Stories from Thursday, May 4, 1995

In the wake of the horrible tragedy at Oklahoma City, much has been written and said about various militia groups across the country. Closely linked with the nationwide Patriot movement, these groups tend to revere the Constitution and Bill of Rights while condemning much of the federal government and its various agencies...

The following editorial is reprinted from The Wall Street Journal. It is generally agreed now that the assassination of John Kennedy in Dallas in 1963 was the first time that television imprinted a single tragedy onto the national psyche. Everyone saw, wept -- and wondered. With so many millions of minds focused on a single, seemingly senseless tragedy, even the Warren Commission never calmed the conspiratorially minded...

The A+ Schools program that is an outgrowth of Senate Bill 380 arrived in Cape Girardeau heralding "a complete overhaul in curriculum" of our local schools. It doubtless contains many laudable features, as supporters claim. The A+ program, however, can properly be understood only in the national school reform context of which it is a piece. Herewith, an attempt to sketch at least a portion of that national educational reform context...

I was invited to "the Late show with David Letterman" last week. As prosecutor, I've been called by "Dateline," "Inside Edition," "A Current Affair" and other TV shows. But this time the invitation was from David Letterman. Well, sort of. Actually, the invitation came in the form of tickets for a taping of his show. ...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department will present its fourth annual Arts and Crafts Festival Saturday and Sunday at Capaha Park. The crafts festival will be from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. There is no admission fee and concessions will be available...

The final program in the Festivals, Families and the Arts series for this school year will be presented at 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Vincent's Elementary School. The program on Oak Apple Day, an English holiday, is designed for children ages 5 to 13. Paul Thompson of England will describe how the English commemorate a civil war that occurred in 1650...

The Southeast Missouri State University Jazz Band will perform "Jazz at Noon" Friday at the University Center club. The concert originally was scheduled for 8 p.m. in Academic Auditorium. The band will play Latin-flavored music in celebration of the Mexican festival Cinco de Mayo. Admission is free...

The deadline for entering in Art Experience '95, a fine art show sponsored by the Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts, is Friday. Original two-dimensional work in any media except photography is acceptable. The deadline for entering Midwest Minis, a show of small artworks limited to 14 inches, is May 19. Both two- and three-dimensional work can be entered, again with the exception of photography...

"Denial" by Mark Elder Mark Elder was graduated from St. Vincent's Seminary in 1972 and taught physical education at St. Vincent's School from 1979 to 1981. That was before he found his true calling in a box of paints. "Signs and Wonders," the May show at Gallery 100 in Cape Girardeau, is a 17-piece collection of work by Elder, now an art instructor at DePaul University in Chicago...

Members of the Cape Girardeau chapter of the American Business Women's Association will meet tonight at 6 at the Drury Lodge. The program topic is "Travel The World With Our Members." Those who have visited other countries should come dressed in the clothing of those countries or bring souvenirs of interest. Travelers should be prepared to give a five-minute speech on the role of women in the countries they have visited...

Friday's prayer luncheon at the Show Me Center, sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Christian Business Men's Committee, has been canceled due to scheduling conflicts. The luncheon was to feature Herb Titus, an attorney, professor and author. He is the publisher of Forecast, a monthly journal designed to provide an analysis and critique of current public policy issues...

Cape Girardeau Central orchestras will present a concert in the auditorium May 16 at 7:30 p.m. Featured will be the Cape Central Orchestra, which will perform the music of Rimsky-Korsakov, Moussorgsky, and music from the movie "Schindler's List." The ninth-grade orchestra will perform Bach's "Brandenburg Concerto No. 5" as well as a jazz piece entitled "Blue Mood."...

Legislation that would make the mule Missouri's official state animal balked on the senate floor Wednesday. The bill, originated by the Cape Girardeau American Legion, was brought up for debate on the senate floor Wednesday by Sen. Mike Lybyer, D-Huggins...

MARION, Ill. -- Coal-mining memorabilia show will be held Saturday in Marion. The show is sponsored by the National Scrip Collectors Association. Scrip is money coal companies once used to pay their miners, who used it to buy goods at the company store...

Employees of the Cape Girardeau Main Street Levee District are casting cautious eyes on the Mississippi River. When the river goes above 29 feet on the gauge, city storm-sewer runoff collects in a holding tank instead of flowing freely into the river. If the water gets too high in the tank, which is underground near Main and William, pumps kick in to rid the downtown of runoff water by pumping it into the river...

Time is running out for viewers of pirated cable-television service to obtain amnesty for the illegal practice, which siphoned more than $4 billion from the industry in 1994. April 20 to May 20 is a period when "no questions will be asked," said Todd Runkwitz of TCI Cablevision, cable provider to the Cape Girardeau and Jackson area...

FROHNA -- Customers get all the services of a big-city post office at the tiny Frohna post office and sometimes a little extra. "We even lick stamps here," said Linda Wyman, officer in charge of the post office. Frohna is celebrating the 125 anniversary of its post office today at 12:45 p.m. The mayor will attend and a German pastry called platzcoogan will be served...

May 4, 1995 Dear David, I'm waiting for that day in May. The one when the sky is azure, and trees and the river and hair and eyes seem to sparkle from within like diamonds. The day it's warm enough just to wear a T-shirt, and everything feels good, tastes good, is good...

WE ARE new in the Cape Girardeau area, and we have a only child. She is in kindergarten at Clippard School. We had spring cleanup last Saturday, and I was just really disappointed at the turnout of the parents. I'm not sure how many kids attend Clippard, but I imagine it's way over 500, and I think there were only 20 parents at the spring clean up. ...

SIKESTON -- Carnell Kindred, 80, of Sikeston died Wednesday, May 3, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Arrangements are incomplete at the Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Sikeston.