Stories from Friday, September 8, 2000

In the same way everyone knows who Shakespeare is, Johann Sebastian Bach is a household word even in homes where his music isn't heard. Musicians are especially fond of him. "For many musicians he is the composer," says Dr. Sara Edgerton, director of the university orchestra and coordinator of the upcoming Bach Festival 2000. "He has a quality which is universal."...

In terms of history and tradition, football games don't come much bigger than Sikeston and Charleston. The Bluejays and Bulldogs will be playing their 115th game against one another tonight at Charleston's Marshall Field. But forget about the history, both teams just want to get into the win column. Sikeston suffered a 30-3 loss to state-ranked Jackson last week, while Charleston fell 19-6 to a strong Kennett squad...

JACKSON, Mo. -- John Beussink can't give a dollar value yet to the damage done by a fire to the cabinet-making business he has owned with his three brothers since the late 1960s, but he said it won't put them out of business. "We still have the capability of making fine cabinets," said Beussink, one of the owners of Beussink Brothers Wood Works. "We're just out of a place to do it."...

Don't give up, never leave early and always look inside. Those are the things St. Francis Medical Center officials likely will remember the next time they search for a time capsule. Administrators, demolition contractors and well-wishers gathered at the old St. Francis Hospital building on Pacific Street Thursday to see if the cornerstone of the building, once removed, would reveal mementos from the past...

JACKSON, Mo. -- The Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority recommended Thursday that the County Commission allocate money to hire a transportation director. The five-member transit board said a director is needed to help plan and implement improvements in public transportation services in the county...

First off, it isn't easy trying to figure out why God does some things. But here's the way I look at it: Anyone who can put together a golf course right here in downtown River City probably has enough time on his hands to analyze the Almighty. Let me explain...

Today's road closings: Anticipated closings next week: Ongoing projects:...

A 41-year-old Cape Girardeau man was found badly beaten and unconcious in an alley Wednesday evening, police said. At 9:58 p.m., it was reported that a man was lying unconcious in an alley adjacent to the 300 block of Morgan Oak Street, Cpl. Kevin Orr said...

The Hurley, a U.S. Corps of Engineers dustpan dredge, moved into position in the middle of the Mississippi River near Cape Girardeau this week to remove sand and silt from the navigation channel of the river. The Hurley, 300 feet long, is capable of removing over 5,000 cubic yards of silt from the river's bottom each hour...

JACKSON -- Jackson School District administrators hope seeing is believing when it comes to the lack of space and other problems faced by students at R.O. Hawkins Junior High School. School officials are inviting the public to participate in a series of tours over the next two months to see first-hand the crowded conditions students and teachers experience daily at the junior high. ...

SIKESTON -- Charges of first degree robbery and armed criminal action were filed against a Sikeston man for the robbery of an area restaurant. Edward Lee Taylor, 18, stands accused of an Aug. 20 robbery at Hardees. Police give this account: An armed man entered Hardee's at 1105 S. Main and approached the counter and demanded the money...

Thursday night, millions of people tuned into the MTV Video Awards, a glitzy extravaganza at Radio City Music Hall. Fifty people were at the University Center listening to the Southern Illinois folkies Carter & Connelley. The contrast is stark not only in numerical terms but in the differences in the music. There's no smoke and mirrors to Carter & Connelley, simply songs they believe in...

The Cape Girardeau Area United Way will continue to fund local Boy Scouts of America, officials said, despite other chapters' decisions to pull support after a controversial Supreme Court decision in June. Nancy Jernigan, executive director of the local United Way, said inquiries from donors and others prompted her to make a formal announcement of the chapter's stance...

A "Margaritaville" fund-raising activity for Tom Neumeyer will be at 7 p.m. tonight at 221 Independence. The event costs $20 per person and donations will be used to fund Neumeyer's bid for election. He is seeking a seat in the 158th district of the Missouri House of Representatives, and is running as a Democrat...

As water trickled in a fountain and a slight breeze blew, about 100 people gathered Thursday evening amid the bushes and blooms in the Healing Arts Garden at St. Francis Medical Center to dedicate a new mural. The brick relief mural was designed to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the hospital. It's five panels, which stand out from the background, show the history of the medical center from its beginning with patron saint St. Francis of Assisi to breakthroughs in health care...

A labor dispute has slowed work on the Otto and Della Seabaugh Polytechnic Building at Southeast Missouri State University. With Operating Engineers Local 513 picketing the site over a labor dispute with Kenneth Foeste Masonry of Cape Girardeau, most of the construction workers on the project remained off the job Thursday...

For Cape Central, it's time to get nasty. Not cheating nasty. Or no-deodorant, green-teeth nasty. Just hard-hittin', clean-their-clock, make-'em-cry-for-mama nasty. If the Tigers play that brand of football, Central coach Lawrence Brookins believes his team is capable of pulling off an upset tonight when it travels to New Madrid County Central, ranked sixth in Class 3A. The kickoff is slated for 7:30...

Sumner has size. And it has speed. But it doesn't have Tyrone Griffin. Griffin, a 235-pound runner who received a football scholarship at the University of Wisconsin, was a one-man wrecking crew last year when Jackson and Sumner High hooked up in an epic 31-30 battle in which Jackson won on a late two-point conversion...

