Stories from Monday, May 19, 1997

Jan Wilkins of Cape Girardeau has joined the staff at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel Inc., 829 N. West End Blvd., as secretary. Wilkins is a graduate of Patricia Stevens Career College at St. Louis, and has attended classes at the Cape Girardeau Vo-Tech School. She worked for the Missouri Department of Social Services for 18 years...

Jason, left, listened to Kathy Nenninger, general manager at the Pasta House Co., along with Jeff. Both Jason and Jeff went to work at the restaurant as part of the Missouri Mentoring Partnership Program. Some youths don't have a reliable, responsible adult in their lives. Maybe they've bounced around between foster homes or have been in trouble with the law and aren't getting what they need from home...

Scheffer's Office Furniture and Business Machine, 909 Broadway, has purchased Office Design & Interiors, 2121 William. The purchase adds another phase -- stationery and office supplies -- to Scheffer's, which has stores at Cape Girardeau, Sikeston and Poplar Bluff...

The market is getting bigger for used-car buyers in Cape Girardeau County. Consumers in the market for used vehicles will have an additional 350 to 400 vehicles to pick from next summer. Bud Shell Auto World Inc., which will open in Cape West Business Park in 30 to 45 days, will have 175 to 200 late-model, used cars on its lot, said Robert Shell, who owns and operates Bud Shell Ford in Dexter, one of the larger dealerships between the St. Louis and Memphis metropolitan areas...

Subway Sandwiches & Salads has moved. Subway opened at its new site, 701 Broadway at Sprigg last week. "We have more space inside and for parking," said Paul Kesterson, manager of the restaurant, which was previously at 1315 Broadway. "We can seat up to 40 customers and have parking for several vehicles."...

One of the most visible construction scenes in Cape Girardeau is the work at Auburn Park Place, near Mount Auburn Road and Route K. A huge crane marks the site of Phase II of the new high-profile commercial, retail and office complex. The overall Auburn Park Place project will consist of more than 200,000 square feet -- a 60,000-square-foot strip shopping center, about 50,000 square feet in a multi-level office building and about 80,000 square feet in a multi-level parking garage...

Permits for nine one-family residences and two duplex-units were issued in Cape Girardeau in April. With a $300,000 home and two $250,000 homes, the total value of the nine single-family homes was $1,351,500, or an average of $150,000. A total of 19 permits -- one more than the same four-month period a year ago -- have been issued, in the amount of $2,651,000, an average of $140,000...

TG(U.S.A.), a Perryville manufacturer of parts for Toyota Motors and for domestic automakers, has donated $5,000 to eight different organizations in Perryville and Perry County for a sixth straight year. The unsolicited $40,000 donations is the company's way of saying thanks for the community support, said Glenn N. Graham, vice president of general affairs...

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's "Business After Hours" will be held Tuesday at the Holiday Inn from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Host for this month's event is Ameritech.

On an average weekday, more than 78 million American adults read a newspaper. The total escalates for the Sunday package, to more than 90 million readers. Overall newspaper circulation in the United States is near the 57 million mark. Newspaper advertising continued to be a bright spot in the industry in 1996 as advertising revenues grew almost 6 percent during the past year, to more than $38 billion, the second year in a row that advertising increased by more than 5 percent...

"Is Your Business at Risk?" is the subject of a small business seminar to be held May 28 at Robert A. Dempster Hall at Southeast Missouri State University. The 6:30-9 p.m. workshop is sponsored by the Small Business Development Center of Southeast Missouri State University and the Small Business Committee of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce...

Illinois is the leading producer of horse radish in the United States. Illinois farmers produce almost 65 percent of the harvested product, with the majority of the product grown in the southwestern part of the state, near Collinsville.

Disappointing sales of General Motors Corp.'s electric car -- the EV1 -- have forced the automaker to cut the monthly lease payment by 25 percent. After talking with 800 likely customers and finding they were discouraged by the monthly payment, GM reduced the lease rate from $530 per month to $399...

The Jacksonian Charter Chapter of American Business Women's Association meeting will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at Jer's Restaurant in Jackson. The social hour starts at 6. Miss Jackson Stephanie Hammersmith will be guest speaker. The club will award scholarships to three recipients...

