Stories from Thursday, February 8, 2001

At least two city councilmen are perplexed that money for Cape Girardeau's emergency reserve fund is not sitting in a bank and immediately accessible in the event of a disaster or other crisis. Councilmen Richard Eggimann and Jay Purcell say they believe emergency reserve money should be in a separate account that can be accessed on a moment's notice instead of being in accounts used for operating expenses...

Many law enforcement officers in Southeast Missouri say a law passed last year requiring collection of racial information for each traffic stop isn't relevant to their jobs. The law passed by the Missouri Legislature requires each agency to submit a report to the state that shows the age, race and gender of every driver or pedestrian police officers or troopers stop. ...

Feb. 8, 2001 Dear Leslie, My grandmother Ruby turned 95 last week. The waitress at the restaurant where the family gathered for her birthday celebration said she didn't look 95. Not many of us know or will know what 95 feels like. Ninety-five often looks like a ghostly figure wearing a terry cloth robe in a nursing home...

Miki Gudermuth hopes her new television program. "Independently Speaking," will reach out to both disabled people and the able-bodied public. Gudermuth directs the Semo Alliance for Disability Independence, an organization that assists handicapped persons to live as independently as possible...

Missouri's second-highest mortality rate for coronary heart disease is leading a national doctors' group to target the state with a series of public service commercials around Valentine's Day. But the message may be a difficult for some viewers to swallow. The group recommends a vegetarian diet to unclog arteries and prevent death from heart disease...

WHITEWATER, Mo. -- A pair of teen-age boys accused of burgarlizing at least three rural homes, wrecking two cars and possibly stealing 20 guns in a spree that started Tuesday night are still being sought by law enforcement officers. The boys, residents of Sikeston, Mo., had taken a car registered to one of them and drove to County Road 253 near Route N in Cape Girardeau County, said Lt. David James of the sheriff's department...

The Tilsit 4-H Club is holding a chili/chicken noodle soup dinner Sunday, March 4, at Immanuel Lutheran Church Parish Hall in Jackson, Mo., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost for the meal of chili or soup, dessert, and a drink, is $4 per person. The dinner is to benefit Jackson R-2 Children's Fund. AAL Branch 1374 and Lutheran Brotherhood SEMO Branch 8252 will match funds...

There is a lot of frustration in our basketball program right now. The players and coaches are frustrated and I'm sure our students and fans are frustrated. We are 4-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference but we were very close to being 7-4 or better in the league...

Southeast Missouri State University baseball coach Mark Hogan could not have drawn up a better blueprint for Saturday afternoon's Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader against visiting Eastern Kentucky. The Indians received stellar pitching from Todd Pennington and Brad Purcell, along with plenty of powerful offense, to hand the Colonels resounding 8-2 and 7-0 defeats in front of 833 fans at Capaha Field...

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team has been virtually eliminated from any chance at a high Ohio Valley Conference finish, but that shouldn't prevent the Indians from being emotionally charged tonight. That's because it's Murray State time...

The 13 high school seniors Southeast Missouri State University's football coaching staff signed to national letters of intent Wednesday reflect just where Tim Billings placed much of his recruiting emphasis entering his second season as the Indians' head man...

The approach will be different, but Southeast Missouri State University baseball coach Mark Hogan expects his 2001 Indians to have their usual run of success. While Hogan is almost certain the Indians won't approach their offensive production from last year's squad that won a school-record 37 games, he is counting on a deep pitching staff and a solid defense to help pick up the slack...

Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team still has a nice cushion as far as a top-four Ohio Valley Conference finish goes. But Otahkian coach Ed Arnzen knows that buffer could dwindle quickly the rest of this tough week, which is why today's 5:30 p.m. game at Murray State looms so large...

Southeast Missouri State University women's soccer coach Heather Nelson's recruiting emphasis in the St. Louis area continued to pay dividends Wednesday. On the first day of the national signing period, Nelson landed eight players all of them high school seniors from the St. Louis area...

The Millham sisters put on a shooting show as Notre Dame High's girls basketball team rolled past visiting St. Vincent 76-20 Wednesday night. Notre Dame, the state's second-ranked Class 2A squad, improved to 17-3. St. Vincent fell to 7-11. Lisa Millham hit six 3-pointers and scored 21 points. Ashley Millham nailed three 3-pointers and also scored 21 points...

Katherine Brantley, 68, of Ceres, Calif., formerly of Puxico, Mo., died Friday, Feb. 2, 2001, at her residence. She was born Jan. 11, 1933, at Snider, Texas, daughter of Boyd and Mary Wilson Fulkner. She and Kenneth Brantley were married June 24, 1953, at Maline, Ore. He died May 31, 1994...

