Stories from Wednesday, May 24, 2000

Corn and soybeans have been planted, and the immediate forecast is for ideal weather in the Midwest with normal precipitation and above normal temperatures. But a severe drought lurks only 4 or 5 inches below the soil's surface, say agriculture climatologists, marketing experts and some farmers in Southeast Missouri...

JACKSON -- The Jackson Board of Education will include two funding measures on election ballots Aug. 8. In split decisions Tuesday night, the board approved proposals amounting to a total tax levy increase of 50 cents per $100 assessed valuation to fund improvements to R.O. Hawkins Junior High and additional funding for the operating budget. Board member Brent Wills was out of town and did not attend the meeting...

A decision on whether to try 16-year-old Joshua Wolf for murder as an adult has been put off, juvenile court officials said. A certification hearing for Wolf, which was scheduled to have been held Tuesday, will be held before Bollinger County Judge Scott Thomsen rather than Cape Girardeau County Judge Peter Statler. A new date has not been set...

HILLSBORO -- The final trial stemming from last June's civil disturbance in the Good Hope area of Cape Girardeau got under way Tuesday at the Jefferson County Courthouse. Kenneth Campbell, 35, of Cape Girardeau is charged with assault of a law enforcement officer, a felony, and interfering with an arrest, a misdemeanor. The latter charge originally was filed as a felony, but the prosecution amended it to the lesser count shortly before the trial began...

A plan to build a nature center at Cape County Park North may mean moving the Cape Girardeau County War Memorial that stands near the park entrance. "The Conservation Department has asked us to consider moving the veterans memorial," said Cape Girardeau County Commissioner Max Stovall. The memorial would be moved to a ridge at the west end of the park...

School administrators recently notified some kindergarten teacher's assistants they will not be rehired for next year. The classroom aides help kindergarten teachers manage their classes and teach subject matter. Superintendent Dan Steska said the decision to reduce the number of assistants from 10 to five in the district's five elementary schools would save some $50,000 that could be spent to hire another reading recovery teacher for elementary students and on other budget items...

PERRYVILLE -- A Kaskaskia Island, Ill., attorney has been charged with indecent exposure, sodomy and invasion of privacy in connection with the sexual abuse of two juveniles, the state Attorney General's office said. Alan D. Picou, 35, was arraigned Tuesday at the Perry County Courthouse on five felony charges and a misdemeanor. ...

NEW MADRID -- A Cape Girardeau man got two life sentences plus an additional 22 years in prison after being found guilty of raping a woman and beating her boyfriend with a hammer at their Cape Girardeau apartment. Demarcus Wright, 19, was sentenced Tuesday by New Madrid County Judge Fred Copeland, who ordered the sentences run consecutively...

Kelly Gellispie of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce will discuss taxpayer-financed elections at 7:14 Thursday morning during the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's "Chamber Means Business Breakfast" at the Holiday Inn. This marks the second "Chamber Means Business" breakfast...

JACKSON -- The Southeast Regional Qualifier for the Show-Me State Games Track & Field Championships will be held June 17 at the Jackson Junior High School track. The new event for girls and boys ages 14 and younger is one of a number of activities planned in the city's Youth Summer Program...

FREDERICKTOWN -- A 17-year-old Perryville woman was injured Monday morning when her vehicle struck a tree 10 miles northeast of Fredericktown. Dawn M. Seals was taken to Madison County Medical Center and then airlifted to St. Louis University Hospital after the 9:15 a.m. accident on Route J in Bollinger County...

State Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, wants to know why Missouri's attorney general paid 48 private tobacco lawyers $479 million in legal fees instead of allowing the Legislature to allocate money from a tobacco settlement. Kinder held a press conference Tuesday afternoon in St. Louis to ask Gov. Mel Carnahan to disclose all records indicating payments made to the attorneys and details of the work they had completed...

Although the year 2020 is a score of years away, plans are being finalized to help Cape Girardeau develop a vision for the city. The Strategic Planning Committee of Vision 2020 will hold its last meeting from 8 to 10 this morning at the Osage Community Centre to present its final draft of vision statements, goals and strategies...