Bangert Tractor Sales, 100 N. High, Jackson, has received the "Parts Excellence Award" from New Holland. The award is presented for outstanding customer service. New Holland selects a limited number of dealerships each year for the award, according to Peter Bond, New Holland parts business unit manager. This year's selection marks the second time Bangert has received the honor...

The Cape Area Personnel Association will meet May 21 at the Holiday Inn from noon to 1. CAPA is a professional organization with members from Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Scott City, Perryville and other surrounding areas whose responsibilities are human resources of training functions with their organizations...

Owens Realty is observing its 10th anniversary this year. Jeanne Owens opened her new company in May 1987 at 559 N. Spring. The company moved to 425 Broadway the following year. Owens is broker-owner of the business. Agents working in the company include Owens' daughter, Holly Hunt. Others are Regina Rhymer and Michelle Jones, who started with Owens in 1987, Tim Blattner and Doug Robinson...

Deere & Co. has reported a 17 percent increase in profits, setting a new second-quarter record of $319.5 million. Deere earned $1.25 a share for the quarter ended April 30, up from $272.7 million, or $1.04 a share, a year earlier. Sales climbed 14 percent to $3.52 billion, compared with $3.09 billion a year ago...

The seventh annual Black Forest Villages Spring Craftsfest had a new attraction: an Old West bank robbery. The show was staged by volunteers from Potosi, Perryville, Jackson, Advance and Oak Ridge and featured four gunslinging desperadoes on horseback who rob the mock-town's bank...

Firefighters have a simple rule when dealing with hazardous material spills -- fools rush in. "If we're responding to an unknown chemical we're going to approach very cautiously," said Mark Hasheider, a battalion chief with the Cape Girardeau Fire Department. "What we would be trying to do is approach upwind and uphill if at all possible...

The list of incidents involving hazardous materials that affect the lives of Southeast Missouri residents grows longer each day. A fire Tuesday at Sikeston Creosoting sent carcinogenic materials into the air and could have contaminated the water supply of 18 residents in the Vanduser area...

Years ago, the Cape Girardeau City Council received a petition asking it to extend Kent Drive in the Woodland Hills subdivision south to Lexington Avenue in the northern part of town. Today, Richard Burns, who lives on Kent Drive, will present a petition to the city with the signatures of 22 residents opposed to extending their street...

Members of Cape Area Habitat for Humanity dedicated one house in a ceremony Sunday and plan to start work on two more houses Saturday. Habitat for Humanity is an international ecumenical Christian ministry dedicated to building and rehabilitating housing for people who otherwise could not afford to build a new home...

Pop quiz! What are the seven criteria for newsworthiness? I can't remember right now, but I'd better know in time to grade these tests. I am wrapping up my first semester of teaching, and I've learned a very important lesson: Time flies when you're not quite sure what you're doing...

An outbreak of clandestine methamphetamine production in Cape Girardeau demands immediate community action, not only by police who are doing their best to shut down the labs, but by citizens who might suspect something amiss in their neighborhoods. Since Jan. 1, police have uncovered a dozen methamphetamine labs in Cape Girardeau. Until this year, they had no knowledge of any meth labs being operated here...

Year after year and session after session, Missouri legislators approach the final fortnight of an annual convening with an agenda that would choke a horse, confound a genius and disgust the average working person who is expected to turn in a good day's work for 40 hours a week...

After reconsidering acceptance of a federal grant that would give Tamms, Ill., $159,000 to hire three additional police officers for three years, the Tamms Board of Trustees once again has rejected the offer. The board's problem with the grant is having to come up with about $40,000 in matching funds over the three years. Tamms, a town of 750 people in Alexander County, isn't rolling in money...

During a recital Tuesday, fourth-grader Steffan Troxel's own composition, "A Minor Melody" in 6/8 time, will be performed by his piano teacher. Five older students will perform their own compositions in Southeast Music Academy recitals today, Tuesday and Wednesday at Southeast Missouri State University. ...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked Central High School seniors, "What are your plans after graduation?" Shondale Tipler, Cape Girardeau "Work for a little bit and then go to college...Central Methodist up by Columbia." Laura Lukens, Cape Girardeau...

