Stories from Wednesday, August 29, 2001

Last week I was privileged to attend the beginning of school chapel service at my granddaughter's school. I was amazed to see so many parents, grandparents and other interested individuals at the service. Among those in attendance were a syndicated columnist, business owner, accountant, lawyer, physician, truck driver, teacher, salesman, architect, housewife, nurse and laborer...

Get out your recipe file and look up chicken recipes for the exciting Midwest Food and Poultry Recipe Contest. Judging will be at 2 p.m. Sept. 8 at the SEMO District Fair for chicken appetizers and main dishes all made with fresh or frozen chicken. I have been asked to be one of the three judges, so I would like all the friends of Recipe Swap to make a great showing, and after all, the first prize is $100 to the winner. ...

Like a pensive stock trader, Phyllis Marberry scans her pages -- lined up side by side -- waiting for the next number. Before it's even called, the big board lights up and her hands begin to move. Her 57-year-old eyes scan quickly across the paper, her hands responding by dotting seemingly random squares with florescent circles of splashy blue...

More Missouri high school students are taking college level courses that can earn them credit before ever enrolling at a university. Slightly more than 7,000 Missouri students took Advanced Placement tests last school year to try to earn college credits through a program administered by the College Board. That was a 12 percent increase over the number of test takers the previous year...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Henry Wilkinson is tired of discolored, bad-smelling tap water that has forced him to buy bottled water for drinking and cooking. He and other residents of Lakeview Acres and Meier Lake Estates subdivisions west of Jackson have coped with bad water that surfaced earlier this month in a new well serving Public Water Supply District No. 2 in Cape Girardeau County...

After careful consideration, I've decided I would wish a tonsillectomy on my worst enemy. It would be the perfect way to make my worst enemy plead for death without actually dying -- the ideal punishment for his evil ways. My tonsillectomy and septoplasty operation was a week ago, and Tuesday was my first full day back at work. ...

Southeast Missouri State University will dedicate its new Otto and Della Seabaugh Polytechnic Building Sept. 15. A number of dignitaries are expected to attend, including the Seabaughs of Cape Girardeau for whom the $9 million building is named, school officials said...

Dr. Anthony Levatino credits one patient who had tremendous perseverance and faith with helping change his career path. Levatino is a former abortion doctor who spoke to about 400 people at a Vitae Society dinner Tuesday evening at Drury Lodge. He talked about his career and the change his life took after he stopped performing the procedure...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Jackson School Board approved a property tax rate of $3.31 per $100 assessed valuation for fiscal year 2001. After a public hearing Tuesday the board approved the rate, which is projected to bring in tax revenues of $8,750,991.27. The operating levy remains the same while debt service will increase by 10 percent...

Southeast Missouri State University's women's soccer team improved dramatically from its inaugural season to last year and coach Heather Nelson thinks the best is yet to come. Nelson truly believes the Otahkians, featuring an impressive blend of youth and experience,will make a strong push for their first Ohio Valley Conference championship and an NCAA Tournament berth in just their third year as a program...

What a difference a year makes. A year ago at this time, I was excited about my first game as a head coach going against my old team at Marshall. I didn't know where our football team stood in relation to the other schools in the Ohio Valley Conference...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Cape Central dominated the second half of play Tuesday against Jackson to pick up a 2-0 victory, the Tigers' first win of the young season. Cape Central, which battled Carbondale to a 1-1 tie Monday, netted two second-half goals while keeping Jackson from getting off a single shot...

Notre Dame High School will host its annual eight-team softball and soccer tournaments this week. First-round games for the Softballfest will be played today and Thursday. Today, Sikeston plays St. Pius at 4 p.m. and Poplar Bluff faces Dongola, Ill., at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, it's Notre Dame vs. Ste. Genevieve at 4 p.m. and St. Vincent vs. Park Hills at 5:30 p.m...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Bell City, Woodland and Oran all recorded first-round victories as the Woodland Volleyball Tournament got under way Tuesday night. Bell City, the No. 2 seed, knocked off No. 7 Greenville 15-12, 15-7. Third-seeded Woodland downed No. 6 Chaffee 15-9, 9-15, 15-4. And No. 5 Oran pulled off a minor upset over No. 4 Zalma 15-13, 15-9...

After stumbling a bit last season -- thanks in part to injury and illness -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's cross country team expects to once again be a major player in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Otahkians had finished second three straight years behind perennial OVC power Eastern Kentucky before slipping to fourth place in the nine-team league in 2000. Losing two key runners for virtually all of the season certainly didn't help Southeast's cause...

