Stories from Tuesday, May 26, 1992

Three months behind schedule, the city at last is poised to embark upon an improvement project that officials hope will spawn broader use of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport. City officials last year approved a plan to renovate the airport terminal building, and the construction contract was bid early this year...

Fewer traffic accidents but more injuries occurred in Southeast Missouri over the Memorial Day weekend, the Missouri Highway Patrol said. Cooler-than-normal temperatures kept most people away from area municipal pools. The high in Cape Girardeau Monday was 70; the low 47...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Officials of municipalities throughout Illinois are sharing concerns over their financial future in light of Gov. Jim Edgar's proposal that income tax surcharge revenues be eliminated. "Gov. Jim Edgar's $28.7 billion budget proposal calls for reducing the surcharge revenues from a promised, statewide total of $237 million to zero," said Fred Winkler, mayor of Mound City. "That could devastate our budget."...

THEBES, Ill. -- Alexander County officials Monday were unable to determine the cause of a blaze Monday morning that destroyed the Rock Springs Free Will Baptist Church near Thebes. A spokesman for the Alexander County Sheriff's Department said a state fire marshal will further examine the site today...

Memorial Day Monday gave soon-to-be Navy veteran Todd Kafka an opportunity to reflect on two people: one a shipmate killed in the Persian Gulf War and the other a friend injured when he was run over by an F-14 jet. Paralyzed and wheelchair-bound as a result of a motorcycle wreck in California in January, Kafka, 20, turned out Monday for the Memorial Day observance at Cape County North Park. ...

Four Southeast Missouri State University students say they have new insights about government and politics after serving a semester in Jefferson City as legislative interns. "`How a Bill Becomes Law' is not how it works," observed Barbie Macke of Gordonville, in reference to a single-page flier handed out to visitors and students that describes the legislative process...

The Southeast Missourian asked people for their reaction to comments by Vice President Dan Quayle about the television show "Murphy Brown" which he said "mocked the importance of fathers" with Brown having a child out of wedlock. Terry Stacks: "I think Vice President Quayle's real message is that we as a society need to get back to our grass roots morality. ...

A group of state legislators from the 8th Congressional District have joined the steering committee of Bob Holden, who is one of three Democrats seeking his party's nomination for state treasurer this year. Holden, who served in the Missouri House from Springfield from 1983-88, was the Democratic nominee in 1988 but lost a close race to Republican incumbent Wendell Bailey. The state constitution prohibits Bailey from seeking a third term...

Several world travelers from the Cape Girardeau area help bring foreign cultures to local residents through a program at the public library. The Cape Girardeau Public Library is sponsoring the Travelogue Series, which features programs presented by people from the area who have visited interesting places in the world...

William Bryant Caudle, 95, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Brownwood, died Saturday, May 23, 1992, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Oct. 17, 1896 at Atkins, Ark., son of Tom and Anna Richardson Caudle. He was a farmer and a member of the Brownwood General Baptist Church...

He was born Feb. 6, 1937, in Halls, Tenn., son of Howard L. and Mary Young Taylor. On Oct. 15, 1960, he married Barbara Duke in East Prairie. He was a 1956 graduate of Morehouse High School and a mechanic for the L&J Trucking Company in Charleston. He formerly owned and operated Gene's Alignment Service in Sikeston...

Graveside service for W.H. "Bill" Sanders Sr. of El Dorado, Ark., formerly of Cape Girardeau, will be held at 10 a.m. today at Greenwood Cemetery in West Point, Miss. Calvert Funeral Home there is in charge of arrangements. Sanders, 68, died Saturday, May 23, 1992, at Ft. Root VA Medical Center in El Dorado...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for W.O. Adams of East Prairie was held Monday at Shelby Funeral Chapel here. The Revs. Mike Johnson and Denny Cole officiated, with burial in Dogwood Cemetery near here. Adams, 52, died Saturday, May 23, 1992, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON -- Funeral service for Pete Babb of Sikeston was held Sunday at Shelby Funeral Chapel in East Prairie. Martin Lucas officiated, with burial in Dogwood Cemetery near East Prairie. Babb, 56, died Friday, May 22, 1992, at Missouri Delta Medical Center...

She was born Nov. 1, 1897, at Schalls, the daughter of Henry and Louise Leible Wichern. On June 3, 1917, she married William Frank Farrar, who preceded her in death April 28, 1958. She was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Perryville; a life-time member of the Daughters of Isabella and the Ladies Sodality of St. Vincent's; and a member of the American Legion Auxiliary in Perryville...

SIKESTON -- Speaking to a Memorial Day audience at the dedication of a veteran's park, Navy Capt. Fred Crecelius said the threat of global warfare is at its lowest level in almost 50 years because of the sacrifices of American veterans. "Who would have thought a little more than a year ago that we would, or would even hoped that our children would, live to see the Berlin Wall come down, the end of communism in Eastern Europe, and finally, the breakup of the Soviet Empire into states seeking democracy?" Crecelius said Monday.. ...

When a session of the Missouri Legislature adjourns, there is a rush to attach a label to it and designate it as poor, mediocre, average or outstanding. When evaluating the work of the Second Session of the Eighty-sixth General Assembly which adjourned May 15, a sizable number of observers decided to give it a failing grade, labeling it poor to mediocre. That may be a bit unfair in light of a number of accomplishments recorded during its 42-month tenure...

In terms of popular recognition, the phrase "Iran-Contra" is more closely linked with nostalgia these days than with a developing investigation. That isn't the case in some Washington offices, where the "prosecution" of arms dealing with Iran is ongoing with a heavy taxpayer subsidy. ...

This is truly a great time to be an American. For the past 40 years we have lived in the shadow of threat cast by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. It was always "them" and "us". The threat was everywhere: in the Red Scare, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Wall, Vietnam, Afghanistan...

The armed forces of the United States are to become smaller. The military calls it force reduction. The move, driven by budget considerations and a perceived decrease in the need for armed forces is most noticeable when the closing of a major military base or mothballing of a ship like the battleship Missouri is announced...

Periodically, throughout U.S. history, our country has had the opportunity of being the predominant world power. Invariably, we have chosen to abdicate that power in the belief that we were not the world's policeman, others had the right of self-determination without our influence, countries would settle differences amicably with respect for each others sovereignty and other optimistic beliefs...