Stories from Tuesday, October 31, 2000

Degrees were conferred to 301 students following the summer session at Southeast Missouri State University. Area residents who graduated with honors or advanced degrees: Advance Noel F. Miller Jr., master of arts; major, secondary administration and supervision...

Happy Halloween. Today is a day that we revel in the strange and even scary, so why not visit some odd sites on the Internet? There's certainly plenty to choose from. As I was driving to work one morning, I heard a radio report on some guy that planned to break the world record today for eating live worms. And you thought your life was trying...

Looking at the textbooks used by some students is as easy as stepping out the front door and picking up the newspaper. Whether their students are preschoolers or high school seniors, teachers said they have found ways to use the newspaper for teaching or reinforcing skills. Newspapers can easily function as a textbook, filler for an art project and fodder for classroom discussion...

THE STORY SO FAR: Coons in the watermelon patch? That is the big news on the ranch. Worse yet, those pesky coons had ruined 37 of the watermelons that Sally May had wanted to sell to buy a new couch. We reached the field and went bouncing across the edge of the alfalfa until we came to the spot where Slim and Loper had plowed up some ground and planted the watermelons. We all got out and walked to the scene of the crime...

JACKSON, Mo. -- The population of Jackson grew by 25 percent over a nine-year period, faster than any other Southeast Missouri city, the Census Bureau reported in its latest population estimates. The bureau recently released its July 1, 1999, population estimates for cities. The population of Jackson is estimated at 11,973, up 2,404 since the 1990 census...

Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center officials said they have been inundated with calls inquiring about the delay in delivery of this year's influenza vaccine. But callers get bad news: Because of the delay, unless you are a local firefighter, law enforcement professional, health care provider or government employee, you may have to wait until later in the flu season for a flu shot...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Speaking softly, a 16-year-old accused of killing his grandmother pleaded not guilty of murder and arson Monday. Joshua Wolf's face was red and puffy for his court appearance, and he sobbed more than once during his arraignment as he stood before Circuit Judge John Grimm with his attorney, Stephen Wilson...

Election Day -- just one week away -- is journalism Hades. We have to compile the results in a timely, accurate fashion, interview the winners and losers and get the whole thing into the newspaper on deadline. But I absolutely can't wait. I'm not just eager for Nov. 7 because I enjoy the excitement of a newsroom at full throttle. I also want another ugly and petty campaign season to be over...

An organization dedicated to preserving the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail will hold its national conference in Cape Girardeau in the spring. The group, the Trail of Tears Association, researches the infamous removal of Indian tribes from the Southeast in the mid-19th century...

HAYTI, Mo. -- A Hayti man died following a shootout after an armed bank robbery Monday, the Missouri Highway Patrol reported. A Hayti police officer and a highway patrol trooper responded to a bank robbery call at 9:40 a.m., Sgt. Brent Davis said. The robbery had occurred at the downtown branch of the Bank of Hayti...

Cape Girardeau City Council Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 5 p.m. City Hall, 401 Independence New ordinances (First, second and third readings) Other...

Signs denoting the shortage of workers can be found throughout the area, including a large "Apply Within" sign at Thorngate Ltd., 1542 Independence in Cape Girardeau. "We need workers," said Luke Landgraf of Thorngate. "Everyone needs workers." Thorngate, the manufacturer of men's clothing, including coats and suits, employs about 500 workers...

JACKSON, Mo. -- According to coach Tom Doyle, his Cape Girardeau Central Tigers "survived" their soccer match against the Hillsboro Hawks to advance to the finals of the Class 4A, District 1 Tournament. The No. 1 seeded Tigers (14-7-3) knocked off the No. 4 seeded Hawks (6-12-4) 3-1 at the Jackson Soccer Complex on Monday afternoon...

Notre Dame High School's boys soccer team needed a virtual miracle to advance to the championship match of the Class 1A-3A, District 1 Tournament. But the Bulldogs needed no luck of any kind in capturing their third consecutive district title. The top-seeded and host Bulldogs, who scored a goal with just two seconds left in regulation to tie Sikeston and then went on to win Saturday's semifinal contest in a shootout, rolled past third-seeded Windsor 3-0 Monday night in the finals...

Bolstered by their first victory in more than a month, Southeast Missouri State University's football Indians still have a chance at a winning season. But accomplishing that feat will definitely be difficult. The 3-5 Indians will need to win their final three games -- all on the road -- beginning this Saturday with a contest against Eastern Illinois, ranked 21st nationally in NCAA Division I-AA...

