Stories from Friday, December 22, 2000

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- The cause of a fatal fire that killed a 55-year-old man this week remains undetermined, the Marble Hill fire chief said. Frank James Jr. died Tuesday when the two-room cottage he was renting was destroyed by an early morning fire...

Ashlee Hale wants her beginning ice-skating students to pay attention to the noise their skates make. If they hear scratching sounds, they aren't on their skate's edge. "The best skaters don't hear anything at all," she says. If they keep at it, Hale is going to teach these girls some other lessons skating taught her...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Christmas came early to the Nell Holcomb School District in the form of a $65,000 check from a manufacturing plant as part of a tax incentive arrangement with county government. Nordenia plant executives presented the check to David Fuemmeler, Nell Holcomb superintendent, Thursday at the Cape Girardeau County Commission meeting. The money will go to the school district's fund-raising foundation, which will use it to buy equipment, possibly computers, Fuemmeler said...

Street names in Cape Girardeau, like most towns across the nation, provide an insight into the city's history. And when it comes to Cape Girardeau streets, there is plenty in a name. In 1806, the village of Cape Girardeau was surveyed and laid out into streets and lots under the direction of the city's founder, Don Louis Lorimier...

Taylor King, 11, of Cape Girardeau, looked with awe at the packaged football the Santa Claus handed him. Santa and his two helpers stayed for a hug and a few "Merry Christmas"-es before moving on, leaving a black Hefty bag jammed with presents on the living room floor...

I've been looking everywhere for answers to Jean Bell Mosley's questions in her touching column last Sunday about swaddling clothes. In Kelo Valley where I grew up, no one ever said much about swaddling clothes around young boys. Of course, those were the days when women weren't "pregnant." They were "carrying a baby."...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Mayor Paul Sander and incumbents in three of the four aldermanic wards have filed for re-election in 2001. First Ward Aldermen Dave Hitt has decided not to run again after completing his fourth two-year term next year. Ward 2 Alderman Kerry Hoffman, Ward 3 Alderwoman Valerie Tuschoff and Ward 4 Alderman Larry Hall all have filed. Filing for the April election opened Tuesday and will conclude Jan. 16...

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. -- A playwright and a blacksmith from Murphysboro have won $7,000 fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council. David Rush and Richard Smith were among 40 Illinois artists receiving awards in the first round of fiscal year 2001. Awards of $280,000 were made to artists working in crafts, ethnic and folk arts, playwriting/screenwriting and visual arts...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- The shelves are far from bare at the food pantry in Scott City, and the canned goods are spilling over onto the floor. Boxes of canned goods, sorted by type of vegetable, are stacked along the walls, in a closet, on top of tables and around the floor waiting for space to open on the shelves at the Scott City Ministerial Alliance's Food Pantry...

As they toiled on the mat, pushed each other's heads to the brink of decapitation, twisted themselves into unnatural contortions and put their pride on the line for everyone to see, I thought to myself ... There is no way I could've ever done this. I spent a good portion of two straight days at the 26th annual Tiger Classic wrestling tournament this past weekend. ...

Just how much pride does the Poplar Bluff High girls basketball team take in its defense? Let coach Kirk Chronister explain. "We have three words written in our locker room: defense, defense, defense," said Chronister. "We take pride in it." That point was hammered home to Cape Girardeau Central's Lady Tigers in a big way Thursday night during the semifinals of the fifth annual HealthSouth Holiday Classic at the Show Me Center...

Andrea Koeper carried the Jackson Indians for the first three quarters. Then it was Jenna Leet's turn. Jackson, the third seed, knocked off No. 2 Notre Dame 58-45 Thursday night to advance to the finals of the HealthSouth Holiday Classic at the Show Me Center...

Farmington and Massac County (Ill.) picked up consolation semifinal wins Thursday during the HealthSouth Holiday Classic girls basketball tournament at the Show Me Center. Farmington, the No. 5 seed, rode a 37-point outburst by Lisa Boyd to a 71-58 victory over No. 8 seed Perryville...

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Four Farmington players finished in double figures as the Knights defeated Cape Girardeau Central 81-62 in boys basketball action Thursday night. Andrew Krueger and Michael Cox led Cape Central (1-4) with 11 points apiece. Ben Durbin scored a game-high 20 points for Farmington while Ronnie Lashley added 14...

MINER, Mo. -- Funeral for William M. "Willie" Wren of Miner Nursing Center will be held at 11:30 a.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston, Mo. Burial will be in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Friends may call at the chapel from 9:30 a.m. until service time...

