Stories from Saturday, March 17, 2001

With its high ceilings and wooden surfaces that reflect sound, area musicians say Old St. Vincent's Church is a wonderful place to play an instrument. The historic sanctuary downtown, recognized as a religious and cultural center, wants to take advantage of those acoustics and install a new pipe organ...

The first time Douglas Orchard visited Cape Girardeau, he anchored his yacht on the swollen Mississippi River, climbed a ladder over the gated floodwall and accepted a ride to Southeast Missouri Hospital from a stranger. He was 70 years old, 4,200 miles from home and having a heart attack...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Neighbors of a 14-year-old, whose stillborn baby was found buried in her backyard, are confused and waiting for answers about a girl they describe as polite and trustworthy. "She was a good kid and did a very good job with our kids," said Karen Christensen, whose three children were baby-sat by the girl...

Rollin' down the river, or rollin' down the road, tourism dollars will soon be rollin' into Cape Girardeau. Studies show that the tourism and travel industry has been on the grow over the past few years. Over all, Cape Girardeau County travelers spent more than $41 million annually, generating some 900 jobs and more than $12 million in wages and salaries...

Two Cape Girardeau residents sustained moderate injuries Thursday morning when their vehicles collided on County Road 621, one mile north of Cape Girardeau. Robert Reed, 41, and Ashley Michael, 17, were the drivers in the 7 a.m. accident. Reed was taken to St. Francis Medical Center, Michael to Southeast Missouri Hospital...

The League of Women Voters of Southeast Missouri will host a Board of Education candidates' forum at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Central Junior High School. Cape Girardeau school board candidates R. Ferrell Ervin, Martha Zlokovich and Mark Carver will participate in the event. League co-president Glenda Quinn will serve as moderator...

JACKSON, Mo. -- A plan to connect parks and some of the public schools in the city of Jackson with a hiking/biking trail is beginning to take shape. Monday night, the Jackson Board of Aldermen will consider a motion readopting the city's position of authorizing the acquisition of easements and right of ways for the hiking/biking trail...

A Southeast Missouri man accused of burning a cross in front of a black family's residence has been a member of the NAACP and worked at a funeral home that caters to blacks, a federal public defender said. Justin Scapino of Sikeston, Mo., appeared in federal court in Cape Girardeau Thursday for a detention hearing. The 23-year-old is charged with racial intimidation for a Nov. 3 cross burning in Sikeston...

JACKSON, Mo. -- An eighth-grade boy was suspended from school Thursday after making threats about shooting classmates, the principal of R.O. Hawkins Junior High said. "He had been making off-the-cuff comments about bringing a gun to school and shooting people," said Hawkins principal Dennis Parham...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- One more down. One more to go. The Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs shot with dead-aim accuracy Friday night as they soared past Elsberry 71-50 to advance to the Class 2A state championship game. Notre Dame will take on Stockton (24-6) at 9:30 tonight. Stockton defeated East Newton 60-38 in Friday's other semifinal...

ST. LOUIS -- Cape Central's girls swim team placed third in the four-team Rockwood Quad on Friday. Eureka won a tight race for first with 598 points. Rockwood Summit placed second with 591 points, followed by Cape Central 472 and Lutheran South 385...

Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team has a chance to get off to a good start in Ohio Valley Conference play at home against a team picked to finish toward the bottom of the league standings. But Southeast coach Mark Hogan says it would be a big mistake for the Indians to take Morehead State lightly in this weekend's three-game series at Capaha Field...

Iris Elfrink always dreamed of playing basketball. Going to the Final Four, well that's just icing on the cake -- a whole lot of icing on a very tasty cake. This season has been a dream come true for the Notre Dame senior. For her first three years of high school, Elfrink attended Leopold High, a tiny Class 1A school in a mostly Catholic community near Marble Hill...

BERNIE, Mo. -- Merl McKinley "Slim" Harvey, 80, of Bernie died Friday, March 16, 2001, at the Vintage Village Nursing Center in Dexter. He was born Aug. 2, 1920, in Hunter, Mo., the son of McKinley and Ethel Murele Hampton Harvey. He and Mary Elizabeth Bennett were married June 9, 1973, at Reed Springs, Mo...

