Stories from Wednesday, August 23, 2000

Always be sure to read the label on the grass seed bag before seeding. Everyone seems to know that the fall is the best time of the year to seed cool-season grasses. The big debate begins when people try to decide when in the fall to seed. I have always contended that, if you have a choice, the latter half of August is the best time to seed...

Cape Girardeau County officials are considering the possibility of housing some county offices and circuit court operations in the Federal Building. The County Commission has expressed interest in leasing or buying the building at 339 Broadway after the federal courts move into a new courthouse...

JACKSON, Mo. -- The Jackson Board of Education will ask voters Nov. 7 to approve a $6 million bond issue to cover costs of an addition and to make other improvements to R.O. Hawkins Junior High School. The school board Tuesday night deliberated for more than two hours on the bond issue and two other funding proposals before voting to put the bond issue on the ballot. ...

Taylor Feeney, 4, of Jackson, Mo., expressed her delight on a ride at the Jackson Homecomers Tuesday night. JACKSON, Mo. -- As Miss Missouri, Arron Wendel welcomes having many new experiences in the coming year, including competing in the Miss America pageant Oct. 14 in Atlantic City. Tuesday evening, she conducted a band for the first time to kick off the 2000 Homecomers celebration...

DEXTER, Mo. -- The Dexter Board of Aldermen -- with Mayor John Pruitt casting the deciding vote -- Monday night ruled against allowing earlier liquor sales on Sunday. Unfortunately for those who oppose earlier sales, the vote was purely symbolic. State law permits Sunday liquor sales to begin at 11 a.m., two hours earlier than Dexter's liquor-sales ordinance allows. ...

Southeast Missouri State University had fewer students enrolled on the first day of classes this fall compared to a year ago. Combined graduate and undergraduate enrollment stood at 8,032 on Monday, down 81 from a year ago. School officials said the decrease was due to a drop in graduate enrollment. Graduate enrollment stood at 844, down 159 from a year earlier...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Sometimes finding something exciting to do can prove challenging for local young people but that won't be the case Saturday. From 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Sikeston Junior High, local and area youth will have the opportunity to try everything from Sumo wrestling to mountain climbing...

A driveway used as a shortcut by motorists traveling from Cape Rock Drive to Broadway will be closed to through traffic as a safety precaution for students at Saxony Lutheran High School. The announcement came Tuesday after being approved by the school's principal and the board at St. Andrew Lutheran Church where the school is housed...

Cindy Huber had tears in her eyes when she learned her photograph was selected as the grand prize winner in Foto Fest 2000. "I can't believe this," said Huber, of Perryville, Mo. "You really got me." Huber's photograph of her son, Grant, 3, staring down a set of twin calves was chosen as the grand prize winner by a panel of judges. The photograph was taken on a family friend's farm...

A former professor at Southeast Missouri State University was recently honored with a lifetime achievement award for his work in graphic arts education. Robert L. Cox of Cape Girardeau received the Frederick D. Kagy Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this month during a conference in Williamsport, Penn. The conference was sponsored by the International Graphic Arts Education Association and was held at the Pennsylvania College of Technology...

Almost a year after a Cape Girardeau pizza place was robbed at gunpoint, a similar robbery occurred at the same location Monday night, police said. At 9:34 p.m., a Pizza Pro employee had gone to lock the rear door at 527 N. Silver Springs Rd. when a man with a black handgun forced his way in, Cpl. Kevin Orr said...

The Anna-Jonesboro (Ill.) High School football team has experienced primarily rough sledding since reigning as a state powerhouse in the mid-1980s. But last year the Wildcats very nearly had a breakthrough season. They entered the eighth game of the campaign with a 4-3 record and needed a win over perennial power DuQuoin to gain their first playoff berth since 1986...

Golf aces might not quite come naturally for Ed Schwent -- it only seems that way. The 67-year-old Cape Girardeau resident recorded his seventh hole-in-one Monday as he used a 9-iron on the 156-yard No. 18 hole at Kimbeland Country Club in Jackson, Mo. All seven aces have come since 1987...