Southeast Missouri State University senior Rachelle Knapp has been named the Ohio Valley Conference offensive volleyball player of the week. Knapp posted back-to-back .500 hitting performances as the league-leading Otahkians extended their winning streak to 12 matches with triumphs over Austin Peay and Tennessee Tech...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Margaret Lois Cameron, 78, of Van Buren, Ark., died Sunday, Oct. 29, 2000, at Sparks Hospital in Fort Smith, Ark. She was born Feb. 10, 1922, near Bloomfield, daughter of William and Rachael Hill Hudgens. Cameron lived at Dexter, Bloomfield and Morehouse in Missouri before moving to Van Buren a year ago...

Tessie H. Steckler, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Oct. 29, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born July 2, 1910, in Burfordville, Mo., daughter of Morris and Minnie Underfeldt Huckstep. She and Paul Steckler were married in 1933, in Cape Gir-ardeau. He died in 1984...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Nicholas Marshall Potashnick, age 22, of Sikeston died unexpectedly Oct. 27, 2000, in his dormitory room at Twin Towers on the campus of Arkansas State University-Jonesboro, following an acute asthma attack. He was an agribusiness major...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Alvina Catherine Schetter, 94, of Chaffee died Friday, Oct. 27, 2000, at Chaffee Nursing Center. She was born Sept. 27, 1906, at New Hamburg, Mo., daughter of Ludonis Frank and Anna Mary Weber Schmitt. Mrs. Schetter worked as a machine operator at Thorngate in Chaffee before retirement. She was a member of St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Chaffee, Daughters of St. Ambrose, Legion of Mary, and the Ladies Auxiliary of American Legion Post No. 389 in Chaffee...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Lura M. Burris, 90, of Dexter died Monday, Oct. 30, 2000, at Vintage Villa Nursing Center in Dexter. She was born on Jan. 7, 1910, in Salem, Mo., daughter of Andy L. and Susie Evanna Smith Stewart. She and Earnest Burris were married June 7, 1937. He died Oct. 16, 1972...

OAK RIDGE, Mo. -- William Lyndell Newell, 62, of Oak Ridge died Monday, Oct. 30, 2000, at his home. He was born Feb. 20, 1938, at Millersville, Mo., son of Edward and Delcie Hanners Newell. He and Lorene E. Triller Brown were married June 2, 1967. Newell was an over-the-road truck driver more than 30 years with Coca-Cola Bottling Co., J.B. Hunt, and Havco Wood Products, retiring in 1997...

Funeral for Joseph E. Moss of Appleton City, Mo., was held Thursday at the Church of Ste. Genevieve in Ste. Genevieve, Mo. The Revs. Robert Braun and John Patrick Day and Deacon George Wood officiated. Burial was in Valle Spring Cemetery in Ste. Genevieve...

Son to Robert Joseph "Joe" and Angela M. Koch of Jackson, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 11 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2000. Name, Zachary Douglas. Weight, 7 pounds 4 ounces. First child. Mrs. Koch is the former Angela Golden, daughter of Mary Golden and Floyd Patterson of Cape Girardeau. She is a customer service representative with Alliance Blue Cross Blue Shield. Koch is the son of Robert and Delores Koch of Cape Girardeau. He is a fabricator with Perryville Steel Inc...

I AM a Jackson High School student, and this year's football team is very exciting. Someone in the paper said we are not the old team. Well, we are a new team. We are a new era of football. This is going to set the pace for the next decade of football. ...

Next Tuesday, Missourians will choose a new governor. The issue differences between the Democratic nominee, state Treasurer Bob Holden, and his Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Jim Talent, are many and profound. Holden, a native of Birch Tree in Shannon County, went to the Legislature in 1982 as a representative from Springfield and served three terms in the House before losing a race for treasurer in 1988. ...

The idea of comprehensive planning for the future of Cape Girardeau County is not a new concept. The county had a planning commission for almost 20 years. It adopted a master plan, regulations for subdivisions and mobile-home parks and a minimum setback line ordinance...

To the editor: The Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association is in full support of the proposed countywide planning and zoning for the long-term growth of the county and for the protection of our outstanding quality of life. When large companies consider our area for a new plant location, they want to know their investment is well-protected. ...

To the editor: I have just finished reading Joe Sullivan's column, "If you've never been there, you wouldn't understand." Believe me, I've been there. I was born in Ellsinore, Mo. All of my ancestors are buried near there in a little country cemetery called Whitesmill Cemetery, which has a little country church and outhouse restrooms...

To the editor: Great thanks is owed to U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson for her support of the Children's Health Act of 2000. President Clinton signed this bill into law earlier this month. The impetus behind this legislation was the Healthy Kids legislation, which Emerson supported last year...