Stories from Sunday, February 17, 1991

BLOOMFIELD -- Ruby Nancy McRoy, 82, of Bloomfield, died Saturday, Feb. 16, 1991 at the Crowley Ridge Care Center in Dexter. She was the daughter of the late Joshua and Martha Parkinson White, born on Oct. 6, 1908. On March 29, 1952, she married Harvey J. McRoy, He proceeded her in death on Oct. 4,1974...

To the Editor: At a time when the men and women in our armed forces are facing their greatest test, we at home are facing a test as well. Our test is to maintain our unity and resolve, as our troops are doing in the Persian Gulf. We don't want Saddam Hussein to take this country's tolerance for anti-war demonstrators as a signal he should wait out our resolve in a long and bloody war...

I HEARD SOMETHING on the news tonight that turned my stomach. It was about the restaurant in Illinois that was bombed. It's bad enough our families are fighting and dying in Saudi Arabia, without some simple-minded people bombing an establishment of an American citizen just because they came from Pakistan. ...

Heise letter To the Editor: I am a Senior Citizen. I didn't ask for this title, it just happens. I have two cars, and wear pretty good clothes. I do not go to the Nutrition Center, but I have a brother who does, and he also has two cars and wears pretty good clothes. He also has a bed-ridden wife, and he goes each day and gets them a good hot meal at the center...

A national survey finds American are more somber than they have been since the war in Vietnam. If it weren't for Congress and Dan Quayle, we wouldn't have anything to laugh about. --- Some state legislators want to rescind their vote two years ago for taxpayer funding of a proposed football stadium in St. Louis on the grounds they didn't understand what they were voting on. Who says Missouri doesn't have an education crisis?...

To the Editor: I want to express our appreciation for Mrs. Judy Williams and the Cape Central High School students for an outstanding salute to our troops in the Persian Gulf. The presentation of the colors by the SEMO ROTC, the music selections by Central's band and choir, Lt. Col. Jon Fisher's and Lt. Col. Jack Grisham's speeches, the readers, the duet by Gwenda Bennett and Janie Propst, and the special tribute to the 188 listed on the program were outstanding...

To the Editor: I wrote to The Public Mind last year in regard to a woman's right to pro-choice. It appears another such letter is needed after hearing over the TV tonight that more abortion rights for women have been struck down. I wonder how many remain ignorant to the fact that abortion never stops, legal or not...

Editor's Note: On December 30 and 31 of last year, Peter Kinder published a two-part open letter to Sen. John Danforth in the Southeast Missourian. Kinder's letter to the Senator analyzed Danforth's vote for the budget agreement that passed both houses of Congress late last fall after months of wrangling. ...

To the Editor: This evening, 8 p.m., I watched the Friedman program "Free to Choose" on CNBC Channel 29. It was followed by an excellent program on reporting of war news. It is unfortunate this channel is not included in the listings in the newspaper...

Individuals and businesses of this community have an obligation to pay taxes that work for the benefit of all. That is a responsibility basic to a democratic system of government. Other responsibilities are just as vital if less clearly defined, and many in this city answer the call of civic duty in corporate and personal ways. ...

To the Editor: As a teacher from the Leopold School district, I would like to thank the Southeast Missourian for featuring our school in this Sunday's paper. The article stressed our faculty's success at writing and receiving Missouri Incentive Grants. The money from these grants has allowed our students access to materials and equipment which has otherwise would not have been available. Of greater importance is the educational programs developed to utilize the materials and equipment...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson has changed some of his subcommittee assignments on the House Agriculture Committee for this session, to put himself in position to have a greater influence on legislation that will have an impact on Southeast Missouri...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- David McElreath won't be teaching in the classroom for a while or spending time debating issues as a member of Faculty Senate at Southeast Missouri State University. That's because he has been called to military duty in support of Operation Desert Storm...

