Stories from Monday, January 29, 1996

Neon signs guide Interstate 55 travelers to various Cape Girardeau motels and restaurants. Due to recent growth some of the businesses are not currently included in the Missouri Logos program. It's 5 o'clock on a hot August afternoon. You're on Interstate 70, midway between St. ...

First it was Elvis. Now credit cards have gone to the dogs. MasterCard, the same credit card company that offers consumers a credit card with Elvis' picture on it, is now touting its new Purina MBNA MasterCard. The card is being introduced by Ralston Purina Pet Products of St. Louis...

Students at Notre Dame High School will learn more about their Catholic heritage as schools in Southeast Missouri begin celebrating Catholic Schools Week. The week began Sunday with special Masses and open houses in many parishes. It ends Saturday. The theme is "Catholic Schools: Schools You Can Believe In." It was chosen by the National Catholic Education Association, and will be the theme through 1997...

Cape Girardeau's $73.9 million, five-year capital improvements plan lists 121 projects involving everything from streets to sewers. The largest category is $42.3 million for water, sewer and solid waste projects. The category includes sewer improvements costing $27.9 million, $5 million for expansion of the city's water system and $929,000 for completion of the Cape LaCroix/Walker Creek Flood Control Project...

The city of Cape Girardeau plans to spend nearly $74 million on capital projects over the next five fiscal years. The projects total nearly $15 million more than last year's $59.2 million capital budget. There are 121 projects in the tentative plan compared to 104 in the 1995 version...

SIKESTON -- Bob Kielhofner hates to complain, but it's tough not to notice all the growth just past the Scott County line. Geography is the problem, Scott County's presiding commissioner says. If retailers want to build, they look north to Cape Girardeau County, where existing restaurants and department stores draw thousands from miles around...

They've done it again. Artificial sweeteners. Salt substitutes. Now a calorie-free fat substitute is due to be introduced to the American public's palate. The Food and Drug Administration last week approved the use of olestra. In a few months, Procter & Gamble will start test marketing the stuff...

SCOTT CITY -- A "Dear Abby" column helped make the Scott City Food Bank about $200 wealthier this weekend. After members of the St. Joseph Catholic Church read the syndicated advice column that printed information about a South Carolina program designed to help raise money for the poor, they decided to get involved...

IT'S A terrible shame that people would treat animals so inhumanely. It's also a terrible shame that people don't get as worked and concerned over abused and neglected children, the homeless, the forgotten residents in residential care centers and the human population in general. The media has just gone to the dogs...

Nelson L. Volkerding, 80, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Jan. 28, 1996, at the Lutheran Home. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

Of the hundreds of bills filed in the Missouri General Assembly each year, many stand out not because they will impact drastically on citizens but because -- at least at first glance -- they seem a bit odd. To the sponsors of such legislation, however, though their bills may seem somewhat strange they have strong reasons for proposing them...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Glenn J. Conner, 57, of Dongola died Sunday, Jan. 28, 1996, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at Crain Funeral Home in Dongola.

FERGUSON -- Donald Slemmer, 62, of Ferguson and formerly of Jackson, died Sunday, Jan. 28, 1996, at the Christian Northeast Hospital. He was born Sept. 10, 1933, at Jackson to Julius and Merle Bazzell Slemmer. He married Alma Dickerson on April 29, 1960...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Hazel Lea Goins, 87, of Dongola died Sunday, Jan. 28, 1996, at the Union County Hospital in Anna, Ill. She was born Feb. 12, 1908, at Sikeston to Lewis and Carrie Carter Windings. On Nov. 7, 1923, she married Theodore Dobb Goins, who died March 3, 1992...

BLOOMFIELD -- Judy Massey, 46, died Saturday, Jan. 27, 1996, at her home. She was born Feb. 9, 1949, at Sikeston, daughter of Guy Edward and Mildred King Sandage. She and Joe Massey were married in 1964. Massey worked as a private health care nurse. She spent most of her life in the Bloomfield area...

Violet Bollinger, 89, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Jan. 28, 1996, at the Lutheran Home. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

JACKSON -- Patricia Ann Young, 46, of Jackson died Saturday, Jan. 27, 1996, near Pocahontas following an automobile accident. Young was born Oct. 21, 1949, at Pleasanton, Calif., daughter of Paul and Adeline Safreno Korenak. She and Richard A. Young were married Jan. 15, 1972, at Grandin...

NEELY'S LANDING -- Sylvester "Syl" Hitchcock, 82, died Saturday, Jan. 27, 1996, at his home in Neely's Landing. He was born June 12, 1913, at Neely's Landing, son of Perry Hitchcock and Mary Rankin Hitchcock. He and Imogene King were married Nov. 4, 1938. She died March 10, 1982...

