Stories from Friday, April 20, 2001

You don't have to like Bob Dylan's voice to acknowledge he is one of the most important American songwriters of the 20th century. As Dylan himself famously wrote in "Subterranean Homesick Blues," "You don't need a weather man/to know which way the wind blows."...

JACKSON, Mo. -- The lines of prisoners shuffling each week between Cape Girardeau County's jail and courthouse have disappeared. The rows of "chain gangs" wearing orange uniforms and shackled at the ankles ended when the county began video hearings for prisoners last week...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Taking the witness stand Thursday, Joshua Wolf said his memory of the events surrounding the May murder of his grandmother, Carol Lindley, remains unclear, coming only in flashes. "I don't know what is going on anymore," Wolf said. "I wish this was a bad dream, but it's not. I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know what to do."...

Students at Southeast Missouri State University don't keep fit in a grimy gym with rummage-sale-quality equipment. They sweat it out on new exercise machines and on polished basketball courts in a brightly lit, squeaky-clean building with a curved, glass-wall entrance that would put many health clubs to shame...

Once again, the grapevine wreath hanging on our back door has attracted a nest builder. Unfortunately, that's the door we use every day to get in and out of our house. Yes, we have a front door. But that door, the one facing the street, is for door-to-door salespeople. And it hasn't been opened in so long I'm not sure I know how to get the dead bolt, safety chain and doorknob lock undone before any soliciting visitors give up in disgust and go away...

As her neighbors emerge from their homes from a long, cold winter to cultivate their flower gardens, mow the grass and plant vegetables, Scott City resident Christina Kolze has to avoid many of spring's pleasures. No sniffing the lilacs. No working in the yard. She is an allergy sufferer...

Jeanine Larson Dobbins, coordinator of the Missouri Statewide Early Literacy Intervention Program based at Southeast Missouri State University, has had a statewide literacy education award named in her honor. The executive committee of the Missouri Association of Reading Recovery Educators recently voted to establish the Jeanine Larson Dobbins Early Literacy Education Award, which will be presented annually to people who made significant contributions to literacy education in the state...

When Notre Dame Regional High School students appeared outside their school Thursday morning, they saw a wrecked car occupied by four classmates. The wailing sirens and blaring horns of approaching ambulances, fire trucks and police cars gave notice of the seriousness of the apparent accident, as did the arrival of a hearse just minutes later...

A near-capacity audience gave Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo perhaps one of the most tumultuous standing ovations in the history of the Rose Theatre Thursday night. The Trocks, as they are known, deserved every cheer. The spectacle of sumptuous costumes, beautiful sets, music by the likes of Tchaikovsky and the all-male Trocks' trademark, uproarious parodies of classical ballet had the audience swooning from the opener, Act II of "Swan Lake." The familiar dramatic music and wafting fog set the scene for Olga Supphozova as Odette, a sensation with her look-at-me flights about the stage and superb technique.. ...

Southeast Missouri State University will graduate 903 students during commencement exercises May 5. Dr. Edward Perkins, a former U.S. diplomat who served as ambassador to the United Nations and representative to the U.N. Security Council and as ambassador to Australia, will deliver the commencement address. Perkins currently is on the faculty at the University of Oklahoma where he serves as executive director of the International Programs Center...

Southeast Missouri State University will celebrate Earth Day with an outdoor music festival Saturday from 1 to 10 p.m. on the university's Academic Terraces. Bands performing will include Cape Rock Drive, NIL8, Big Electronic, Color Will, and Bob Camp...

Notre Dame has been inconsistent the last couple of weeks. The defense has been so-so at times and poor at others. The pitching has been anywhere from very good to horrible. But one thing, the most important thing, has remained consistent: wins. The Bulldogs won their seventh straight game Thursday, a 7-5 home victory over Dexter (6-6)...

As far as Southeast Missouri State University baseball coach Mark Hogan is concerned, tough doesn't even begin to describe the physical makeup of senior catcher Jeff Bourbon. Bourbon is not the Indians' most talented or flashy player, but he just might be their most valuable performer. And he's quietly gone about putting together an impressive career that will leave his name scattered all over the program's record book...

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball recruiting class for next season was all but completed Thursday when, as expected, high school center Adam Crader and junior-college guard Kenny Johnson signed national letters of intent. The 6-foot-11, 230-pound Crader averaged 20.6 points, 12.5 rebounds and 6.5 blocked shots per game while shooting 61 percent from the field as a senior at Doniphan (Mo.) High School. He earned Class 3A all-state second-team honors the past two seasons...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- It wasn't the prettiest of games, but Scott City High's baseball team was able to continue its recent hot streak by knocking off East Prairie 15-11 Thursday afternoon. The Rams, who improved to 3-6 after winning for the third time in their last four games, built an 11-5 lead after three innings. But they had to score four in the sixth to break an 11-11 tie...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The Chaffee Red Devils are the hottest baseball team in the area. Winners of 10 straight games, they'll look to continue their winning ways in their own eight-team Red Devils Baseball Classic which begins today and runs through Saturday...

Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri John Ferrell said the appointment of a new boss will have little effect on his work. Audrey Fleissig, who was the U.S. Attorney for all of Eastern Missouri, resigned Wednesday and will be replaced by Ray Gruender, a President George W. Bush appointee...

Daughter to Scott James and Petrina Renee Jannin of Perryville, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 12:32 p.m. Thursday, April 12, 2001. Name, Kirstin Renee. Weight, 8 pounds 3 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Jannin is the former Petrina Lukefahr, daughter of Charlotte and Troy Colin of Perryville. She is employed in payroll at Buchheit. Jannin is the son of Roger and Darlene Jannin of Perryville. He is a truck driver with BBL...

Fred "Bebop" Layne, 61, of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, April 19, 2001, at Abbey Nursing Home in Carbondale, Ill. He was born July 30, 1939, in Murphysboro, Ill., son of Fred and Jennie Baker Layne. Layne attended Murphysboro High School. He served in the U.S. Army from 1961-65, and was stationed in Berlin, Germany...

ESSEX, Mo. -- Anna Hart Mann, 92, of Essex died Wednesday, April 18, 2001, at the Beverly Health and Rehab Nursing Home in Dexter, Mo. She was born Oct. 21, 1908, to the late James Sherman and Rachel Piota (Covalt) Bruce. She married Joe G. Hart on July 13, 1927, at Edwardsville, Ill. He died Dec. 13, 1970...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Marvin Elwood Kerr, 91, of Tamms died Thursday, April 19, 2001, at his home. He was born Feb. 27, 1910, in Elco, Ill., son of Joseph Robert and Myrtle West Kerr. He married the former Juanita Grace McRavern. Kerr owned Kerr's Place in Elco 41 years. He was a member of Moose Lodge at Anna, Ill...

Graveside service for Don Wesley Samuel of Cape Girardeau will be held at 10 a.m. today at Cape County Memorial Park. The Rev. Jim Sanderson will officiate. There is no visitation. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Samuel, 74, died Wednesday, April 18, 2001, at his home...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Funeral for Audean L. Driskell of Cobden will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Cobden. The Rev. Charles Allen will officiate. Burial will be in Cobden Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 6-8 p.m. today...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Funeral for Violet Marie Leathers of California will be held at 1 p.m. today at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter. The Rev. Doyle Corlew will officiate. Burial will be in Dexter Cemetery. Leathers, 70, died Saturday, April 14, 2001, at Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento, Calif...

ANNA, Ill. -- Robert L. Archey, 52, of Anna died Wednesday, April 18, 2001, at his home. He was born Dec. 2, 1948, in Chicago, son of Robert William and Ruth Tibodeau Archey. He and Mary Ann Forehand were married Jan. 15, 1972, in Anna. Archey was an over-the-road truck driver with Delta Express...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Funeral for Floetta Jean Parks of Sikeston will be held at 2 p.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel. Burial will be in Garden of Memories Cemetery. Parks, 58, died Wednesday, April 18, 2001, at her home. She was born Jan. 9, 1943, in Sikeston, daughter of Emry O. and Lillian F. Babb Martin. She and Lenn Allen Parks were married July 8, 1961. He died Dec. 4, 1996...

IT REALLY irritates me to hear our politicians on television say we need China and China needs the U.S. This is ridiculous. We've already got a big trade deficit with China. Look what has happened to our shoe, apparel and electrical factories. Everything you seem to pick up in a store now is made in China. ...

After bungling the appointment of state Rep. Mark Richardson of Poplar Bluff to panels that will redraw boundaries of Missouri's legislative districts to account for population shifts shown by the 2000 census, Gov. Bob Holden had the good sense to ask for an attorney general's opinion on what to do about the vacancy...

Serious problems with voter registration and voting procedures in St. Louis are getting considerable scrutiny. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the problems even as a federal grand jury examines claims of phony voter registrations, sloppy record-keeping and confusion at polling places...

To the editor: Tax Day 2001. Election-finance reform. Church property seized in Indianapolis for refusal to withhold employees' taxes. What do these have in common? Power. As long as we depend upon the government in Washington to take care of us, we can expect that government to gobble up our liberties. Much of what is done in Washington could be better done by us in our local and state assemblies...

To the editor: I think Missouri does a great job on helping children get what they should when parents don't want to be together anymore. Children shouldn't have to be the brunt of a parent's anger. Child support is based on both parents' income. It has to be proven in court, not what the state speculates it should be...