Stories from Thursday, August 17, 2000

Gertus Head of Scott City takes a variety of pills and isn't really sure what all of them are for. "They just put them out and I start swallowing," he said. Head is like a lot of senior citizens, who consume more than 30 percent of all prescription medicines and buy more than 40 percent of over-the-counter medications...

Not a day passes without encountering someone that displays inattention, impulsivity or hyperactivity, but when these behaviors are observed in children, and when they clearly interfere developmentally, they may be a sign of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ...

Two Cape Girardeau boys couldn't wait until Monday to go to school, police said. On Tuesday evening, a 15-year-old boy and a 12-year-old boy broke into Schultz School at 101 S. Pacific St., Cpl. Kevin Orr said. Officers Ricky Price and Mark Wyatt responded at 8:36 p.m when it was reported that an alarm was sounding...

JACKSON, Mo. -- It isn't often a girl gets serenaded these days. Rarer still when the serenade comes from an entire marching band. Alissa Blechle was treated to a private concert when the Golden Eagles Marching Band of Southeast Missouri State University assembled for a surprise performance in her yard Wednesday...

County health department director Charlotte Craig hopes a new physician is hired within the next couple of weeks to provide services for approximately 4,000 pediatric patients of the Rural Health Clinic in Cape Girardeau. Proposals from physicians interested in the position of medical director have been submitted from a number of practicing physicians, a fact that has Craig breathing a little easier in recent days. ...

Aug. 17, 2000 Dear Julie, Phoning in to work a few days ago I was told DC had called about an emergency at home. This is always a difficult message to decipher. The emergency could be a bone stuck in Hank's throat (human, of course) or a missing pair of eyeglasses. It could be her pyromaniac trash fire in the backyard finally set the fence ablaze, or it could mean a groundhog was running around the neighborhood with a coffee can stuck on its head...

DEXTER, Mo. -- A Dexter man was injured Tuesday when the vehicle he was driving struck a tree. Dennis Fitzpatrick was taken to Dexter Memorial Hospital after the 10 p.m. accident on County Road 717, 1 1/2 miles southeast of Dexter. The Missouri Highway Patrol reported that Fitzpatrick lost control of the vehicle, it ran off the east side of the roadway and stuck a tree...

Son to Charlie Anthony and Lesley Dawn Kluesner of Jackson, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 2:04 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, 2000. Name, Lance Anthony. Weight, 6 pounds 3 1/2 ounces. Mrs. Kluesner is the former Lesley Beggs, daughter of Brenda Beggs and Jack Beggs of Carterville, Ill. She is a speech pathologist at Jackson R-2 School District. Kluesner is the son of Joe and Jane Kluesner of Jackson. He is a technician at Procter & Gamble...

Charlotte Lanpher has been a cancer survivor for 17 1/2 years. As frightening as the diagnosis was, Lanpher says cancer can bring beneficial changes. "You certainly put your priorities in order. You realize life can be a short stay here and that everything has a new meaning. Everything is valuable."...

Southeast Missouri State University sophomore Jenn Wissman relaxed late Wednesday afternoon in the lobby of the Towers residence hall complex. A student leader, Wissman moved in Tuesday, well ahead of today's expected crush of students. "It was nice. It was very empty," Wissman said...

Thanks to a little publicity, Cape Girardeau police say they are catching a few more criminals lately. After showing up on the 30-second television broadcast "Mid-America's Most Wanted" last month, Tony Lamark Harris, 38, was located by police and arrested for robbery and a parole violation at his residence on Tuesday, Cpl. Kevin Orr said...

Anthony Beane admits he has mixed emotions about leaving Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball program. But Beane also knows that joining the Illinois State program is probably the best thing for his career right now. So he's headed to Normal, Ill., after accepting an assistant coaching position with the Redbirds...

From a pure baseball standpoint, Jeremy Johnson's first season in the professional ranks hasn't been much of an adjustment. But the travel, now that has been a different story for the ex-Southeast Missouri State University standout. "That's been the worst thing," said a laughing Johnson during a recent telephone interview from Medicine Hat, Alberta, where he plays for the Toronto Blue Jays' Advanced Rookie League team. ...