To the Editor: President Bush, as well as state and local officials, have lent their support to the observance of Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) Month during February, with special emphasis on PTA Week Feb. 17-23. This time has been set aside to focus national and local attention on the importance of parent involvement in their children's education and lives. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Susan Brand of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, February 16, 1991 at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel in Cape Girardeau is in charge of arrangements.

CHAFFEE - Former Chaffee resident Arlene Theresa Patterson died Friday, Feb. 15, 1991 at the Lutheran Medical Center in St. Louis. She was 76. She had lived in St. Louis for about seven years. She was born Oct. 8, 1914 in Detroit, Mich., the daughter of John and Catherine Bartnick Laniecki...

BLOOMFIELD -- Robert Lawson Johnson Sr., 73, of Bloomfield, died Saturday, Feb. 16, 1991, at the Bloomfield Nursing Center. He was born near Bell City on July 26, 1917, to Wilmoth Proffer Johnson and the late Samuel L. Johnson. He was a retired factory worker and had spent most of his life in Stoddard County. He was married to Leatrice Jackman Johnson, who survives...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Albert H. Strack, 89 years old, of Fountainbleau Lodge, 2001 N. Kingshighway, died Friday, Feb. 15, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born March 17, 1901 in Cape Girardeau County, son of Anton and Anna Lowes Strack. He had been a cattle farmer in the Egypt Mills community, retiring in 1975. He was a member of the Egypt Mills Trinity Lutheran Church and had attended the Kage School in Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON - Ozella Virginia Gossett, 81, of Sikeston, died Friday at the Sikeston Health Care Center. She was born Aug. 30, 1909 in New Madrid County to James Arthur and Susie Pauline Daugherty Gossett. Gossett had lived at Sikeston since 1971. She moved to Sikeston after retiring from Merck, Sharp and Dohme Pharmaceutical and Biological Company of Memphis, Tenn., where she worked as a credit manager for 42 years...

EAST CAPE, Ill. - Former East Cape Girardeau resident Anola E. Jones, 87, of Wyandotte, Mich., died Thursday, Feb. 14, 1991. Jones, also formerly of Wolf Lake, died at the Allen Park Nursing Home in Allen Park, Mich. She was born March 1, 1903 to Lee Burris and Florence Slaughter. She married Ted Jones July 22, 1957 at Cairo. He died Aug. 7, 1970...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Funeral service for Harold W. Witzman of Olive Branch, Ill. will be at 1:30 p.m. today at the Olive Branch United Methodist Church. The Revs. Jesse Bellamy and Curtis Alderson will officiate and burial will be in the Olive Branch Cemtery with military rites conducted by the Mounds, Ill. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post...

PERRYVILLE - Funeral services will be held Monday for Albertine Emmendorfer of Perryville. She died Thursday, Feb. 14, 1991, at the American Care Center in Perryville. She was 97. She was born July 21, 1893, in Perry County, daughter of the late John and Louisa Hoehn Bergman. She married John Emmendorfer Jr. on Feb. 24, 1914. He preceded her in death on Feb. 14, 1966...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Funeral services will be held here Thursday for Fred LaBruyere, of Herndon, Va., formerly of Cape Girardeau. He died Thursday, Feb. 14, 1991, at a Reston, Va., hospital. He was 75. He was born July 28, 1915, in Cape Girardeau, the son of John and Jennie Masters LaBruyere. He married Ruby Boss in Illmo, Mo., on March 15, 1938. She survives...

