Stories from Thursday, May 18, 2000

Illinois approach work for the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge is more than 95 percent complete. "We should be ready to leave the area within a couple of weeks," said Dan Blevins, project engineer for Massman Construction Co. of Kansas City, which is winding up work on piers and girders for the Illinois approach to the new Mississippi River bridge...

Seven women at Jackson Manor spent Wednesday afternoon making 144 muffins for this morning's annual breakfast held by the Jackson High School senior class. Wednesday morning, eight women at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center delivered 140 cupcakes they had baked to children at the nearby Christian School for the Young Years...

Will Glennon, known as "Dr. Kindness" will speak at the Westfield Shoppingtown West Park, in the JCPenney Court, Saturday at 6 p.m. Glennon is chairman of the national Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. His appearance is the culmination of the local Random Acts of Kindness Week...

Missouri's next governor should consider appointing a transportation secretary in an effort to bring greater accountability to the operations of the Missouri Department of Transportation, state Rep. Patrick Naeger said Wednesday. The Perryville Republican from the 155th District said MoDOT often is too autonomous and "not accountable enough" to the Legislature and the public...

COLUMBIA -- A Boone County jury Thursday acquitted the man involved in an altercation with police that led to a civil disturbance last June on Good Hope Street in Cape Girardeau. Greg Campbell, 36, of Cape Girardeau was found innocent of assault of a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. The jury deliberated for approximately one hour and 15 minutes before announcing its verdict...

May 18, 2000 Dear Julie, When you stop learning is probably the moment you begin dying. It's just a hunch. I don't think it matters what you learn from -- a story, an intimate conversation, your task, a health change -- only that you are not the same person you were the day before...

Lacey Edwards loved animals. "Anything that was God's creature, basically, she loved them," said her mother, Diane Edwards. "She wouldn't even let anybody step on worms." Edwards described her daughter as an avid horse-lover who often participated in horse shows. For her ninth birthday on April 27, Lacey received a puppy, which she immediately named J.C. after her grandfather, Jim Drury, and his wife, Charlotte...

BERNANDA E. JONES AGE: 26 HEIGHT: 6' WEIGHT: 180 lbs. HAIR: Black EYES: Brown LAST KNOWN ADDRESS: 917 N. Fountain, Cape Girardeau WANTED FOR: Misdemeanor probation violation. Original charge of operating a motor vehicle without a license. CHARLES A. SELVY...

Former Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Norman Copeland, right, presented the Copeland Excellence Awards to Travis Sikes, left, Latasha Tidwell and Verlan Graham. JACKSON -- Sgt. Richie Walker was visibly moved as he was presented with the Timothy J. Ruopp Award for outstanding work at the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department Wednesday...

The organizers of Saturday's Clayton Huey Benefit Walkathon want to raise money, but they are just as interested in raising awareness about children's mental health issues. "A lot of people see these children and think they just need to be spanked," said Lisa Huey, a local organizer of the walk and the mother of the child the walk was named after. "They don't believe children can have mental illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, ADHD or clinical depression."...

The first fund raiser was a concert by violinist Heidi Bergman and pianist Dr. James Sifferman. Teen-age violinist Liesl Schoenberger helped raise money in a later recital. Three years after the Old St. Vincent's Church organ fund was established, about $150,000 of the $255,625 needed to buy the church a new pipe organ has been raised. ...

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at noon today at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport to mark the inaugural flight of a new airline service for Cape Girardeau. Beginning today Trans World Airlines Inc. and Corporate Airlines Inc. of Smyrna, Tenn., will offer nonstop service under Trans World Express brand between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau. Corporate Airlines will use the 19-seat British Aerospace Jetstream 32 aircraft on the route...

A host of players have contributed to Southeast Missouri State University's record-setting baseball team this year, but it would be hard for coach Mark Hogan to imagine just where his squad might be without its seven seniors. The numbers those seven have put up this season -- and for many of them, throughout their careers -- are nothing short of sensational...

Cape Girardeau Central's batters must have been annoying to Farmington's pitchers. They took walks, they bunted, they fouled off pitches with two strikes, they sprayed the ball around and they did everything it took to win the game. The second-seeded Tigers advanced to the championship game of the Class 4A, District 1 Tournament with a 10-4 win over No. 3 Farmington at Tiger Field Wednesday...

The Cape Girardeau Central High girls swimming team has virtually no chance of coming close to approaching last year's best-ever fifth-place state finish. But that doesn't mean the Lady Tigers won't be able to still make a splash when the Missouri State Championships are held Friday and Saturday in St. Peters, which is near St. Louis...

POPLAR BLUFF -- The Cape Girardeau Central and Jackson girls soccer teams have had some exciting battles over the years, but you'd be hard pressed to find one more thrilling than Wednesday night's contest. Playing here in the championship game of the Class 4A, District 1 Tournament, Cape Central outlasted Jackson 3-2 in three overtimes...