Funeral for Suzanne Muriel Gum of Gloucester, Mass., was held Monday at St. Ann Catholic Church in Malden, Mo. The Rev. Glenn Eftink officiated. Bradshaw Funeral Home in Gideon, Mo., was in charge of arrangements. Gum, 48, died Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2000, at Addison-Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester...

At least one arrest was made Wednesday evening in the wake of a shooting incident on South Sprigg Street. The incident involving two cars occurred just before 6 p.m. in the 700 block of South Sprigg. Witnesses said a yellow Buick forced a maroon car to the side of the road before the shots were fired from the yellow car. Both vehicles then sped off...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Charles W. "Chuck" McIntire, 69, of Jonesboro died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at Union County Hospital in Anna, Ill. He was born June 12, 1931, in Anna, son of Floyd and Lela McIntire. He and Catherine "Tootie" Lindsey were married Jan. 11, 1969, in Reynoldsville, Ill...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Alan Dale Avery, 41, of Chaffee died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born April 5, 1959, in St. Louis, son of Calvin and Verla May Robertson Avery. He and Jo Ellen Kelly were married Jan. 24, 1992, at Benton, Mo...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Funeral for Gaines "Rod" Dixon of Cairo will be held Friday at McPeters Funeral Home in Corinth, Miss. Burial will be in Henry Cemetery at Corinth. A service was held Wednesday at Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo. The Rev. Richard Pigg officiated...

Jessie B. Wescoat, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. She was born March 11, 1911, in Louisville, Ky., daughter of the Rev. Roy and Mary Olsen Basler. She and John L. Wescoat were married March 3, 1934, in Calhoun, Ky. He died April 5, 1994...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Bob Lee Wilson, 61, of Sikeston died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, in the emergency room at Dexter Memorial Hospital following an acute heart attack. He was born July 26, 1939, at Dexter, Mo., the son of Ernest and Imogene Florence Garner Wilson...

Joseph Michael Kerber, 40, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, near his home. He was born June 25, 1960, in Elgin, Ill., son of Joseph W. and Coy O. Kerber. Kerber attended First Assembly of God Church. Survivors include a daughter, Megan Kerber of Chaffee, Mo.; his father and stepmother, Joseph and Linda Kerber of Elgin; his mother and stepfather, Coy and Amos J. ...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Darwin Ruesler, 71, of Jackson died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson.

Rudy A. Sebastian, 77, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Aug. 14, 2000, at Missouri Veterans Home. He was born Nov. 20, 1922, at Tilsit, Mo. He and Evelyn Woolsey were married Nov. 28, 1946. She died April 14, 1997. Sebastian retired as an ironworker with Local 396 in St. Louis. He attended First United Pentecostal Church...

Funeral for Thomas Joseph Dohogne Sr. of Cape Girardeau will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The Rev. Dan Schulte will officiate. Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery. Friends may call at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel from 4-8 p.m. today. Parish prayers will be at 7...

JACKSON NEEDS to figure out another solution for crowded hallways. Maybe a little more planning instead of asking for money. I don't see how the kids will be missing out because of increased class size. Teachers used to be able to handle more kids. They send more homework home now than they did then. ...

Because we're all human, we like to complain, particularly if we're sitting on hard chairs drinking hot cups of coffee in that most pure form of democracy: the coffee klatch. And, while there is never a shortage of reasons to complain, one of our favorite gripes is taxes. ...

The lessons of discovering that radioactive materials have contaminated a classroom building at Southeast Missouri State University are many. For one thing, the university has learned that concern for individuals who might have been exposed to a manmade material called americium-241 is tantamount. And the university has learned that mistakes -- no matter how inadvertent -- can be costly to correct...

To the editor: It was nice to see the weather get front-page attention in your newspaper the other day ("How hot was it in Cape?"), but the story exhibited some problems with basic scientific concepts. When weather announcers giver the temperature, they are giving the temperature of the air, which is not the same as the temperature of the ground, a car hood or any object sitting in the sunlight. ...

To the editor: It seems that this letter may be too late in coming, since it would appear that the Cape Girardeau County Commission has made up its mind to get into the banking industry. This bonding of the Missouri Department of Conservation nature center is something that needs to be approved by the voters. ...