Stories from Sunday, April 2, 1995

Olympia E. Headricks, 78, of 617 Boxwood died Friday, March 31, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 8, 1917, at Commerce, daughter of John R. and Agnes Glueck Scherer. She married Ivan W. Headricks Nov. 30, 1940, at Cape Girardeau...

"Shall prohibitions against special laws that pertain to less than all counties of a class be repealed retroactively and shall charter or constitutional counties form a separate class of counties outside the classification system? There would be no direct fiscal impact. The proposal is designed to maintain existing law."...

Southeast Missouri State University students have elected Chris Robertson as the new president of Student Government. Robertson, a sophomore who serves on the Judicial Board, won in a three-way race, defeating former Student Government treasurer Jason Crowe and student senator Gabe Hinkebein...

If not for special laws passed by the Missouri General Assembly, Cape Girardeau County would still have a part-time prosecuting attorney, would not have a coroner and could not collect taxes for drainage and levee districts. Last year, Missouri's special laws were ruled unconstitutional in a St. Louis County court case. State law says a law enacted for a single county must apply to all counties in the same classification...

BENTON -- Three proposed tax increases will draw the interest of Scott County voters Tuesday. The Scott County Commission is asking for approval of two quarter-cent sales taxes issues, one to fund additional law enforcement services and the second to build a new county jail...

Three Southeast Missouri State University music students and a former student hope to spend a month this summer learning Italian in Rome and performing Mozart's "The Magic Flute" in German. The three singers and one pianist-percussionist are trying to raise the $3,500 each needs for airfare, room and board, and tuition for the Operafestival di Roma. Sixty-five vocal and instrumental students from around the world have been accepted to perform at the festival, held June 21 through July 20...

It's far too early to write a political obituary for the Republican Contract With America. But it isn't too early to say that the contract is getting a bit smudged around the edges. Welfare reform went through the House by a vote of 244-199. The bill dealt with some of the best known public assistance programs, including Aid to Families With Dependent Children, food stamps and school lunches. As many as 45 states could administer as they choose largely free of federal rules...

Americans have sanctioned political parties for so long that many must believe the system was sanctioned, if not devised, by the Constitution. Nothing could be further from the truth, and whether we like it or not, our federal and state governments are immutably attached to the existence of a Democratic and Republican party...

The Wisconsin-based group of atheists calling themselves the Freedom From Religion Foundation touched a nerve in Cape Girardeau last week. The group challenged the location of a cross commemorating the visit nearly 300 years ago by French missionaries. The monument is alongside Kingshighway near where the street crosses Cape LaCroix Creek at Mt. Auburn Road...

The Old Mill Store and Post Office sits within sight of Bollinger Mill. Erma Nunn, right, jokes with Andy McIntosh of Marble Hill. McIntosh is one of two rural carriers who pick up and deliver mail from the Burfordville post office. Nestled in a hollow of woods just off Highway OO, the little village of Burfordville has long been known for its covered bridge and the water-powered Bollinger Mill that sits alongside...

Jackson's First Baptist Church has become a hub of activity as hundreds of congregation members rush to prepare the stage, lighting, props and costumes and practice lines and performances for the church's annual Easter pageant. The church will perform the pageant, titled "Watch the Lamb" Wednesday through Saturday at 7 p.m. each night. There will be two performances on Sunday -- one at 3:30 p.m. and the final presentation at 7 p.m...

Although he now holds a pilot's license, Wilson must undergo an apprenticeship with his comapny in order to navigate the 35-foot-wide, 200-foot long barge through narrow locks like the one shown in this photo, taken from the wheelhouse of the Don File...

Willa Dickinson graduated from Will Mayfield College in 1916. Her father was a teacher there. She lives in the El Nathan Home, which moved to the college campus in the 1950s. One of the highest points of land in Marble Hill has been a bastion of faith, a pinnacle of spirituality, for over 100 years...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Five mayors and a village president will be elected in three Southern Illinois counties when voters go to the polls Tuesday. Only three of the six races are contested, including the one in Alexander County at Cairo, where first-term mayor James Wilson faces challenger Cordell McGoy. Wilson had 831 votes during the recent four-candidate primary, and McGoy finished the primary with 476 votes...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Harry Grissom, 63, of rural East Prairie died Saturday, April 1, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 21, 1931, in East Prairie, son of Roland and Sarah White Grisssom. He married Frances Morris Dec. 30, 1971...

Raymond E. Tibbles, 75, of 118 N. Ellis died Thursday, March 30, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Dec. 30, 1919, in St. Louis, son of George and Karoline Gieselmann Tibbles. He married Dorothy Weis Feb. 2, 1946, in St. Louis...