Eastern Kentucky, Southeast Missouri State University and Middle Tennessee all finished within one-half game of each other at the top of the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season baseball standings. Austin Peay, which shook off a 1-8 OVC start, has been the league's hottest team...

Ian Davis and Jerry Strohmeyer both recorded holes-in-one this week at the Cape Lacroix Golf Center. Davis used a 7-iron to ace the 160-yard No. 4 hole while Strohmeyer used an 8-iron to ace the 80-yard No. 7 hole.

Lacey Nicole Edwards, 9, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, May 16, 2000, at St. Louis Children's Hospital. She was born April 27, 1991, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Kevin V. and Diane Drury Edwards. Lacey was a third-grade student at Eagle Ridge Christian School. She played in CAYSA soccer, softball, showed horses, participated in gymnastics, played piano, and had recently given a recital at La Croix United Methodist Church...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Breyana Kaitlynne Simmons was stillborn Tuesday, May 16, 2000, at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale. Survivors include her parents, Brian and Terri Simmons of Dongola; paternal grandparents, Don and Sue Simmons of Dongola; maternal grandmother, Joyce Yahn of Dongola; maternal grandfather, Ed Faulkner of Bremerton, Wash.; maternal great-grandparents, Buster and Shirley Burns of Dongola; and paternal great-grandparents, Arnold and Mary Rector of Anna...

Shirley Ann Brock of Orlando, Fla., formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, May 13, 2000, in Orlando. Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

SIKESTON -- Eul Lee Counts, 73, of Sikeston died Wednesday, May 17, 2000, at his home. He was born Oct. 23, 1926, in Reyno, Ark., son of Cecil and Lydia Barton Counts. He and Ruthine Taylor were married Oct. 25, 1947. Counts was a maintenance supervisor with Capraco, retiring in 1976. He was a member of Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

Catherine Reynolds, 43, of Mascoutah, Ill., died Friday, May 12, 2000, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, from injuries received in a vehicle accident May 10 in Mascoutah. She was born Jan. 7, 1957, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of James R. and Janet M. Cooke Buckner...

SIKESTON -- Dayton Aaron Lasater, 75, of Sikeston died Tuesday, May 16, 2000, at Sikeston. He was born Aug. 1, 1924, in Puryear, Tenn., son of Enoch H. and Ida Belle Miller Lasater. He and Mary B. Bishop were married April 14, 1951, at Sikeston. Lasater worked more than 35 years in the farm implement business. ...

SCOTT CITY -- Bessie Magdlene Noland, 71, of Scott City died Wednesday, May 17, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 9, 1928, at Portageville, daughter of Joseph and Jeffie Gaines Robinson. She and Paul Eugene "Gene" Noland were married June 19, 1948. He died Nov. 5, 1990...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Mollie Melinda Aldrich, 74, of Mounds died Wednesday, May 17, 2000, at her home. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at the Jones Funeral Home in Villa Ridge.

KARNAK, Ill. -- Catherine Brooks Schierbaum, 89, of Joppa, Ill., died Wednesday, May 17, 2000, at her home. Arrangements are incomplete at the Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak.

Daughter to Robert Jackson and Angela Marie Brown of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 6:50 p.m. Thursday, May 11, 2000. Name, Alexis. Weight, 7 pounds 9 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Ms. Brown is the former Angela Hurt, daughter of Don Hurt of Jackson and Linda Hurt of Cape Girardeau. Jackson is the son of Verbie Jackson of Cape Girardeau and Eillie Jackson Sr...

Now that the Missouri Legislature has opened a $2.25 billion revolving credit account for the Missouri Department of Transportation, it will be interesting to see if the collective memories of elected officials and taxpayers last long enough to hold everyone involved accountable...

To the editor: Alma Schrader Elementary School students and staff would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of our community who kindly donated money and gifts to replace what was stolen from our school during this past weekend. Because of the selfishness of a few, many would have been affected had the anonymous benefactors not stepped in. This is a good example of what Random Acts of Kindness Week is all about...

Share your stories of kindnesses done this week or throughout the year with our Kindness Hotline (573) 334-8997 or call our Speak Out line at (573) 334-5111. The gift of sight Doug Morgan of Jackson was in Ryan's Restaurant in Tennessee, north of Memphis, and gave his reading glasses to a man that was using a little magnifying glass to read. He said, "Here, try these, partner." And the guy said "It's a miracle."...

To brighten a trying time, all pediatric patients under age 12 at Southeast Missouri Hospital get a handmade puppet with a plastic face and fabric body that fits over small hands. Many of those puppets and a host of other hand-sewn items for hospital patients are made by Jean Devore, who sews on days she isn't bothered by her rheumatoid arthritis...

Samantha Kluesner is looking forward to school being out for the summer, but not because she plans on spending all her time sunning at the pool or hanging with friends. Instead, Kluesner, the 15-year-old daughter of David and Dolly Kluesner of Chaffee, will spend much of this summer volunteering at St. Francis Medical Center's Heart Institute, just as she did last summer...