SEDGEWICKVILLE -- Funeral service for William D. Pridemore of Sedgewickville will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Sedgewickville Lutheran Church. The Rev. William Brooks will officiate and burial will be in the Sedgewickville Cemetery. Mr. Pridemore died Thursday at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was 81...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Cozette Morrow White says people who think domestic violence doesn't affect them should think again. "What people don't realize is how much it costs society in terms of medical care and lost job time," she told a group of about 35 law enforcement officers, social workers and others who gathered for a community awareness seminar on domestic violence Saturday at Southeast Missouri Hospital...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Ten students at Cape Central High School spent Saturday morning in school, voluntarily. Instead of an out-of-school suspension, students who misbehave at the school are now given the option of serving their punishments on Saturday...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Melba Myers sat thinking of rock 'n' roll as members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra readied themselves to play Saturday evening at the A.C. Brase Arena Building. Actually Myers, a retired Cape Girardeau teacher, thought about the lack of rock 'n' roll...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Ruby Roe spends half the year cooking and the other half trying to stay out of the kitchen. The 62-year-old Roe is a towboat cook, a job in which she works 30 days and then is off for 30 days at a time. It's a job she has held for the past 14 years...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- If you think you're busy, talk to Vickie Long. Long, of Cape Girardeau, works full time evenings and many weekends as a medical transcriptionist at St. Francis Medical Center. During the daytime she attends classes at Southeast Missouri State University, where she is studying to become a registered nurse. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- There's almost nothing that Jan McKernan wouldn't collect in the way of antiques. From tin toys to Teddy bears, books to baskets, walking sticks to stoneware, pipes to pewter, and everything in between, McKernan's Cape Girardeau home is chocked full of antiques...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A proposal to create a state-run health insurance plan for all Missourians has little chance of passage in this year of tight state finances, area lawmakers said Saturday. "I am under the impression that considering the economic crunch we are in, it doesn't have much of a chance to pass," said State Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Dennis Lorch says most people really don't understand what being locksmith is all about. "I think the general public thinks all we do is make keys and let people in their cars," said Lorch, a locksmith of 15 years. "But we do much more than that; anytime people have a problem with a lock or a key, the place they should go is to a locksmith."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Although his day-to-day responsibilities are to oversee maintenance and operations of Trail of Tears State Park, Herschel Price knows that his most important responsibility is to protect the scenic, natural and historical areas of the park for future generations...

GORDONVILLE - Even though he must get up at 3 a.m. seven days a week, and his job offers no holidays, Gerald Adams enjoys life as a dairy farmer. Adams grew up on a dairy farm near Gordonville, and for eight years he and his wife rented a farm near Cape Girardeau. Last August they purchased a 67-acre farm outside of Gordonville, where they maintain a milking herd of about 140 cows. Adams' herd is among the larger dairy herds in the area...

SP/4 STANLEY A. HAHN U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD Sp/4 Hahn, of Chaffee, was employed at Havco Wood Products in Cape Girardeau before his National Guard Unit was activated Nov. 17. He is a member of the 1221st Transporation Company of Dexter. The company arrived in Saudi Arabia Jan. 7...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- For area servicemen and women, the local chapter of the American Red Cross provides a vital communications link with relatives back home. The Service to Military Families is one that the Red Cross provides in both times of peace and times of war...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- An appreciation reception for Dr. Arthur Turner, superintendent of Cape Girardeau Public Schools, will be held March 10 at the Show Me Center meeting room. The reception is sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Community Teachers Association. Turner will be leaving the district at the end of the school year. His contract was not renewed by the Board of Education...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Ken Rinehart enjoys the action, excitement and opportunities to deal with people that come with his job as a police officer. But he doesn't like the way some people assume police officers are "stone cold" and anxious to make an arrest...

