Stories from Friday, July 8, 1994

Dear Editor, This country needs access to universal health care at a reasonable cost, not the socialized, universal, health-care-at-any-cost plan the Clinton administration is cramming down our throat. They will likely continue to water this plan down until they get it passed, then begin their practice of amending and "fixing it", as they call it...

If sweltering through Missouri summers isn't enough to convince you that the weather can be miserable, now we learn from a recent study that the heat-related death rate in the state is eight times that of steamy Florida and nine times that of scorching-hot Texas...

Living close to the Mississippi River offers opportunities to see and do interesting things. Such was the case this week in Cape Girardeau. On Sunday, two beautiful vessels -- the Mississippi Queen and Delta Queen steamboats -- docked at the Cape Girardeau riverfront following their annual re-enactment of the Great Steamboat Race of 1870 between the Natchez and Robert E. ...

HICKMAN, Ky. The Bayou de Chien Duck and Goose Calling Championships will be held July 30, in City Park at Hickman, Ky. Registration will start at 10 a.m., with the contests to start at 11 a.m. The duck calling contest is a qualifier for the World Championship Duck Calling Contest, which is held annually at Stuttgart, Ark...

SIKESTON -- The Heartland Writers Guild will meet at 2 p.m. Sunday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Sikeston. The guild meets every second Sunday of each month and is composed of published and unpublished authors devoted to the promotion and support of the concept of professionalism in writing...

KARNAK, Ill. -- A benefit pancake breakfast will be held for the family of Billy Joe Goines at the Methodist Church parking lot in Karnak on July 16 from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Suggested donations are adults, $4.50, and children, $2.50. It is sponsored by the Methodist Men's Club and the Karnak Civic Club...

The stalled Cape LaCroix-Walker Creek flood control project is on shaky ground with no plans in the immediate future for contractors to resume construction. Construction was halted several months ago because excavation equipment damaged the building at the corner of Kingshighway and Bloomfield Road...

ST. LOUIS -- Consultants who worked on a two-year feasibility study of an Interstate-66 reported Thursday there is no pressing need for the coast-to-coast highway and the project would be an unwise use of federal money. Jim Covil, senior vice president of Wilbur Smith and Associates, which conducted the study, explained the study's conclusions at a meeting in St. Louis...

SCOTT CITY -- Negotiations between Scott City and Lady Luck Gaming Corp. are nearing completion as a July 18 operating agreement deadline looms. Scott City Mayor Larry Forhan, who has sat in on the negotiations between the city its chosen riverboat gambling operator for the past 45 days, won't reveal the site for the proposed riverboat casino, but is confident an agreement will be reached...

A rush-hour storm that whipped through the area Thursday brought high hinds and heavy rains but left little damage in its wake. The Missouri Weather Cooperative at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport recorded .75 inch of rain from the storm and winds gusting to 30 mph...

Landlocked several generations in the union's middlemost state, my family had but to turn in any geographical direction to study the manners and attitudes of the nation. We chose the southern way. My affection for this choice endures. It is not that I, like some southerners, find nobility in the tradition of suffering hardships stoically. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Some people at Thursday's meeting held to discuss a study of an Interstate 66 took issue with conclusions about the economic feasibility of the trans-America corridor. In particular, concern was voiced over the conclusion that jobs generated along the corridor would only be jobs moved from other parts of the country, and, therefore, would not have an impact on the national economy...

Graveside service for Marian Gaines, 3120 Independence, was held Thursday at Memorial Park. Ford and Sons Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. Gaines, 81, died Wednesday, July 6, 1994, at Chateau Girardeau. She was born March 11, 1913. She married Harry William Gaines Jan. 20, 1938. He died Oct. 11, 1986...

MARBLE HILL -- Lowell Bazzell, 81, of Marble Hill, died Thursday, July 7, 1994, at the Bond Nursing Care Center in Marble Hill. He was born Dec. 1, 1912, in Bollinger County, son of Rudolph and Ethel Crites Bazzell. He married Mildred Basham, June 19, 1932...

APPLE CREEK -- Theresia B. Ponder, 103, of Apple Creek, died Wednesday, July 6, 1994, at Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville. She was born Jan. 1, 1891, daughter of Joseph and Theresia Mary Meyer Buchheit. On Oct. 27, 1919, she married Joseph H. Ponder at Apple Creek. He preceded her in death on Nov. 21, 1978...

JACKSON -- Funeral service for Dr. Robert B. Moody of Jackson will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at McCombs Funeral Chapel, with the Rev. Rodney Travis officiating. Burial will be in Russell Heights Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4-8 p.m. today...

JACKSON -- Hattie A. Schmidt, 90, of Jackson, died Thursday, July 7, 1994, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 15, 1904, in Wittenberg, daughter of Martin and Dorothea Fiehler Gemeinhardt. She and L.E. Schmidt were married Sept. 27, 1925. He died July 10, 1983...

William E. Hruby, 50, 625 N. Lorimier, died Wednesday, July 6, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Sept. 26, 1943, in Western Springs, Ill., son of William L. and Betty Emrick Hruby. He and Karen McCall were married Aug. 31, 1985, at Jackson...

Twin sons to Mr. and Mrs. Keith Hoelting of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, Tuesday, June 28, 1994. Chance Tyler was born at 5:35 a.m. and weighed 5 pounds 4 ounces. Logan Cade was born at 5:36 a.m. and weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces. Mrs. Hoelting is the former Julie Trumper, daughter of David and Elora Trumper of Ottumwa, Iowa. Hoelting is employed by Fru-Con Engineering, and is the son of Dennis and Ruthanne Hoelting of Scott City...

PERRYVILLE -- Lucy G. Bedwell, 90, of Perryville, died Thursday, July 7, 1994, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born Sept. 2, 1903, in Cape Girardeau County, daughter of Frederick John and Mary Ignatious Hilbert Tuschhoff. She married Vernon C. Bedwell, who died April 18, 1978...

JACKSON -- Frieda Minnie Johanna Voges, 83, of Jackson, died Thursday, July 7, 1994, at Jackson Manor. She was born Oct. 4, 1910, at Tilsit, daughter of Martin and Clara Bock Schlimme. She and Elmer A. Voges were married Jan. 22, 1937. He died March 29, 1948...

Etta Rose Mason, 805 S. Ranney, died Thursday, July 7, 1994, at her home. Arrangements were incomplete at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Chapel.