Stories from Monday, August 4, 1997

Tourism is big business in Missouri, with benefits filtering into every county. Traveler spending in the Show Me State hit the $10 billion level in 1995 and increased to more than $11 billion last year. Recent studies conducted for the Missouri Division of Tourism show the tourism and travel industry generated $11.1 billion in spending in 1996, a 6.1 percent increase from 1995...

Mary Jane Sauer has joined the American Family Insurance Agency sales force. Sauer, a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University with a degree in early childhood development, will work out of the American Family Insurance office at 2612 "B," E. Jackson Boulevard in Jackson...

JACKSON -- The Way Books & Gift Shop is under new ownership. Vickie Rinehart and Beverly Nelson have purchased the business from Judy Leist and Joyce Ross. The Way, which features a variety of books, Bibles, gifts and Christian literature, along with coffees and special types of tea, was founded 18 years ago and moved to 110 S. High in 1992...

JACKSON -- People's Bank opened a new branch Friday. Elina Boehme is branch manager of the new facility for People's Bank of Altenburg, which opened at 1503 N. High in Jackson. Construction on the new facility started in mid-February. People's bank also has a facility at Frohna...

Arena Park Golf and Putt Putt opened Wednesday. The new sports facility at 2901 Hawthorne Road in Cape Girardeau includes a golf driving range and an 18-hole miniature golf course. The new facility is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday...

Cross Trails Medical Center has opened in the Medical Arts Building at 937 Broadway, Suite 203, in Cape Girardeau. Vicki Smith is CEO of the center, which will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The center is open to everyone. "We accept Medicare, Medicaid, most insurance and provide a sliding fee discount for people who qualify due to income and the number in their family," said Smith...

Alliance Bank (bank in organization), hopes to open in Cape Girardeau in mid- to late-September. Alliance Bank officials, a local bank organized by residents of the Southeast Missouri area, held a groundbreaking at the site of the proposed bank, 217 N. Kingshighway, and hoped to open in a modular facility next month, pending necessary approval from state officials...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been recognized as "1997 Mass Retailer of the Year" by the Lee-Rowan Co. In making the announcement last week, Lee-Rowan officials cited Wal-Mart as a solid supporter of Lee-Rowan products and many other U.S. manufacturers. Lee-Rowan, a national manufacturer and marketer of wire and wood storage and organization products, employs almost 1,000 people at its largest manufacturing facility in Jackson. ...

The annual Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Teachers Appreciation Reception will be held during Business After Hours, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., Aug. 19, at the Holiday Inn. Private, parochial and public school teachers will be honored, said Nancy Bray, chairman of the Chamber's Education Committee...

Spartech Corp., headquartered in St. Louis, has announced an agreement to acquire the net assets of Preferred Plastic Sheet Division of Echlin Ind., a manufacturer of extruded sheet and profile products based in Greenville, Ohio. "We're enthusiastic about the prospect of Preferred's extrusion and profile operations joining the Spartech family of plastics processing companies," said Bradley B. ...

The Procter & Gamble Co., headquartered in Cincinnati, will introduce a new disposable diaper product next fall. The company will ship millions of free samples of Pampers Gentle Touch to homes and hospitals throughout the United States. The new product, which will be on the market in September, contains a patented combination of three skin-soothing ingredients good for a baby's skin, said P&G officials...

The Union Electric Company's Board of Directors has declared a 63.5-cent quarterly dividend on its common stock, payable Sept. 30 to stockholders of record Sept. 9. The board also declared regular quarterly dividends on all classes of preferred stock, payable Nov. 15 to stockholders of record Oct. 20...

The Governor's Conference on Tourism will move to Columbia in 1998. The event will be held at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Columbia March 4 through 6. The conference was previously held at Jefferson City

The fifth annual Cape BBQ Fest will be held Aug. 22 and 23 at Arena Park. Cooking categories include hamburgers, beef kebabs, roast pork, pork steaks, pork ribs and beef filet mignon. Other activities during the two-day event include bean bag throw, kiddie tractor pull, water balloon toss, watermelon eating contest, rolling pin throw and the urban cowboy contest...

Taxpayers who requested a tax-filing extension must file those 1996 returns Aug. 15. People who submitted Form 4868 to the Internal Revenue Services April 15, received an automatic four-month filing extension. According to the IRS, these taxpayers will owe interest on any taxes paid after April 14, and in some cases, a late payment penalty may also be due...

Many of the tools used at Gerald Thompson's shop are as old as the antique wagons. Two-hundred years ago, getting around the country was harder -- slower. There were no trains, no cars, no planes. There were no railroad depots or rails, no garages, no airports...

The Sylvan Learning Center is at a new site, 2136 William St., in Town Plaza Shopping Center. Sylvan Learning Centers, a provider of supplemental education services, opened at 1020 N. Kingshighway in 1994. The center has expanded its space at the new location, said Lesa Hinton, the center's director...

