Stories from Saturday, July 28, 2001

Cape Girardeau and Jackson school officials said planned cuts in state education funding intensify the need for tax-levy proposals to be considered by voters next month. The state Board of Education agreed Thursday to withhold $11 million from its $2.4 billion budget as part of a statewide effort requested by Gov. Bob Holden to ease an anticipated budget shortfall...

MALDEN, Mo. -- Shaded by a straw hat and wearing black rubber boots, Donn Beighley wades through watery fields in search of better rice. A Southeast Missouri State University associate professor of agriculture, Beighley's goal is to breed a better rice, one with a short growing season and a high yield...

BENTON, Mo. -- A former Scott County 911 dispatcher has been accused of tipping off a drug dealer to an impending raid by calling the dealer beforehand from work. Elizabeth Ann Church, 45, of Sikeston is charged with hindering prosecution, a class D felony punishable by a maximum of five years in prison. She was arrested Friday and released on $2,500 bail...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Handwritten city records and longtime city residents are telling two extremely different stories about trash pickup in Chaffee. Time cards for the Solid Waste Department, scribbled over a two-month span, show four Solid Waste Department employees leaving the job early almost every day. None of them worked 40-hour weeks -- although at least three employees were paid for them -- and eight-hour days were the rare exception...

Sometimes I forget why I love my husband. I realized this for the umpteenth time Thursday as we rose at the crack of dawn to take our children for a four-day vacation with my sister. Clarissa's only requirement was that we meet her at the Tennessee state line, roughly the midpoint between our homes...

MORLEY, Mo. -- A Morley volunteer firefighter was arrested Friday and charged with setting fires in several soybean fields in the area. Apparently, once the fires were set, suspect Kenneth B. Hopper, 53, of Oran, Mo., would respond as a firefighter and help put them out, police said...

SENATH, Mo. -- The Chaffee Medicap Pharmacy American Legion baseball team has won 31 consecutive games -- and none of those victories was tougher to achieve than Friday night's thriller against rival Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons. Playing in the crucial winner's bracket final of the District 14 Tournament, Chaffee rallied for a heart-stopping 8-7 triumph that puts it just one victory away from its first-ever district championship...

Son to Tim W. and Misty R. Clifton of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 1:48 p.m. Friday, July 20, 2001. Name, Kyle Timothy. Weight, 6 pounds 14 ounces. Second child, first son. Mrs. Clifton is the former Misty Sharp, daughter of Larry Sharp and Lula Sharp of Cape Girardeau. She is a budget analyst/system administrator at Southeast Missouri State University. Clifton is the son of Ron Clifton and Pat Clifton of Cape Girardeau. He is employed at Auffenberg Chrysler...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Katherine R. King, 78, of Jackson passed away Thursday, July 26, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. today at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. Funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. The Revs. John Rice and Darrell Faire will officiate. Burial will be in Russell Heights Cemetery...

BENTON, Mo. -- Funeral for Catherine Ann Penrose of Benton will be held at 1 p.m. today at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Benton. The Rev. Randy Conn will officiate. Burial will be in Forest Hills Cemetery at Morley, Mo. Penrose, 59, died Thursday, July 26, 2001, at her home...

Martin L. Roth, 93, of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, July 27, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

LAKE ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Sanford "Steve" Stephan, 76, of Lake St. Louis, died Sunday, July 22, 2001, at St. Joseph West Hospital in Lake St. Louis. He was born Jan. 31, 1925. He married Wilma LeGrand Stock, formerly of Kelso, Mo., in 1981 in St. Louis. He was a driver for Stag Brewery Local 133 and served as a Merchant Marine during World War II...

Anna Seres, 90, of Cape Girardeau passed away Thursday, July 27, 2001, at the Lutheran Home. Friends may call from 3 to 9 p.m. today at Hoffmeister Colonial Mortuary, 6464 Chippewa at Watson in St. Louis (314-832-7770). Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Mary of Victories, 744 Third Street, followed by interment in Resurrection Cemetery. Father Paul J. Spielman will officiate...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Michael "E.J." Smith, 46, of Marble Hill died Thursday, July 26, 2001, at Methodist Central Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. He was born April 21, 1955, at Senath, Mo., son of Fred and Mattie Johnson Smith. He and Deborah Ann Phillips were married Jan. 11, 1985, in Austin, Texas...

Funeral for Melvin M. Haertling of Cape Girardeau will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at McCombs Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau. The Rev. Douglas Breite will officiate. Burial will be in Cape County Memorial Park Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4 to 8 p.m. today...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Funeral for Mary Tippen Brower of Dexter will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home. The Revs. Kevin Eskew and W.H. Worth will officiate. Burial will be in Hagy Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5 to 8 p.m. today...

BROWNWOOD, Mo. -- Iva E. Welker, 89, of Brownwood died Thursday, July 26, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 1, 1912, at Scopus, Mo., daughter of Jake and Mellia Abernathy Welker. She and Elbert Welker were married Oct. 16, 1930, in Advance, Mo. He died in September 1972...

JUST SO everyone knows, disabled and retired persons, even though we paid taxes on our Social Security benefits, do not get a tax refund. We need our refund just as much or more than any other person who is able to work. I worked full-time for over 46 years and became disabled a couple of years ago. So is this fair? I don't think so...

Democrats market themselves as the party of the common man, but actions and inactions speak louder than words. This week, President Bush's bipartisan Social Security commission (eight Democrats and eight Republicans) issued its preliminary findings confirming that the system is in dire straits and will need a major overhaul, likely including partial privatization, to survive into the foreseeable future...

Chickenpox. It's a disease that stirs memories of boring days spent in bed, the monotony broken only by occasional broth feedings and Mother's shouted orders to stop scratching. But today there's a vaccine. And, as of Monday, every child who attends a Missouri licensed day-care center, preschool or Head Start program has to have it...

Last week's severe flooding in Cape Girardeau was our first real test to see if Cape Girardeau's massive flood-control project was worth the $40 million-plus taxpayers shelled out for it. The answer? Yes and no. Walker Branch, swollen nearly to its concrete-paved rim, did what it was supposed to do for some areas. ...

To the editor: If there ever were any doubt, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce now has revealed its true colors. The Chamber has organized a conference for the past nine years which is directed toward environmental regulators, professionals and businesspeople. This time, the itinerary states clearly the purpose of the conference: to provide "all the tools you need to stay ahead of the environmental compliance game."...

To the editor: Several months ago, my 80-year-old mother suffered a stroke that left a personality change and, subsequently, a tendency to make unusual requests. She has been visiting this summer from Caruthers-ville, Mo., and last week suddenly remembered that a childhood friend, Ruth Vesterling Cunningham, had died in Cape Girardeau. Mom could not remember even the decade she died but was determined to visit her grave...