Stories from Monday, November 28, 1994

Would you like to keep more of the money you make? There's a simple way that employees can keep more of their earnings through immediate tax savings and tax-deferred investment growth -- by participating in company-sponsored 401(k) plans. Less than 25 percent of eligible employees participate in their company's plan say Ellie Williams Clinton and Diane Pearl, co-authors of a new financial education book -- ""All About Your 401K Plan."...

JACKSON -- The traffic on Highway 61 starts around 6 a.m. The southbound lane is full of Jackson drivers on their way to work in Cape Girardeau. The northbound lane is practically empty. The flow is a result of Jackson's status as a "bedroom community," said Mark Brown, the city's director of public works...

An intense storm system that moved across the region was expected to leave cold weather in its wake today, the National Weather Service said. Snow flurries fell in northeast Missouri, and Cape Girardeau received 1.36 inches of rain during the 24 hours that ended at 6 p.m. Sunday...

A 6-year-old boy from Cape Girardeau wants what is hot in the toy world: Power Rangers or a Megazord. Or maybe just a game would do this Christmas. Right now his wishes aren't even close to being fulfilled. The boy's parents are divorced. His father doesn't even live in Missouri anymore...

To a German traveler on the Mississippi in the middle of the 19th century, Cape Girardeau appeared as "a row of substantial houses" looking "down from steep banks..., melting like sugar into the river." That description and many others are found in a new book containing more than 200 19th century lithographs and paintings of Mississippi River towns along with recent aerial photographs...

When do you think Christmas decorations should be displayed? Keirston Ferguson, Cape Girardeau "December first because that's the beginning of December, which is the month Christmas is in." Roger Williams, Cape Girardeau "I say the day after Thanksgiving. Traditionwise, you've got the holidays coming in and it's busy, but then after Thanksgiving I think it would be wise to put Christmas decorations up."...

PERRYVILLE -- John H. Higgins, 69, of Perryville died Sunday, Nov. 27, 1994, at Perry Oaks Nursing Home in Perryville. He was born April 13, 1925, at Yount, the son of William M. and Pearle A. Heistand Higgins. He was a member of the Lithium Baptist Church and a retired laborer from Johnnies Poultry...

Gerald L. "Houch" Houchins, 65, of Blandville, Ky., and formerly of Cottage Hills, Ill., died Saturday, Nov. 26, 1994, at his home. He was born July 5, 1929, the son of the late Wesley Houchins and Pauline Banum Houchins, who survives. On Aug. 30, 1974, he married Dorothy Reeves, who survives of Wycliffe, Ky...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Kathy Lou Fitzgibbons Jones, 47, of East Prairie died Saturday, Nov. 26, 1994, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Feb. 2, 1947, in East Prairie, the daughter of the late Doris Tyler Fitzgibbons. A graduate of East Prairie High School, she was a licensed beautician in East Prairie for 29 years. She also was a member of the First Christian Church in East Prairie...

ALTENBURG -- Ferdinand E. Steffens, 93, of Altenburg died Saturday, Nov. 26, 1994, at Perry Oaks Nursing Home in Perryville. He was born May 6, 1901, in Wittenberg, the son of Klaus and Pauline Ghurm Steffens. On June 12, 1927, he married Emma Koenig, who survives in Perryville...

ZALMA -- Bill Acord, 70, of Zalma died Sunday, Nov. 27, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Morgan Funeral Home in Advance.

ORAN -- Maggie James, 84, of Oran died Sunday, Nov. 27, 1994, at SEMO Health Care in Sikeston. Visitation will be after 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Oran, where funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

SIKESTON -- Mildred Fox Dalton, 80, of Sikeston died Saturday, Nov. 26, 1994, at Meadowbrook Manor in Springfield. She was born May 19, 1914, in Mississippi County, the daughter of Hascal and Hontas Clay McCuiston Fox. On May 20, 1933, she married Bernard R. Dalton, who preceded her in death on Aug. 8, 1974...

SCOTT CITY -- Funeral mass for Harold James Miller, 43, of Imperial and formerly of Scott City, will be at 11 a.m. today at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Scott City. The Rev. Pat Wissman will officiate with burial in the church cemetery at Scott City...