ADVANCE -- Della Mae Arnold, 86, of rural Advance died Saturday, April 1, 1995, at the Advance Nursing Center. She was born April 14, 1908, in Scott County, daughter of Jess and Mary Effie Cliffton Thompson. She married Walter Arnold Dec. 26, 1929, at Bloomfield...

DEXTER -- Connie Sue Morrison, 47, of Arnold, a former resident of Bernie and Aid, died Saturday, April 1, 1995, at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Louis. She was born April 13, 1947, at Bernie, daughter of Mary Norma Grayum McCoy of rural Dexter and the late Rudolph McCoy. She married James Morrison April 17, 1965...

JACKSON -- Anthony Ray Allison, son of Steven L. Allison Jr. of Jackson and Roxanne M. Gramlisch of Jackson, was born and died Friday, March 31, 1995, at Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. In addition to his parents, other survivors include maternal grandparents, Ray and Karen Gramlisch of Jackson; paternal grandparents, Steven L. ...

Elizabeth Park, 87, of Cape Girardeau and formerly of Denver, Colo., died April 1, 1995, at the Heartland Care and Rehab Center in Cape Girardeau. Survivors include three sisters, Harriett Eckelmann of Cape Girardeau, Jane Conklin of Davenport, Iowa, and Georgia Ball of Mattoon, Ill.; and a brother, Harry E. Reed of Bosque, N.M...

PERRYVILLE -- David A. "Blackie" Masters, 83, of Perryville died April 1, 1995, at his home in Perryville. He was born Aug. 29, 1911, at Marble Hill, the son of Manuel and Maggie Masters. He married Vivien Snodgrass Aug. 29, 1953. He retired from General Motors Corp. in St. Louis in 1971...

MARBLE HILL -- Ethel A. Brands of Troy and formerly of Marble Hill, died April 1, 1995, at a hospital in Troy. The body is at Baker Funeral Home in Marble Hill. Definite arrangements have not been made.

As reported last week, proposed federal budget cuts will have a significant impact on Missouri. Cuts under serious consideration already amount to $111 million, and additional reductions are expected as debate continues over the financing of scores of federal programs...

The big question of the week for me is, "Is spring really here to stay or is Mother Nature planning her annual frosty surprise for us?" Just when we get our winter clothes stored away and that last bit of sand swept out of the garage, along come frosty nights and freezing days to shock us back into the reality that Mama Nature is really in charge and we had better remember that...

Today it is impossible for me to go anywhere in public without having readers and constituents approach me asking to know what they can do to thwart the advance of Outcomes Based Education in our public schools. A definitive answer to that question will have to wait, as I am still gathering information myself...

Windows, garage doors, softened water and hot tubs were among the items offered by one of 35 booths set up Thursday and Friday for the Southeast Missouri Home Builders Home & Garden Show. And each of the booths had sales representatives to inform the 6,500 people that passed through the doors of the Show Me Center Saturday how well the products fit in homes or on lawns...

If losing an hour as the nation went on daylight-saving time today seems an inconvenience, consider the plight of Old Appleton in 1966. During certain months of the year, folks who lived on one side of Apple Creek might be living their lives on daylight-saving time, while their neighbors fishing on the opposite bank could be on standard time...

About 120 people have registered as sex offenders in Dunklin County, the most in Southeast Missouri. In all, nearly 300 sex offenders have registered in a 10-county area of Southeast Missouri, from Perry County to the Arkansas line since a new Missouri law went into effect Jan. 1...

Criminal background checks have become a part of the hiring process at area child-care facilities and nursing homes. Yet, few appear to use the nearly 2-year-old Missouri law allowing such businesses to obtain extensive reports from the Missouri Highway Patrol on the criminal history of prospective employees...

A common thread runs through the campaign of the four candidates for Cape Girardeau's school board. The board must restore trust and confidence in school leadership. Seeking two three-year terms on the school board are Larry H. Trickey, R. Ferrell Ervin, Terry Taylor and Harold Hager...

Prior to the 1880s, each U.S. city kept the local or sun time of its own meridian. In 1883, the railroads adopted a standard system of time of the United States and Canada. The following year, a worldwide system of standard time was agreed upon, establishing the prime meridian at Greenwich, England...

I AM a citizen of Advance, and I am really unhappy with the police force. I believe somebody needs to do some kind of check on our police officers. My husband and I are hard-working citizens. We are drug free and alcohol free. We have children we are raising. This is horrible. Our town is just a laughing stock. You can't drive through town without being harassed. The druggies get away with everything. It's just ridiculous. Somebody needs to do something about our police officers...

Efforts to calculate the number of days Superintendent Neyland Clark has been out of the office on business and vacation show that better record-keeping is needed for administrative travel at Cape Girardeau public schools. In February, questions about the district's sloppy record-keeping for an American Express account prompted the school board to close the credit card account and draft three pages of regulations for travel expenses...

The Missouri Council of the International Reading Association has honored the Southeast Missourian newspaper for its support of literacy programs. The newspaper was nominated by the Southeast Missouri Council of the IRA for the state newspaper media award...

For five students at St. Mary's grade school, it all adds up. The team of seventh- and eighth-graders finished third in the MathCounts' state contest earlier this month in Columbia. Team member SreeVamsi Adusumilli finished second in the state, the highest finish for a Southeast Missouri student since the MathCounts program began a dozen years ago...

JACKSON -- If a new child-support enforcement plan is approved by the state legislature by July, Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry counties may handle enforcement from a central office. The Cape Girardeau County Commission approved the plan Thursday and is waiting for answers from the other counties...

SCOTT CITY -- The Scott City Parks & Recreation Department and Burger King will co-sponsor an Easter Egg Hunt Saturday around the basketball court in the main city park. The festivities, including an appearance by the Easter Bunny, will begin at 10 a.m. More than 600 eggs, some filled with a variety of prizes, will be on the park grounds...

ORAN -- The first annual chili cook-off at Caleb's Waterhole 3, a local tavern, will be next Saturday and will benefit the Kenny Rogers Cerebral Palsy Center in Sikeston. Among the day's activities are door prizes, a bake sale, games, drawings and washer pitching...

PERRYVILLE -- The Perry County School District will have two new board members after Tuesday's election. Seeking two three-year terms vacated by incumbents in the Perry County School District are Tim Rhodes, 42, an aircraft sheet metal worker for McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis; Carolyn Pontillas, 43, a homemaker who is active as a school and civic volunteer; and Randy P. Adams, 39, an aircraft spray painter who also works for McDonnell-Douglas...

JACKSON -- On Tuesday, Jackson voters will go to the polls and pick two school board candidates from a field of three: Marvin Adams, Jeanette Bollinger and Jewell Beauchamp. Bollinger has served on the board for four years, Adams for three and Beauchamp is a retired teacher ready to serve children in a different capacity...

CHAFFEE -- Councilman Bill Cannon and former mayor Bob Capshaw are seeking the four-year term for Chaffee's mayor in Tuesday's municipal election. Cannon, a councilman for the past six years who's served on all the city's major committees, said he's the best candidate for the position because he's in touch with the times...

While they are turning up their clucks in anticipation of spring gobblers, Kentuckians can look forward to broadened turkey hunting options. in seasons to come. Kentucky is presently producing an enviable hunter success rate of approximately 32 percent during the spring gobbler hunts. ...

FREDERICKTOWN -- On Amidon Memorial Conservation Area in northeastern Madison County, clear waters cascade through granite shut-ins. These are the headwaters of the Castor River, one of Southeast Missouri's most scenic streams. This scene can be found off Madison County Road 208 about a mile east of Highway W. ...

PUXICO -- The Mingo National Wildlife Refuge's spring wildflower auto tour begins today at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service area located off Highway 51. The tour, open to the public, runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Sunday during the month of April. The tour route begins at the refuge's visitor center 1 miles north of Puxico on Highway 51. The 25-mile rout consists primarily of gravel roads and usually takes about two hours to drive...

ROCHEPORT, Mo. -- Wilbert and Irene Janke are only casual naturalists. They enjoy watching birds around their home in Rocheport, near the Missouri River west of Columbia. But the appearance of an Inca dove in their yard recently catapulted them to overnight celebrity among serious "birders."...

POGS, cardboard disks about 1.75 inches in diameter with distinctive designs, are the newest collectible for pre-teens. For some, they replace sports trading cards. Adding to POGS' popularity is its own game -- similar to "playing for keeps" while shooting marbles years ago -- with all the accessories that marketers like to sell...

We hear a lot about hidden agendas these days. Maybe we are searching more diligently for them in these cynical times. The term is a euphemism for "What is in it for him or her?" "What's behind all this?" Or, more coarsely, "What's he got up his sleeve?" This, of course, alluding to cheating gamblers...

Workshop on Wheels will hold a workshop Thursday titled, "Encouraging Creativity in Young Children." The workshop will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Center for Child Studies, Scully Building Room 111. Participants will learn the developmental sequence of children drawing...