JACKSON -- After working six years as a deputy for the Cape County Sheriff's Department, Lonnie Moore decided to pursue a new career in a field related to law enforcement. He became a bail bondsman. Moore works for A-A Action Bail Bonds of Doniphan, and covers Cape, Perry, Scott, and Ste. Genevieve counties. He was recruited by the company a little over three years ago when he was a deputy...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Nothing tops "The Case of the Invisible Cats" when it comes to Charles Stucker's time as a city health officer. Stucker, 35, vividly remembers the incident from about four years ago. He had gone to the home of an elderly Cape Girardeau woman who complained that she had cats running about inside...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Inside pilot Pete Malone exists some of his late grandfather: a 1920s barnstorming aviator. So much does it have a hold on him that, at just 26, acrobatics is the only rush Malone gets out of flying an airplane anymore. "Acrobatics is the biggest charge you'll ever get," he said. "You'll either love it or get sick one of the two."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at Southeast Missouri State University is sponsoring a canned food drive to benefit the men and women serving in Operation Desert Storm. "It is our goal through this canned food drive, to relieve a small portion of the financial burden placed on area families by the absence of the men and women involved in Desert Storm," said Keith Essmyer, vice president of the fraternity...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The importance of emergency 911 dispatchers hit deathly close to home two years ago for Rhonda Westrich, a 911 dispatcher herself. Then 31 years of age, Westrich was off duty from her job at the Cape Girardeau Police Department when she suddenly underwent an early-morning heart attack at her Cape Girardeau home...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Long before most people are even thinking about starting their day, Bob Reeves is out of bed and on his way to work. He rises each weekday at 2:30 a.m., and within an hour he's in his office at the KFVS-TV studio. There, he studies weather maps, satellite pictures, radar information and other data to develop a weather forecast so that, when everyone else gets up and wants to know what kind of a day is ahead, he can tell them as accurately as possible...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Traveling isn't just a job, it's a way of life for Jane Harte. As a travel agent, she spends a lot of time booking trips for clients. But she also finds time to travel herself. Harte never tires of traveling. "There's always something new and exciting around that bend in the road," she said...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Walk in on Gayle Seib weekdays and you're likely to find her singing songs, playing games and teaching the alphabet to children. For the past four-and-a-half years, the family room of the Seib home at 1444 North Henderson has served as a day care center for children. The large room has been transformed to a place for children, with lots of toys, and walls displaying colorful cats and the alphabet...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- About 18 percent of the students now enrolled in Cape Girardeau Public Schools will never earn their diplomas. And though the dropout rate here is lower than the national or even state average, educators are concerned. "We shouldn't be satisfied just because our dropout rate is lower than the state average," said Jim Watkins, principal of Washington Elementary School. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Missouri Humanities Council has awarded a grant of $1,500 to the human environmental studies department at Southeast Missouri State University to help fund a humanities education project. The project, Great Decisions 1991, is a series of eight classes, open to anyone, but designed for the older adult, and consisting of a reading and discussion format...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- As a professional scuba diver, Wayne Hughes has swam with manatees in Florida. But ask him what's pleasing about his career choice, and he starts talking about dealing with a different kind of inquisitive mammal. The mammal isn't anything like a dolphin or a small breed of whale; it's your average diving student...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Working as a United Parcel Service delivery driver means keeping a tight schedule that demands not missing any stops. In the case of Larry Bowen, one of about six UPS delivery drivers in Cape Girardeau, that means making 100 stops most days to deliver anywhere from 250 to 400 packages...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Last week's outbreak of cold, Arctic air may be only a bad memory as milder air returns to Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. With the warmer air, however, there is a risk of showers today through Tuesday, the National Weather service said...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The first display of 1991 for the Merchant Flag Program in Cape will be Saturday as part of the city's parade and rally to show support for U.S. troops involved in Desert Storm. The flag program, coordinated by VFW Post 3838 and Boy Scout Troop 21, provides for the American flag to be displayed at local businesses who subscribe to the program on major holidays and election days...

JACKSON -- Deer, birds and fish decorate the walls of Devin Amelunke's studio in Jackson. Amelunke's animals aren't painted on canvas; they're the mounted, tanned skins of wildlife that show off his skills as a taxidermist. "Taxidermists like to call it artwork," he said, "because you are trying to create an emotion or a feeling about that animal. Artists do the same thing on canvas...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Nancy Weber-Bornstein seems to have a propensity for coming off as something other than a physician. Patients often mistake her for a nurse. "I had one little old lady the other night who said I was a really sweet nurse," she said. "I said I took that as a compliment."...

