrested for possession of about $45,000 worth of crack cocaine, the Scott County Sheriff's Department said. Demetries D. Baker, 22, was charged with second degree drug trafficking, said Cpl. Jerry Bledsoe. His bond was set at $250,000...

St. Francis Medical Center received a $100,000 donation from its auxiliary Thursday during the volunteer organization's annual luncheon. Also at the luncheon, which was held to honor the 544 auxiliary members and the 69,000 volunteer hours they have donated, Dorothy Ressel received the Baumstark Award...

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan wants to hire a food service to cook the meals for prisoners in the county jail. Jordan told the County Commission Thursday that the move would be more economical than for the county to continue cooking the meals. He said that would be particularly true as a result of the jail expansion, which will lead to a higher jail population...

A Cape Girardeau woman was charged with animal abuse Thursday for leaving her dog in a car with an interior temperature of 145 degrees, police said. "Three of the four windows were rolled up, and the fourth was rolled down so there was a crack of two or three inches," said Aaron Baughn, health officer for the police department...

JACKSON -- Students at R.O. Hawkins Junior High experienced history almost first-hand thanks to a group of visiting veterans Thursday. Veterans of World War II and the Korean War shared their military experiences with ninth-grade American history students Thursday morning. The history lessons will continue this afternoon when veterans return to the school...

JACKSON -- Lake Day will offer family fun and fishing Saturday at Rotary Lake. Fishing will begin at 9 a.m. Tackle and bait will be provided. A fishing license will be required for ages 16-65. A Missouri Department of Conservation fishing specialist will help with fishing tips...

FRUITLAND -- A Farmington man was injured Thursday afternoon when the tractor-trailer rig he was driving overturned and skidded to a stop along Interstate 55. Floyd Wilcut, 53, of Farmington was trapped inside the tractor cab for a short time while rescue crews worked to release him...

When members of the University Players look back on the roles they played in school, the guess is that many will think most fondly of Southeast's annual children's theater productions. Watching "Puss in Boots," you can see the imaginations thrumming both onstage and in the audience. The witty wordplay and slapstick antics in Don Garner's latest adaptation for the University Theatre give everyone plenty of room to work out...

Southeast Missouri State University could name a new provost next month, culminating a lengthy search that has school President Dr. Ken Dobbins offering apologies. "I want to offer this word of apology to those who are concerned that the provost search has not been concluded," Dobbins said in a letter Wednesday to faculty and staff. "I am sorry that the process has taken so long."...

Wilma Jones of Cape Girardeau considers herself living proof of the power of TOPS in helping its members lose weight and keep the weight off. "I stopped going to meetings once and gained back all the weight I'd lost," said Jones, who in 1993 weighed 250 pounds and today weighs 169...

Darren Scott, an assistant coach at Poplar Bluff High School, has accepted the Notre Dame head basketball position. Scott, a Southeast Missouri State University graduate, was an assistant at Poplar Bluff from 1993-97. He then was head coach at Greenville High School for two years before going back to Poplar Bluff as an assistant this past year...

CHAFFEE -- -- Chaffee High School will be holding eight-team softball and baseball tournaments starting today and running through Saturday. Teams included in the double-elimination baseball tournament will be Oran, Perryville, New Madrid, Chaffee, Dexter, Senath, Shawnee (Ill.) and Scott City...

Peyton Sims School: Jackson Sport: Golf Coach: Ron Cook Week Report: Sims, just a sophomore, shot an even-par 35 last Wednesday at Cape Girardeau Country Club on one of the windiest days of the year to earn medalist honors and lift Jackson to a win over Cape Central and Clearwater. Last Monday, Sims was one of Jackson's top four scorers in a home match against Farmington. He scored a 40...

Mary Beth Owen School: Cape Central Sport: Swimming Coach: Dayna Powell Week Report: Owen broke a school record in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:07 in a triangular meet with Incarnate Word and Lutheran South last Friday. The Lady Tigers, on their way up to St. ...

