Stories from Sunday, October 22, 2000

Meyer speaks: Dr. William Meyer, president of the county Extension Council, make opening remarks during the dedication ceremony Tuesday. Vice president is present: Dr. Ron Turner, executive vice president of the Extension Council, was among the speakers Tuesday...

Proposition A: A.J. Biri and Molly Woeltje of the Jackson High School debate team argued the merits of Proposition A, which would limit highway and interstate billboard advertising. Proposition B: JHS students Katie Townsend and Jennifer Hotop debated Proposition B, which would restructure how Missouri political candidates can obtain campaign funding...

The Jackson Elks are making plans for its annual Christmas Basket Project. The Elks will be working with local groups in making this a community effort to help the needy. Last year more than 200 families were given a basic assortment of food items -- hams, canned food, toys, gloves, scarves, coats and diapers for families with small children...

Work is moving along smartly at the Jackson waste water plant. Part of a 1998 bond issue to improve city infrastructure, the work was viewed by city personnel during an annual inspection tour Wednesday. The main additions at the plant are a bio-solids holding facility with an aerobic digester and a new sludge-holding tank...

Shannon & Wilson, an employee-owned geotechnical and environmental consulting firm, now has an office in Jackson. The firm opened an office at 622 W. Jackson Blvd. on Sept. 1. Shannon & Wilson provides such services as geotechnical engineering/consulting and instrumentation, geology and geophysics, rock mechanics and underground engineering, earthquake engineering, and environmental science, engineering and geohydrology...

Favorite: Many children are drawn out by a clown. This allows Savannah to share Christian principles with youngsters. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans The clown in Donna Sternickle came out early. It just wasn't appreciated at first. "I was always a outspoken, obnoxious, boisterous and extravagant child that would always seem to get into trouble for the little things," Sternickle said. "I always had a fascination for people that could get away with these personality traits -- especially clowns."...

Making his third appearance before the Jackson Rotary Club since taking over the reigns of the Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball program, Gary Garner sounded like anything but a rebuilding coach Tuesday. Garner, whose teams have gone 14-13, 20-9 and 24-7 in three seasons, has taken the program to the Promised Land -- the suburbs of same, anyway. ...

Having a place to call one's own, on a nice plot of land, has been a vision that has driven American farmers since before the nation was forged. The University Outreach & Extension Program has been helping farmers maintain that dream since 1914. Tuesday the Cape Girardeau County Outreach & Extension staff realized its own such dream. A new brick office was dedicated on Jackson Trails Road, opening a new chapter in the long history of Extension in the county...

Is it me, or are the oranges and reds a little brighter, and more vivid this year? What a profound pleasure to drive or walk around the countryside in this most pleasant time of autumn, as the fall colors reach their peak! I don't know a lot about why the colors are more vivid some years than others, or the timing involved. ...

MILL SPRING, Mo. -- Saturday morning, just hours before the rocky earth is to receive the remains of Gov. Mel Carnahan and his son, Roger, curious visitors drive slowly up the gravel road that leads to Carson Hill Cemetery in rural Wayne County near the Carter County line...

Murder charges against a Cape Girardeau man have been dismissed and the same charges have been filed against his stepbrother in connection with a shooting Thursday in Cape Girardeau. Second-degree murder charges against Robert L. Criddle, 18, of 323 S. ...

VANDUSER, Mo. -- Cotton farmers B.T. Johnson and his son, Tony, pause in their barn outside Vanduser. Dressed in insulated coveralls over collared shirts, the father and son are tired.Unless this bad spell of being unable to retain hired hands lifts, they must bring in the 1,400-acre harvest themselves. They have 23 acres done...

Sitting in her front yard Saturday afternoon encircled by family members and friends, Marilyn Sides Morrison had her infant great-grandchild in her lap and her 19-year-old grandson on her mind. Jesus Sides, who was shot to death Thursday afternoon at Indian Park, was the child's father...

A Japanese scholar will visit Southeast Missouri State University from Oct. 29 to Nov. 6 to conduct research at the university's Center for Faulkner Studies and deliver guest lectures. Professor Kiyoko Toyama is the recipient of the 2000 BioKyowa Visiting Japanese Scholar award...

The great thing about being a kid is the ever-changing career opportunities. Last week, our oldest daughter, Becca, was in the magic business. The Amazing Becca was hard at work performing the disappearing coin trick and other feats of magic. This week, she discovered puppets thanks to Joni, who is orchestrating a puppet show for Becca's Girl Scout troop in a couple of weeks...

