Stories from Thursday, March 7, 1996

The 1995 Addy Awards Presentation Banquet will be held Thursday at the Show Me Center. The Addy Awards are given for excellence in advertising in Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky. "This is the second year the Addy Awards have been held," said Jeff Vandeven, chairman of the banquet. "There will be 66 awards given out. Last year there were only 32 awards, so the event is growing."...

John C. Danforth, a former U.S. senator from Missouri, will speak tonight at Southeast Missouri State University's second Public Issues Forum. The free lecture begins at 7:30 in the University Center Ballroom and is open to the public. Danforth, who served three terms in the Senate, is expected to discuss his political career and life and his views on current political events...

Organizers of St. Francis Medical Center's Womancare Conference/Pamper Yourself Night expect record-breaking attendance for the Friday night event. The event, which begins at 3 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Convention Center and will wrap up at about 10 p.m., will feature seminars, exhibits, health screenings and glamour treatments...

A former state representative responsible for some important tourism legislation will take over the No. 2 spot at the Missouri Division of Tourism. Herb Fallert of Ste. Genevieve Fallert was nominated deputy director of the Division of Tourism by fellow Democrat Sen. Danny Staples of Eminence. The nomination will be formally approved by the Senate today and Fallert is expected to begin work immediately...

The three finalists for president of Southeast Missouri State University have all faced campus challenges. William C. Merwin has dealt with repeated budget cuts as president of the State University of New York College at Potsdam, N.Y. Dale F. Nitzschke was president of the University of New Hampshire in Durham from 1990 to 1994, at a time when the state experienced a deep recession. Nitzschke is now an educational consultant in Ohio...

IDALIA, Mo. -- Two-year-old Bradley Lane wondered why a freight train hit his house Tuesday night. His father, Billy Lane, explained that a train didn't smash the front porch; it was a tornado. A tornado ripped through this small Stoddard County community Tuesday, damaging about half a dozen homes in the area, including the Lanes'. ...

March 7, 1996 Dear Leslie, "What matters more than the quality of the food or its nutritional balance is a feeling of gratitude. If you think, when eating, of each life that is given up so that you may live, then you'll naturally stop at a point of moderation."...

ALL YOU chest-pounding, righteous, church-going, so-called Christians: How can you vote for Bill Clinton when he stands for abortion from the time of conception to the time of delivery? He's willing to kill the baby if the woman wishes and make the taxpayer pay for it. ...

JACKSON -- Carol Larue, 48, of Jackson died Wednesday, March 6, 1996, at her home. Arrangements were incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson.

Tomeika Latrice "Squeak" Patterson, 20, of Cape Girardeau, died in an automobile accident in Cape Girardeau Sunday, March 3, 1996. She was born March 28, 1975, daughter of Lucille Patterson and Leander Townsell. They survive. She also is survived by a daughter, Swaneisha Betts Patterson; brothers, Edwin Patterson, Willie Patterson, and Yolandias Patterson, all of Cape Girardeau; half brothers, Learder Townsell Jr., Levi Townsell, and Micheal Townsell, all of Chicago; and half sisters, Lisa Phifer of East St. ...

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. -- Jack Richard Burris, 56, of Collinsville, formerly of Cobden, died Tuesday, March 5, 1996, at Anderson Hospital in Maryville, Ill. He was born Oct. 7, 1939 in Caraway, Ark., the son of Hubert and Melba Branscum Burris. He married Bonnie Pack on Aug. ...

CHAFFEE -- Virginia Marie Johnson, 75, of Amarillo, Texas, formerly of Chaffee, died Tuesday, March 5, 1996, at Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo. She was born Nov. 22, 1920, at Chaffee, daughter of George Smiley and Iva Mae Darrell Smiley. She married Claude Kenneth Johnson Nov. 24, 1940. He died Oct. 15, 1982...

John Henry Patterson, 32, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, March 3, 1996, in an automobile accident in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 19, 1963, son of Jessie Patterson Mae Smith and Eugene Johnson. He was a maintenance worker at Hardee's and Cape Girardeau Regional Airport...

BREWER -- Frank M. Kadavi, 82, of Brewer died Wednesday, March 6, 1996, at Perry Oaks Healthcare Center. He was born Nov. 25, 1913, in East St. Louis, Ill., son of Anton and Anna Kadavi. He was a retired farmer and a member of Christ the Savior Church in Brewer...

ADVANCE -- Vivian Thompson, 59, of rural Advance, died Tuesday, March 5, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 1, 1936, in Bell City, to Gilbert and Dorothy Jenkins Spears. She married Robert Thompson July 16, 1955, at Hernando, Miss...

