Stories from Wednesday, December 27, 2000

"At this time of the year, my houseplants do not grow well. What could be the problem?" I hear this comment and question quite often. Outside of potential insect and disease problems, there are three things that you must take into consideration when growing plants in your home during the winter months:water, light, and fertilization...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Sheriff John Jordan walks through open, electronic security doors at the new sheriff's office and jail like a proud father anticipating the birth of his child. In many ways, the jail is his baby. He spent much of his six years in office arguing for it, hoping to alleviate overcrowding and stop paying to house inmates at other area jails. And he expects delivery by the end of January, when inmates move into the $8 million Cape Girardeau County Justice Center...

Enough is enough. That's what many local residents are saying after the latest round in a series of winter storms that have left Cape Girardeau iced over and waiting out near-record cold weather. Better get used to it, says the National Weather Service. The temperature is predicted to remain well below freezing for the rest of the week and is not expected to improve much during the first week of the new millennium...

Conservative syndicated columnist David Limbaugh of Cape Girardeau went into the KZIM broadcasting booth on Tuesday to fill in from afar for WABC radio and Fox network television personality Sean Hannity. "I have no aspirations to be on radio, but it's fun every once in a while," Limbaugh said...

BIEHLE, Mo. -- A 20-year-old Sedgewickville, Mo., man was struck by a car early Tuesday as he walked along Route KK five miles south of Biehle. Steven Palermo was killed and another man who was with him, Nathan Bollinger, 21, of Sedgewickville was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau with moderate injuries...

Christmas is over, but the holiday shopping season isn't. Shoppers, some of them out by 7 a.m., flooded shopping centers and retail stores here Tuesday in search of post-holiday markdowns. The overall 2000 holiday season shopping -- not helped any by two weeks of severe wintry weather, including snow and cold -- was a tough one for many retailers...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Greg Cain of Jackson patiently waited in line to pay his taxes Tuesday at the Cape Girardeau County collector's office. Cain annually pays in person "to make sure it gets paid." Taxpayers can mail in taxes, but the envelopes must be postmarked by midnight Sunday...

Nobody said life on the road was easy and it certainly isn't. We have worked endlessly to get to El Paso, Texas, for the Sierra Providence Sun Classic Tournament, but as of 10 p.m. Tuesday it appears we will be only able to play one game on Thursday night...that is, if we can just get 11 players and four coaches to El Paso by Thursday night. You can't believe how many flights we have had canceled already...

ST. LOUIS -- Considering how much trouble they have had even trying to get to Texas, actually playing in the Sierra Providence SunClassic Tournament in El Paso should be a piece of cake for Southeast Missouri State University's basketball Indians. But as the Southeast Missourian went to press Tuesday night, the Indians were still holed up in a hotel near Lambert Field in St. Louis and the prospects of them making it to El Paso for tonight's first-round game against Houston had all but ended...

The 56th annual University High Christmas Tournament, which begins today, won't feature the type of teams it did some 10 years ago when three state champions were part of the 16-team field. But this year's U-High field is as balanced as it's ever been...

ST. LOUIS -- In most cases, whenever a college basketball team hosts a tournament, that squad generally has a relatively easy path into the finals and is favored to capture the championship. The Sierra Providence SunClass Tournament is no exception. Host Texas-El Paso appears to be a big favorite in the four-team event that will be played tonight and Thursday night...

PARK HILLS, Mo. -- Kyle Noenning had just six points, but all six came at precisely the right times. With 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Noenning hit his first three to send the game into overtime. He hit his second three at the buzzer in the first overtime as the No. 9 Pirates outlasted No. 8 Viburnum 78-73 in double overtime in the Park Hills Tournament...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Sylvester "Jim" Lawrence, 66, of Perryville, died Sunday, Dec. 24, 2000, at his home. He was born July 8, 1934, in Perry County, son of Robert M. and Barbara K. Berkbigler Lawrence. He married Verna L. Howard on May 7, 1955. He was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville, the American Legion and the National Guard. He had worked as a lineman at Citizens Electric in Perryville...

SEDGEWICKVILLE, Mo. -- Steven M. "Pete" Palermo, 20, of Sedgewickville, died Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2000, from an auto accident near Sedgewickville. He was born Jan. 14, 1980, in Baton Rouge, La., son of Stephen W. and Candisa M. Becker Palermo. He was a member of Sedgewickville Baptist Church, a student at Southeast Missouri State University and an active member of the Army National Guard Engineer Unit at Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Billy Lane Smith, 63, of Sikeston died Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2000, at his home following an extended illness. He was born Sept. 1, 1937, at Armorel, Ark., son of James M. and Myrtis Morrison Smith. He and Barbara B. Southern were married June 4, 1961, in Lilbourn, Mo...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Funeral for Donald R. "Donnie" Smith, 55, of Sikeston, formerly of Canalou, Mo., will be at 1 p.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston. The Revs. Roy Bennett and Mike Cartwright will officiate. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Margie L. Chidster, 65, of Scott City, formerly of East St. Louis, Ill., died Sunday, Dec. 24, 2000, at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. She was born July 3, 1935, in Piggott, Ark., daughter of Gus and Lorene Cook Scheffler...

