Stories from Saturday, August 4, 2001

A new skate park roars with previously banished youngsters. Tourists eager to part with their money head downtown thanks to inventive new signs that point the way. When they finish shopping, they head over to the newly renovated Riverside Park to enjoy a picnic lunch and watch the barges drift lazily along...

The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control says 1,003 youngsters under 15 died in the United States last year by drowning in swimming pools. None of the deaths occurred in Cape Girardeau. In fact, Cape Girardeau police Lt. Carl Kinnison said he can't remember the last child's swimming pool death in Cape Girardeau. Southeast Missourian records don't show a child drowning in a swimming pool for at least the past 10 years...

State highway officials plan to shed light on a road project that promises to make a dangerous stretch of Interstate 55 between the Nash Road and Highway 74 Dutchtown interchanges safer. The Missouri Department of Transportation will discuss the work during an open house from 2 to 7 p.m. Monday at Mac's Smokehouse at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport...

It's not the heat, it's the humidity. That cliche is proving true in much of Missouri this summer. Although it may not feel like it, the state has actually had normal high temperatures since June. But high humidity has left most residents feeling hotter, weather forecasters say...

My oldest son, Jerry, has always had a problem with goodbyes. It's not that he's spoiled rotten, although I'll admit to some overripeness in my 5-year-old. Rather, Jerry just has so much fun when he's doing something enjoyable that he never wants the party to end...

An Oak Ridge, Mo., mother and daughter suffered moderate injuries in an accident north of Jackson, Mo., Friday. Driver Cynthia Sharrock, 37, and daughter Marky Sharrock, age unknown, were both taken to St. Francis Medical Center after the 8:03 p.m. accident. It occurred on Route D, five miles north of Jackson...

Cape Girardeau police are investigating a report of ethnic intimidation, in this case a crime motivated by race. Two black women, one age 20, the other 21, reported to police Thursday that they each found a letter containing racial slurs in their mailboxes. The women live in separate apartments in the same building...

Schnucks has purchased Bill's Pharmacy of Cape Girardeau. August Smirl, pharmacist and owner of Bill's Pharmacy, announced this week that he had sold his family-owned business to Schnuck Market Inc., another family-owned business. Prescriptions will be transferred from Bill's Pharmacy, 60 Doctors' Park, to the Schnucks store at 19 S. Kingshighway, where Smirl and his staff from the pharmacy will become Schnucks' newest associates Monday...

A new Justice Department policy that threatens to hurt the funding of local drug task forces will be revised, according to statements from the offices of both U.S. senators from Missouri. A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., said a meeting between Justice Department officials and Missouri law enforcement representatives will be held next week to work out the details of the revision. A statement from U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., said she sought the change along with Bond...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Of the 27 players selected to the 2001 All-Ohio Valley Conference preseason football team Friday, Southeast Missouri State University had just one pick -- the fewest of any league team. But Indians' coach Tim Billings figures more of his players will be recognized before the season is over -- at least that's the plan...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For the first time in five years, Southeast Missouri State University's football team is not picked to finish seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference. But that hasn't changed the Indians' preseason status in the league because, for the fifth year in a row, they have been selected to wind up next-to-last. The only difference is that there are now only seven OVC football teams instead of eight...

Daughter to Keith and Sara Johnson of Corning, N.Y., Corning Hospital, 1:53 p.m. Friday, July 20, 2001. Name, Caroline Nicole. Weight, 7 pounds 3 ounces. Second child, first daughter. Mrs. Johnson is the former Sara Bayer, daughter of Ken and Anne Bayer of Overland Park, Kan. She is a private music teacher. Johnson is the son of Norris and Barbara Johnson of Cape Girardeau. He is an analyst with Corning Inc...

ST. ANN, Mo. -- Erwin E. Lowes, 81, formerly of Oak Ridge, Mo., died Tuesday, July 31, 2001, at his home in St. Ann. He was born May 19, 1920, at Oak Ridge, son of August and Cora Ludwig Lowes. He was a former member of St. John's United Church of Christ in Fruitland, Mo. He worked for McDonnell-Douglas in St. Louis for 43 years, retiring in 1983. He was a member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Lodge 837C in St. Louis for 43 years...

Larry H. McMackins, 47, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Aug. 3, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born Feb. 7, 1954, at Poplar Bluff, Mo., son of Howell H. and Imogene A. Cole McMackins. He and Margie Pool were married April 6, 1974, at St. Louis...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Kenneth Lee Griffin, 58, died Thursday, Aug. 2, 2001, at Advance Nursing Center in Advance, Mo. He was born Sept. 14, 1942, at Dudley, Mo., son of W. Fonzie and Anna Mable Funkhouser Griffin. Griffin had lived in the Dudley, Zalma and Dexter areas...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Funeral for Chloe Lawrence of Dexter will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at Rainey Funeral Home in Dexter. The Rev. Fred Leist will officiate. Burial will be in Dexter Cemetery. Lawrence, 84, died Thursday, Aug. 2, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo...

I WAS pleased to see the article, "Is he worth it?" regarding Dale Nitzschke. However, you did not dig deep enough. I have an article that I saved from the Alumni Signal in 1999. It states that prior to signing Nitzschke as chancellor and fund-raiser, "during the past fiscal year the university received a record $5.29 million in grants to fund 112 projects. ...

For a decade, true believers in literacy for all children and adults stood on Cape Girardeau street corners for one day each September hawking special copies of the Southeast Missourian. Supporters gave generously from their car windows, sometimes just a few dollars, sometimes large checks...

Chaffee city councilmen face an unusual problem. Typically, when an hourly worker's time cards indicate he is staying on the job only four or five hours a day when he's expected to stay eight, it is reflected in his overall job performance. For example, there might be complaints from customers and abundant evidence of poor work habits or even laziness...

To the editor: Recently, I called upon people to help us re-establish our collection of Girardot yearbooks. Response was fantastic. In light of Tuesday's vote, I wanted to share with everyone some quotes from two of the books. The first comes from the 1953 Girardot, which was the first yearbook published after the high school was moved to its current location...