Cairo (Ill.) High School football coach Ron Woods is known for his jovial personality and eternal optimism. Woods, entering his 15th season in charge of the Pilots, generally has high hopes for every season. So it is with the 2000 campaign, which begins Friday night at Carterville...

Southeast Missouri State University's women's soccer team closed out its exhibition schedule Tuesday night by blanking Missouri-Rolla 4-0 in front of about 150 fans at Houck Stadium. Nichole Thiele scored two goals while Erika Todd and Valerie Henderson each tallied once. Todd and Angela Martinez recorded assists...

Southeast Missouri State University golfer Bryan Johnson was recently named a Ping Academic All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America. Johnson, a junior who was one of Southeast's top players last spring, carries a 3.75 in mass communications with an option in public relations...

Notre Dame scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to knock off visiting St. Vincent 5-4 Tuesday in the season opener for both high school softball teams. In the sixth, Stacey Seyer singled, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and came home on a Traci Kluesner single...

Southeast Missouri Hospital's Fitness and Wellness Center will host its 13th annual Women's Distance Festival Sept. 9. The event also includes the 8th annual Kids' Fest. The event will be held at the Cape LaCroix Recreation Trail located near the Osage Community Centre...

Signups for the 21st season of the Cape Girardeau Youth Tackle Football League will be held Aug. 26 and Sept. 2 at Capaha Park (corner of Broadway and Perry Avenue). The league is for grades 5-7. The signups will be held from 8 a.m.-noon both days. The cost is $65 per player, which includes all equipment except shoes...

The 5th annual Autumn Open 4-Person Scramble will be held Sept. 16 at Cape Jaycee Municipal Golf Course. Play will begin with an 8 a.m. shotgun start. Entry fee is $120 per team (carts not included). Entry deadline is Sept. 13. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three places in four flights...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department is accepting teams for its fall coed and men's softball leagues. League play is scheduled to begin Sept. 11 at Shawnee Park Sports Complex. The season will consist of five weeks and 10 games. Entry fee is $150 per team. Entry deadline is Sept. 1...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department is accepting teams for its 6 on 6 coed adult indoor volleyball leagues. Cost is $216 per team. Games will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at the Osage Community Centre. League play is scheduled to begin Sept. 26. Registration deadline is Sept. 8...

The Caring Communities Benefit Golf Under the Stars Tournament will be held Aug. 26 at Cape LaCroix Golf Center. The four-person scramble begins at 8:45 p.m. and will be preceded by a 7:30 p.m. dinner (included). Cost is $100 per team. For more information, call 651-3747...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Faye Ballance, 72, of Cobden died Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2000, at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale, Ill. She was born April 13, 1928, in Alto Pass, Ill., daughter of J. Everett and Clyde Messamore Lamer. She and Donald Ballance were married Dec. 8, 1950, in Murphysboro, Ill...

Daughter to Sean Corey Shipley and Karen Ann Henson of Bell City, Mo., Southeast Missouri Hospital, 9:41 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2000. Name, Bailey Nichole. Weight, 7 pounds 2 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Ms. Henson is the daughter of Jody Henson of Bell City, and the late Herman Scheible. She is a cashier at Oran Mini Mart. Shipley is the son of Rose Shipley of Festus, Mo...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Dewitt Lingle, 87, of Dongola died Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2000, at Jonesboro Health Care Center in Jonesboro, Ill. He was born May 22, 1913, in Union County, Ill., son of Meridith and Nancy Karraker Lingle. He and Catherine Hartline were married Dec. 17, 1940. She died Sept. 4, 1989...

