Stories from Thursday, October 26, 2000

As the little ghosts, goblins, demons, witches and super heroes prepare to haunt our neighborhoods next week in search of a full bag of goodies, there are a few things to keep in mind that will help make the Halloween holiday free of injuries. Trick or treating, of course, begins with dressing up in costume. ...

About 40 people attended a two-hour candidates forum Wednesday night at Southeast Missouri State University's Glenn Auditorium. More than half of them were candidates, relatives and friends of candidates, or members of the local chapter of the League of Women Voters or mass communications and political sciences departments at the university, which sponsored the event...

Barely any trace of the old St. Francis hospital is left at the corner of Good Hope and Morgan Oak streets now that crews have removed the concrete retaining wall and sidewalk. And even as the city finalizes paperwork for the old St. Francis demolition, officials are beginning the same process for the Marquette Hotel at the corner of Broadway and Fountain Street...

Mail carrier Tony Tarrants walked without fear through the leaf-strewn sidewalk to 560 N. West End Blvd on Wednesday, unmoved by the rickety picket fence or the small graveyard that recently appeared on the front lawn. Confidently, he strode up to the front door without a second glance at the severed woman's head dangling in front of the picture window or the coffin, complete with occupant, that stood sentry at the door...

Oct. 26, 2000 Dear Leslie A teen-ager was shot to death last week in the park on the other side of our fence. A grudge killing, police say. A year-and-a-half ago and half a block away, Debra Ann Poch came home from a night of drinking and apparently mistook her house for another. While banging on the front door, she was shot and killed. The occupant of the house said he was afraid serial killer Rafael Resendez-Ramirez was at the door...

The radioactive contamination of Southeast Missouri State University's Magill Hall has been traced to a man who moved a safe containing a vial of americium-241 in January 1997 while he was on a work-release program, school officials said Wednesday. Dr. Chris McGowan, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, said the man has reported that the liquid spilled when he moved the safe. He has told officials that he cleaned up the liquid that spilled on the floor...

Faces seldom change in Missouri courts when judges run for election. In four judicial circuits in Southeast Missouri, four circuit judges are running unopposed for election. The four judges, who average more than 10 years of service on the bench, have only faced opponents in general or primary elections four times combined...

Two thousand people got mooned at the Show Me Center Wednesday night. They also got 2 1/2 hours of high quality singing, dancing and hand jiving during a performance of the 1950s rock musical "Grease." The production offered sparkling sound quality and hotrod pacing...

Julius Zomper sees billboards as visual clutter; Jeff Bohnert sees them as an advertising tool. The two men argued the issue at a forum at Southeast Missouri State University on Wednesday. Proposition A, a measure on the Nov. 7 ballot, would ban construction of new billboards on interstate and primary highways and would bar the replacement, rebuilding or relocation of existing billboards along such routes, and prohibit sign companies from cutting trees on highway rights of way to make their signs more visible.. ...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Cairo Public Utility customers should see a 20 percent decrease in their gas bills this winter after the company decreases its rates to match those of CIPS, the largest gas supplier in Southern Illinois. Cairo Public Utility also announced other cost-cutting measures expected to bring down prices, including:...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While state Sen. Jerry T. Howard said Wednesday that state officials have cleared him of Republican allegations of wrongdoing, a state GOP leader maintained the matter isn't yet resolved. Howard's campaign produced a letter from the Missouri attorney general's office in which special prosecuting attorney Edward R. Ardini Jr. said "criminal prosecution is not appropriate" in connection with a 1993 purchase of property at Lake of the Ozarks...

The Cape Central Tigers rode the brilliant shotmaking of Jon Mark Thompson to a 5-3 soccer win over crosstown rival Notre Dame Bulldogs at Notre Dame High School on Wednesday. Thompson's "hat trick" was the difference as the Tigers (13-7-3) avoided a series sweep at the hands of the Bulldogs (16-7-1). Notre Dame had won the previous two games...

There was no Midnight Madness this year, but there should be plenty of afternoon hijinx Saturday at the Show Me Center. Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team will have a game-type scrimmage during a program that will also feature the women's basketball team being introduced and various contests, including 3-point shooting competition for both squads and a dunk contest for the men...

District soccer for Classes 1A, 2A and 3A schools -- all classes play in a combined tournament -- and Class 4A kicks off this week. All teams have one goal in mind -- to advance to the sectional round and beyond in quest of a state championship. As Cape Central Tiger coach Tom Doyle reminded, "In districts, anything can happen. Everybody comes in with a clean slate and past records don't mean much."...

The Midwest Sports softball team won the WASA "D" Nationals in Cape Girardeau. They were the first Southern Missouri team to ever win a national title. There were 27 teams from 18 states being represented. Team members consist of, from left, front row -- Troy Hamilton, Bruce Hunt, Robert Stein, Greg Turner and Dennis Wheatley; back row -- Scott Van Gennip, Chris Montgomery, Ed Rinda, Allen Roberts and Cory Johnson. Chad Callis, Brad Noel and Brad Miller were not pictured...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Perryville's fifth-seeded volleyball team knocked off top-seeded Fredericktown but fell to Dexter in the championship game of the Class 3A, District 1 Tournament late Tuesday night. The Lady Pirates knocked off Fredericktown 11-15, 15-12 and 15-2, then lost to Dexter 15-17, 15-9 and 15-12...