Cape Girardeau city officials say they won't turn to the voters to get the River Campus project out of its legal chains and move the project forward. A lawsuit by Cape Girard-eau businessman Jim Drury over collection of a city tax and a judge's subsequent ruling in his favor have held up the project to develop an arts school on the site of a former Catholic seminary...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Missouri Department of Transportation officials will hold an open house in Sikeston on Oct. 30 to gather public comments about the agency's long-range transportation plan. The open house will be held from 5-7 p.m. at the Ramada Inn in Sikeston. No formal presentation will be made during the session...

Southeast Missouri State University physics professor Jai Dahiya has been awarded a $12,000 National Science Foundation grant to develop 10 experiments involving microwaves. The experiments are designed to help students better understand cellular telephone technology, said Dahiya...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Cape Girardeau County Treasurer Bill Reynolds has seen two primary changes in the way the treasurer's office is run during his 20 years in office -- the dawn of computerized accounting and the phase out of the locally owned bank. "Banking has changed tremendously," Reynolds said. "It used to be that the local banks would fight for our account."...

Employees at businesses along Nash Road in Cape Girardeau might not have to drink bottled water at work for much longer if the state approves a grant application from the city. Now any drinking water consumed at businesses on Nash Road has to come from bottles because the existing water wells don't connect to a treatment plant...

A 32-year-old clerk at Parisian Cleaners in Cape Girardeau stole money from the business and then lied about it to police, authorities said Friday. The woman was in custody Friday afternoon, pending the filing of formal charges of stealing and filing a false police report...

Southeast Missouri State University's football team broke a school record Saturday afternoon -- but it is not the kind of mark the Indians can be proud of. Indian quarterbacks Rashad West and Bobby Brune combined to throw the most single-game interceptions in the history of Southeast football as Murray State picked off six passes to surpass the previous school mark of five interceptions, which came against Delta State in 1986...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Jackson's Krista Mouser won the Class 4A, District 1 girls cross country title Saturday. Not bad for a kid in her first year of running cross country. Mouser's surprising first-place finish in 20:09 helped lead the Lady Indians to a team title as well...

The 10,028 fans who attended Saturday's Southeast Missouri State University homecoming football game against Murray State certainly got their money's worth. Murray and SEMO combined to pile up more than 860 yards and they put a collective 66 points on the scoreboard. The contest was certainly not lacking for excitement...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- For the second consecutive season, the Kelly High School softball team finished third in the Missouri Class 2A State Tournament. After suffering a heart-breaking 2-1 loss to Lawson in Friday's semifinals, the Lady Hawks bounced back Saturday with a 1-0 victory over Blair Oaks...

Fredericktown assured itself of its first back-to-back winning seasons in 37 years Friday night by slipping past Kennett 29-26. Kennett, which beat Sikeston earlier this season, dropped to 5-2. The Blackcats (6-2) found themselves trailing 20-6 with 1:30 left to go in the second quarter, but a 30-yard pass from Chris Wood to Clay Hendrix set up a touchdown just before half to give the Blackcats some momentum...

MURRAY, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University's volleyball team continued its domination of Ohio Valley Conference opponents on Saturday, recording another sweep with a three-set victory over host Murray State at Racer Arena. The 15-9, 15-6, 15-4 victory was also the 300th in the career of Southeast head coach Cindy Gannon...

Saint Francis Universal Health & Fitness Center will offer fall tennis clinics for various skill levels of players in November and December. Beginning players ages 6-10 will meet each Tuesday from 3:30-4:30 p.m. starting Nov. 7 and ending Dec. 12. The cost is $30. ...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Conservation agents see just about everything in the course of their work, so they aren't easily shocked. But Clay County Conservation Agent Brian Bartlett reports being absolutely amazed at what he found when he reached the scene of a deer-vehicle accident last November...

The Basketball Points for Pizza will be held Saturday, Nov. 18, at the First General B aptist Church in Jackson. The competition, which has a $1 entry fee, is open to boys and girls ages 9-17. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. and the contest will begin at 10...

With the regular season nearing an end, area volleyball teams brace for the upcoming district playoffs. Several teams are finally returning to full strength after early season injuries and all are trying to fine-tune their games for the ultimate goal, the march to the state finals...