Wolsey Investigative Service Inc. will grow after an agreement this month to become part of a 5,000-employee security firm in North Carolina. Jerry Wolsey's 120-person firm in Cape Girardeau will become the base of operations in Missouri for Security Services of America, which has offices in nine states after three years in business...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Graveside service for Mary Ann Kralj of Jonesboro will be held at 1 p.m. today at Anna Cemetery in Anna, Ill. The Rev Tom Miller will officiate. Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna is in charge of arrangements. Kralj, 84, died Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2000, at Jonesboro Health Care Center...

DELTA, Mo. -- Jimmy E. Johnson, 45, of Delta died at his home Thursday, Dec. 21, 2000. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee.

DIEHLSTADT, Mo. -- John D. Burleson, 70, of Diehlstadt died Thursday, Dec. 21, 2000, at his home. He was born Dec. 15, 1930, in Wattensaw, Ark., son of James Douglas and Mittie Agnes Fawcett Burleson. He and Gracie L. Hart were married Nov. 4, 1957, in Paragould, Ark...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Carl Paul Bick, 29, of Sikeston died Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2000, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He was born Feb. 26, 1971, in Peoria, Ill., son of Frank and Laura Williams Bick. He and Stacy Aldridge were married May 13, 2000, in Sikeston...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Frank James Jr., 55, of Marble Hill died Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2000, in a fire at his home. He was born Aug. 17, 1945, at Holcomb, Mo., son of Frank and Beatrice Hall James. James was retired from Gilster-Mary Lee in Perryville, Mo. He attended Lutesville General Baptist Church...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Funeral for Harry Hornback of Sikeston will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Ponder Funeral Home. The Rev. Nancy Wood will officiate. Burial will be in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

GRAND CHAIN, Ill. -- Funeral for Phillip Ray Baker of Grand Chain will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Wilson Funeral Home in Karnak, Ill. The Rev. Flo Patrick will officiate. Burial will be in Masonic Cemetery at Cypress, Ill. Friends may call at the funeral home Saturday from 10 a.m. until service time...

Anita Bartlum Wilson, 84, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Dec. 21, 2000, at Chateau Girardeau Health Care Center. She was born Nov. 27, 1916, in Jacksonville, Fla., daughter of Leonard and Theo Weltch Bartlum. She and Dr. Charles F. Wilson were married Sept. 11, 1940, in Orlando, Fla...

Son to Tyke Wayne and Gayla Dawn Schubert of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 12:27 a.m. Friday, Dec. 15, 2000. Name, Tyke Wayne II. Weight, 8 pounds 3 ounces. Third child, first son. Mrs. Schubert is the former Gayla Leadbetter, daughter of Arvil and Reba Leadbetter of Marble Hill, Mo. She is employed at MidAmerica Hotels Corp. Schubert is the son of Bill and Mary Schubert of Jackson, Mo. He is employed at Schubert Floor Covering...

Three area hospitals were selected to participate in a pilot program designed to improve patient care across the country. Southeast Missouri Hospital, St. Francis Medical Center of Cape Girardeau and Perry County Memorial Hospital of Perryville, Mo., were among 18 Missouri hospitals selected to participate in the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization's new core measures initiative...

To the editor: As I was supervising the annual Tiger Classic Wrestling Tournament this past weekend, I could not help but notice all the volunteer help that makes this tournament one of the top wrestling tournaments in the Midwest. We have students, parents, alumni, community leaders and local businesses all contributing to making this a first-class experience for many high school athletes not only from Central Senior High School, but many other surrounding schools -- 16 in all...

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- It is often said that you can't understand Missouri politics unless you know the history of the Civil War in our state. In Missouri, the Civil War did not start in 1861 but seven years earlier with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Border wars erupted between Missourians and Kansans over the issue of slavery in Kansas. When the war came, it was truly a civil war between Americans and between Missourians who were fighting on both sides and against each other...

Another bit of good news from the former U.S.S.R. comes from the Ukraine, where President Leonid Kuchma last week turned off the last nuclear reactor at Chernobyl -- a name that has become synonymous with ineptitude and the devastation that improperly managed nuclear reactors can cause...

The breakup of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the subsequent election of Vladimir Putin as president of Russia haven't left the United States with any particular sense of ease. While there are signs of democracy and capitalism in the former communist power, there also is some rattling of issues best forgotten. For example, the Russians still have missiles aimed at U.S. targets, and Putin schmoozed with Fidel Castro this past week in an obvious display intended for American eyes...

I THINK it's time we took a minute to thank Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader for their patriotic assistance in getting some decency back to the White House. Without their help we might have been doomed to at least four more years of income redistribution under the Democrats' plan. ...

To the editor: Normally I don't make New Year's resolutions, but I think I might this time. I will try to get a little more common sense. That would be good. It seems like everywhere you turn, common sense is harder to find. When you think things can't get dumber, they do...