MARBLE HILL -- Odell F. Renfrow, 80, of Marble Hill died Sunday, Nov. 27, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 16, 1914, the son of Samuel and Rosie Keiser Renfrow in New Albany, Miss. On Dec. 24, 1939, he married Pearl Smithey, who survives...

Millicent M. Dean, 82, of 1242 Sailer Circle died Saturday, Nov. 26, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Oct. 6, 1912, at Jackson, the daughter of Herman and Rilla Norman Mueller. On Oct. 6, 1931, she married James R. Dean, who survives of the home...

Jackson, a community situated in the heart of Cape Girardeau County, is the second fastest growing Missouri city between St. Louis and the Arkansas border. The 1990 census marked Jackson at 9,200 persons. Just four years later, the estimated population has surpassed 11,000. By the year 2000, projections indicate Jackson's population could top 14,000...

Drury Southwest will fill a vacant corner near the intersection of Route K and Mount Auburn Road. Robert Drury, president of Drury Southwest, has announced plans for a new high profile commercial retail complex at the southeast corner of the intersection...

As America grows more and more fragmented, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep in mind (and even more difficult to observe) the way in which the framers of the Constitution dealt with the electoral process. As late as 1782, there was little support for control of either the executive or legislative branch by one particular political party. ...

Perryville Junior High School A Honor Roll Eighth Grade -- Terica Ernst, Amanda Masiel, Nathan Rellergert, Jared Schnurbusch, Steve Schnurbusch. Seventh Grade -- Allen Besand, Brent Bohnert, Jeanne Caddell, Jeffrey Hotop, Kris Kueker, Erin Miget, Joshua Ponder, Cora Preston, Jennifer Triller...

St. Vincent De Paul Grade School A Honor Roll Eight Grade -- Andrew Buchheit, Joe Essner, Chad Heuschober, Cecilia Kuntz, Gretchen Pfautsch. Seventh Grade -- Cory Elfrink, Christine Kimball, Jennifer Markin, Scott Reinagel, Michael Sirimaturos, Jean Stoverink...

Perryville Senior High School A Honor Roll Twelth Grade -- Gwen Abernathy, John Amschler, Kelly Behrle, Jason Berkbigler, Shannon Breig, Amy Brown, Angela Buchheit, Bridgette Buchheit, Justin Burroughs, Sarah Caldejon, Anne Childers, Brian Cornelius, Angela Dippold, Carrie Duvall, Jaime Eddleman, Amy Froemsdorf, Sarah Geringer, Kinberly Hogard, Glenda Kaempfe, Erin Kiefer, Emily Knapp, Rebecca Koenig, Deanna Leimbach, Melba Lorenz, Valerie Meyer, Dana Monier, Abigail Moore, Leigh Ann Neathery, Courtney Parsons, Victoria Peters, Jessica Richardet, Jason Roberts, Amy Rose, Joseph Roth, Kimberly Ruessler, Lindsey Schaaf, Kimberly Schaupert, Angela Schilling, Kerry Scott, Michelle Stortz, Kelly Stueve, Robyn Stueve, Jennifer Sutterer, Tori Taylor, Eric Tucker, Christopher Vowels, Cori Welland, Tyson Zahner, Dana Zoellner, Daniel Zoellner.. ...

Mrs. A is a proud woman who still abides by the standards that marked her upbringing in the early 1900s. She was taught to pay her bills on time and never borrow beyond her means. Unfortunately Mrs. A, 86, has such limited income from social security, she often has to go without food in order to pay for medicine. She is battling hypertension, arthritis and the onset of congestive heart failure...

Schnucks Markets Inc., headquartered at St. Louis, recently received the Better Business Bureau's (BBB) World-Wide Customer Satisfaction Award. Schnucks is the first supermarket selected for the consumer advocacy award by the BBB serving Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois...

Mary Henson, Anita Tedder and Carole Stotler have received the designation, certified ophthalmic assistants (C.O.A), after passing certification examinations by the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology in St. Louis. The three are staff members in the ophthalmology office of Dr. Charles H. Cozean Jr., in Doctors' Park...