Kinuko B. Gums, 67, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, March 13, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Oct. 15, 1933, in Toyama-Ken, Japan, daughter of Katsuhide and Tsuya Kitaoka Bando. She and John R. Gums were married Nov. 23, 1973, in St. Louis. He died Sept. 1, 1994...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Flora Belle Allen, 87, of Mounds died Thursday, March 15, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born March 12, 1914, in Ullin, Ill., daughter of John and Flora Shifley Adkins. She married Fred Allen, who died in 1994. Allen was a member of First Baptist Church...

PATTON, Mo. -- Roger Vaughn Stady, 71, of Herlong, Calif., died Saturday, Feb. 3, 2001, at Washoe Medical Center in Reno, Nev. He was born Jan. 14, 1930, at Patton, son of Jesse and Clola Long Stady. Stady had lived in Herlong since 1952. He worked at the Sierra Army Depot in Herlong, retiring in 1976. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and VFW Post 6356...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Harry Richard Smith, 77, of East Prairie died Thursday, March 15, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. He was born March 15, 1924, in Mississippi County, Mo., son of Fred and Emily Mahon Smith. He and Helen Myers were married Sept. 12, 1943. She died May 9, 1984...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Vivian Potashnick, 93, of Sikeston died Thursday, March 15, 2001, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Dec. 16, 1907, in Effingham County, Ill., daughter of Everett A. and Vada Woody Dye. She attended the Cape Normal School, which is now Southeast Missouri State University...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Alfred E. Kaempfe, 92, of Perryville died Thursday, March 15, 2001, at Perry County Nursing Home. He was born April 13, 1908, at Farrar, Mo., son of Wilhelm F. and Anna Mangels Kaempfe. He and Esther M. Koenig were married Nov. 15, 1936. She died Nov. 26, 1991...

Iva Dell Cook, 71, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, March 15, 2001, at Ratliff Care Center. She was born Nov. 16, 1929, at Scopus, Mo., daughter of Ralph Ervin and Rada Ellen Tomason Upchurch. She and Robert L. Cook were married Jan. 14, 1948, at Gravel Hill, Mo. He died July 9, 1992...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Graveside service for Santina Vines will be held at 11 a.m. today at East Prairie Memorial Park Cemetery. The Rev. Thomas Snavely will officiate. Friends may call at Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie after 9 a.m. The infant, 4 months, died Thursday, March 15, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo., after an extended illness...

Mary E. Berry Marks, 67, of Rock Falls, Ill., died Wednesday, March 14, 2001, at St. Louis University Hospital. She was born July 28, 1933, in Sullivan, W.V., daughter of Richard and Goldie Lilly Bragg. She and Leburn Berry were married Aug. 19, 1953, in Rock Falls. He died Aug. 14, 1993. She then married James R. Marks Feb. 15, 2000...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Wanda "Gerry" Robinson, 89, of Bloomfield died Thursday, March 15, 2001, at Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter, Mo. She was born Feb. 25, 1912, in Noble, Ill., daughter of George and Izora Wells Crowe. She and Howard Robinson were married Nov. 2, 1929, at Puxico, Mo. He preceded her in death in June 1991...

IN RESPONSE to the Speak Out caller who feels that it's the principal and teachers' responsibility to keep children from bullying each other: In theory, this might be nice, but the reality is bullying, teasing and tormenting take place everywhere, not just in the school setting. ...

What does it say about our culture when a prestigious law school chooses a disbarred former president of the United States to be the recipient of its International Advocate for Peace Award? Clinton will receive the award from Yeshiva University's Benjamin Cardozo Law School, having been chosen by two of the school's student groups, The Cardoza Online Journal of Conflict Resolution and the International Law Students Association...

As news of school shootings peppers our nation's front pages with increasing frequency, districts would do well to note one fact. None of the shooters has been described as an outgoing, popular and beloved student. Each of them has been an outsider, different -- in short, the targets of verbal and physical bullying...

Three area school districts, all enjoying outstanding growth as families move in to take advantage of their educational offerings and quality of life, are considering tax levies to fund extra classrooms for the newcomers. Oak Ridge and Scott City school districts will be asking voters on April 3 for a tax increase of 30 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation...

To the editor: Regarding your March 13 editorial, "Failure to address mistakes imperils honesty," I never said state Sen. Peter Kinder's bill would affect the Missouri's ability to participate in the tobacco settlement. I told the Senate Pensions and General Laws Committee that the bill is a unilateral attempt to amend the settlement agreement, which could not be done without the consent of the tobacco industry. ...