Margaret Ann Ashby of St. Petersburg, Fla, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, March 6, 1996, in St. Petersburg. She and her husband, Lucian "Luke" Ashby, lived in Cape Girardeau for 41 years, moving to Florida in 1992. Her husband died Nov. 16, 1993...

MARBLE HILL -- Frederick J. Warner, 82, of Marble Hill died Tuesday, March 5, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 10, 1913 in Green County, Ark., son of Charles Frederick and Nancy Elizabeth Foster Warner. He married Berniece Christina Douglas Dec. 24, 1944. She survives...

SULLIVAN -- Lester W. "Bill" Niswonger, 50, of Sullivan died Sunday, March 3, 1996, in Tulsa, Okla., the result of a trucking accident. He was born June 21, 1945, in Cape Girardeau. On June 26, 1965, he married Barbara Pinnell in Leasburg, Mo. She survives...

EAST PRAIRIE -- James Milam Irby, 83, of East Prairie died Tuesday, March 5, 1996, at the East Prairie Nursing Center. He was born Feb. 20, 1913, in East Prairie, son of Jim and Kate Milam Irby. He lived his entire live in East Prairie. He was a retired schools driver for the R-2 School District and a member of St. James General Baptist Church...

ANNA, Ill. -- Ferbia West, 98, of Anna died Wednesday at City Care Center in Cobden. Funeral arrangements were incomplete at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna.

KENNETT -- Bill V. Hargrove, 51, of Kennett died Wednesday, March 6, 1996, at Lucy Lee Hospital in Poplar Bluff. He was born June 9, 1944, at Lutesville, son of William Luther and Cora Bell Null Hargrove. He married Dolores Sachsenheimer April 28, 1984. She survives...

PERRYVILLE -- Lester A. La Rose, 76, of Perryville died Tuesday, March 5, 1996, at his home. He was born Jan. 22, 1920, in Yount, Mo., son of William and Catherin Ruch LaRose. He was a member of American Legion Post 133 and was a truck driver. He is survived by a stepson, Randy Newton of Davenport, Fla.; two sisters: Alice Pecaut of Cape Girardeau and Agnes Deleo of St. Louis; a brother, Edgar LaRose of Muscatine, Iowa; and one stepgrandson...

FROHNA -- Elmer Paul Schoenherr, 85, of Frohna, formerly of Lewiston, N.Y., died Monday at Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville. He was born Sept. 29, 1910, in Ottawa, Canada, son of Frederic Wilhelm and Minna Kusch Schoenherr. He was a retired machine operator for Kimberly Clark Corp., and a member of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna...

SIKESTON -- Johnie Mae Swaim, 74, of Sikeston, died Tuesday, March 5, 1996, in Sikeston. She was born May 13, 1921, in Martinville, Ark., daughter of Edgar Talbert and Sarah A. Herring Lovelady. She married Milburn H. Love, who died in June 1955. She then married Lynn Swaim, who survives...

Next year, Cape Girardeau County will become a first-class county. Among the changes in county government that come with the new designation is replacement of the county coroner with a medical examiner. But county officials don't see the need for a medical examiner, which would cost considerably more than the expense of an elected coroner. ...

More than 100 members of the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee braved near-freezing temperatures Wednesday afternoon to view a portion of the Mississippi river here. The group, part of more than 150 conservation biologists, engineers, law enforcement personnel and recreation specialists who are in Cape Girardeau for the 52nd annual meeting of the committee, participated on a boat ride up the Mississippi on the Corps of Engineers buoy tender Pathfinder...

Ross Perot refuses to fade from national politics. Just when you think he's gone back to being just a billionaire businessman, he resurfaces behind a podium preaching his reform gospel. His latest foray is to promote the formation of another political party: the Reform Party. Perot is trying to get his new party certified for November ballots across the country...

NEW MADRID - The observation deck on the Mississippi River at New Madrid affords a good view of the river at one of its widest points and a look at the spot where the town stood before the massive earthquakes of 1811-1812. And, as of this week, visitors can also find out about a pair of Civil War battles fought in the area...

Like many mothers, Pam Vaters spends a lot of time driving around in her van on weekends. But Vaters' van has a 572-cubic-inch, 1,500-hp high performance engine and rides on 5 1/2-foot-tall tires. Vaters pilots the Boogey Van, a modified Ford Aerostar that will compete in this weekend's U.S. Hot Rod Thunder Nationals at the Show Me Center...

The first Show Me Center concert since September will be presented Friday night when two of country music's rising stars and heartthrobs take the stage. The concert by headliner John Michael Montgomery and Mark Chesnutt along with newcomer James Bonamy will begin at 8 p.m. Friday...