Stories from Tuesday, August 3, 1993

The Family and Medical Leave Act is an example of what happens when lawmakers try to codify common sense. It is a measure kind in spirit but knotted with potential legal despair. It is regulation where decency should suffice. Above all, the act is another load on America's small businesses, which carry plenty of burden already...

Although many of the actual details of the President's proposed budget have undergone changes in both the House and Senate, one thing's for sure it relies too heavily on tax increases instead of spending reductions. Right now, one of the proposed changes centers around replacing the BTU energy tax; however, a specific levy on gasoline remains a moving target. ...

MCCLURE, Ill. - Should the Mississippi River levee at McClure fail, a retired McClure businessman knows what can happen. He survived two levee breaks that flooded McClure during World War II. Frank J. Marchildon, 85, retired several years ago after closing his general merchandise and grocery store on Main Street (Grapevine Trail Road) in McClure. Marchildon was living here in May 1943, when the Big Muddy levee north of Wolf Lake first broke, sending floodwaters southward to McClure...

The flood crest predicted Wednesday at Cape Girardeau has been revised downward to 48.5 feet, according to the National Weather Service. On Monday, the river was 46.8 feet on the Cape Girardeau gauge. Earlier, the crest had been predicted at 49 feet. A weather service spokesman said the revision was caused by levee breaks north of the city...

Cape Girardeau was a hot spot in more ways than one last month. Amid historic flood levels, the city experienced its warmest July on record. The average temperature last month was 83.63 degrees, barely breaking the record of 83.61 degrees set in July 1980, said Al Robertson, professor of geosciences at Southeast Missouri State University...

PERRYVILLE -- Streets in Perryville remain dry, but Mississippi River flooding has impacted this town. A levee just a few miles east gave way last week, flooding thousands of acres. Two major employers, Sabreliner and Gilster-Mary Lee, are under water. A number of other businesses, located east of Perryville, also were forced to close, putting people out of work...

The city of Cape Girardeau will take advantage of historic low interest rates and refinance taxpayer bond obligations, saving about $700,000. The Cape Girardeau City Council Monday approved a resolution to refinance public facilities bonds from 1988 and 1989 and reinvest a city employee pension refund...

Polls will open at 6 a.m. today for Cape Girardeau voters. Two issues will be on today's ballot: whether to annex Twin Lakes Subdivision, situated west of the city limits near the intersection of Hopper Road and Interstate 55, and whether to approve ward boundaries and related city charter changes to enable ward city council elections next year...

COMMERCE -- Many residents of Commerce are tired of the floodwaters and just want to return to their homes, while others are not sure they really want to move back after the waters recede. Monday night, about 40 residents attended the regular Commerce City Council meeting to voice their opinions about allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency purchase the property of residents who want to leave the flood plain and start anew elsewhere...

JACKSON -- New construction in the city of Jackson during the first six months of 1993 more than doubled the amount that took place over the same period in 1992. The news of booming construction activity was presented in a mid-year report given to the Board of Aldermen Monday night. The report was compiled by Robbie Roberts, the city's building and zoning administrator...

McCLURE, Ill. Jackson Pilgrim Bunch, 94, McClure Route 1, died Sunday, Aug. 1, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He was born Sept. 18, 1898, at McClure, son of Joseph and Nellie McRaven Bunch. His father was instrumental in obtaining the present Corps of Engineers levees at East Cape and McClure...

CHAFFEE -- Mildred Von Leffern, 82, of Chaffee, died Monday, Aug. 2, 1993, at the family home. She was born Sept. 25, 1910, at Bloomfield, Mo., daughter of Benjamin Alfred and Elizabeth Laura Hinze Unger. She married Earl Von Lerffern. He died in 1952...

JACKSON - An effort by a small group of Cape County citizens to increase emergency ambulance response times in out county areas would likely carry a significant price tag, Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep said Monday. "That may be very, very difficult to accomplish," said Huckstep, of an effort being coordinated by Edward A. Frenzel, an LPN now working for Home Health Agency, and Sherry Koehler, an emergency medical technician...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Graveside service for Adeby Coury of Ventura, Calif., will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Calvary Cemetery in Villa Ridge, with the Rev. Jerome Fortenberry officiating. Barkett Funeral Home here is in charge of arrangements. Coury, 85, died Saturday, July 31, 1993, at her home...

Graveside service for Earl H. Brown of Casa Grande, Ariz., was held July 19 at Oktaha Cemetery in Oklahoma. Simes Casa Grande Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. Brown, 74, died Wednesday, July 13, 1993, in Casa Grande. He was born Jan. 14, 1919, in Mt. Sterling, Iowa...

Funeral service for Neil L. Sander of Hopkinsville, Ky., will be held at 1 p.m. today at Hughart and Beard Funeral Home in Hopkinsville. The Rev. James C. Redmann will officiate, with burial in Green Hill Memorial Gardens there. Sander, 63, died Tuesday, July 27, 1993, while on vacation in Kamiah, Idaho...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Funeral service for Leslie Dunning of Edwardsville was held July 29 at Irwin Chapel in Granite City. The Rev. Fred Boatright officiated, with burial in Wanda Cemetery at South Roxana. Dunning, 85, died Monday, July 26, 1993, at Madison County Nursing Home in Edwardsville...

A memorial service for Glenn Oscar Schenimann of Novi, Mich., was held Monday at O'Brien Chapel/Ted C. Sullivan Funeral Home in Novi. Lois Frank officiated. Schenimann, 81, died Thursday, July 29, 1993, at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Mich. He was born Sept. 6, 1911, at Neely's Landing, son of Edward and Sophie Hahn Schenimann. He married the former Dorothy E. Smith...

KANSAS CITY - D.W. Gilmore, a former state senator, circuit court judge and prosecuting attorney in Southeast Missouri died Monday, Aug. 2, 1993. Gilmore, 81, of Kansas City, died at the Research Medical Center in Kansas City. Gilmore served as prosecuting attorney in Scott County from 1947-48, and served in the Missouri Senate from 1949 to 1951...