Stories from Thursday, January 4, 2001

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- Holnam Cement Co., one of the world's largest cement makers, will build a plant north of Ste. Genevieve on 4,000 acres that straddle two counties. Holnam, a subsidiary of Holderbank Financiere Glaris Ltd. of Switzerland, recently announced that the $500 million plant will mine limestone and make 4.4 million tons of Portland cement a year...

Jan. 4, 2001 Dear Pat, The last time I saw Richard was Detroit in '68 and he told me all romantics meet the same fate someday, cynical and drunk and boring someone in some dark cafe. In 1971, those words of Joni Mitchell's drew a map of a place I knew I didn't want to go. It wasn't just that picture of soured romanticism. There was more...

Candidates for upcoming school board elections have been slow in coming in most area school districts. Many school districts postponed election filings until after the first of the year because of bad weather that hit the region just after filings opened in mid-December. People can file until 5 p.m. Jan. 16 at the school's Board of Education office...

A 36-year-old Mississippi County man pleaded guilty this week to federal charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, the U.S. Attorney's office said. Mississippi County sheriff's deputies searched Walter Kevin Burney's house in June and found a methamphetamine laboratory, 123 grams of methamphetamine and 13 firearms...

JACKSON, Mo. -- A 19-year-old man probably hadn't planned to turn over crack cocaine to police at a hospital, but his weakened intestinal fortitude gave him no choice, the Cape Girardeau County prosecutor said. After swallowing five small plastic bags, each containing a piece of individually wrapped crack cocaine, Joseph Darnell Gray of Cape Girardeau was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital, prosecutor Morley Swingle said...

Some portraits have eyes that seem to follow the viewer around the room. The mural on display at the University Center accomplishes the same feat because the three girls and three boys have 29 very different sets of eyes. There are not quite so many noses and ears, but the mural shows that no matter how our parts and colors might differ we're basically made from the same stuff. ...

Cape Girardeau's new federal courthouse will be designed to meet the security needs of federal officials eager to avoid terrorist bombings like the one that blew up the Oklahoma City federal building. The new courthouse will be built west of City Hall and southeast of Independence and Frederick streets. It will be built back from the street, not like the Federal Building on Broadway...

Several mornings in the last couple of weeks, as I was driving to the hospital, I found myself wishing that I had my old wooden toboggan sled. As a child, I also had the more traditional, steerable sled with the red metal runners but the toboggan was best because it was fast and its curled front end effectively diverted the snow. ...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team will experience what is supposed to be both ends of the Ohio Valley Conference spectrum over the next three days as the Otahkians begin OVC play on the road. Today, the Otahkians will take on Tennessee State in a 5:30 p.m. tipoff at the Gentry Center. The Lady Tigers were picked in the preseason to place eighth in the nine-team OVC...

Patty Stotzheim's first season as Southeast Missouri State University's gymnastics coach was admittedly a rough one, but an improved attitude and work ethic have her thinking that things will be much better this year. The Otahkians defeated only five opponents in 2000 while losing to 15, and they won just two meets, both of them duals. It was only Southeast's second losing season since 1979...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner realizes that his Indians will be excited to play preseason Ohio Valley Conference favorite Austin Peay on ESPN Saturday. But Garner is doing everything he can to make sure the Indians aren't thinking about the Governors tonight. He knows they'll need to focus all of their attention on Tennessee State's Tigers, who play host to Southeast in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff at the Gentry Center...

JACKSON, Mo. -- The Indians and Dragons waged an epic battle with Ste. Genevieve winning the dual wrestling match 37-31 with a double overtime victory at heavyweight. Had Jackson won at heavyweight, the teams would've ended up with a tie at 34. "It was just a great, hard match," said Jackson coach Steve Wachter. "They came out on top, but I thought our team wrestled very hard."...

Mary Ruth Perdue Fritz, 47, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2001, at Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Services of Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 17, 1953, in Memphis, Tenn., daughter of the Rev. Harvey Alonzo and Mettie Marie Parson Perdue Sr. She and Donald E. Fritz were married May 13, 1972, at Gray Summit, Mo...

VILLA RIDGE, Ill. -- Funeral for John W. Spaulding of Villa Ridge will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Jones Funeral Home in Villa Ridge. The Rev. Ralph Kaufman will officiate. Burial will be in Cobden Cemetery in Cobden, Ill. Friends may call at the funeral home after 5 p.m. today...

ORAN, Mo. -- Funeral Mass for Garry Wayne Todt of Oran will be held at 9 a.m. Friday at Guardian Angel Catholic Church. The Rev. Lewis Hejna will officiate. Friends may call at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Oran after 5 p.m. today. A prayer service will be held at 7...