A collision Saturday afternoon in Oran, Mo., resulted in serious and moderate injuries to Chaffee, Mo., residents, while a separate accident Friday evening near Chaffee hospitalized another Chaffee woman with moderate injuries. Ernie Payne, 36, of Chaffee sustained serious injuries in the accident at 4:15 p.m. on Highway 77 at Oran. He was taken by helicopter to Southeast Missouri Hospital...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- James Edward Kneezle, 72, of Sikeston died Friday, Oct. 20, 2000, at his home. He was born Aug. 23, 1928, in Bell City, Mo., son of Josh and Bertha Mayberry Kneezle. He and Shelby Dockins were married April. 16, 1960, in Bell City. He was a crew leader for 41 years for the Missouri highway department...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Dustin M. Hotop, 16, of Perryville died Saturday, Oct. 21, 2000, in an automobile accident. He was born Nov. 27, 1983, in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., son of Steven and Gail Hotop. Dustin was a junior at Perryville High School. Survivors include his parents of Perryville; a brother, Derek Hotop of Perryville; paternal grandparents, Eugene and Shirley Hotop of Perryville; and maternal grandparents, Glennon and Pearl Otte of St. Marys...

Viola C. Dannenmueller, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Oct. 20, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center. Friends may call from 3-9 p.m. Monday at Ford & Sons Mount Auburn Chapel. Parish prayers will be said at 7 p.m. Monday. Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, with the Rev. Milton Ryan officiating. Burial will be at St. Mary Cemetery...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Lawrence H. Finger, 84, of Perryville died Friday, Oct. 20, 2000, at the Perry County Nursing Home. He was born Nov. 28, 1915, in Denver, Iowa, son of Hugo and Bertha Hein Finger. He and Anna Clements were married Oct. 4, 1947. He was a pasteurizer at a cheese plant. He was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church of Perryville, a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, a member of American Legion Post 133 and retired from 20 years service in the National Guard...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Edith Tanner Bailey, 86, of East Prairie died Friday, Oct. 20, 2000, at the East Prairie Nursing Center. She was born Jan. 25, 1914, in O'bion County, Tenn., daughter of Sam B. and Aurora Kendall Tanner. She and Luther Henry Bailey were married May 30, 1930. He died June 10, 1988...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- A Perryville teen-ager and a St. Marys, Mo., woman were both killed Saturday morning in a collision in Perry County. Dustin Hotop, 16, and Lucille Camp, 51, died in the 6:20 a.m. crash on U.S. 61, two-tenths of a mile north of Perry County Road 904 north of Perryville...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Leon C. Burger, 87, of Jackson died Friday, Oct. 20, 2000, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 25, 1913, in Chaffee, Mo., son of Charles and Helen Leible Burger. He and Lorene Young were married July 17, 1937. She survives...

To the editor: My wife and I just bought 90 acres in the far southwest corner of the county because we wanted to be as far away from Cape and Jackson as we could practically get and so we could live as much like free Americans as is possible today. Had we known county planning and zoning was a possibility, we would have kept going on into Stoddard or Bollinger counties. Cape and Jackson will dominate the county and dictate how those of us in the county are allowed to live our lives...

ON A recent radio program, the presiding commissioner and a committee member said it is just a small group of people who are speaking out against planning and zoning and insinuating that we are just rednecks. I am not sure how they define rednecks. We are farmers, businessman, housewives, government workers, construction workers, teachers, senior citizens and the like. ...

KENNETT, Mo. -- Ready to vote Nov. 7? The polls show most of us have already made up our minds about Al Gore and George Bush. According to those polls, the undecided vote at no more than 6 percent of expected general election voters. And that's good, because it would indicate a majority of us have paid some attention to a campaign that will hardly be remembered as intellectually stimulating or constitutionally significant...

To the editor: The League of Women Voters of Southeast Missouri scheduled a forum for candidates for U.S.. representative from the 8th District for Oct. 25. As a candidate for Congress, I gladly accepted the generous offer for an opportunity to share my positions with the voters...

With this week's tragic demise of Gov. Mel Carnahan, Missourians are awakening to a realization of having a new governor. His name is Roger Wilson, who since 1993 has served as lieutenant governor. Wilson, a graduate of Central Missouri College at Fayette, Mo., later earned a master's degree from the University of Missouri. ...

To the editor: Torrence Johns of Qulin, Mo., has shown by his actions what the true meaning of being a volunteer really is. Mr. Johns has completed over 55 years as a cooperative weather observer for the National Weather Service. His voluntary work has provided an inspiration for all his fellow citizens...

