Stories from Friday, December 10, 1999

To the editor: I'm a former resident of Bollinger County. I am working with civilians and members of our military in Bosnia-Herzegovina who make trips to various camps to deliver donated items as they become available. There are currently thousands of people in Bosnia-Herzegovina residing in camps and orphanages who desperately need our ongoing help. These people are very respectful and would appreciate anything we can do for them...

'Tis the season to be tempted, with Christmas treats and holiday eats, party fare and food to share. It's not unusual to gain 10 to 15 pounds during the holiday eating season that began around Thanksgiving, will peak at Christmas, then hang around for one last fling over the weekend of New Year's...

As we sit in the warmth of our own homes, sipping a cup of hot chocolate and wishing for a white Christmas, we unconsciously enjoy a sense of safety and security. The holiday season is a time of many changes in our routines and it comes with lots of holiday parties, home cooking, decorations, candles, plants and the exchange of gifts. ...

IF YOU'RE Like me and you're sick and tired of telemarketers calling and disturbing you and your peace and tranquility at meal time and bath time, get an answering machine. I guarantee they'll never bother you again. They'll never leave a message. Peace at last...

Completion of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge across the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau is targeted for 2003. The opening of the new bridge can't come too soon for motorists who regularly cross back and forth from Illinois and Missouri. That point is currently being underscored by the daily closing of one lane on the old two-lane bridge, which means delays while highway crews make repairs to the aging structure...

With signs of a booming economy all around, it's easy to forget that there will be many needy children who won't have Christmas presents to open unless generous donors make it possible. For 25 years, Toybox has collected and distributed toys in Cape Girardeau. For all of those years, the community has opened its collective heart to make Christmas brighter for hundreds of children...

To the editor: It's heartening that two outstanding actors, Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria, starred in ABC-TV's movie, "Tuesdays With Morrie," based on Mitch Albom's touching, best-selling account of the life lessons he learned from his college professor and mentor, Morrie Schwartz. Schwartz taught not just by word, but by example as he bravely fought the effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the disease that would eventually steal his life...

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County government pocketed nearly $5 million in sales tax revenue this year. That's up more than $224,000 or 4.7 percent from a year ago, Cape Girardeau County Auditor H. Weldon Macke said Thursday. But the revenue growth is less than the 7 percent increase experienced in 1998 over 1997 figures...

Five federal court cases here this week involving former convicts with guns is typical of the number of such cases, said Larry Ferrell, assistant U.S. attorney. Violations of federal firearms laws make up a large part of the federal court's everyday business, he said...

CHAFFEE -- Twenty-two years ago, Jeanna Perdue Bergen joined the Willow Grove Rockets acrobatic roller skating club, where she learned some fancy skating moves and, more importantly, a sense of confidence that remains with her. The Rockets club was begun by the late Robert Grojean at his Willow Grove Skating Rink in Chaffee and performed in area parades and parking lots. ...

I've been casting unpleasant looks in the direction of the big oak tree in my front yard. It's one of those oaks that hangs on to its leaves until after the city has sent around those wonderful pickup crews. Now the stubborn oak is starting to lay a thick carpet across my lawn. This is the third autumn we've been in this house, and the oak tree has had the upper hand every year...

Users will find a different look at Central Municipal Swimming Pool when they return this weekend. School and city officials said workers are completing installation of a new bubble over the pool at 205 Caruthers. The pool will reopen to the public Saturday after the water is fully chlorinated and warmed, said Doug Gannon, recreation coordinator with the city's Parks and Recreation Department...

MINER -- During a recent monthly meeting of the Miner Board of Alderman, city officials set down the particulars of the April 2000 election and the candidate filing period. Four elected positions will be up for grabs: Mayor a two-year position; Ward 1 Alderman, one-year; Ward 1 Alderman, two-year; Ward 2 Alderman two-year...

BENTON -- Scott County, already suffering from low sales tax revenue, recently received notification from the Missouri Department of Revenue advising they would have to repay nearly $400,000 to New Madrid County for taxes collected at Wal-Mart and remitted to the wrong county...

Cape Girardeau's water supply will be a little safer after crews install a new water valve on a tank that holds 2 million gallons to keep the water from spilling out in a natural disaster. Work should begin next week. A groundbreaking ceremony is planned for 11 a.m. today at the Gordonville Water Storage Tank No. 1...