The Notre Dame Alumni basketball tournament that was scheduled this weekend has been postponed. It has been re-scheduled for the upcoming spring.

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Doyle Robert Francis, 80, of Advance died Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2000, at his home. He was born Sept. 28, 1920, in Cape Girardeau County, son of David and Lillie Murry Francis. He and Annie Lund were married Aug. 24, 1946, at Grassy, Mo...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Katie Irene Radica, 91, of East Prairie died Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2000, at East Prairie Nursing Center. McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston, Mo., is in charge of arrangements.

JACKSON, Mo. -- Funeral for James Michael Gay of LaVergne, Tenn., will be held at 11 a.m. today at Collier Funeral Home in Benton, Ky. John Hicks will officiate. Burial will be in Pace Cemetery in Hardin, Ky. Woodfin Memorial Chapel in Smyrna, Tenn., is in charge of arrangements...

ORAN, Mo. -- Clifford J. Mattox, 76, of Oran died Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. He was born Jan. 8, 1924, in Kentucky, son of John and Anna Potts Mattox. He and Rosetta Fergunson were married in 1950. Mattox was retired from the railroad...

Martin L. Jansen, 67, of Kelso, Mo., returned to his heavenly Father Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2000, at his home. Martin was born July 19, 1933, in Cape Girardeau, son of Bernard and Christine (Brockmeyer) Jansen and lived in Southeast Missouri his entire life. He received an eighth-grade education at Diebold School in Kelso, and obtained his G.E.D. while serving in the military. Martin married his soul mate, Mary Jane Drury of Kelso, Oct. 3, 1959, in Cape Girardeau...

ANNISTON, Mo. -- Elbert "Cotton" Glodjo, 78, of Anniston died Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Jan. 29, 1922, in Wickliffe, Ky., son of Dallas and Lillian Turner Glodjo. He and Daisy Miller were married Feb. 14, 1940, at Charleston, Mo...

MORLEY, Mo. -- Michael Edward Carey, 45, of Morley died Monday, Oct. 23, 2000, at his home. He was born Dec. 4, 1954, in Sikeston, Mo., son of Edwin E. and Ava F. Bohannon Carey. He and Charity Grissom were married May 19, 1997, at Benton, Mo. Carey had worked at Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston eight years...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Ralph Golden, 81, died Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2000, at Jackson Manor Nursing Home. He was born May 19, 1919, at Grand Tower, Ill., son of Lewis "Tex" and Hattie Smith Golden. He and Mattie McClard were married July 27, 1945. She died Jan. 9, 1969. He and Mildred Ruehling Talley were married March 13, 1971. She died Nov. 24, 1987...

MANY PEOPLE do not need planning and zoning laws because they are responsible and decent and respect others. But in today's world we have many who are just the opposite who couldn't care less for anyone's property, even their own. They would live in a pig sty polluting and trashing the countryside in the name of having freedom to do what they want no matter who it affects. We need planning and zoning to keep our county free from pollution and trash that is beginning to erode our countryside...

As we approach the election, there are a few more questions I wish you would answer for us, Mr. Gore. You dispute Governor Bush's charge that you are a big-government guy and point to your notorious "reinventing government" initiative as Exhibit A. Do you really think the raw size of the government bureaucracy is as accurate a measure of government largesse and intrusiveness as government spending and regulations? Or do you believe the average swing voter is too dense to grasp the difference?...

Just like any business, government entities must be careful about any bills they receive. The Cape Girardeau County Commission took a prudent stance when it received Southwestern Bell's announcement that the phone company is increasing its monthly charges for 911 services. The commission was taken aback that the monthly charges were suddenly going up nearly $1,200 a month due to an increase in the number of phone lines...

Perhaps a lot of big-name entertainers volunteer their time for worthy causes. We wouldn't know, because we don't know very many big-name stars. But we know enough about Sheryl Crow, a Kennett, Mo., native who is a seven-time Grammy winner, to know that she has volunteered again and again to give performances that are used to raise money for worthy causes...

To the editor: Jackson School District's student population has grown and continues to do so. Projections are for 3 percent to 4 percent growth in the years to come. Expenditures continue to rise, and currently the expense ratio is $4,366 per student. This rate is less than area schools of our size, and it is below the statewide averages of $5,911 per student. We are doing more with less. Our schools are delivering quality education more efficiently than most...

To the editor: Cape Girardeau County is a prosperous county because of its excellent labor force and location. Many businesses and industries are locating here. This draws many families here. Many of them are interested in a larger area to build homes. The county is well-situated for this with rural fire protection, well-kept roads and water districts...