Writing week after week about Missourians whose names are most often linked with the political events of the moment can lead to lapses of memory. I confess to this journalistic sin, committed by others in the Fourth Estate, for we tend to focus on where the biggest news is occurring and on the personalities making the biggest waves in Jefferson City...

Any doubt that these are times of revolutionary change can be dispelled by the nature and substance of today's issue discussions. All the action is in a conservative direction, and the big political question of 1996 will be whether a liberal Democratic president can succeed in an audacious attempt to hijack conservative-sounding themes, as he did in this week's State of the Union address...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "What do you think of the Illinois Department of Public Health's proposal to order doctors to furnish names of people who have contracted HIV to be listed on a confidential state registry? Kelly Penrose, Oran...

ERA Cape Realty has moved to its new site at 1409-A N. Mount Auburn Road. ERA Cape Realty, a member of Electronic Realty Associates L.P. was previously located at 2121 Broadway. "Our staff and market have grown," said David S. Glastetter, member broker of ERA Cape Realty. "To better accommodate our growth and the needs of our customers, we have moved to new, larger offices."...

TCBY Treats opened last week at Crossroads Shopping Center near Independence and Kingshighway. Owners of the TCBY Treats franchise are August and Jill Smirl. "We have a lot of new menu items," said Nancy Biedler, manager of the business. Besides the regular frozen yogurt desserts, the business offers hand-dipped no-fat ice cream and hand-dipped yogurt desserts, along with a variety of cakes and pies...

Joe and Donna Domian, investment representatives at Edward Jones, have been named limited partners in the Jones Financial Cos., a holding company for the St. Louis-based financial-services company. The Jones Financial Cos. were created in 1987 to allow Edward D. Jones to expand into new areas of potential business while remaining a partnership owned by its employees...

KENNETT -- Custom Steel Inc. of Wurtland, Ky., has announced plans for a new steel fabrication facility at Kennett. The company is purchasing a 50,000-square-foot building in Kennett's Industrial Park. Frank Jones, president of Custom Steel Inc., said the company will employ about 25 persons at start-up, hopefully in April. The employment total could go to 40 during the first year...

POPLAR BLUFF -- A Ryan's Family Steak House, being built at Poplar Bluff, is expected to open in April or May. Ryan's Steak House, based in Greer, S.C., has more than 240 steak houses in operation, including one at Cape Girardeau.

Joey's Restaurant will open Tuesday at East Cape Girardeau, Ill. Joey's, formerly Witz Restaurant, which closed Dec. 31, will be open six days a week, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Breakfast will be served from 7 to 11 a.m. and lunch and dinner the rest of the day...

Custom Design Homes Inc., 1409-A Mount Auburn Road, has been appointed builder/dealer for Wausau Homes of Wausau, Wis. Wausau Homes produces factory-built and custom-built single-family modular housing units with a wide variety of floor plans, options and exterior designs...

Van Matre Buick of Cape Girardeau has earned the "Best In Class Award" from Buick Motor Division of General Motors. The agency received the award for the ninth consecutive year, said Mark Van Matre, general manager of the local dealership. According to Buick's Memphis regional office, fewer than 150 Buick dealers across the nation earn the award annually. The award is based on ratings for customer satisfaction, sales, service and overall operation...

Hudson Foods, one of the "Top 10" industries in Southeast Missouri, was recently named "Outstanding Business of 1995" at Dexter Hudson, which added more than 400 jobs to its expanded Dexter facility in 1995, is Dexter's largest employer with 800 employees with a $10 million annual payroll...

Spartech Corp., which includes two operations in Cape Girardeau -- Spartech Plastics, 2500 Spartech Drive, and Spartech Compounding on Nash Road -- has signed a letter of intent to acquire the stock of Portage Industries Corp. for $6.60 per share. Portage, of Portage, Wis., is a thermoplastic processor specializing in custom heavy- and light-gauge extrusion and thermoforming products...

Dr. Bill Atchley, president of Southeast Missouri State University, will be guest speaker at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee Friday. The event will be held at 7:30 a.m. at the Show Me Center on the university campus.

A 200-by-300-foot, 60,000-square-foot speculative building on an eight-acre tract in the Nash Road Industrial Park is attracting some interest. The speculative building, which is under construction, is already being shown, said Mitch Robinson, Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association executive director...

A Cape Girardeau company has joined the moving industry's national trade association. Day Transfer Co., 2094 Southern Expressway, has become a member of the American Movers Conference (AMC), which is affiliated with the American Trucking Association...

A tax-aid program for low-to-moderate income people and senior citizens will start in Cape Girardeau early next month. The AARP/TCE program will be held at two sites -- the Salvation Army each Monday starting Feb. 5, and at the Senior Citizens Center each Wednesday, during the hours of 9 a.m. to 1 p.m...