Stories from Saturday, May 18, 1996

To the editor: Nestled in the heart of Mississippi County is a small, rural farm area known as Bertrand. To the average Joe out there, it seems like a wide spot in the road. I discovered this community quite by accident one day after deciding to take a more scenic route to Charleston instead of the interstate...

From The Capaha Arrow: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas visited a philosophy classroom at Southeast last week, and was received with a less-than-warm welcome. It seemed as though some of the students and faculty attending the lecture preferred to attack Thomas' personal views rather than listen to any words of wisdom he had to offer...

Speaking of spending money, the government's central bank has been on a virtual spending spree. The Federal Reserve and its 12 regional banks have doubled their total expenses since 1988 to $2 billion. The problems were uncovered in the first extensive audit of the central bank's spending practices...

A government crackdown on Medicare and Medicaid fraud has worked wonders. There are plans to expand this project to every state in the nation, and this is one federal government program that needs to be bigger. The one-year pilot program targeted five states: New York, Florida, Illinois, Texas and California. These states account for 38.5 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries and 34 percent of all Medicare recipients. They were a practical place to start...

A Cape Girardeau Regional Airport Advisory Board member has resigned, citing what he called a lack of an aggressive airport marketing plan and inept leadership. The board member, William H. Walker, said this week in a letter of resignation to the Cape Girardeau City Council that "the airport is a liability, not an asset."...

Kindness ran rampant Friday as four groups did their parts to promote good feelings in the community. Firefighters of Cape Girardeau got something that many people believe doesn't exist anymore -- a free lunch. A local restaurant, H.R.H. Dumplin's, made the offer to members of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department as a gesture of appreciation...

Deidre Wiseman gets to come home to Cape Girardeau to see her mother, Velma, once a month during the school year. Deidre, 9, is hearing and speech impaired. She attends the Missouri School for the Deaf at Fulton. Talking on the phone isn't much of a treat for either Deidre or her mother because they must talk through a relay person -- Deidre by signs and her mother by normal speech -- and not directly to each other...

It will take a 19-car train and about 40 people to transport the Olympic flame through Cape Girardeau County when it arrives in 10 days. The Olympic flame from Greece gets here on Memorial Day and will be greeted with a family picnic and presentation at the steps of the Common Pleas Courthouse. It should arrive via a specially-constructed train from Memphis at 1:42 p.m., according to Union Pacific Railroad schedules...

The Missouri House proved a more hospitable place for Republicans this year after the departure of former House speaker Bob Griffin, Cape Girardeau County's two Republican state representatives said Friday. Under the leadership of the new speaker, Steve Gaw, D-Moberly, bills were debated more openly and there was more bipartisan cooperation, said state Reps. Mary Kasten and David Schwab...

I'm hip to the whole love-thy-neighbor scene, but this Random Acts of Kindness thing is getting annoying. All week the entire community has run around inflicting niceties on each other. In 1996 America, this sort of thing is an aberration. Kindness oozes all over the place, enveloping people like seagulls following an oil tanker disaster...

Southeast Missouri State University's oldest building will be gutted and replaced with a whole new interior. "We are really going to end up building a building within a building," said Dr. Ken Dobbins, the school's executive vice president. Even the roof will be replaced on the school's 94-year-old Social Science building...

Daughter to Eddy and Connie Todd of Orange Park, Fla., Naval Air Station Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., 10:23 p.m. Monday, April 22, 1996. Name, Samantha Joyce. Weight, 7 pounds 2 ounces. First child. Mrs. Todd is the former Connie Muecke, daughter of Arlie Muecke of Slayton, Minn., and the late Russell Muecke. She is a dietitian with the U.S. Navy in Jacksonville. Todd is the son of Jackie and Marie Todd of Cape Girardeau. He is employed at Target in Orange Park...

JACKSON -- Eva Nell Ickes, 78, of Kingman, Ariz., died Wednesday, May 15, 1996, at the home of a daughter. She was born March 20, 1918, in Jackson, daughter of Charley and Virgie Howard Davis. She married Waldron Ickes, who died in 1994. Ickes attended school in Jackson and had worked at International Shoe Co. She moved to California in 1939...

SIKESTON -- Funeral Mass for John D. Spradlin of Sikeston was held Wednesday at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, with Msgr. William Stanton officiating. Graveside service was held Friday at Spradlin Cemetery near Scott City, with the Rev. Robert Schumacher officiating...

The Rev. Jerry Lowell Snell, 44, of New Melle, died Thursday, May 16, 1996, at Doctors Hospital in Wentzville. He was born May 17, 1951, in Cape Girardeau, son of Stanley L. and Norma R. Mueller Snell. He and Sharon Ruth Weinrich were married Aug. 19, 1978...

SIKESTON -- Marie Grant, 53, of Sikeston died Wednesday, May 15, 1996, at her home. She was born March 6, 1943, at Sikeston, daughter of Willie And Lubertha "James" Grant. She worked at Imperial Fabrics, LaSalle Die Tech Co. in Elkhart, Ind. She was a member of the Prayer House Church of God but attended the Green Memorial Church of God in Christ...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Oval M. Hale, 70, of East Prairie, died Friday, May 17, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 6, 1925, in Como, Tenn., daughter of Thomas R. and Lucy Bailey Murphy. She and Kenneth Hale were married Aug. 2, 1941, in East Prairie...

CHARLESTON -- Funeral service for Mordeaci "Junk" Bostic of Charleston will be held at 11 a.m. today at Sparks Funeral Home. The Rev. Murry Williams will officiate, with burial in Oak Grove Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 10 a.m. to service time...

PIEDMONT -- Mary Elizabeth Wildman, 75, of Piedmont, died Thursday, May 16, 1996, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 16, 1921, in Chatfield, Minn. She and Walter B. Wildman were married July 9, 1942. Wildman was a member of Patterson Baptist Church at Patterson...

Funeral service for the Rev. Paul A. Aldrich of St. Louis will be held at 1 p.m. today at Overland Church of the Nazarene. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Baumann Colonial Chapel in Overland is in charge of arrangements. Aldrich, 67, died Tuesday, May 14, 1996, at St. Anthony's Medical Center...

ADVANCE -- Amos Musgraves, 87, of Advance, died Thursday, May 16, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Nov. 27, 1908, in Advance, son of Samuel and Emma Browning Musgraves. He and Helen Tropf were married Nov. 3, 1933, at Bloomfield...

When Red Williams is at his kindest, people work up a sweat. Williams, a Cape Girardeau resident, has volunteered as a trainer at Southeast Missouri State University's Recreation Center since 1991. He designs fitness and rehabilitative programs for individuals and also trains university students on how to work with people while setting up wellness programs...

Southeast Missouri Hospital employees are never quite sure how Scott Givens will arrive. About once a month this wellness specialist with the hospital's wellness center in Jackson dons a costume and visits the hospital with treats, hugs and pats on the back...

Perhaps Linda McVay sums it up best: "This place couldn't function without the Franklins." The place is St. Francis Medical Center. Marilyn and Raymon Franklin are two of the hospitals most dedicated volunteers. McVay works in the hospital's personnel department...

Gardener deserves a medal John Smothers on Rodney Vista Road is the person who deserves the medal for Random Acts of Kindness Week. He uses his tiller to till neighbors' gardens, mows yards and cuts trees. In the winter he uses his snow blower to clear neighbors' driveways. He not only plants tomato plants for neighbors but also buys them. He also does many kind things for members of his church, Assembly of God...