Daughter to David Sean and Dorothy Lee Babers of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 7:48 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 19, 2001. Name, Chasity Marie. Weight, 8 pounds. Fourth daughter. Mrs. Babers is the former Dorothy McIntyre, daughter of Kathy Bowen and Bradley McIntyre of Cape Girardeau. Babers is the son of Patricia Babers of Cape Girardeau. He is a forklift operator at Procter & Gamble...

VILLA RIDGE, Ill. -- William Harley Apple, 85, of Villa Ridge died Monday, Aug. 27, 2001, in Villa Ridge. He was born Sept. 26, 1915, in Union County, Ill., son of John H. and Flora Hileman Apple. He and Blanche Dillon were married in 1960 in Murphysboro, Ill. She died March 11, 1984...

Graveside service for Kay Stevenson of Stevenson Ranch, Calif., will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Cape County Memorial Park. Richard Niedling will officiate. There is no visitation. Stevenson, 60, died Friday, Aug. 24, 2001, at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia, Calif...

PUXICO, Mo. -- Graveside service for Thelma "Toots" Kuehn of Puxico will be held at 11 a.m. today at Puxico Cemetery. The Rev. Wiley McGhee will officiate. Friends may call at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Puxico after 10:30 a.m. Kuehn, 93, died Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2001, at Puxico Nursing Center...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Rudolph T. Welker, 93, of Perryville died Monday, Aug. 27, 2001, at Perry County Nursing Home. He was born Feb. 16, 1908, at Friedheim, Mo., son of Vernard and Theresa Laurentius Welker. He and Helen Buchheit were married June 5, 1976...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Mary Maxine Pippins, 77, of Dexter died Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2001, at Missouri Southern Healthcare. She was born Sept. 2, 1923, at Auvergne, Ark., daughter of Arthur and Jessie May Foushee. She and Glen Pippins were married June 29, 1946, in Piggott, Ark...

Donald R. Farris, 61, of Cape Girardeau died at his home Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2001. Arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

PARMA, Mo. -- Funeral for Carter Nelson Davis of Parma will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Parma. Cecil Keller will officiate. Burial will be in Rosewood Cemetery at Malden, Mo. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Brenda George, 43, of Calhoun, Mo., died Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2001, at Golden Valley Memorial Hospital in Clinton, Mo. She was born Sept. 17, 1957, in Perryville, daughter of Fred Conway and Geraldine Bernice Bangert Hughey. She and Bob George were married June 2, 1984, at Calhoun...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Howard Dixon, 61, of Chicago died Thursday, Aug. 23, 2001, in an automobile accident. He was born May 18, 1940, near Charleston, son of Ozark and Essie Martin Dixon. He and Rosemary Norwood were married Dec. 28, 1991. Dixon was a graduate of Lincoln High School in Charleston and Kennedy-King College in Chicago...

To the editor: I have tried to stay neutral on the power-plant issue and see all sides. The proposed site is on the farm where my grandparents lived and has been in the family since it was homesteaded. I have sentimental reasons for opposing this, but I will not let that stand in the way of good judgment. Somewhere tonight there is a power plant spewing ashes so my lights will stay lit...

To the editor: I see the fray between prosecuting attorney Morley Swingle and former public administrator John Ferguson continues. It's a dilemma for me. I do not know Swingle personally, but I highly respect him. He appears to be a most capable public servant and is intelligent and professional. I am proud when people like him represent our county. I appreciate his contribution and encourage his success...

Cape Girardeau city streets recently have provided drivers -- accustomed to a reasonable ebb and flow of traffic -- something more akin to an arcade game. Detours have popped up everywhere as the city pursues its regular repaving schedule plus six Transportation Trust Fund projects...

Sometimes it's easy to overlook the talents of our neighbors. After all, we know much more about them than their resume accomplishments. We're familiar with their struggles too. When Rush Limbaugh catapulted to national prominence several years ago, his fame was felt differently here because many knew him as a bit of a radio slacker growing up. Now this slacker makes more money than TV anchormen Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw combined...

What a grand building the new Otto and Della Seabaugh Polytechnic Building is, and what a fine addition to the Southeast Missouri State University campus.This is an ideal learning environment for students training for high-tech jobs in industries where complicated machinery must be kept running...

STEPHAN FRAZIER took an excellent picture of the Lady Bulldogs. Congratulations. I FIND it fascinating that many teachers who have college degrees need to be given basic skills tests and that many fail that test. This suggests that the great American experiment of giving any one who wants one a college degree and giving anyone a degree for attending class and not for subject mastery leaves a little to be desired...

To the editor: "Turning the corner" in Sunday's edition was an excellent article My thanks. BECKY HURST Marble Hill, Mo.