When Jerry Deardorff retired last year as superintendent of Meadow Heights schools, he thought his worries about the school year were over. But that's not been the case lately. "God seemed to have planned differently," he said. As administrator at Saxony Lutheran High School, Deardorff fills his day with purchase orders, hiring staff and enrolling students...

The staff at Wink's Keg Shop honored Central High School students with a picnic lunch at the store Tuesday. Students visiting the store, adjacent to the high school at 1803 Independence, received free hot dogs, chips and sodas. A karoake station also was set up for aspiring singers and rap artists...

Mark Ruark will have some big shoes to fill not just Darrick Smith's, but his own as well. Cape Central announced recently that Mark Ruark will be Central's girls basketball coach next season. Ruark coached the Lady Tigers for nine years, starting in 1985. He led Central to its only final four appearance in 1989 and will be replacing Smith, who led the team to its first 20-win season since Ruark's 89 season...

FENTON -- Despite a valiant late rally Tuesday evening, the Cape Girardeau Central High girls soccer team could not duplicate its playoff magic of last season. As a result, the Lady Tigers are through playing for the 2000 campaign as Hazelwood Central claimed a 2-1 victory in a Class 4A sectional game at the Anheuser-Busch Conference & Sports Centre...

When it comes to high school baseball, Cape Girardeau is batting 1.000. With Cape Central and Notre Dame -- the only state-sanctioned prep schools in the city -- both capturing district championships, the City of Roses is the only city in the state with more than one school that can say that all of its baseball teams are perfect in the postseason...

Becky Shull, a member of the Southeast Missouri State University track team, has been named to the first team GTE Academic All-District VII women's spring at-large squad. Leslie McNamara, also a member of the track team, was named second team GTE Academic All-District...

The Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball team announced Tuesday that sophomore guard Fred Abraham will transfer to another school. "Fred has told me that due to family considerations he will leave our basketball program and transfer to a school closer to his Paterson, New Jersey home," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "We certainly wish Fred the best of success. He did a good job for us in his two seasons here."...

Frieda Mary Trickey, 89, died in her sleep Monday, May 15, 2000, at Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Services of Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 27, 1910, at Egypt Mills, daughter of John and Dena Fornkahl Lange. She and Claude Trickey were married March 12, 1929. He died April 16, 1989...

PERRYVILLE -- Joshua A. "Josh" Schemel, 18, of Perryville died Monday, May 22, 2000, at his home. He was born Aug. 27, 1981, in Cape Girardeau, son of Kevin M. and Sandy K. Jones Schemel. Schemel attended Perryville High School, where he was on the honor roll, and was a member of DECA and FBLA. He was attending Truman College at Kirksville...

SIKESTON -- Myron E. Henderson, 59, of Senatobia, Miss., died Monday, May 22, 2000, at Methodist General Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. He was born May 25, 1940, in St. Louis, son of Oda and Alma Gail Ables Henderson. Henderson was a maintenance supervisor with Horseshoe Casinos in Mississippi, retiring because of ill health. He was a member of Charjean Baptist Church in Memphis. He was formerly of Sikeston...

Zola Eldridge, 92, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, May 21, 2000, at Fountainbleau Lodge. She was born April 20, 1908, at Patton, daughter of George and Bertha Sample Seabaugh. She and Sam Eldridge were married Oct. 25, 1924, at Marble Hill. He died Aug. 3, 1989...

Graveside service for Virginia Lee Wade of Riverside, Calif., will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Cape County Memorial Park. Rites will be conducted by St. Mark Chapter Order of Eastern Star. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Wade, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Monday, Feb. 7, 2000, at her home...

Russell Lee Mason, 92, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, May 22, 2000, at Fountainbleau Lodge. He was born Nov. 6, 1907, in St. Louis, son of William Edward and Clara Elizabeth Ebel Mason. He and Dora Carolyn Clingingsmith were married May 27, 1937, at Glen Allen...