Daughter to Brent Alan and Angela Dawn Metje of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 4:05 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001. Name, Miranda Kay. Weight, 6 pounds 15 1/2 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Metje is the former Angela Burcham, daughter of Kay and Lloyd Choate of Cape Girardeau, Ronald Burcham of Little Rock, Ark., and the late B.W. ...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Gladys L. Lynn, 90, of Gallatin, Mo., and formerly of Jonesboro, Ill., died Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2001, at Cameron Community Hospital in Cameron, Mo. She was born Jan. 23, 1911, in Jonesboro, daughter of Charles Edgar and Matilda Jane Boyer Tweedy. She and Daniel Lynn were married. He died in 1958...

PARMA, Mo. -- Steve Perry, 47, of Parma died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2001, at St. Louis University Hospital. He was born Dec. 25, 1953, in Sikeston, Mo., son of Ernest L. and Myrtle Allen Perry. A lifelong resident of Parma, he was a farmer. Survivors include a daughter, Stephanie Rojas of Sarasota, Fla.; a brother, Alan Perry of St. Louis; and two grandchildren...

PUXICO, Mo. -- Jacquelyn Russell, 56, of Puxico died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2001, at Three Rivers Health Care North Campus in Poplar Bluff, Mo. She was born Aug. 3, 1944, in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., daughter of Noel and Doris DeCou Bates. She and Bob Russell were married March 27, 1971, in St. Louis...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Maggie Elam Davis, 93, of Charleston died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2001, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center at Sikeston, Mo. She was born March 28, 1907, in Greenwood, Miss., to the late Ida and Aron Elam and had lived in Missouri since 1922...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Alfred Taylor, 97, of Dexter died Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2001, at Dexter Memorial Hospital. He was born Nov. 18, 1903, in White Oak, Ark., son of Benjamin and Lillian Taylor. He and Bessie May Whittenling were married Dec. 14, 1929, in New Madrid, Mo. She died July 25, 1990...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Douglas E. Still Sr., 27, of Sikeston died Monday, Feb. 5, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center, from injuries received in a go-cart accident in Bertrand, Mo. He was born March 18, 1973, in Long Beach, Calif., son of Donald E. and Phyllis Lawson Still Sr. He and Deborah Dodd Alexander were married July 25, 1998, in Sikeston...

KENNETT, Mo. -- Allen Oakley, 73, died Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2001. Friends say the retired minister of First Presbyterian Church leaves a community in mourning. A memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. tonight at First Presbyterian Church. "There is not a man who will be missed more," Ada McHaney said...

To the editor: As I watched the judicial grilling of John Ashcroft, I wondered if anyone else thought it could have been a play re-enacting the passion and crucifixion of Jesus. Here you have Sen. Edward Kennedy playing the part of Pontius Pilate and Sen. ...

To the editor: I read with some horror the Jan. 9 and Jan. 10 articles on Steven Marberry's suicide. The horror has as much to do with misrepresentations of the effects of Xanax addiction as it does with this poor man's unfortunate fate. The connection between psychiatric drugs and acts of senseless violence and suicide has been known for years. ...

To the editor: First grade is not the magic age at which a child learns to read. Most children learn to read when they are developmentally able. Some children, sadly, are pushed into learning to read before they are ready. Most pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes teach reading readiness skills...

Matt Blunt wasted little time after becoming secretary of state in suggesting that Missouri adopt a single voting system for use in all Missouri counties. Blunt used the tallying chaos in the Florida presidential election as a springboard to look into Missouri's voting procedures. ...

As it does every year, the city has come up with another five-year capital improvements plan, an extensive list of projects it would like to accomplish by 2006. Understandably, not all of them will be done between now and then when they carry an $83.8 million price tag. There are 124 projects that either have funding or could be funded, but there are no guarantees the city will have the money to carry them all out...

In my last column I argued that George Bush was confounding the media. I want to expand on that theme. He is also confounding the entire Democratic Party, which is already experiencing post-election discord. Since before George McGovern's 1972 presidential bid, moderates have been fighting to regain control of the party. Al From's Democratic Leadership Council claimed to have established control when its own Bill Clinton became president in 1992...

I WAS reading in the paper about the proposed increase in gas tax and fees to go to highway construction. Before anyone considers voting for any of these things, legislators should have to tell us how this money is going to be divided. In the past, they've given highways only 19 cents out of a dollar, and the rest of it goes somewhere else. I'll never vote for anything where they're taking gasoline taxes meant for roads and putting it on other projects...

To the editor: Reveille. Good morning, America. A salvo. Ashcroft nomination. A 42-58 shot across the bow. So much for bipartisanship. How did this all get started? It depends on the 50 percent you ask. GILBERT DEGENHARDT Cape Girardeau