Stories from Monday, October 16, 1995

Barnes & Noble Inc., the nation's largest bookseller, opened in Cape Girardeau last week. The new, 22,000-square-foot bookstore on the perimeter of the West Park Mall at 3035 William opened Friday. The store is open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. It features a cafe that serves coffee, espresso, sodas, pastries and other dessert items...

Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel held an open house Sunday at its new site at 829 N. West End Blvd. The facility, a former church built in the mid-1950s, previously housed First Christian Church and includes two chapels. The second-floor chapel is on the level with the front entrance off West End Boulevard and is currently being used in the funeral home operation...

A new law firm has been established in Cape Girardeau. Ted R. Osburn, Jeffrey P. Hine, Richard K. Kuntze and Jonah T. Yates have formed the firm of Osburn, Hine, Kuntze, & Yates, L.L.C. The office is at 2027 Broadway. The four attorneys were previously associated with Oliver, Oliver & Waltz, P.C...

Heavenly Ham will open in Cape Girardeau next month. The retail business, which specializes in baked, spiral-sliced and honey-spiced ham, will open in mid-November at 3443 William, Suite A, North of Wal-Mart. The business also offers smoked turkeys, fully-cooked barbecue ribs, specialty bacon and a variety of condiments. The company will ship gift packages throughout the country...

Two LeGrand brothers have opened a new transmission shop. LeGrand Bros. Transmission, owned and operated by Dave LeGrand and Darryl LeGrand, has opened a new shop at 4340 State Highway W. The shop will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 to noon Saturdays...

Tuesday -- Ruby Tuesday Restaurant to open in Cape Girardeau. Wednesday -- Franklin Time Management seminar, Drury Lodge, 8 to noon. Oct. 24 -- West End Merchants Association meeting, Drury Lodge, 5:30 p.m. -- Downtown Merchants meeting, Port Cape Girardeau, 5:30 p.m...

Bob Hoppmann, supervisor of The Pasta House Company Restaurants in Cape Girardeau and Carbondale, Ill., has been named 1995 "Restaurateur of the Year" by the Southeast Missouri Chapter of the Missouri Restaurant Association (MRA). Hoppmann, who has more than 15 years in the restaurant business, started with The Pasta House a decade ago as general manager of the company's restaurant in Cape Girardeau...

K's Merchandise has established a video kiosk in front of its new store, which will open next month in University Mall at Carbondale, Ill. The video kiosk will offer shoppers previews of K's Merchandise's new store. K's Merchandise, based in Decatur, will feature a selection of name brand products in sporting goods, electronics, housewares, furniture, small appliances, toys, jewelry and other gift items...

The construction of a 125,000-square-foot expansion of the TG (USA) manufacturing facility at Perryville. TG (USA) produces a number automotive products, such as air bag assemblies, steering wheel assemblies and plastic interior trim parts. The company, which has contracts with Chrysler, Ford, GM, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Honda, has facilities of 200,000 square feet and employs 750 people...

Property owners across the country may be eligible to receive funds from a recently negotiated settlement to replace certain plastic plumbing and yard service lines. The class-action settlement was reached July 31 in "Cox, et al. vs. Shell Oil Company, et al." in Obion County, Tenn. In the settlement, Shell Oil and Hoechst Celanese Corp. agreed to commit $850 million for replacement of certain plastic plumbing systems that have leaked and compensation for leak related damages...

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Greater St. Louis, which serves Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois, is moving. The BBB will be in new quarters at Sunnen Office Park off Big Bend Road by Nov. 1. The move from the Merchants Exchange Building, 5100 Oakland Ave., is necessary for the expansion of the St. Louis Science Center to the west...

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis now has a server on the Internet's World Wide Web, at http://www.stls.frb.org. Lora Holman, senior research coordinator of the St. Louis Fed, said economic data on the bank's Internet site are from its Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) database, and include historical U.S. ...