DEXTER -- Maxine Lotti, 65, of Dearborn, Mich., died Sunday, May 21, 2000, at Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn. She was born Dec. 21, 1934, near Dexter, daughter of Max V. and Thelma M. Martin Wamble. Lotti had lived in Michigan for most of her life. Survivors include a daughter, Diane Wilkerson of Northville, Mich.; a brother, Danny Wamble of Lincoln Park, Mich.; a grandson; and a great-grandson...

Keith Osmer Lounder, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, May 21, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Sept. 26, 1914, in Spokane, Wash., son of Henry Gilbert and Ella Mae Rundell Lounder. He and Melba Roberta Gregory were married March 21, 1953, in Piggott, Ark...

MORLEY -- Velmer "Red" Canady, 70, of Morley died Tuesday, May 23, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born June 7, 1929, in Arkansas, son of Bunkie Franklin and Iva Farmer Canady. Canady had been a road grader with Missouri State Highway Department...

SIKESTON -- JoAnn Inman, 71, of Sikeston died Monday, May 22, 2000, at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital in Creve Coeur. She was born Dec. 16, 1928, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of William Otto and Essie Carman Gillian Botter. She and E.R. "Dick" Inman were married July 10, 1949, at Sikeston...

JACKSON -- Brian Scott Probst, 22, of Jackson died Monday, May 22, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Dec. 17, 1977, the son of Harold R. and Patricia Lane Probst. He was employed by Coca-Cola Bottling Co. in Jackson as a merchandiser and relief salesman...

PARMA -- Lewis Almon "Slim" Medlin, 87, of Parma, died Monday, May 22, 2000, at Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter. He was born Jan. 3, 1913, at Silva, son of John Denton and Carrie Ethel Montgomery Medlin. He and Reba Lorane Pippins were married Oct. 13, 1933, in Piggott, Ark. She survives...

JACKSON -- Ruby K. Masterson, 94, of Jackson died Tuesday, May 23, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 21, 1905, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Emil Klingemann. She and Maple M. Masterson were married Dec. 24, 1924, in Jackson. He died in January 1987...

OAK RIDGE -- Kenneth L. Emerson, 28, of Oak Ridge died Tuesday, May 22, 2000, in a motorcycle-automobile accident on Highway A near Frohna. He was born June 25, 1971, in East St. Louis, Ill., son of LeRoy and Bonnie Wisely Emerson. He and Renee A. Wichern were married Feb. 8, 1992...

M. Louise Hileman, 70, of Murray, Ky., died Tuesday, May 23, 2000, at Calloway County Hospital in Murray. She was born Feb. 16, 1930, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of William and Maude Williams Watson. She married Robert Hileman, who died Feb. 5, 1999...

To the editor: I have been watching the progress at the Fruitland Exit #105 with some interest, because I am aware that many years ago, a small cemetery located there was razed to make the entrance ramp going south. I further understand that the tombstones were discarded. ...

To the editor: Several advantages would come from changing government land acquisition from purchase mode to lease mode. These advantages could also be applied to private environmental land trusts. Problems with federal or state land acquired by purchase include:...

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education approved a boundary shift between Franklin and Blanchard Schools without comment at its recent meeting. The change will allow about 68 Blanchard students to be transferred to Franklin as a way to equalize the two elementary schools...

The Missouri Department of Transportation has put the skids on a speed trap in the small town of Bel-Ridge in St. Louis County. An engineer with MoDOT said he watched Bel-Ridge police officers manipulate a flashing yellow crosswalk to red as a way to trap motorists. The officers issued "too many tickets to count" at the intersection, and each ticket costs motorists $52 each...

Today is a special day at our house as we celebrate the sixth birthday of our son, Ross. I was sitting and thinking about all of the happenings that we have experienced over the past six years. Learning all of life's big stuff, like walking, talking, knowing when to be quiet, potty training, learning manners, and on and on, have come so naturally. ...

Perhaps you remember the 1950s horror film, "The Blob," starring Steve McQueen. In that pre-digital era, filmmakers could not rely on the computerized wizardry of George Lucas for their special effects. Thus, pastry chef Bill Yosses and restaurant critic Bryan Miller speculate that the menacing substance which played the title role in the movie was actually a mound of colored meringue made with several dozen egg whites...