Stories from Sunday, January 22, 1995

To the editor: Now that Christmas 1994 is well past and Christmas 1995 lies well in the future, I have a message for merchants. With extremely few exceptions, most stores desiring to make a profit out of the celebration of the event of the ages, the birth of Jesus Christ, were craven cowards about identifying with it in any way. When challenged, the excuse invariably was, "We don't want to offend anyone." As a Christian, I am offended...

The Jackson U.S.A. Signal is seeking correspondents in area cities and towns to help keep its readers informed on what is happening in those towns. Correspondents in Oak Ridge, Gordonville, Fruitland, Marble Hill and other areas are needed. The Signal seeks good writers who know and can write of the happenings in their local churches, schools and civic organizations and of birthdays, visitors from out of town, family reunions and similar happenings...

Tom Runnels hands Gov. Mel Carnahan a copy of his latest book, "Slipshod But Not Shabby." He also loaned the governor a drawing and a sculpture when they met Jan. 12. Tom Runnels and his dog, Shadrack, relax near Runnels' welded metal sculpture of a bucking bronc. The sculpture sits in the front yard of Runnels' "Cat Ranch."...

Thanks to a little help from Mother Nature, Jackson's Rotary Lake is set to reopen this spring full of water, full of fish and ready for visitors. Residents shouldn't hang out the "Gone Fishin'" signs just yet, though. Work began on the improvements in early July and officials didn't expect the lake to reopen until sometime during the summer or fall of this year. ...

Sue Spencer, foreground, and sister-in-law Shirley Guard, travel from Perryville each Tuesday morning to take part in the painting class. They have been members of the group for some time. Famed painter Pablo Picasso said that art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life. If this is true, a group of local artists have been cleansing their souls together for nearly 16 years now...

When students at Jackson's Primary Annex recently returned to school following the Christmas break, many of their parents returned to school, too. Members of the Primary Annex Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) believe their involvement with the group is one of the best possible ways to take an active role in the education of their children. As a result, when school is in session at Primary Annex, parents are often as involved as their children...

Residents in the Jackson and Oak Ridge area may soon find a familiar and pleasant sight in their neighborhoods -- Girl Scouts selling their famous Girl Scout cookies. Girls Scouts in the Tsalagi Service Unit, which includes the Jackson and Oak Ridge area, joined scouts from throughout the nation in kicking off the annual fund-raiser last week. The sale helps fund Girl Scouting both on a national and local level...

Tom Eagleton, former u.s. senator and regular Sunday columnist, has been busy with negotiations leading up to the move of the football Rams to St. Louis. His column is scheduled to resume next week.

Here is something for money-minded readers to consider: How important is news about business and finance, and would a daily dose keep you better informed? This may sound like a heavy topic for Sunday morning, but it is something we have begun to give serious consideration...

No political figure in Missouri has received more media attention in recent weeks than the embattled speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives, the Honorable Bob F. Griffin of Cameron. Depending on your viewpoint and political persuasion, the Northwest Missouri Democrat is either an historic leader who has written an exceptional legislative record for the past quarter of a century or the personal personification of political lust, power and corruption...

What a difference a decade makes. In the mid-1980s, area jobless figures were in double-digit percentages. People were out of work, and few employers were hiring. In 1995, it is the employees who are scare, especially for lower-paying jobs. A low unemployment rate is admirable, except when it becomes so low that businesses can't fill jobs. The same strong economy that attracts new industries could detract those same lookers, if a worker shortage exists...

St. Louis sports fans are on a rampage, and who can blame them? After seven years without a NFL franchise, the city announced the Los Angeles Rams will become the St. Louis Rams this fall. Already the media grumbling has begun: The Rams have a losing record (4-12 this past season). Ticket prices are high. The city offered too much to bring the team to town. Hey, sports fans, let's give the team and the city a chance...

To the editor: I would like to respond to the recent letter about GATT. It seems common sense doesn't tell everyone the same thing. It appears to me every time we lower trade tariffs we lose more jobs to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China and Mexico. General Motors just recently announced its is building three new plants in Mexico next year. ...

The Salvation Army will be serve Meals with Friends Monday through Friday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Any individual is welcome to attend. The meals are free. Monday: chicken strips, baked beans, cole slaw, bread and butter, Jello. Tuesday: spaghetti with meat sauce, lettuce salad, green beans, bread and butter, fruit cup...

The Federal Trade Commission will have the final say about a corner of the retail grocery market in Cape Girardeau. That corner, at William and Sprigg streets, has been home to a National Food Store since 1959. But the spacious supermarket at 121 S. Sprigg, and 59 other National Super Markets Inc. operations, have been purchased by Schnucks Markets Inc., subject to FTC approval...