Commerce Bancshares Inc. has declared a 5 percent stock dividend, to be distributed to shareholders Dec. 15 to holders of record at the close of business on Nov. 30. Commerce Bancshares is a registered bank holding company, with banking affiliates in 100 sites in Illinois, Kansas and Missouri, including Cape Girardeau...

Over 50 semi-trucks and 70 trailers and tankers should be sold at the auction, which attracts buyers from all over the country. MAP -- AUCTION SITE MAP Peterbilt, Western Star, Freightliner, White, Dorsey, Great Dane, American, Fruehauf, Spicer. These names may not be familiar to most American businessmen, but they're well known to a crowd who will gather at the former site of Potashnick Construction on Highway 74, a mile west of Interstate 55 at Cape Girardeau this week...

You've written a check at the nearest supermarket or service station or any one of a dozen other retail establishments, and chances are, you gave out your Social Security number. It's difficult to do business without that number, but be conservative about passing it out, say consumer and family economic specialists at the University of Missouri-Columbia...

Michael G. Miller hasn't had much time to think about his new job as Cape Girardeau city manager. Miller begins his duties today and will attend the City Council meeting tonight. He and his wife, Janice, just bought a home in the Northfield area and moved in the first week of October...

Court orders of protection can be an effective deterrent to abuse and harassment. But to someone who's dangerously obsessed, a court order isn't much of a barrier. "There is a law against assault," Cape Girardeau County Division IV Associate Circuit Judge Pete Statler. "There is a law against murder," but "an emotionally disturbed person really doesn't care about that little piece of paper."...

SCOTT CITY -- While muralists in Cape Girardeau paint a "Wall of Fame," Scott City officials have compiled photographs of crumbling city streets and mounted them on a "Wall of Shame." The Scott City Council in August unanimously approved a special election Nov. 7 on a half-cent transportation sales tax. The tax, which is expected to bring in $110,000 annually, will be used to repair and pave city streets...

First there was too much rain. Then there were heat and disease, followed by more rain and, finally, frost. Maybe the best thing farmers can say about this growing season is that a long, hard crop year is almost over. The soggy spring and broiling, dry summer teamed up this year to sock it to Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois farmers, whether it was a major grain crop, such as corn and soybeans, or cabbages, egg plants, tomatoes, pumpkins, watermelons or green beans...

The Southeast Missourian asked: "In the wake of National Fire Prevention Week, what plan of action do you have in the event of a house fire?" Kim Knott, Cape Girardeau "We have a two-story house. Our bedrooms are all upstairs. We have a fire ladder that we attach to the window to get downstairs so we do not have to go down the steps or through the doors. We go directly out the window to the corner where the electrical pole is."...

AS A taxpayer I just wonder why we haven't said anything about the senators' pensions. Who in the world deserves that kind of pension? I am also a Medicare and Medicaid person, and I don't think that's the place to start. I think that if they would cut their pensions down to about $30,000 like the rest of us people, they would start in the right direction. That's my comment for today...

I AM concerned that so many people appear to be ready to change our system of justice. Although it is not perfect, it has served us well for more than two centuries. In the O.J. Simpson trial, the system did not fail. It allowed for a fair trial in accordance with the due process of law. ...

JACKSON -- Almost 250 people attended the Cape Girardeau County Democratic Central Committee Fundraiser Saturday evening in Jackson. The fall fundraiser featured Jackson native and Missouri Secretary of State Bekki Cook as guest speaker. Cook asked for the support of the Democrats, saying if elected she would be the first Cape Girardeau County resident elected to statewide office in 100 years. ...

Interim legislative committees have been spreading across the state in recent days, investigating conditions that need changing and listening to constituents who have a complaint about some activity of government in Missouri. A long and honorable tradition holds that members of the General Assembly, when not in session, have a duty to probe, question and devise solutions for what is ailing government, and this year's crop of panels appears to have reached record numbers...

Good morning, Michael Miller. You are probably in a hurry this morning, trying to get to City Hall for your first day on the job as Cape Girardeau's new city manager. Welcome to town. As a professional manager who has moved around a bit -- seven towns since 1960 -- you know how to get a quick feel for a new community. You already have found a house to buy, and pretty soon you and your family will turn it into a home...