Six of the approximately 60 floats entered in Saturday's Jackson Community Christmas Parade were named winners of prizes by a panel of judges. The six winning floats were built by Boy Scout Troop 212, Girl Scout Troop 143, Girl Scout Troop 243, Lee-Rowan, Wal-mart and the Stroder Country Western Dance Club...

Jim Maevers, vice president and co-owner of Maevers Foods Inc., received the 1999 Sam Walton Business Leader Award Thursday. The award is sponsored by the Wal-Mart Foundation and the Wal-Mart Supercenter at Jackson, which received a $500 grant in the honoree's name...

Southeast Missouri State University's search for a new football coach is progressing so rapidly, the school could announce four finalists for the position as early as today. "We are getting close. We're probably in a position to announce the finalists (today)," said Southeast athletic director Don Kaverman, who is heading up the search committee for a new coach...

MISSOULA, Mont. -- If Southeast Missouri State University's basketball team is to remain undefeated tonight, the Indians will have to end Montana's long streak. Since the KGVO Coca-Cola Classic began in 1980, host Montana has never failed to reach the finals of its own tournament...

MISSOULA, Mont. -- Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team spent most of Wednesday traveling to the University of Montana Tournament. When the Indians arrived in Missoula at around 11 p.m. local time, they were greeted by several inches of snow and temperatures that dipped into the high teens...

SIKESTON -- Cape Central kept it close in the first half, but Charleston exerted its dominance in the second half and pulled away with a 70-43 win over the winless Tigers in the consolation semifinals of the Sikeston Tournament Thursday night. Seventh-seeded Cape Central, which fell to 0-4, only trailed 26-21 at halftime, but third-seeded Charleston's man-to-man defense wreaked havoc in the second half...

John R. Kinder, 71 of Allenville, Mo. died at 9:30 a.m. December 9, 1999, of a heart attack while hunting near Whitewater. Born November 30, 1928, at Whitewater, son of the late George and Annie McCormick Kinder. He married Pearl Nanney on May 27, 1949...

Daughter to Christopher Wayne and Christina Ann Greable of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9:37 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 1, 1999. Name, Tabitha Leann. Weight, 6 pounds 6 ounces. First child. Mrs. Greable is the former Christina Randol, daughter of Rick and Sherry Randol of Cape Girardeau. Greable is the son of Dale and Debbie Greable of Cape Girardeau...

COBDEN, Ill. -- The Rev. Richard Leroy Williams, 67, of Cobden, died Wednesday, Dec. 8, 1999, at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale. He was born July 12, 1932, at Cobden, son of Guy Leroy and Leona Vashti Patterson Williams. He and Anna Lee Johnson were married Dec. 7, 1955, at Carbondale...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Funeral for Dorothy M. Sams of Olive Branch will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Trinity Assembly of God Church. The Rev. Carl Hester will officiate. Burial will be in Olive Branch Cemetery. Friends may call at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms from 5-8 p.m. today, and at the church after 10 a.m. Saturday...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Memorial service for Vivian Bell of East Prairie will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston. The Rev. George White will officiate. Friends may call at the funeral home Sunday from 1 p.m. until service time. Bell, 57, died Wednesday, Dec. 8, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

JACKSON -- Hattie LeGrand, 98, formerly of Jackson, died Thursday, Dec. 9, 1999, at St. Elizabeth Manor in Florissant. She was born Jan. 19, 1901, in Millersville, daughter of James A. and Missouri A. Young Slinkard. She had been employed by the former International Shoe Company in Cape Girardeau, Premium Cap Co., and Elder Garment Manufacturing Co., in St. Louis...

SEDGEWICKVILLE -- Maple Z. Stearns, 91, of Sedgewickville, died Wednesday, Dec. 8, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 5 1908, in Cape Girardeau, the son of Napolean and Mahala Seabaugh Stearns. He and Ellen Prewett Stewart were married March 25, 1967. She died March 7, 1987...

MARBLE HILL -- Myrel Ladd, 85, of Marble Hill, died Wednesday, Dec. 8, 1999, at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah, Ky. She was born Sept. 24, 1914, at Sank, Mo., daughter of Charley M. and Bea Baker Hindman. She and Charley S. Ladd were married June 15, 1933. He died June 17, 1999...

Paul Norman Eichhorn, 88, of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, Dec. 8, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born June 20, 1911, in Lockport, Ill., son of William F. and Francis M. Woock Eichhorn. He and Ruth N. Smithpeters were married Dec. 8, 1931, in Crown Point, Ind...