ALTO PASS, Ill. -- Most women let alone great-grandmothers probably wouldn't even consider driving a tractor-trailer solo across the United States. But that's how Josie Jerdon cuts a different path. Jerdon is a 60-year-old great-grandmother who lives near Alto Pass and drives part-time for the Dannie Gilder trucking company in Cape Girardeau, a job she has held since she was 56 years old...

GORDONVILLE -- Deals are all in a day's work for Gordonville used-car salesman Greg Sparkman. A born trader, the 30-year-old Sparkman is equally at home whether he's selling horsepower or horses. "We'll trade for anything," said Sparkman, who owns and operates Sparkman Auto Sales. "I traded a '73 Chevy for six pigs and one calf," he recalled...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - With 1,500 to 2,000 pickups being made each day, no city employee is more regularly in contact with residents of Cape Girardeau than a sanitation worker. Unless roads are snow covered, or it's so cold the truck's hydraulic system won't work, five times a week employees of the sanitation department follow a route around the city picking up trash set at the curbs by residents. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - As long as he can remember, John James has been around the wrecker business. Like most jobs, it is changing all the time, offering new challenges and opportunities to serve the public. "It takes a lot of experience and is much more diversified than it used to be, and more technical," explained James. "Equipment is much more expensive. It takes a lot of figuring out, and it takes the right equipment to do the right job...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Greg Withers doesn't balk when it comes to rating himself as a repossession man. The way he sees it, he ranks as one of the best in the country. Want a number on a scale of 1 through 10? No problem; Withers instantly settles on a number: 9.9...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Mention any item and there's probably a good chance that Irene Spinner's been asked by someone if they can pawn it off on her. Spinner a slender, sprightly woman who deals with the subject of her age by only admitting that it's somewhere over 50 is manager of Plaza Pawn, 2100 William. It's a job she's held for six years counting four years as manager of the former Broadway Pawn at 203 Broadway, which changed its name two years ago when it moved to William Street...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Keeping the streets of Cape Girardeau clean and free of debris is a daily challenge to Ron Poe. As one of two street-sweeper drivers in the city Public Works Department, Poe cleans 30 to 35 miles of streets on an average day. "You wouldn't believe the things I pick up," said Poe. "I find glass, bottles, cans, limbs, and all kinds of things. If we did not sweep the streets, they would definitely have stuff all over them."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- For 53 years, Richard Esicar has been bringing home the bacon. As a youngster, Esicar worked in his father's Cape Girardeau meat market. Today, the family business continues to thrive as Esicar's Old Hickory Smokehouse on North Kingshighway, operated by Richard and his brother, Ed...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Bob Levy Jr. spends hours and hours practicing for a career that measures success in just seconds. The 20-year-old Cape Girardeau man has embarked upon a rodeo career. Levy spends a lot of time perfecting his steer-wrestling skills at his family's Cape County farm...

A leisurely visit recently with my two sisters brought on wide ranging discussions. The war, of course, took up much of our talking time. We stated our positions. All three agreed with the United States stance. Then, in an attempt to prove that we hadn't been propagandized into our positions, we struggled to give what we thought were our original reasons...

Second-grade students at Orchard Drive elementary school in Jackson were transformed from boys and girls to berries and rabbits and bobcats last week. Children, who were categorized as plants, plant-eating animals and meat-eating animals, grabbed a string as each was eaten or ate another. At the end of the activity, the children were interconnected in a "food web."...

During the past few months, most of us have gained a much deeper respect for old-man winter along with a more intense interest in being adequately prepared. It is important to pay close attention to regional weather reports when severe weather is anticipated...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Jan Julison, child and family therapist from the Community Counseling Center, will be guest speaker at the Parents Supporting Parents meeting Tuesday, to be held at 7 p.m. at St. Andrew Church. Julison's topic will be "Developmental Stages of School Age Children: How Do Parents Know What's Normal."...