Missouri manufacturers interested in being featured on a special broadcast of QVC cable shopping network have until Jan. 30 to apply. The deadline has been extended from Jan. 15. The broadcast is part of QVC's "Quest for America's Best" tour. Products unique to each state are being featured. Missouri's broadcast is set for May 13...

"The "Addies" are coming. "Excellence Unmasked" is the theme for 1995 competition for the Addy Awards, an advertising competition for advertisers in the five-state region. It will be the first Addy competition in this area, and Advertising Federation of Southeast Missouri President Maggie Friend said she expects entries from a large geographic market area...

Consider the word "delete" deleted from my vocabulary. Because one of my New Year's resolutions was to organize my life and my stuff, I decided to organize my computer files. My good deed turned sour, and I paid dearly in time and anxiety. I am not exactly one hundred percent computer literate, and I learned the hard way that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing...

For $10 and a record that shows no felony convictions, you can be a security guard in Cape Girardeau. If you want to guard property or maintain order at businesses in Jackson, Chaffee or Scott City, you don't even have to bother with the background check...

I JUST wanted to report I attended Anita Hill's speech at the Show Me Center. Despite reading several call-ins to Speak Out criticizing this event, everything went smoothly and was very nice. I enjoyed it immensely. I just bet none of the critics were there...

The face behind the silver goatee should be familiar to longtime local residents. From 1958 to 1967, Jim Rhodes' piano stylings were a regular feature on KFVS-TV's "Breakfast Show." After a career in record producing that has taken him to Springfield, Mo., Tulsa, Okla., and Nashville, Tenn., Rhodes now is co-producing a one-hour television show to air in syndication in February...

ADVANCE -- Lottie P. Skinner, 87, of Advance, died Saturday, Jan. 21, 1995, at her home. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Morgan Funeral Home in Advance.

CAMDEN, S.C. -- Larry Gene James, 45, of Camden, S.C., died Saturday, Jan. 14, 1995. He was born Oct., 31, 1949, at Randles, the son of Charles C. and Dorothy Bonds James. He worked as a quality control supervisor with A.O. Smith, and he served in the Marines during the Vietnam war...

JACKSON -- Clarence Ruesler, 85, of Jackson died Saturday Jan. 21, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. For the past five years, he lived at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 2, 1909, at Friedheim, the son of Herman and Ida Mueller Ruesler. On Nov. 22, 1953, he married Edith Zoellner at Pocahontas. She preceded him in death on Aug. 11, 1989...

Katherine Cochran, longtime writer, artist and historian, died Saturday. She was 87. Friends remember a woman dedicated to preserving history and looking for the bright side of life. "She wanted everyone to see a regal Southern lady," said Judy Schuch. "But she had a little spitfire in her."...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Mary C. McGruder, 77, of Carrollton, Texas, died Saturday, Jan. 21, 1995, at the Twin Pines Nursing Center in Carrollton. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at the Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo.

With the last vestiges of deer hunting expired for the season, it would seem the appropriate time for the sportsman to go goose hunting, chase after rabbits and quail or maybe turn toward thoughts of the year's earliest fishing. All that is well and good, but now also may be the best time for the whitetail hunter to fatten his odds. Hunting is out, but the deer specialist can make some moves now that will go far to determine the outcome of the next fall's season...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Anglers will find a wealth of valuable "where-to" information in the 1995 Fishing Prospects report from the Fisheries Division of the Missouri Department of Conservation. The report contains detailed information about where and how to catch fish on more than 17 streams and 35 lakes, including those at James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Area (WA) east of Kansas City and at August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area west of St. Louis...

Do you enjoy fishing but find that it sometimes lacks the excitement and adrenaline rush of other outdoor activities? Then you may want to try an alternative called bowfishing which merges archery with traditional angling. "You basically hunt fish with a bow and arrow," said Brett Huster, a representative of the Pro/Am Bowfishing Association (PABA)...

Once upon a time (what an original beginning!) the Writer's Digest, one of the two main trade magazines for writers, devoted a few pages each month to suggested topics writers might explore. This was to spur writers who had come to some kind of subject bloc and to show that most anything held some kind of reportage potential. ...

A group of line dancers at the Stroder Country Dance Hall in Jackson. JACKSON -- They travel to Stroder Country every Tuesday night for Donna Gertis' country line dancing class, sporting blue jeans and prairie skirts, western shirts and cowboy hats...