Stories from Monday, December 16, 1996

Three new restaurants have opened in Cape Girardeau -- Cafe Cape, in the Crossroads Center at the intersection of Kingshighway and Independence; Brenda's Place, 602 Morgan Oak; and Betty's Restaurant, 302 Morgan Oak. A fourth Cape Girardeau restaurant has announced that it will relocate in the city. Subway Sandwiches & Salads will move its 1315 Broadway restaurant to the corner of Broadway and Sprigg...

The cost of dying, like the cost of consumer products, increases about 3 percent a year. The average cost of a funeral today is $4,624, according to the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD). That does not include final disposition and memorialization, said an NAFD spokesman. "This can add a lot, or a little to the final cost, depending on the wishes of the family."...

The U.S. Small Business Administration's primary lending programs hit record levels in FY1996 of $11.9 billion in loan guarantees, financing more than 64,000 small businesses across the country. During the 1996 fiscal year, the SBA District office at St. Louis approved 568 loans totaling $98.2 million in Eastern Missouri and creating 2,912 new jobs in 54 counties...

Roy Shipp has been named manager of Hobby Lobby Creative Center, 207 South Kingshighway. Shipp, who has been with Hobby Lobby more than two years, was previously a co-manager at the Joplin, Mo. store. He replaces Philip Sante, who retired. Shipp, a native of Moline, Ill., worked with Venture Stores before joining Hobby Lobby...

DETROIT -- General Growth Properties Inc. has purchased three Michigan shopping malls, giving it six in the state with a seventh on the drawing board. Chicago-based General Growth paid $134 million Monday to acquire Lakeview Square Mall in Battle Creek, Westwood Mall in Jackson and Lansing Mall from Forbes/Cohen Properties of Southfield...

Brenda's Place is a family-style restaurant, featuring breakfast and plate lunches. Brenda's, owned by Virgil and Brenda Glueck, will be open six days a week, from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Brenda Glueck has more than 25 years' experience in the restaurant business...

Subway Sandwiches & Salads, which currently has restaurants at 1315 Broadway and 250 S. Silver Springs Road, will open its new facility early in 1997. The Silver Springs location will also remain open, but the current Broadway location will close. "We'll have better parking facilities at the new Broadway & Sprigg location," said Paul Kesterson, Subway manager...

"The new restaurant in downtown will be an upscale Italian restaurant," said Dewayne Casey. Dewaye and Donna Casey will be owners of the restaurant, which wil open in April or May of next year. The building is undergoing complete renovation, inside and out...

Business Network International (BNI), a business marketing program designed to increase business through a structured system of giving referrals, is developing a chapter in the Cape Girardeau area. BNI chapters permit only one member of each profession, said Mike Smith, an executive director of BNI, headquartered in St. Louis. The group meets weekly to pass out tips...

Kerasotes Theatres, headquartered in Springfield, Ill., is planning a new eight-screen theater at Poplar Bluff. "The Show Place 8" is planned for 1997 along U.S. Highway 67 just south of Poplar Bluff. Construction is planned to get under way next spring, with a tentative opening in mid-November...

D&K Wholesale Drugs Inc., which recently moved regional offices from Cairo, Ill., to 1823 Rust Ave. in Cape Girardeau, has leased a shop building from Cape Airport Properties at Nash Road and Interstate Outer Road. The 2,000-square foot facility will be used for D&K's vehicle service, maintenance and transportation services...

Wages and salaries, excluding benefits, for Midwest workers in private industry rose 0.6 percent during the third quarter of 1996, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Kansas City office. During the year, from September 1995 through September 1996, the Midwest area experienced a 3.2 percent increase, just under the 3.3 percent increase nationally...

Spartech Corp., which includes two operations in Cape Girardeau -- Spartech Plastics, 2500 Spartech Drive, and Spartech Compounding on Nash Road -- reported record sales and earnings for its fiscal year which ended Nov. 2. Sales for fiscal 1996 were $391.3 million, up 11 percent from the $352.3 million recorded in 1995. Operating earnings were $34.5 million for 1996, an increase of 40 percent from the $24.6 million of a year ago...

Professional Secretaries International (PSI) will hold its monthly dinner meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., Drury Lodge. Melynda Porges, PSI Missouri Division treasurer, will be guest speaker. PSI meetings are open to the public. Additional information is available by calling Donna Heuer, 651-9223; Carole Heinbokel, 243-8182; or Carol Cannon, 651-2836...

U.S. cigarette manufacturers bought 434 million pounds of burley tobacco during the 1995 marketing season -- October 1, 1995 through September 30, 1996. Purchases were 113 percent of "intended" purchases. The manufacturers' purchase intention for the 1995 crop were 385 million pounds...

The Missouri Department of Agriculture and University of Missouri will conduct five training sessions on pesticide use for dealers and applicators in January. Pesticide applicator training will be offer at Cape Girardeau Jan. 27. A recertification session for licensed certified applicators and retraining sessions for pesticide technicians will be held Jan. 28 at Cape Girardeau...