PUXICO, Mo. -- Emma R. "Etta" Duncan, 76, formerly of Puxico, died Monday, Dec. 25, 2000, at Anderson Hospital in Maryville, Ill. She was born in Puxico, Oct. 30, 1924, daughter of Ila and Laura Waller McClure. She lived in Puxico until 1949 when she moved to South Roxana, Ill. She returned to Puxico in 1979 and moved back to Illinois in 1996...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Vivian I. Basler, 86, of Cobden, died Monday, Dec. 25, 2000, at her home. She was born Aug. 4, 1914, near Cobden, daughter of Howard and Stella Hall Hill. She married Henry Charles Basler on March 24, 1931, in Cobden. He died June 12, 1972...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Funeral for Olga "Zennie" Bailey, 88, of St. Louis, formerly of Sikeston, will be at 10:30 a.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston. The Rev. Mary McCord will officiate. Burial will be in Sikeston City Cemetery. Bailey died Saturday, Dec. 23, 2000, at Integrated Health Services in St. Louis...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Funeral for Mabel Marie Gooch, 90, of Sikeston, will be held at 3 p.m. today at First Baptist Church in Sikeston. The Rev. Tom Geers will officiate. Visitation will be after 1 p.m. today at the church. Burial will be in Garden of Memories Cemetery in Sikeston...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Lillie B. Shively, 86, of Charleston, died Monday, Dec. 25, 2000, at the Charleston Manor. She was born Feb. 19, 1914, in Crosno, Mo., daughter of Richard P. and Nora E. Campbell Britt. She married Clarence J. Shively on March 17, 1947. He died Oct. 10, 1996...

Lora E. Schuette Voges, 96, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Dec. 25, 2000, at The Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 19, 1904, in Charleston, Mo., daughter of William and Minnie Babb Bryant. She married Lloyd A. Schuette Dec. 3, 1924, in Cape Girardeau. He died July 16, 1961. She then married Albert Voges in 1962 at Jackson, Mo. He died July 15, 1967...

Hattie Pearl Smith, 77, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Dec. 25, 2000, at Beverly Healthcare in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford & Sons Funeral Home.

DEXTER, Mo. -- James C. "Jack" Ward, 74, of Dexter died Monday, Dec. 25, 2000, at his home. He was born on Aug. 23, 1926, in Dexter, son of James Claude Sr., and Josie Beights Ward. He married Reba Brazel on Nov. 17, 1951, in Dexter. He was a lifelong resident of Dexter. ...

Sigmund M. Reid, 83, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Dec. 25, 2000, at the Missouri Veterans Home. He was born Aug. 17, 1917, in Alton, Ill., son of DeLafayette and Florence Lillie Miller Reid. He married Betty L. Haney Whelan Oct. 23, 1993, at Ste. Genevieve, Mo...

To the editor: Republican politicians and conservative pundits have become vocal in their appeals to senators and representatives to end the gridlock that has characterized recent years within the federal legislative bodies and, instead, to work toward bipartisanship in order that the people's business can go forward expeditiously...

To the editor: I would like to thank a few people who helped make Toybox a success for Christmas 2000. I would like to thank the Jaycee 2000 Toybox chairman, Darrell Stearns, for coordinating this project, along with Michelle Bir and Lisa Seabaugh for their tireless work as shopping coordinators and Kim McDowell of the Southeast Missourian...

It was good to learn that the National Weather Service is working to establish a station in Cape Girardeau and increase its coverage in our area. The new weather station joins one opened this month near Garwood, Mo., in rural Reynolds County that will serve Carter and Wayne counties...

What a tough year for Perryville, Mo., where five homicides in 10 months have law-enforcement officials perplexed. The feeling is understandable. Before this year, Perryville had not had a murder since 1994 when an upset boyfriend killed his girlfriend outside a shopping center...

In nominating U.S. Sen. JOHN ASHCROFT to become the U.S. attorney general, President-elect GEORGE W. BUSH'S comments included the following: "I understand this, that an effective attorney general must be a person of proven character and executive ability...

THE SOUTHEAST Missourian noted that John Ashcroft is perceived by many as a moral leader. Another who was seen by some and thought of himself as a moral leader was Thomas de Torquemada. "Terrible Tom" presided over some of the worst excesses of the medieval Spanish Inquisition. ...

"At this time of the year, my houseplants do not grow well. What could be the problem?" I hear this comment and question quite often. Outside of potential insect and disease problems, there are three things that you must take into consideration when growing plants in your home during the winter months: water, light, and fertilization...

Bitter cold temperatures and bad weather has really been good for recipes. Some of you must have been snowed in with cabin fever, because we have many pieces of mail this week. See, there's always a silver lining to a dark cloud. A few weeks ago we had a request for a pat-in-pan pie crust using oil as the shortening. In response to that request we have two replies for you today...