Stories from Wednesday, February 21, 2001

I have recently received reports from gardeners via telephone calls and e-mail that boxwood, nandina, and even some holly leaves are looking brown. Of course everyone wants to know what has happened and what to do about it. Most of the broadleaf evergreens (boxwoods, nandina and holly fall into this group) that we find in our landscapes are really native to areas south of here. ...

It doesn't seem possible that another year has come and gone. Scott and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary for the eleventh time this Saturday. The days with our two children just seem to fly by, but in spite of that, we try to enjoy every minute...

I have recently received reports from gardeners via telephone calls and e-mail that boxwood, nandina, and even some holly leaves are looking brown. Of course everyone wants to know what has happened and what to do about it. Most of the broadleaf evergreens (boxwoods, nandina and holly fall into this group) that we find in our landscapes are really native to areas south of here. ...

City councilmen seemed to agree with a historic-preservation group that the Marquette Hotel building should be saved from demolition. But, they say, public safety has to be the city's first consideration -- even if it means tearing down the 72-year-old building that is culturally and historically significant to Cape Girardeau...

JACKSON, Mo. -- U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan plugged an educational funding bill she introduced in Congress during a visit Tuesday to South Elementary School in Jackson. Carnahan, a Democrat, discussed her Quality Classrooms Act following a tour of the school. The plan, which would provide $50 billion in federal money over 10 years to help reduce class sizes and improve instruction, is nearly identical to the initiative proposed by her husband during his campaign for Senate last fall...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- An explosion at a Poplar Bluff factory blackened the skies with thick smoke and sent five employees to the hospital with burns, two of them so severely injured they immediately were airlifted to a St. Louis burn unit. The blast at Essex Specialty Products, which employs 25 and produces glass bonding material, shook homes and businesses in and around the Poplar Bluff Industrial Park at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday...

WHITEWATER, Mo. -- Residents along County Road 253 believe two teen-agers charged in a multistate crime spree were looking for money and a means of transportation rather than possessions when they burglarized at least three houses and stole two cars...

The Missouri Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting in Marble Hill, Mo., Thursday and another in Jackson, Mo., on Monday to review preliminary plans for improving 85 miles of Highway 34. Thursday's meeting will be held at the Woodland High School cafeteria from 4-7 p.m. Monday's meeting will be held at Jackson Middle School cafeteria from 5-7 p.m...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- "You can take a depressed message back to Washington," Jerry Pullen of Pullen Brothers Trucking told U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson. "Rural America is hurting." Pullen did not mince words when it came his turn to testify at Emerson's Energy Summit at the Sikeston Higher Education Center on Tuesday. ...

JACKSON, Mo. -- As expected, the Jackson Board of Aldermen Tuesday night acted to kill a plan to rezone 181 properties in the city's central business district. The board filed the recommendation of the city's Planning and Zoning Commission to reject the rezoning of the properties from C-3 (central business) to C-2 (general commercial). The rezoning would have decreased the size of the central business district and would have imposed new restrictions on the properties excluded from the district...

JACKSON, Mo. -- An open house -- or an open jail -- will be held for the public to see Cape Girardeau County's new $8 million facility March 4. The open house and dedication of the sheriff's department's new justice center will start at 1:30 p.m. and continue until 4 p.m. Tours and ceremonies will be conducted from the building at 216 N. Missouri St...

The final legal obstacle has been lifted to setting an execution date for a man convicted of killing a Missouri State Highway patrol trooper in 1985, said a spokesman for the state attorney general. Jerome Mallet's appeal before the United States Supreme Court was denied Tuesday, setting the stage for the Missouri Supreme Court to act, spokesman Scott Holste said...

Movie actor Richard Gere, 51, made a three-hour stop in Cape Girardeau on Tuesday, signing autographs at the regional airport before a driver whisked him away. A woman who asked not to be identified said Gere eventually told fans that they were crowding him. She and others at the airport characterized him as unfriendly...

Albertson's grocery store will open its doors at 8 a.m. today. The new 56,540-square-foot store located near the intersection of Independence and Kingshighway offers a variety of products and services featuring a full-service "Butcher's Block," produce, pharmacy "Quick Fixin'" meals, deli and bakery...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Jonathan Cartner, 17, of Sikeston recently attended the National Youth Leadership Forum on Defense, Intelligence and Diplomacy in Washington. The forum gave students firsthand knowledge about national security, diplomacy and global defense systems...

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff did everything quicker than the Cape Central Lady Tigers Tuesday night. The Lady Mules (23-2) ran quicker, jumped quicker, passed quicker, thought quicker and scored quicker as the Lady Tigers were overmatched 58-42 in the semifinals of the Class 4A, District 1 Tournament at the Farmington Civic Center...

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Maybe it was a good thing that Jackson got down early. If the Lady Indians hadn't, they may have never gone to their full-court press which was the foremost reason Jackson (18-6) advanced the finals of the Class 4A, District 1 Tournament...

We're headed down the stretch with some momentum after a great win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday night. I thought we had our best offensive execution of the season which resulted in a field goal percentage of over 55 percent. We got contributions from 11 different players in the Eastern Illinois game and it was a truly unselfish team effort that resulted in a win over an excellent team. ...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- In a possible preview of the Class 2A, District 1 final, Charleston's boys held off a Notre Dame rally to post a 75-69 victory Tuesday night. Charleston, which will be the top seed in next week's tournament, led throughout the game but survived a spirited Bulldog comeback...

Son to Brenden and Michelle Clark of Barnhart, Mo., Missouri Baptist Hospital in St. Louis, 12:26 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2001. Name, Colton John. Weight, 8 pounds 9 1/2 ounces. Second child, first son. Mrs. Clark is the former Michelle Beussink, daughter of Ed and Rose Mary Beussink of Jackson, Mo. She is a registered nurse at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Clark is the son of Frank and Wendy Clark of Long Island, N.Y. He is employed at Lawrence Awning Co...

ORAN, Mo. -- Helen E. McCulley, 81, of Valley Station, Ky., died Saturday, Feb. 10, 2001, at Norton Audubon Hospital. She was born Jan. 16, 1920, in Oran, daughter of Al and Annie Hosea. She married Lloyd McCulley. While living in the Oran area she attended Mesler Baptist Church. She was a member of Valley Station Baptist Church...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Leonard J. Lorch, 85, of Advance died Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Morgan Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Anthony Scott Murphy, 39, of Mound City died Monday, Feb. 19, 2001, in Mound City, Ill., from injuries received in an automobile accident. He was born April 20, 1961, in Cairo, Ill., son of Leon Gilbert and Judith Ann Hunsaker Murphy...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Robert F. Tyrone, 87, of Dexter died Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. He was born March 13, 1913, in Germantown, Tenn., son of John Luther and Mattie Bob Abernathy Tyrone. He and Jo Kate White were married April 3, 1932...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- August J. "Gussie" Lauck, 85, died Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2001, at Perry County Nursing Home. He was born Sept. 7, 1915, in Perry County, Mo., son of Joseph and Anna Unterreiner Lauck. He and Geraldine Schnurbusch were married June 3, 1941, at Apple Creek, Mo...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Ethel B. Dixon Currin, 76, of Charleston died Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Oct. 25, 1924, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Otis Harris and Maggie Tidwell Johnson. Currin lived in Charleston more than 60 years. She was a member of Perry Chapel AME Church, where she served as a steward, Sunday School teacher, usher and member of the Missionary Society...

BELL CITY, Mo. -- Mary Francis "Mollie" Lewis, 93, died Sunday, Feb. 18, 2001, in Visalia, Calif. She was born May 25, 1907, at Bell City, daughter of John Luther and Ida L. Macke Wallace. She and Russell Bogan Lewis were married Dec. 4, 1931. He died Oct. 2, 1949...

Laura "Marie" Haynie, 72, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Sept. 15, 1928, in Goodman, Miss., daughter of Johnny Pete and Laura Anna Mandy Cotton Burrell. She and Thomas Walter Haynie were married Nov. 25, 1948, in Osceola, Ark. He died Oct. 8, 1999...