The Southeast Missouri State volleyball team will participate in the Holiday Inn Express/Nike Challenge this weekend at Ball State. Comprising the field will be Southeast, host Ball State, Florida State and Texas El Paso. Southeast (1-2) will face Florida State today at 5 p.m. The Otahkians will then face Ball State and Texas-El Paso on Saturday...

Cape Central's girls softball team combined solid pitching, timely hitting and good defense at key moments to blank cross-town rival Notre Dame 4-0 Thursday afternoon at Notre Dame High School. The Lady Tigers (9-3) broke open a close game in the top of the fifth inning. Leading 1-0, Amber Voerg doubled in one run and Jessica McDonald drove home two more with a double to deep left field...

WYATT, Mo. -- Funeral for Anne Marie Poley of Wyatt will be held at 2 p.m. today at Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie, Mo. Robert Hook will officiate. Burial will be in Oak Grove Cemetery near Charleston, Mo. Poley, 57, died Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo...

Alfred Gilbert Zahner, 69, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2000, at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Marion, Ill. He was born May 6, 1931, in Perryville, Mo., son of Gilbert Oscar and Clara Caroline Loberg Zahner. He and Judith Ann Thompson were married Nov. 25, 1976, in Buena Park, Calif...

Caroline E. "Carrie" Suedekum, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Sept. 7, 2000, at the Lutheran Home. She was born April 14, 1910, in Stanley County, S.D., daughter of William T. and Anna Haupt Hild. She and Clarence Suedekum were married Aug. 16, 1931, in Cape Girardeau. He died Jan. 27, 1976...

Ray E. "Reb" Timmerman, 81, of Cape Girardeau, died Thursday, Sept. 7, 2000, at his home. He was born July 17, 1919, in Atlanta, Ga., son of Roy S. and Gertrude E. Greenfield Timmerman. He and Dorothy Moulder Galemore were married Oct. 20, 1973, in Sikeston, Mo. She survives...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Sevella Cummins, 85, of Scott City died Thursday, Sept. 7, 2000, at Perry County Nursing Home in Perryville, Mo. She was born Dec. 19, 1914, at Diehlstadt, Mo., daughter of Joel and Leona Carter Jennings. She and Albert "Lowell" Cummins were married April 17, 1936, at Fornfelt, Mo...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Cindy Blackwell, 42, of Dexter died Saturday, Sept. 2, 2000, in an automobile accident near Newport, Ark. She was born Oct. 7, 1957, in Riverside, Calif., daughter of Elmer and Clara King Sanders Jr. Blackwell moved to Dexter eight years ago from Palacios, Texas...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Frances L. Mason, 58, died Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 9, 1942, in Union County, Ill., daughter of Claude and Sophronia Harwood McRaven. She married Richard Mason, who died in 1999...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Jean Wilke, 57, of Maryland Heights, Mo., died Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2000, at Missouri Baptist Hospital in St. Louis. She was born Oct. 27, 1942, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Elmer and Norma Savers Wolters. Wilke was a graduate of Jackson High School. She was employed at Atkinson Group Advertising...

Daughter to James Michael Cobb and Rebecca Susann Proffer of Jackson, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 1:29 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31, 2000. Name, Marlaina Elisabeth. Weight, 7 pounds 13 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Ms. Proffer is the former Rebecca Nolen, daughter of Conley and Barbara Nolen of Jackson. She is employed at Wal-Mart Supercenter in Jackson. Cobb is the son of Steven and Glenda Cobb of Jackson. He is employed at Show-Me's Restaurant...

IN SPEAK Out some young people were talking about how the old people should have a retirement plan. I'm one of these older people. I did have a retirement plan until my grandson decided to come live with me. He thought I should support him. I work two part-time jobs to make end-meets. I still pay taxes, Social Security, retirement and everything. I still work and pay taxes, and a lot of older people do too...

Has the cause of family values been diminished in this country? Matt Daniels, executive director of the Alliance for Marriage, thinks so, and he is determined to do something about it. Daniels, whose father left him and his mother to fend for themselves in Spanish Harlem when Daniels was just 2 years old, is an unlikely advocate for two-parent families. After all, he is living proof that kids from single-parent families can excel in our society...

It's amazing. For 35 years the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon has raised money for research and assistance. And each year, Americans pour out bigger and bigger contributions during the Labor Day event. This year's event raised $54.6 million nationally, which is impressive. But it is amazing how residents of our area responded to this annual appeal for donations. They kicked in more than $360,000 this year, up $20,000 from last year...

The complaint among teen-agers isn't new: There's nothing to do. Of course, there is plenty for young people to do. There are part-time jobs, volunteering, family activities, sports, school, church and dozens of organizations and clubs. When youngsters say there's nothing to do, what they really mean is this: There is nothing that challenges my growing need to socialize with other people my age in a noncompetitive atmosphere in which I can have fun as I define "fun" and without a lot of grown-up interference because I'm learning to use my newfound independence skills in ways that are nonthreatening to my own value system while I try to deal with all these hormonal changes.. ...

To the editor: The latest labeling of those who are opposed to placing the Jackson school bond proposal on the November ballot is a "small vocal group of selfish dissenters who are intent on lambasting school board members and impeding the district's plans for the future."...