ANNISTON, Mo. -- Richard E. "Green Jeans" "ZZ" Layton, 55, of Anniston died Monday, Aug. 21, 2000, in the emergency room at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo. He was born Aug. 18, 1945, in East Prairie, Mo., son of Richard and Genevieve Sain Layton. He and Geraldine Kinder were married June 15, 1983, at Benton, Mo...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Lena Louise Laurentius, 88, of Perryville died Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2000, at Perry County Nursing Home. She was born April 28, 1912, at Lixville, Mo., daughter of William C. and Wilmena Bangert Ruessler. She and Silverius Anton Laurentius were married April 5, 1930. He died Jan. 10, 1975...

SCOPUS, Mo. -- Two Marble Hill residents were seriously injured in an accident Monday afternoon near Scopus. Jerry Green, 46, and Christopher L. Green, 12, were seriously injured in the accident, which happened at 3:35 p.m. Monday on Bollinger County Route B south of Scopus. They were taken by ambulance to Southeast Missouri Hospital...

Memorial service for Helen L. Stuart of Cape Girardeau will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel. Carol Heitman will officiate. Stuart, 58, died Saturday, Aug. 19, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born June 21, 1942, in Chicago, daughter of Lee and Lela Campbell Greene...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Lottie Mae Nabors, 78, of Sikeston died Monday, Aug. 21, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Dec. 31, 1921, at Ware, Miss., daughter of Walter and Ethel McCoo. She and the Rev. J.L. Nabors were married in 1940. He died in 1996...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Mattie C. McElhaney, 87, died Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2000, at Clearview Nursing Center in Sikeston. She was born April 6, 1913, in Greenville, Mo., daughter of Donald and Annie Coleman. McElhaney retired from Production Tool and Supply in St. Louis. She had been a volunteer at Heritage House in Sikeston and was a member of Salcedo Baptist Church...

CLINTON, MONT. -- Leo Wagoner, 73, passed away Monday, July 3, 2000, of natural causes at St. Patrick Hospital. He was born May 21, 1927, in Oran, Mo., to Aaron and Rilla Wagoner. On Feb. 24, 1948, he married the love of his life, Evelyn Menz. Leo served in the Navy four years. After his discharge Leo and Evelyn resided in Illinois until 1989, when they moved to Clinton, Mont., after his retirement...

One year after he first proposed it, Republican Jim Talent is still touting his proposal to revive the state's once celebrated but now defunct 1992 highway construction plan by selling $1 billion in bonds over 12 years. Talent's highway funding idea, a cornerstone of his campaign for governor, is certainly ambitious and spawned a less extensive Democratic copy during this year's legislative session. However, it could be difficult to pull off...

Last week, the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents signed contracts related to the development of the River Campus project, even though all the funding isn't in place.. The $37 million redevelopment of the former St. Vincent's Seminary is to be funded through $16.55 million already allocated from the state, $10 million being sought in donations and $8.9 million from a city hotel and motel tax. ...

Rev. Borum still preaches at area churches and continues to live life to the fullest. Congresswoman JO ANN EMERSON'S picnic drew over 600 people to her annual summer rally last Saturday. It was 20 years ago when BILL EMERSON was first campaigning and was happy with 50 to 75 people in attendance during the summer before his election. ... Emerson became the first REPUBLICAN congressman to represent Southeast Missouri since 1928 -- over 52 years...

I've never been labeled as an environmentalist, but Jo Ann Emerson labeled the White House move to restore the water quality of 20,000 waterways nothing but an EPA power grab. This is just complete insanity. Anybody who loves fishing or hunting or the outdoors needs healthy waterways. I think we should vote Emerson out of office and vote for the only alternative, Bob Camp...

To the editor: The Southeast Missourian has always been a strong community-support newspaper where generally accurate editorials prevail. That is why I'm disappointed in Saturday's effort. It is great you see the benefit of upgrading Mount Auburn Road to five lanes. However, the representation of facts on our timing are just plain wrong...

It is always a joy to share in someone's special occasion. I had that pleasure last Saturday when friends gathered to celebrate the 80th birthday of Cape Girardeau's Gwen Schild. She has had a very productive life as a mother, school teacher, wife and all of the other jobs that come with being a mother...