Southeast Missouri State University's women's tennis team will have its final two home matches of the season today and Sunday. The Otahkians take on Belmont at 1 p.m. today, followed by a 10 a.m. Sunday match against Eastern Illinois. Southeast is 2-11 overall and 0-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play...

JACKSON -- Sikeston wrapped up the SEMO Conference baseball title Thursday by knocking off Jackson 13-7 at Legion Field in Jackson. Lance Limbaugh suffered the loss for Jackson. He went two innings and gave up eight runs on 10 hits and one walk. Sikeston (7-2, 6-0 SEMO Conference) put on an offensive display, banging out 18 hits...

SIKESTON -- Funeral for Randy Leroy Jones of Sikeston will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Blanchard Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Kelly Grubbs will officiate. Burial will be in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Friends may call at the chapel from 5-8 p.m. today...

JACKSON -- Erma A. Nunn, 72, of Jackson passed away Thursday, April 13, 2000, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 3, 1928, in Decatur, Ill., the daughter of J.L. and Ella Mae Hott Garvin. On June 22, 1946, she married William Norris Nunn. He preceded her in death on March 4, 1999...

PERRYVILLE -- The Rev. Leroy "Roy" Higgs, 66, of Perryville died Tuesday, April 11, 2000, at Elkhart General Hospital in Elkhart, Ind. He was born Aug. 23, 1933, in Olmsted, Ill., son of Luther and Ina Hooker Higgs. He and Joyce Thiele Stephens were married Sept. 25, 1985, at Dexter...

DELTA -- Frances McFall Lesch, 68, of Delta died Thursday, April 13, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 24, 1931, in Orr, Okla., daughter of Arthur Cecil and Ola Mae Finney Diggs. She married Dale Lesch. Survivors include her husband; five sons, Robert, Alvin and George McFall of Scott City, Ron McFall of Cincinnati, Ohio, Dale Lesch Jr. ...

KARNAK, Ill. -- Mabel A. Shreves, 93, of Karnak died Thursday, April 13, 2000, at Massac Memorial Hospital in Metropolis. Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak is in charge of arrangements.

PERRYVILLE -- Agnes V. "Bernice" Zahner, 92, of Perryville died Thursday, April 13, 2000, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. She was born Feb. 19, 1908, in Arkansas, daughter of William and Rosella Mowry. She and Wallace S. Zahner were married April 9, 1929. He died in January 1972...

KARNAK, Ill. -- Louetta Racey Klauka, 76, of Beaver Foot Bay, Fla., and formerly of Cypress, Ill., died Tuesday, April 11, 2000, at Beverly Health Care Center in Palm Bay, Fla. She was born Nov. 5, 1923, in Cypress, daughter of Thomas Melvin and Edith Johnson Racey. She and Harvey Klauka were married...

A Texas man was killed, and 11 people were injured in two separate accidents Wednesday along Southeast Missouri highways. Both accidents were investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Travis Holder, 37, of Karnack, Texas, was killed after being thrown from his vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the accident scene...

ORAN -- Virginia P. Segers, 85, of Oran died Tuesday, April 11, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 23, 1914, in Lexington, Miss., the daughter of Josepus and Floia Pullen. She married Willie Walter Segers on July 15, 1939. He died Jan. 5, 1996...

BENTON -- A former Dunklin County minister was sentenced to 25 years in prison Thursday. James Niederstadt of Malden was sentenced by Judge David Dolan for forcible sodomy, a non-classed felony in Missouri punishable by five years to life in prison...

NEW MADRID -- A Cape Girardeau man faces two life sentences plus an additional 22 years after being found guilty of raping a woman and beating her boyfriend with a hammer in Cape Girardeau. After about an hour of deliberations, the jury found DeMarcus Wright, 19, guilty of forcible rape, first-degree burglary, second-degree assault and armed criminal action...