LEOPOLD -- Edwin Marshall Stroder, 64, of Leopold died Saturday, Oct. 14, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 16, 1931, in Laflin, son of Bryan and Mary Stella Lubbers Stroder. On July 2, 1966, he married Alta Pearl Ramsey...

BURFORDVILLE -- Mildred Abernathy Cook, 82, of Burfordville died Saturday, Oct. 14, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 14, 1913, in Mayfield, daughter of John and Welker Hanners. On Feb. 19, 1928, she married Arvel Cook, who preceded her in death in June 1973...

SIKESTON -- Gladys A. Lewis, 86, of Sikeston died Sunday, Oct. 15, 1995, at Clearview Nursing Center following an extended illness. She was born Aug. 10, 1909, in New Madrid, daughter of Ross Lee and Mettie Lee Hanniphan Schultz. On June 16, 1929, she married Lester R. Lewis in Charleston. He preceded her in death March 29, 1990...

BUDA, Texas -- Albert A. Thompson died Saturday, Oct. 14, 1995, at Hillside Manor in Buda. He was born Nov. 24, 1905, at Pocahontas, son of Otis and Bertha Reck Thompson. On Oct. 25, 1930, he married Rudell Bone, who died March 26, 1969. He married Edna Holbrook Feb. 14, 1970. She survives...

PUXICO -- John D. Steen, 70, of Puxico died Sunday, Oct. 15, 1995, at John A. Pershing VA Hospital in Poplar Bluff. He was born April 23, 1925, in Grove, Okla., son of Oliver Perry Steen and Elmira Inlow. He married Melony McCall on Oct. 2, 1982, in Bollinger County...

BLOOMFIELD -- Viola Gertrude Cowgur, 80, of Bloomfield died Sunday, Oct. 15, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 15, 1915, near Bloomfield, daughter of Arthur and Maggie Eaton Hardy. She and William Earl Cowgur were married April 25, 1931. He preceded her in death Oct. 30, 1975...

SIKESTON -- David E. Conn, Jr., 68, of Wyatt died Saturday, Oct. 14, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Dec. 19, 1926, at Wyatt, son of David E. Conn Sr. and Luella Mary Keene Conn. He and Cordelia Ann Rock were married May 30, 1948...

Emmay B. Frye, 93, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Oct. 15, 1995, at the Lutheran Home. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford & Sons Funeral Home.

DEXTER -- Evelyn "Dink" Menley, 76, of Dexter died Sunday, Oct. 15, 1995, at the Dexter Memorial Hospital. She was born June 26, 1919, at Essex, daughter of Henry Evert and Sarah Ellen Leffel Menley. Menley lived in the Dexter area for most of her life and was a farm laborer...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Robert Thomas Sorensen, 48, of East Prairie died Sunday, Oct. 15, 1995, at his home. He was born Nov. 21, 1946, at Chicago, son of Thomas and Loretta Sorensen. He was employed by East Prairie Schools as a custodian at the Webb Middle School. He had been employed by Prairie Manufacturing Co. for 21 years. He was a member of the Victory Baptist Church in East Prairie...

Agenda Monday, Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m. City Hall, 401 Independence Consent Ordinances Grant a special use permit to St. Francis Medical Center for smaller than required parking spaces in its parking garage. Second and third readings. Grant a special use permit to David O. Patrick Trust to assemble computer cables at 1809 N. Kingshighway. Second and third readings...

Monday, Oct. 16 7:30 p.m. Power and Light Committee Accept $103,541.88 bid from IBM for purchase of new IBM AS400 computer and other associated hardware and maintenance agreement. Accept $30,580 bid from SCT Public Sector Inc. for applications software for the new computer system...

The Small Business Development Center will conduct counseling sessions in three areas this month. Counselor Gil Degenhardt will be available Oct. 25, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office. The counseling sessions (about an hour) are free. Call (314) 335-3312 for appointment...