The fate of Councilman J.J. Williamson's seat on the Cape Girardeau City Council typically would rest with voters. Tonight, it rests with fellow councilmen. In a Dec. 6 letter to the city council, Williamson acknowledged he missed the last two regular council meetings. He said he was approved for an Allstate Insurance agency in Cape Girardeau and must take out-of-state training. He won't return home until after tonight's council meeting...

This is it. Nearly every gift that could have been named has been named. The personal case histories have been told, and the volunteers have spoken. Toybox is now in the hands of the people. Some of the children are sick, either in mind, body or spirit. Others suffer from divorce or desertion, and all of them have parents who cannot provide Christmas presents for them this year...

The news landed in the media's hands with a sickening thud. A commuter flight and private plane collided Nov. 19 at an airport near Quincy, Ill. Fourteen people died that night -- every person on board both planes. Like many small airports, Baldwin Municipal Airport has intersecting runways and no control tower. It is up to the pilots to broadcast their positions on a specific radio frequency. Maybe someone else is listening, maybe not...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Wanted: Winter weather...cloudy and cold. The geese are here and hunting clubs are open, but until Sunday the weather had not cooperated to provide better hunting conditions. "We need some clouds and cooler temperatures," said Terry Simmons, manager of Sunset Hunting Club, located alongside Route 3 south of Olive Branch. "The geese don't fly in warm sunshine weather."...

Christmas teaches us many lessons about love and peace and redemption, and learning to give to others. That learning to give to others part is important because it leads to another important Christmas lesson: The difference between men and women. Any male who's ever spoken to a woman should have learned that you don't give her appliances, or anything she might use around the house, as major gifts. ...

Spurred by an unusual number of new homes in November, Cape Girardeau's construction industry is enjoying an excellent year. Near-record construction like this year's signifies a strong local economy, one that shows no signs of weakening. The city issued 25 single-family housing permits last month, compared to an average eight to 10 housing permits in any given month. Primarily responsible for the increase is a project that involves construction of affordable homes for lower-income families...

Although Cape Girardeau County didn't pave as many gravel roads as it had hoped to this year, it embarked upon a paving program that should prove beneficial to those who must travel the county's unpaved roads on a daily basis. The county paved only about half of the roads it had hoped to pave before the construction season came to an end. ...

Although the subject may come as something of a shock to members of the General Assembly, to say nothing of thousands of other Missourians, the number one public policy issue of interest to many citizens of our state can arguably be said to be not taxes, environment, education or more jobs...

To the editor: I feel in my heart no other newspaper has ever, nor can ever, compare to "An Old-Fashioned Christmas," a Southeast Missourian publication on Dec. 10. I challenge anyone to do so. The beautiful "A Christmas Prayer," the story of Christmas and "Christmas around the world" touched people's hearts, aroused their sentiments and totally depicted the true meaning of Christmas. Then, complete with many beautiful carols plus an added touch of delicious recipes, what more could be added?...

In the movies, bail bondsmen portrayed by Steve McQueen and Robert DeNiro lead action-packed lives, spending most of their time amidst a fusillade of bullets and bad guys. Those who hold the occupation say reality is a bit different. "I saw a movie the other day where a bondsman drove a car through a parking garage chasing a guy," said Tom Beardslee, a bail bondsman at Benton. ...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "How do you feel about the possibility of KFVS TV-12 being removed from TCI cable programming?" Doreen Brown, Cape Girardeau "I'm not worried about (KFVS) being removed, I'm worried about getting rid of TCI period because of the way they keep changing everything around. They can't be true to what they are saying. If they drop (KFVS) we'll probably go to a satellite most likely (to get CBS)...

The holidays are often the most difficult time of year for people who have suffered the death of one of their children. "Because this is the time of year where you're supposed to be saying happy, happy, happy, and they're going, 'Hey, I'm not happy I'm really sad. I want my child to be here with me and I want to buy presents for them and I want to bake cookies for them and I can't because they aren't here,'" Tammy Gwaltney, of Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Cape Girardeau, said...

Monday, Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m. Appearances -- Appearances before the council on items listed on the agenda. -- Appearances before the council on items not listed on the agenda. Consent Ordinances -- Grant a special-use permit to Americare Properties Inc. for constructing an addition to a facility at 2911 Beavercreek...

PERRY COUNTY -- An Altenburg teen-ager was in serious at Southeast Missouri Hospital Sunday after a single-car accident in rural Perry County. According to police, Jacob Fiehler, 16, lost control of the 1991 Chevrolet he was driving east on Route A near the intersection of Route C at approximately 4:25 a.m. The car left the south side of the road, overturned a number of times then struck a tree, police said...

CHAFFEE -- Billy Goodman, 68, of Chaffee died Sunday, Dec. 15, 1996, at the St. Francis Medical Center. Arrangements are incomplete at the Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee.

SIKESTON -- Dorothy Mae Graham, 69, of Sikeston died Sunday, Dec. 15, 1996, at Sells Rest Home in Matthews. She was born April 11, 1927, in St. Joseph, Ky., to the late Edward Lee and Ava Augusta Willett Allgood. She married Alfred E. Graham on Feb. 10, 1950, in Piggott, Ark. He died Nov. 18, 1990...

CAIRO, Ill. -- James P. Sweet of Cairo died Sunday at the Cape Nursing Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at the Barkett Funeral Home in Cairo.