Some families spend their Saturdays at the soccer fields. Other parents rush one child to practice, drop another at a friend's house and squeeze in an errand or two on the way. Life today is nothing like those 1950s era sitcoms where mothers greeted their children at the door, asked about school and families sat down for meals together. Today, families are being pulled in so many different directions that it's difficult even to eat a meal together or catch up on the day's events...

There is nothing like college homecoming days to make a member of the alumni reminisce about college days and drag out old yearbooks to refresh memories. My college loyalties are divided between Flat River Junior College, now Mineral Area Community College (MACC), and Southeast Missouri State Teachers College, now Southeast Missouri State University...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Jack and Jeanette Rooker of Marble Hill were honored with a surprise 50th wedding anniversary celebration Aug. 6, 2000, at Enchanted Gardens in Jackson, Mo. Hosts were their children. More than 125 guests attended from Missouri, Michigan and Indiana...

Cassi Stehr and Jorg Weissflog were married Sept. 16, 2000, in Charlotte, N.C. Jim Kallam performed the double ring ceremony. Vocalist was John Blizzard. A string quartet comprised of Jane Hart, Leigh Marsh, Martha Geissler and John Cloer provided music...

Staci Leigh Rebert and Dane Baker were married Aug. 19, 2000, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Chapel. The Rev. Barry Pfanstiel performed the double ring ceremony. Organist was Carolyn Fiedler, trumpeter was Dan Berry, soloist and guitarist was Keith Allen, all of Cape Girardeau...

Trinity Tabernacle in Bridgeton, Mo., was the setting July 29, 2000, for the wedding of Heidi Marie Kapfer and Ryan James Sanders. Ron Carnett performed the double ring ceremony. Musician and soloist was Russell Henderson of St. Louis. Parents of the bride are David and Cathy Kapfer of Cape Girardeau. Sanders is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Gilmartin of Brookings, S.D., and Mr. and Mrs. James Sanders of Orlando, Fla...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Retired Navy Capt. and Mrs. James J. Harnes Jr. of Advance and Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Lori Lavelle Harnes, to Joel Brian Diffendaffer. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ron Diffendaffer of Scottsbluff, Neb...

TAMMS, Ill. -- David "Jim" and Betty Hutchison of Tamms will celebrate their 50th anniversary with a luncheon reception Oct. 29. The event will be held at Tamms Community Center from 12:30-3 p.m. Hutchison and Betty Jo West were married Oct. 28, 1950, in Elco, Ill...

Danielle Dawn Welker and Robert Lane Lummus exchanged vows July 8, 2000, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Rev. Milton Ryan performed the double ring ceremony. Organist was Cheryl Oberhaus of Cape Girardeau. Soloists were Angie Mather of St. Louis and Alan Bruns of Cape Girardeau...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Melanie Louise Riehn and Leo Edward McElrath IV exchanged vows June 24, 2000, at St. Paul Lutheran Church. The Rev. Robert Henrichs performed the double ring ceremony. Pianist was Amanda Reece of Cape Girardeau, and vocalists were Meagan Edmonds of Jackson and Adrian True of Cape Girardeau...

Cpl. Michelle Jane Edwards and Cpl. Jonathon Charles Andrus were married May 27, 2000, in Huntsville, Ala. Chaplain Barry W. Presley performed the double ring ceremony. Parents of the bride are Kent and Jane Stodghill of Cape Girardeau and David and Carlita Edwards of Gurley, Ala. The groom is the son of Charles and Mary Andrus of Gainesville, Ga...

Cynthia Leigh Schweiss and David Wayne Bleckler were married April 29, 2000, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Rev. Dan Schulte performed the ceremony. Lector was Jennifer Joggerst, cousin of the bride. Music was provided by Lenny Kuper and Mary Richards...

DELTA, Mo. -- Delores Barnes of Advance, Mo., announces the engagement of her daughter, Jayme Nicole Barnes, to Travis Wayne Perry. He is the son of Mark and Linda Perry of Delta. Barnes is also the daughter of the late David Barnes of Morley, Mo. Barnes is a graduate of Truman High School in Truman, Ark...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The Church of God in Chaffee was the setting April 29, 2000, for the wedding of Loretta Lynn Tomlinson and Matthew John Arnzen. The Rev. Thomas Morris performed the double ring ceremony. Pianist was Ronann Luttrell of Chaffee, sister of the bride. Soloist was Cora Miller of Olive Branch, Ill., sister of the bride, and vocalists were Nicole Arnzen and Scott Arnzen of Cape Girardeau, cousins of the groom. A poem written by Candace Witcher of Chaffee, sister of the bride, was read...