After winning the Class 2A, District 2 Tournament title last year, Notre Dame High's Bulldogs once again look to be head and shoulders above the competition as the tourney begins today in Scott City. The SEMO Conference champion Bulldogs (21-3) will be riding a 12-game win streak as the No. 1 seed in the district. But a host of other quality teams will be looking to knock off the top team in the area...

If you're looking for a wide open district baseball tournament, the five-team Class 4A, District 1 meet starting Tuesday at Cape Girardeau Central High should do the trick. Central earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament but No. 2 Sikeston, No. 3 Farmington, No. 4 Jackson and even No. 5 Poplar Bluff have a shot at the title...

Notre Dame and Jackson will be looking to make noise as a team while Cape Girardeau Central's Dane McLaird hopes to do the same individually when the Missouri State High School Golf Championships are contested today and Tuesday. Notre Dame will compete in the Class 2A meet in Columbia while Jackson and Cape Central's McLaird will take part in the Class 4A meet that will be played in Sedalia because its normal course site in Columbia is being worked on...

Outstanding students at Cape Girardeau Central High School will be recognized for their achievements at 7 tonight in a special ceremony in the school's auditorium. The People's Choice Awards, sponsored by Central's Renaissance club and Evening Optimist Club, will be presented. These two groups will recognize 39 students for their academic, athletic and social achievements...

SCOTT CITY-- Janet Lucy Matty, 56, of Scott City died Friday, May 16, 1997, at her home. She was born Aug. 17, 1940, at Charloroi, Pa., daughter of Michael David Debnar and Virginia Regina Lucas and Michael G. Baciak, her stepfather, all of whom preceded her in death...

Charles Frank Reeves 78, of 134 County Road 653 died Saturday, May 17, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Oct. 14, 1918, in Charleston, the son of Odie and Ora Scott Reeves. On Aug. 30, 1941, he married Lydia Nations in Milton, Fla. He was an attorney, serving as a prosecutor and a probate judge in Mississippi County, and later worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He retired in 1982...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Lottie Jane Bolin, 98, of Cairo, formerly of Mounds and Villa Ridge, died Sunday, May 18, 1997, at the Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Metropolis, Ill. She was born July 18, 1898, in Olmstead, Ill., the daughter of Marion and Anna Baccus Parker. She married Leonard H. Bolin, and he preceded her in death...

Hilda L. Scherer, 90, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday May 18, 1997, at the home of her daughter in Perryville. Funeral arrangements are incomplete with Ford & Sons Funeral Home.

Joyce O. Meyer, 90, died Saturday, May 17, 1997, at the Chateau Girardeau in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 23, 1906, in Campbell, daughter of Corley and Beulah McCutchen Overall. She married Louis F. Meyer on July 22, 1929, in Marshall, and he preceded her in death on April 18, 1978...

JACKSON -- Larence K. "Larry" Job, 49, of Jackson died Sunday in an automobile accident. He was born March 17, 1948, in Cape Girardeau, son of Paul and Melba Moore Job. He was a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church of Jackson and Craftsman Independent Union Local #1. A graduate of Notre Dame High School, he was a self-employed carpenter...

MORLEY -- Gwen Marie McDonough, 75, of Morley died Sunday, May 18, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Dec. 24, 1921, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of William and Effie Huffman Wray. She married Walton McDonough on Aug. 16, 1942, in Morley, and he preceded her in death on June 30, 1986...

JACKSON -- A Jackson man was killed in an early-morning car accident Sunday on Route Y. Larence K. "Larry" Job, 49, was declared dead at the scene after his 1986 Mercedes overturned at 2:20 a.m. as he was westbound on Route Y two miles northeast of Jackson, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol...

Laverne P. Gross, 75, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, May 18, 1997, at St. Francis Medical Center. Funeral arrangements are incomplete with Ford & Sons Funeral Home.

Tonight at 7:30 Action Items Power and Light Committee To consider: -- Approving the Jackson Jaycees request to hold the Fourth of July celebration in the City Park and contribution of $1,000 to the fireworks display. -- Amending an ordinance about out-of-district sewer connection and special assessment fees...