SCOTT CITY -- Checker Pizza has become Checker Pizza & Sports Lounge here. "We're expanding our menu, adding billiards tables, shuffleboard, and a dart board." said Jack Johnson, an owner of the business which opened in May of 1990 at 1110 main. St. "We're trying to make a fun place out of the operation."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Cape Girardeau County employment officials may still be wondering what happened in February 1990, but they are pleased with overall employment totals for last year. "We had 95.8 percent employment during the month of December," said Jackie Cecil, manager of the Missouri Job Service Office here. "For the year, our average employment rate was 95.6. That's not bad. We're pleased with those totals."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Shell's Furniture and Collectibles has opened in downtown Cape Girardeau. Jack Shell is manager of the new operation, located at 221A Independence Street. "We are emphasizing furniture," he said. "What we have dates from the turn of the century through the 1930s and 1940s. We have living room, dining room and bedroom furniture."...

McCLURE, Ill. The former Hideaway, located just south of the Highway 3 and Route 146 intersection, has changed its name and operation. Manager Sheila Schearf said the entertainment spot, now the Country Bumpkin, has changed from rock and roll music to country and western music...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Seams Unique, which specializes in custom monogramming of shirts, jackets, towels, hats, fur coats, and canvas luggage, is in a new location. "We have moved to 879 N. Kingshighway," said Carolyn Downs, who recently became sole owners of the business. "We're in the former Jay's Fried Chicken Building."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Chae's skin care and cosmetic products are now available here. "The new retail products include a collection of cleansing and moisturizing products," said Daina East, who recently became image adviser and distributor for Chae Corporation here. "The skin care products and cosmetics are made from natural products herbs, flowers, oils, minerals."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- When Terry Monroe left his job a few years ago, he took a chance with the movies, and it's paying off. "I've never looked back," says Monroe, president of C & M Video, a video movies rental chain headquartered in Effingham, Ill. "We developed a plan and it's working out."...

CHESTERFIELD -- Donna K. Dirnberger has joined Advanced Elastomer Systems, as an end user support analyst. Dirnberger, of Chesterfield, formerly of Oran, is a graduate of University of Missouri-Columbia with a major in computer science. She will be based in St. Louis. She is the daughter of Jerry and Carol Dirnberger of Oran...

SIKESTON -- Rick Sparks, business and industry specialist with University of Missouri Extension, and Buz Sutherland of the Small Business Development Center of Southeast Missouri State University will present a small business workshop at Sikeston. The three-hour session, to be held at the Vo-Tech School here, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., will feature such topics as personal considerations, new business start-up/buyout/franchising, financing a small business, recordkeeping, developing a business plan and others.. ...

JACKSON -- Melvin Steinnerd of Jackson will be recognized for 31 years of accident-free driving for Dannie Gilder, Inc., a Cape Girardeau-based trucking company. Steinnerd is one of five drivers who will be honored at the firm's safety and awards banquet, to be held Feb. 23, at Robert's Restaurant at Benton...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Sharon Williams, owner of Williams Hearing Center, 320 Broadway, recently attended a two-day, continuing education seminar. The workshop, "A New View on Hearing Aid Fitting," was conducted at St. Francis Medical Center, and included topics on how to use the hearing aid analyzer for "real ear" hearing aid performance, and the latest update on the cochlear implant surgery and rehabilitation...