Mary Helen Kinder Flentge, 89, a native of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2001, at Chateau Girardeau. Mary Helen was born Nov. 15, 1911, to Ella Marie Bohnsack and James Absalom Kinder. A graduate of Central High School, she was a charter member and the first secretary of the National Honor Society, which was founded in 1927...

WOLF LAKE, Ill. -- Funeral for Greta J. Willeford of Wolf Lake will be held at 7 p.m. today at Meredith Funeral Home in Grand Tower, Ill. The Rev. John Prather will officiate. Interment will be at a later date in Walker Hill Cemetery. Friends may call at Meredith Funeral Home from 4 p.m. until service time...

William J. Kaempfer, 79, of Aledo, Ill., died Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001, at Trinity Medical Center in Rock Island, Ill. He was born July 7, 1921, in Cape Girardeau, son of Emil and Grace Varner Kaempfer. He and Lee Magill were married in Cape Girardeau...

Herbert C. "Buck" Feuerborn, 91, of Effingham, Ill., died Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2001, at St. Anthony Memorial Hospital in Effingham. He was born Dec. 16, 1909. He and Geraldine F. Tucker were married Oct. 28, 1932. She died in 1995. Feuerborn was a member of St. Anthony Catholic Church and Effingham Knights of Columbus Council 665. He was a former member of Illinois Guarantee Savings and Loan Board of Directors, and member of Effingham Park Board many years...

Virginia Thornton, 83, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center. Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

JACKSON, Mo. -- Jesse P. Niswonger Sr., 95, of Jackson died Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001, at Jackson Manor. He was born May 28, 1905, at Millersville, Mo., son of G.O. and Radie Niswonger. He and Eleanor Lorey were married Nov. 23, 1926. Niswonger was a self-employed floor finisher. He was a member of First Baptist Church...

MORLEY, Mo. -- Tom H. Gross, 92, of Morley died Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Dec. 4, 1908, at Marquand, Mo., son of William and Emma Sarah Yount Gross. He and Eithel Mae Neldon were married Sept. 24, 1938. She died July 17, 1982...

Laura Crews Lewis, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Jan. 1, 2001, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Oct. 31, 1921, at Shawneetown, Mo., daughter of George Clarence and Clara Shoults Hensley. She first married Issac H. Crews in 1940, who preceded her in death. She then married Lt. Col. James Lewis in 1966. He also preceded her in death...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Rossie Lee Chesser, 76, of Sikeston died Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Oct. 15, 1924, in New Madrid, Mo., daughter of Sim and Rose Ellen Chaffin Westmoland. She and Marion Chesser were married June 24, 1950, in Piggott, Ark. He died March 6, 1976...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Raymond Stalcup, 75, of Sikeston died Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2001, at his home. He was born Aug. 23, 1925, in Jonesboro, Ark., son of Henry and Eliza Griffin Stalcup. He and Mary Chapman were married April 14, 1951. Stalcup was employed by Sikeston Public Schools and later moved to the Higher Education Center, where he remained until Nov. 16, 2000. He was a member of Eastside Nazarene Church...

Grace H. Ousterhout, 93, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001, at her home. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

To the editor: Sam Blackwell's Dec. 3 review of the Sheryl Crow concert in Cape Girardeau was right on the money. She is a super talent with a great personality who epitomizes everything that is right about music. What I don't understand is why Missourians haven't embraced her for what she is: a superstar who brings nothing but class with her...

Although Republicans have barely kept control of Congress, at least they have the satisfaction of knowing they have Hillary to kick around. An old-timer is someone who remembers when "Going to Florida" meant taking a vacation. Views on abolishing the current U.S. system seem to correspond to whether someone's favorite presidential candidate won the election...

Occasionally, there are stories about real-life heroes right here in Southeast Missouri. Consider Merrily Rinehart of Jackson, wife and mother of four including triplets not yet three months old, who recently had surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor. Triumphantly, she is looking to the future...

Recently, a visitor from Oxford, Miss., was asked what the biggest industry in his hometown was -- after Ole Miss and William Faulkner. Without hesitation, the visitor replied: "Retirement." Asked to explain, he said the Mississippi city has begun an aggressive economic-development campaign aimed at attracting retirees to Oxford. "It's a great place to retire," he said, "and retirees are a big boost to the local economy."...

"YOUR MAGAZINE helps set the record straight," said John Ashcroft in an interview with the Southern Partisan, a periodical that has been known to praise David Duke, published an article claiming various minorities lack the "temperament for democracy" and even flirted with the idea of secession. ...

To the editor: Recent reports of the increasing vote by black Americans is certainly good news. Apathy by all voters has been a major concern. If we are truly becoming more interested in the welfare of our nation, we should focus on the leadership of credible leaders such as Gen. Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Charles Barkley and the newly nominated Rod Paige for the secretary of education post...