Stories from Thursday, September 2, 1993

To the Editor: I'm writing in regard to the proposal to locate a riverboat gambling casino at the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority. My objections to gambling have been published in this newspaper before and will not be reiterated. However, I would like to remind your readers that the Regional Port Authority was established in 1974 as a joint venture involving Cape Girardeau and Scott counties. ...

In fables of the Old West, a lawman was brought in to clean up some troubled town. Welcome to the 1990s: Progress in law enforcement is meted out in small measures. It is seldom the case that an individual single-handedly makes a sweeping contribution to criminal justice. However, Stephen Higgins did. The departing U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri took extraordinary steps to upgrade law enforcement in this part of the state, and we commend his efforts...

The difficulty with all those nagging problems that face our elected officials in Jefferson City and Washington is not that they are unsolvable. Science long ago proved that for every problem, there is a solution, and in certain areas such as medical research, men in white gowns are looking for problems that don't even exist at the moment. ...

JEFFERSON CITY - Sen. Peter Kinder has been named to a legislative committee that will oversee health care policies in Missouri. The joint legislative committee will specifically oversee implementation of House Bill 564, a major health care bill approved in the last session of the General Assembly. The panel also will monitor and report on future health care proposals...

The Area Wide United Way kicked off its most ambitious fund-raising campaign Wednesday hoping to raise half a million dollars in the wake of flooding that may have drained some agency coffers. In fact, the flood has been turned into a campaign slogan, "Flood the Area United Way Drive," said John Mehner, keynote speaker...

World War II was just ending when Grace Coy went to work for the state license fee office here. Hers is a familiar face to longtime Cape Girardeans, most of whom must pay a visit to her office at least once a year. In those nearly 50 years, Coy has watched numerous agents, managers and new regulations come and go. Now she and the office's three other employees are uncertain about their own futures...

Opponents of riverboat gambling Wednesday doled out hotdogs, lemonade and reasons to sink the floating casino measure on the November ballot. The occasion was the "We Love Cape Rally" held on Academic Terraces at Southeast Missouri State University. It was sponsored by the newly formed Students Against Riverboat Gambling and an already active community group, Citizens Against Riverboat Gambling...

The Cape Girardeau City Council next week is expected to have its first glance at a pared version of a property maintenance law proposed in July. The law, the Building Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA) version of a national property maintenance code, was the recommendation of the city's Board of Appeals...

JACKSON -- Lee-Rowan, the St. Louis-based manufacturer and distributor of home organizational products, announced Wednesday to its second-shift employees in the Jackson plant that the business had been sold to a Freeport, Ill., company. The company was reportedly sold to the Newell Company Corp., based in Freeport, Ill., which also manufactures home organizational products...

The Cape Girardeau and Jackson chambers of commerce, which for 12 years have been agents for the Missouri Department of Revenue license fee offices in their respective cities, no longer will serve as agents. Late Wednesday Gov. Mel Carnahan announced that the fee offices in both cities would be awarded to the Southeast Missouri State University Foundation, which will take them over during the next few weeks...

When the St. Louis Cardinals face off against the San Francisco Giants Sunday afternoon, Cape Girardeau resident June Hindman, her husband and 18 other relatives will be cheering them on. In fact, Hindman is a guest of honor at Sunday's game, as the grand prize winner of the Listerine Venture Dream Day Sweepstakes, sponsored by the Listerine Co. and Venture stores...

Eight Southeast Missouri State University students and their instructor spent three weeks in Germany during the summer, where they were welcomed by the mayor of Memmingen and practiced their German language skills. "When you are in Germany, you cannot escape speaking German," said Christopher Koy, an instructor in Southeast's foreign languages department. ...

LEEMON - A 63-year-old Cape Girardeau County man died Wednesday morning when the farm tractor he was operating overturned on a steep hill in a field on his farm off County Road 607, two miles south of Leemon. Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Carpenter identified the victim as Gerald "Sonny" Froemsdorf of Jackson Route 3. Froemsdorf was pronounced dead at the scene by the coroner...

Cape Girardeau county residents are asked to participate in a national survey of backyard birds conducted by the Home Habitat Society. Those who participate in the Annual Bird List will be asked to complete a questionnaire concerning habitat surrounding their home. They will also be provided with a checklist of birds, on which they will record which species visit their yard...

Daughter to Lance Cpl. and Mrs. Curt M. Heisserer, 1915 Grandview, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 12:08 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23, 1993. Name, Kelsey Erin. Weight, 6 pounds 15 ounces. First child. Mrs. Heisserer is the former Kerry McGinnis, daughter of Patricia Litwicki of Cape Girardeau, and Norman McGinnis of St. Louis. Heisserer is serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, and is the son of Donnie and Wilma Heisserer of Scott City...

SIKESTON -- Doyle W. Curry Sr., 62, of Sikeston, died Wednesday, Sept. 1, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born July 14, 1931, in Dover, Ark., son of John Robert and Nancy Jane Heffley Curry. He and Ruby Taylor were married Dec. 20, 1952, in Piggott, Ark...

Jessie Mae King, 84, of Danbury, Conn., died Tuesday, Aug. 31, 1993, at Mediplex in Danbury. She is formerly of Cape Girardeau. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Eva Bell Townsend Boyce, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Aug. 31, 1993 at DePaul Hospital in St. Louis. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel in Cape Girardeau.

William Heuschober, 617 S. Pacific, died at Southeast Missouri Hospital at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Lorberg Funeral Home.

PERKINS -- A pedestrian crossing the railroad tracks in Perkins was struck and killed by a train Wednesday. A spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol said Frieda Lacey, 73, of Perkins, was pronounced dead at the scene. Lacey was evidently attempting to cross the tracks and did not see the oncoming train, the spokesman said...

The Cape SEMO Chapter of Parents Without Partners will meet Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Harris Room of the Community Counseling Center. Parents who are divorced, widowed, legally separated or never married may attend. The organization is also holding a dance, open to the public, Sept. 18 at the American Legion Hall in Jackson. Music will be provided by Charlie's Revue Sound System. Admission is $5 and dress is casual...

PERRYVILLE -- Ella C. Taylor, 85, of Marion, Ill., formerly of Perryville, died Wednesday, Sept. 1, 1993, at Marion Memorial Hospital. She was born Feb. 17, 1908, in Randolph County, Ill., daughter of Felix and Ann Teresa Cecil Tucker. She married James Floyd Taylor, who died Oct. 1, 1980...

The Central Municipal Swimming Pool will be open for expanded hours over the Labor Day weekend. Randy Barnhouse, Cape Girardeau's aquatics director, said the Central pool will be open from 4-7 on Friday and from 1-8 p.m. Saturday through Monday. Capaha Pool will remain closed over the holiday weekend...

BENTON -- The 24th annual Benton Neighbor Day Celebration will be held Friday and Saturday. The midway opens Friday at 5 p.m., when registration starts for attendance prizes given by the Chamber of Commerce. Skydivers make an appearance at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday...