Stories from Sunday, April 14, 1991

With the news of the Good Friday and Holy Saturday goings-on at the $3 million Kennedy compound at Palm Beach, I have a question or two. A young woman alleges she was raped in the wee hours after a long night of drinking and bar-hopping more characteristic of garden variety adolescent debauchery than of a 59-year-old man. (Much less a senator). She also alleges that among her injuries arising out of the incident is a broken rib...

Plans for a 320-foot (longer than a football field), 14-foot tall mural for the downtown flood wall are on hold. The city park board withheld its endorsement of the project. The park board's concern centered on a communications glitch. We understand their reservations, and sympathize with those who say the mural project should be judged on its own merits, and not on procedural problems. It's worth noting, though, that the procedural reasons might have been a polite way to say "no"...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A program examining the various paths that Hispanic-Americans have taken in their search for equal political participation will be held Thursday at Southeast Missouri State University. Juan Rodriguez, legislative correspondent for Senator Alan Dixon of Illinois, will present "Many Paths to Washington: The Hispanic American Struggle for Political Power" at 3 p.m. in the Program Lounge of the University Center...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A Community Counseling Center therapist will discuss "Getting Ready For Stress" at Tuesday's meeting of Parents Supporting Parents. The presentation by therapist Linda Fulton will focus on stress management for parents. The meeting will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at St. Andrew Lutheran Church...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Herbs and spices will be in full bloom at the spring opening of the historic Glenn House in downtown Cape. The Rose Hills Garden Club will hold an herb sale at the Glenn House opening next weekend. The sale is a first for the garden club, and members hope it will spawn interest in growing herbs...

SIKESTON -- A gospel concert featuring the McGruders and Jack Campbell and The Ambassadors will be held Thursday to benefit the Bootheel Food Bank and rescue mission. The concert begins at 7 p.m. at the Sikeston Armory. Tickets cost $5 in advance and $6 at the door. Children 11 and under get in free...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Senior Fun Fest, the annual day of entertainment for the region's elderly adults, will be held at the Show Me Center Saturday, May 4. Free tickets for the event are available now at locations in area communities. More than 5,000 people 55 years of age and older are expected to take part in the 1991 festivities, which will run from 11 a.m. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield will defend his title against former champion George Foreman Friday live via closed circuit television at the Show Me Center. The fight begins at 8 p.m. This will be Holyfield's first title defense since his defeat of James "Buster" Douglas in October...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A Jackson woman was injured in an accident Saturday morning on Highway 177 south of Fruitland, the Missouri Highway Patrol reported. The woman, Brenda Weston, 28, received minor injuries in the accident and was taken to St. Francis Medical Center for treatment, said the patrol...

SCOTT CITY -- Being the park director in Scott City used to be a lonely job. "When I first got here," said Penny Wingerter from her desk in the park office, "there would be days when I'd sit here and not see a soul, and it wasn't because it was raining. People just didn't come to the park like they do now."...

The latest book on Nancy Reagan is in such bad taste it's certain to be a future TV mini-series. --- A Missouri House committee says the state needs an extra $1 billion in new revenue. maybe what the stat really needs is a new House committee. --- The Kansas City Royals are playing without Bo Jackson this season -- and the St. Louis Cards are playing with a rookie squad that barely knows the location of Busch Stadium...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Gay and Lesbian Student Association at Southeast Missouri State University will sponsor a series of activities this week during the fourth annual Gay and Lesbian Awareness Week. The planned activities are aimed at increasing awareness of homosexual and lesbian issues and people, organizers said...

LONGTOWN -- Funeral service for Edmund W. Weinrich of Longtown will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Young and Sons Funeral Chapel in Perryville. The Rev. Paul Winningham will officiate, with burial in Zion Lutheran Cemetery here. Friends may call at the funeral home after 4 p.m. today...

SIKESTON -- Ralph Edward St. Cin, 62 years old, of Sikeston, died at 12:15 a.m. Saturday, April 13, 1991, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born Sept. 19, 1928, at Corning, Ark., son of Bessie B. Hogan St. Cin Anderson of Charleston and the late Herbert St. Cin...

SIKESTON -- William F. Stokes, 74 years old, of Sikeston, died at 9:48 a.m. Saturday, April 13, 1991, at Missouri Delta Medical Center's emergency room. He was born April 20, 1916, in Sikeston, son of Fred and Ada Alsup Stokes. He married Lelia Glenn Stokes of Vanduser...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Funeral mass for Robert E. (Smiley) Taylor of Mounds will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Mound City. The Rev. William McGhee will officiate, with burial in St. Mary's Cemetery here. Friends may call at Crain Funeral Home in Mounds from 5-8 p.m. today. A prayer service will be held at 7...

ORAN -- James Roy Griswell, 65 years old, of Oran, died at 4:15 p.m. Friday, April 12, 1991, at Sikeston Convalescent Center, where he resided. He was born in McNairy, Tenn., July 22, 1925, son of Monroe and Ollie Weaver Griswell. On March 30, 1944, he married Shelby Smith, who survives, of Oran...

ADVANCE -- Funeral service for Eva Leah Walls of Pacific will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Morgan Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Norman Elledge will officiate, with burial in Berrong Cemetery near Gipsy. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5:30-9 p.m. today...

JACKSON -- Funeral service for Viola A. Sapienza of Tucson, Ariz., will be held at 2 p.m. today at McCombs Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Lawrence Eatherton will officiate, with burial in St. Mary's Cemetery in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call at the funeral home from 8:30 a.m. until time of service...

(Funeral home didn't want to list the brothers and sisters because they are not local and did not give me their names) WOLF LAKE, Ill. Funeral service for Filden E. (Phil) Hardin, 58 years old, of Wolf Lake, formerly of Lucasville, Ohio, will be held at 2 p.m. today at the McKinley Funeral Home in Lucasville. Burial will be in the Jacobs Cemetery in Lucasville...

KELSO - Kelso native Paul D. Felter died Friday, April 12, 1991 at the Hospice House in Orlando, Fla. He was 61. Felter was born in Kelso on July 28, 1929, the son of Kilian and Frances Ziegler. Frances Zieglersurvives. Information was unavailable on when Felter moved from Kelso. He moved to the Orlando area from Gaithersburg, Md...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Betty Jean Pruitt , 67 years old, 1105 Linden, died at 5:10 a.m. Saturday, April 13, 1991, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born March 29, 1924, at Sardis, Okla., daughter of George and Mary Bell Chancelor. She married Harold Pruitt in April 1946 at Osceoloa, Ark...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- After a decade of home-rule city government, a group that spearheaded the campaign to draft the city charter in 1980 has suggested the document be amended. The most notable of the three amendments proposed by the Cape Girardeau County League of Women Voters is that the city's mayor be elected by the City Council rather than by the public at large...

JACKSON -- Public schools in Jackson earned high marks in two evaluations conducted this year. But recommendations from each review to "make a good school even better" require more money money the district does not have, said Jackson Superintendent Wayne Maupin...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The announced closing of Eaker Air Force Base in Blytheville, Ark., will feed the "tiger" of unemployment and other socioeconomic problems that repress nearby areas in Dunklin and Pemiscot counties, an economic development official said...

JACKSON - For county assessors across Missouri, 1991 is an update year that state law requires them to physically recheck all real-estate parcels and make changes in value to keep the state's assessment program current. In Cape County, Roger Arnzen, director of the mapping and appraisal division of the assessor's office who is coordinating the update, said he does not anticipate a lot of changes in assessed valuations this year...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Most creeks were nearly full around the area Saturday night after a day of heavy rain. More is in the forecast. Most of Southeast Missouri was under a flash-flood watch Saturday night with additional rain expected for today and the early part of the week...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Tony Stephens has been named manager at West Park Mall. The promotion of Stephens, 41, retail coordinator for the mall since last October, was announced Friday. The mall is operated by May Centers Inc., headquartered in St. Louis. Stephens will begin his new job Monday, becoming the fourth manager of the mall since its opening 10 years ago...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Representatives of a union are conducting an informational picket at the Show Me Center this weekend at Sesame Street Live's "Silly Dancing" because members of their union are not used at the center. The center does not have a contract with Local 421 of the Stagehands and Projectionists of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Concern about literacy tops the list of issues being discussed this weekend by 250 women educators. Members of Delta Kappa Gamma, an international association of women educators, are meeting here this weekend for their annual state conference...

CHAFFEE - The Scott County R-2 Board of Education at Chaffee has reorganized following the April 2 board election. The board recently elected Larry Meyr president, Bob Sullivan vice-president, Jim Chronister treasurer, and Barbara Arnold secretary. Elected to the board in the April 2 election were Sharon Crowden and incumbents Meyr and Dale Tierney...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Southeast Missouri State University's industrial technology department will offer a new slate of summer evening classes beginning June 18. Dr. Ralph Pittman, associate professor of industrial technology, will teach a quality control course from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The director of the Missouri Department of Public Safety, Richard C. Rice, will address the May meeting of the Southeast Missouri Peace Officers Association. The meeting will take place May 2 at the Jackson American Legion Hall at North High and Mary streets, starting at 5:30 p.m. The hall is one block north of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department...

SCOTT CITY -- Members of the Scott City chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America won a number of honors at this year's state conference held April 4-6 in Jefferson City. The group's parliamentary procedure team won first place for the second year in a row. The team consists of Carrie Cochran, Jennifer Arnold, Amy Holmes, Jennifer Bertrand and Amy Page...

CHAFFEE - Ward 2 Councilman Ed Gauthier likely will get another chance at re-election because election judges knowingly allowed voters from another ward to cast ballots in the April 2 runoff for the seat. Janet Sullivan, 111 North Third, won the election over Gauthier, the incumbent, by 118 votes to 104, initial results showed. Gauthier was seeking his third, two-year term...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - "Designing and Planting Your Own Flower Garden" is the topic of the April Woman to Woman luncheon. The meeting will be held at noon Thursday in conference rooms A and B of St. Francis Health and Education Centre. Joe Sherinski, a horticulturist with Accu-Grow Gardens and Florist in Cape Girardeau, will be the featured speaker. During the program, Sherinski will share his thoughts on soils, sites and selection of plants for a garden...

CHAFFEE -- Nancy McGrew's efforts to get students and residents of this community excited about reading have earned national recognition. McGrew's Chapter 1 remedial-reading program, called BEAR (Be Excited About Reading) was among 105 winners selected for the U.S. education secretary's Initiative Award...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - People involved in the tourism industry should be aware of new changes in travel patterns among the public, according to a Kentucky speaker at a hospitality seminar here. "People are taking shorter trips than before," said Beverly McKinley-Harris. "They are going for weekend getaways within six hours of home, rather than one or two week cross-country trips. They are taking more family-oriented trips now."...

WHAT IS WRONG with the Chaffee school board? They let go Kent Mangels. Are they crazy or what? Come on, Chaffee, speak up now. MIKE ROYKO'S COLUMN of April 9 was a gem and so true. I wonder how many veterans of World War II read it and thought the same. It was really good. Thank you...

Folks have a tendency to pick and push around and hide under their potatoes the mess of wild greens I serve, complete with cornbread, fried apples with sour cream, all on my best blue-speckled tinware. Even kinfolks who used to go out with baskets, sunbonnets and sharp knives to help me gather them are getting picky, or maybe uppity is a better word...

Roger Wilcoxson's tenure with ~~4-H goes back to the era when its members were sewing poodle skirts that came almost all the way down to their white bobby socks. In 1957, his first year, social concerns meant who was paired at the Saturday night sock hop. And 4-H was operating its traditional program...

Students at West Lane Elementary School in Jackson last week watched two little chicks peck their way into the world. The embryology experiment in Beth Antoine's class was provided by the University of Missouri Extension 4-H Youth Program. The in-school activity is one of several new paths for 4-H, said Gene Haenni, the new youth specialist for Cape, Perry, Bollinger and Scott counties...

Quilts and herbs will be featured at the spring opening of the Glenn House and Carriage House, this Saturday and Sunday, April 20 and 21. Both are located at 325 Spanish Street. River Heritage Quilter's Guild will have quilts on display, and Rose Hills Garden Club will conduct the plant sale, under the grape arbor in the back yard...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Two nationally recognized nurse specialists will keynote "Trends in Medical-Surgical Nursing," a conference scheduled to held April 25. The conference will be held in the Harrison Room at Southeast Missouri Hospital from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. It is designed to provide medical-surgical and critical care nurses and nursing students with technologically current information in the areas of cardiovascular surgery, neurology and diabetes management...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- "Quilts in Women's Lives," a seminar on the history of quilt-making, will be held Friday at the Southeast Missouri State University Center. Sponsored by the university and Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts, the seminar begins at 9:30 a.m. and concludes at 3 p.m...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Personal bankruptcies across the country are escalating rapidly. A total of 718,000 people filed bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. last year, a 16 percent increase over the 1989 level. Locally, the picture is one of even faster growth in filings. The case load for Southeast Missouri Division of the Eastern District of U.S. District Court shows bankruptcies in Cape Girardeau County surged 38 percent in 1990, up from 121 in 1989 to 167 last year...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Linda Hess of Jackson and Lenora Widner of Cape Girardeau have opened Country Girl Creations at the corner of Independence and Sprigg streets. "We have a variety of hand-made crafts and decorative items," Widner said. "This includes wreaths, pillows, bears, ceramics, paintings, tee shirts and more. We also have antiques."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Mike Parker, regional vice president of the Missouri Association of Life Underwriters, will be guest speaker at the April 19 noon meeting of the Cape Girardeau Association of Life Underwriters, to be held at the Holiday Inn. Ron Hahs, CLU, will conduct a continuing education program on "Retirement Planning," starting at 11 a.m. This program qualifies for one hour of continuing education credit, and is open to members free. Non-members can attend the class for a $5 fee...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The General Nutrition Center, which was one of the original stores to locate in West Park Mall when it opened a decade ago, has moved to a new location within the mall. "We moved up the Famous Barr corridor," said Sabrina Tate, manager of the operation, which sells nutrition foods, vitamins, minerals and body building items. "We'll have a little more room, and we feel we're in a better location in the mall."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- David Hohler of Cape Girardeau has been promoted to assistant warehouse manager at Wetterau's Scott City Division. Hohler has been with the firm 19 years and has served as warehouseman, warehouse supervisor and grocery receiving supervisor...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Members of Aid Association of Lutherans (AAL) Branch 7557, Cape Girardeau, have received a gold star rating by the fraternal benefit society for recognition of exemplary volunteer service to the community. AAL's 7,600 branches are ranked in eight performance categories, with gold star the top rating. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Kevin A. Govero, CLU, ChFC, has been appointed district manager for the William Green Agency of The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the U.S. Agency manager William Green announced the appointment recently. Govero joined The Equitable as an agent here in 1981. As district manager, the will cover Cape Girardeau and surrounding counties...

A picture appearing here last week was incorrectly identified as Berkbigler. (CORRECTION RAN 4-21-91, PAGE 2D) CAPE GIRARDEAU Three truck drivers have been honored by Truck Transport for safe driving. Jerry Little, Scott City, a commercial truck driver for 30 years, 22 with Truck Transport, was honored for 30 years and more than two millions miles of accident-free driving...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Mrs. Marie Kirchdoerfer of Cape Girardeau has been named an "All Star Fund Raiser" by Stanley Home Products in recognition for outstanding performance as a local fund raising specialist. Kirchdoerfer has been associated with the Stanley Company 28 years and has worked with local groups 4-H Clubs, FHA, school and church groups - to help raise funds for program and activities...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Mercantile Bank of Cape Girardeau announced this week the appointment of Wayne Nesslein as real estate loan officer and Mitchell Mayberry as installment loan officer. Nesslein has 21 years' experience in the financial industry. Most recently he worked with NPS Corp. in Perryville, as vice president...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- SEMO Security Guard Corp. has acquired the Tennessee assets of the former Ronin Security Inc. of Dallas, Texas. SEMO general manager Steve Gehl said the agency is opening a branch office in Memphis at 3387 Poplar Avenue, Suite 227...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Deb Bennett was the big winner at last weekend's Southeast Missouri Home Builders Association's Home & Garden Show, held at the Show Me Center on Southeast Missouri State University campus. Bennett, of Jackson, was one of more than 9,000 visitors to the show, and emerged with the grand prize, a 1991 Ford Festiva...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Steve Ramey, sales manager of Cape GMC-Pontiac Inc. here, recently earned top honors in the GMC Truck Sales Master Program, a nation-wide retail truck sales recognition program. Ramey earned the title "Inner Circle," highest distinction for the program's three levels of achievement, marking the seventh time he has reached this level...

ULLIN, Ill. -- More than 40 businesses and agencies will be on hand at Shawnee Community College April 17 for the college's first Career/Job Fair. "This event is open to the public," said Jean Ellen Boyd, SCC placement coordinator. "We want to encourage anyone interested in finding employment or changing careers to attend and talk with these employers."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Southwestern Bell Telephone's Telemarketing Center here is cutting back. "We've downsized our promotion center here," said Craig Felzien, area manager for Southwestern Bell. "We'll still maintain our office space; we're keeping 18 part-time people, and the management staff of the center."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- H & S Sales, an automotive parts and supplies business owned and operated by Don and Gary Sappington, will hold its grand opening April 19-20. The business, which is also a dealership for Cub Cadet riding lawnmowers, is located near the Interstate 55/Highway 61 intersection...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Cape Girardeau office of Savings of America, 3168 Route K, has been selected for "Best-Of-The-Best" award for 1990. The local branch competed with 25 other Savings of America offices in Missouri for the annual award, presented for superior customer service and operational quality...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Mercantile Bank of Cape Girardeau has received a high performance award from its parent company, Mercantile Bancorporation, Inc., for 1990 achievements. The award was presented recently during a meeting in Kansas City attended by presidents of all Mercantile banks in Missouri and Illinois, and other Mercantile officials...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Trinity Lutheran School of Cape Girardeau has received a $500 grant from Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL) to promote literary efforts. The grant is part of a one-time, $1 million grant program announced by AAL to benefit the nation's more than 1,600 elementary and secondary schools...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A family-oriented restaurant will open in the new Rhodes Travel Center, across Interstate 55 from the Municipal Airport, in mid-May. The Milestone 101 restaurant is the first venture in the Midwest for Food Masters Inc. of Raleigh, N.C...

FROHNA -- East Perry Building Supplies Inc. has taken on a new products. William Bock, founder and president of the Frohna firm, announced recently it acceptance as a Wedgcor Steel Building dealer. "This will give us an opportunity of offering any style of building for commercial, industrial and agriculture application," said Bock. "East Perry Building is capable of everything from simply supplying required materials to a complete tur-key construction."...

ST. LOUIS More than 250- professional women from Missouri and Illinois are expected to participate in a Clemson University Conference, designed for business women, at the Clarion Hotel here May 6. The one-day, "Professional Development For Women" conference will include sessions on winning strategies for successful careers, productivity, building self-esteem and other topics...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A new four-wheel steering tractor is one of the new models of White Outdoor Power Products this summer. The four-wheel steering allows the operator to make close turns without losing power of the 42-inch TurboCut dual-blade mower, which is now available at Heuer Sons Implement Co. here...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Ultimate Image Eyewear Inc. has opened a retail optical goods store at 110 Themis Street in downtown Cape Girardeau. The company has been at the site for two years, operating on a wholesale basis until now. "We have eyeglass frames and lenses, sunglasses, fitting and full service," said Patricia L. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- West Park Travel has joined "Travelsavers," a national travel marketing organization. The organization, a chain of independent travel agencies, has more than 1,900 affiliate offices, and offers its members a wide array of quality vacations...