WILSON CITY, Mo. -- Mildred P. Pettigrew, 32, of Wilson City died Friday, Feb. 16, 2001, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. She was born April 8, 1968, at Charleston, daughter of Thomas C. "Fats" Powell and Ethel Pettigrew. Pettigrew was a 1986 graduate of Charleston High School in Charleston, Mo. She was a member of Bethlehem Baptist Church...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Ina Marie Nesslein, 90, died Monday, Feb. 19, 2001, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born March 7, 1910, at Perryville, daughter of Henry T. and Rosa Isabella McAtee Nesslein. Nesslein was a teacher in rural schools and worked 25 years at Rozier's Mercantile Co. She was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Andrew G. Pryor, 33, of Perryville died Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2001, at his home. He was born June 10, 1967, in St. Louis, son of Larry and Ann Cecil Pryor. Pryor was a painter at TG Missouri. He was a member of First Baptist Church. Survivors include a son, Jalen Pryor of Glen Carbon, Ill.; his mother and stepfather, Ann and Homer Watson of Perryville; and a sister, Vickie Pryor of Perryville...

GLEN ALLEN, Mo. -- Ethel E. Whitener, 96, of St. Louis died Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2001, at Rosewood Care Center in St. Louis. She was born March 1, 1904, near Glen Allen, daughter of William F. and Nellie Goodson Underwood. She and John Whitener were married in 1924 in St. Louis. He died Dec. 1, 1971...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Myrtle Lee Maloney, 82, of Jackson died Monday, Feb. 19, 2001, in Marion, Ill. She was born Dec. 31, 1918, at Portageville, Mo., daughter of Louis W. and Rosa Lee Estes Gremard. She and Paul Maloney were married Sept. 12, 1936. He died Dec. 25, 1992...

To the editor: One of the most important needs of our children is being threatened in the Missouri Legislature. Two years ago the legislature passed a law mandating that public schools teach our children to read by the third grade or the students could not be passed on to the next grade. Now there are bills (House Bill 50 and Senate Bill 239) that would undo this important legislation...

To the editor: Undermining conservation, President Bush has delayed by two months activation of the proposed National Forest Roadless Area Rule. This seems designed to provide time to reverse the wishes of voters who have frequently indicated support for protecting our national forests...

Little wonder that the Cape Girardeau Ministerial Alliance is concerned about the divorce rate in a city that prides itself on church attendance and a strong religious outreach. The alliance's members are charged with overseeing the spiritual health of their flocks, and they know strong marriages build strong families and strong congregations. There are also religious admonitions against divorce except in special circumstances...

Hats off to the 38 area high school juniors and seniors promoting the value of abstinence to preteens through the Postponing Sexual Involvement program. Sponsored by the Teen Pregnancy and Responsibility Network, the Missouri Department of Health and the University of Missouri Extension Office, PSI recruits and trains teen leaders to teach sessions on how to withstand peer pressure and abstain from having sex. ...

The two Russian ministers stood awkwardly in the front of LaCroix Methodist Church last Saturday night. For one of the men, traveling to the United States was a dream come true -- and an opportunity to see churches like he'd never imagined. For the second man, it was an opportunity to renew friendships with American ministers and their congregations who had helped him raise 25 churches in the Moscow region...

IF YOU think politics isn't everything with some people, think again. A caller to Rush Limbaugh had the talk-radio host somewhat flustered. The caller compared the late race-car driver Dale Earnhardt Sr. to -- you guessed it -- Bill Clinton for engaging in risky behavior and always pushing the envelope...

I JUST wanted to say thanks to the Scott City Park Board for the Hotshots Basketball Contest. My children had a great time. It was a well-run event, and everyone had a good time. With the punt, pass and kick this summer and this program, I think Scott City is finally turning around the park system. Thanks again to the park board members...

To the editor: Our economic common sense tells us George W. Bush cannot keep his campaign promises to increase spending for Medicare, Social Security, the military, education, prescription drugs, the Star Wars defense program, tax cuts, balancing the budget and paying down the national debt. He must be having sessions with Nancy Reagan's fortune teller...