ANNA, Ill. -- Edna Alsip of Vienna, who has provided more than 10 years' service to TIP of Illinois, was named TIP's employee of the year. Alsip, home health aide based at TIP's Anna office, provides care to patients in Johnson and Union counties. TIP is the Southern Illinois area's largest Medicare certified home health agency in Southern Illinois, and serves the lower 16 counties, providing skilled nursing, home health aid, physical and occupational therapy services...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Michelle Wright has joined the staff of the Wright Cut, 633 Broadway, as a stylist. She is a recent graduate of Stage One The Hair School. Her mother, Sheila Wright, opened the salon in September of 1989. Michelle Wright will be doing all phases of hair styling and hair care and specialize in acrylic nails...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Royal N'Orleans Restaurant, which has been closed almost a year following a fire in March 1990, will reopen next week. "The restaurant will open Monday," said a spokesman from DeJoy, Inc. "But, a reservations-only policy will be in effect for the first week, until Feb. 25."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Fran McIver, owner of Fran's Beauty and Cosmetic Salon, 227 S. Plaza Way, is now offering Corium facials. McIver said the process utilizes a hand-held power unit that cleanses skin pores and massages the skin surface with small rotating discs, while using cleansing and moistures creams...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Lori Lain has joined the staff of Gulliver's Travel Agency as a travel consultant. Beverly Estes, of Gulliver's Travel, announced Lain's appointment recently. Lain is a graduate of a travel school in Santa Monica, Calif., and has three years' experience in the travel industry...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Five new members have been elected to the Greater Cape Girardeau Development Corporation by its shareholders. Virgil Chirnside, Stanley Grimm, Steven Limbaugh, Charles E. "Bud" Leming, and Steven Strom were elected to the three-year terms. According to Linda Minner of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, they replace members Ray Buhs, Charles Hutson, Carl Meyer, Max Stovall and Fred R. Wilferth...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Lisa Martinez, a part-time package operations supervisor for the Cape Girardeau United Parcel Service, has been promoted to a full-time position supervisory position, according to company spokesman Greg Pesek. "Martinez has been a UPS employee three and one-half years," he said. "Her new responsibilities include supervising and training UPS employees in the package operations in Cape Girardeau."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee for March has been re-scheduled to Friday, March 8. The date was switched to the "Second Friday" due to the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, which will beheld Friday, March 1. The Coffee will be held at 7:30 a.m. at Drury Lodge...

ST. LOUIS Union Electric's Board of Directors has declared a quarterly divided on common stock of 54 cents per share, payable March 29, to stockholders of record on March 6. The board also declared the regular quarterly dividends on all classes of preferred stock, payable May 15 to stockholders of record on April 19...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Aid Association For Lutherans (AAL) recently approved a $400 grant to Immanuel Lutheran Church of Cairo to help the congregation celebrate its 125th anniversary. The grant was provided through AAL's Milestone program, designed to enable Lutheran congregations to recognize and observe significant anniversaries...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- PDQ Quality Printing, 334 S. Plaza Way, is offering free yellow ribbon stationery for people writing to troops in the Persian Gulf War, said owners Raymond and Kathy LeGrand. The note-size sheets have a yellow ribbon printed on a white background...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Bi-State Oil Company facility at 920 N. Kingshighway recently received first place in the Sunocco Marketing's "Winners Circle" Service Station Beautification Program. "This is a big honor," said Bob Blank, of Bi-State Oil. "Our station had to go through inspections periodically throughout the year."...

ST. LOUIS The Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. board of directors has declared a 53 cent per share common stock dividend. It will be payable April 1 to stockholders of record March 1. Boatmen's is the largest bank holding company in Missouri, having 31 banks in the Midwest. It operates the Boatmen's National Bank of Cape Girardeau locally...

ST. LOUIS Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri has announced its premium income increased 21 percent in 1990, reaching $650.9 million. Claims expenses rose 17.6 percent to $556 million. The company added another $21.6 million in its reserves to give a total of $118 million, equivalent to two months of administrative and benefit expenses...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Dana Corporation reported narrowing net income for 1990, particularly in the fourth quarter, compared to 1989 figures. The most recent fourth quarter income dropped to $4.1 million from the 1989 level of $20.7 million. Total sales for the company remained relatively stable, with $4.95 billion for the year, a 2 percent increase. The company attributes a $25 million after-tax special charge for the lower income figure...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's "Business After Hours" program will be held Feb. 19, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau Country Club. The sponsor for the February program will be Dana Corp., headquartered in Toledo, Ohio...