The Silver Eagle Casino took its final cruise last week as the company that owns the riverboat cut its losses and shut it down. That brings an end, for now, to riverboat gambling in Jo Daviess County, Ill. HP Inc., made the announcement Tuesday, two days before the company's gaming license expired. The boat's last hourlong cruise was held Wednesday...

CHARLESTON -- Regardless of how the vote goes Tuesday on a half-cent sales tax to fund a new Mississippi County Courthouse, it appears that the old courthouse is history. The only difference will be whether county residents want to pay for the new courthouse in three years or 20...

As the class of 2010 is preparing for school for the first time, parents are reminded to add more than school clothes and supplies to their to-do list. Missouri children must be immunized against certain infectious diseases before entering public and most private schools. With only weeks left before the first day of classes, immunization records need to be double checked...

Reporter Anita Sue Meyer recounts her father's struggle with traumatic brain injury. As he sat on a bus headed for St. Louis, he remembered what his dad told him that morning, "Son, you go up there and do your best." It was Tuesday, Sept. 13, 1966. Leo was on his way to his Selective Service classification examination...

If the Cape Girardeau City Council passes every measure on its agenda tonight, the city will look nicer, Councilman Tom Neumeyer says. The ordinances call for: -- Shortening the length of time the city must wait between receiving a complaint about high weeds and taking action to cut them down...

PERRYVILLE -- Esmond Steele remembers riding six miles in his grandfather's horse-drawn wagon to the St. Vincent de Paul Parish Picnic when he was a child. The 63-year-old remembers his grandmother baking pies for the picnic in their farm's wood stove and taking along freshly slaughtered chickens and just-picked vegetables to cook on the picnic grounds...

Because my employers are kind enough to provide state-of-the-art technology, I get to surf at work. Translated, that means I get to check my horoscope on a gazillion different websites before I settle down to do any real work. I have mixed emotions about my hobby. All that time and money to construct the Information Superhighway, and I just want to find out if it's going to be a nice day for a drive...

IN HIS July 28 letter, Gil Degenhardt, a defender of government programs, more or less admitted that the federal government's borrowing from surplus Social Security funds is the primary reason for future shortages in Social Security and Medicare. I agree with him except for one point. ...

The summer months are hard on less-fortunate families trying to make ends meet. As a result, the Jackson Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry has been especially hard hit. It desperately needs donations. The food pantry, like others in the area, is important in that it operates on the basic principle that those who have are able to help those who do not have. ...

Missourians have been receiving a large and varied number of explanations for the expected failure of their state's 15-Year Road Plan, but the problem is so complex that no single reason answers all of taxpayers' questions. As a public service to befuddled Missourians, we provide answers to the three most. frequently asked questions concerning our 14-billion-buck mess:...

A special committee that hopes to attract retail businesses to Jackson has a lot to going its way, considering the city's growth over the past decade or so. Approached properly, the Small Business Recruitment Committee should have little difficulty accomplishing its mission simply by lauding the Cape Girardeau County seat's resources in the right places...

After 38 years of service as a Cape Girardeau physician, Dr. Jean Allen Chapman, 69, will retire from private practice next week. After a year as the president of the American College of Allergy and Immunology, based in Arlington Heights, Ill., he will return full-time to his first love, art...

COMMERCE -- The planning committee for the first-ever Commerce Fall Flood Fest is still looking for crafts and food booths. The Sept. 20-21 celebration will feature a sandbagging contest, donkey bingo, covered wagons, kettle corn, Indian dancing, Assurance Southern Gospel Singers, square dancing, fly-overs, buck skinners, live bands and dancing...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "Why do you think Missouri ranks second in the United States in illegal methamphatamine production?" Chris Jung, Cape Girardeau "Probably because this is a good pathway from Florida. And we have a lot of rural areas in Missouri where people can produce it without being detected. In the big city you've got too many neighbors."...

CHAFFEE -- Once again, a quick start and the hot play of Josh Eftink paced Chaffee to an easy victory over Kansas City (Kan.) in the Junior American Legion Mid-States Regional Tournament. Host Chaffee remained alive in the eight-team, double-elimination event and clinched at least third place with two victories Sunday, including a 15-2 mauling of Kansas City in the night's final game...

WICHITA, Kan. -- Cape Girardeau's Kohlfeld Capahas came through Sunday with their backs to the wall. The Capahas, facing elimination after losing Friday night during the opening round of the National Baseball Congress World Series, bounced back Sunday to defeat the Austin (Texas) Gold Sox 8-5...

Rob Hale, Bill Bradley and Mary Mejia won singles titles during the annual University Health & Fitness Tennis Tournament that concluded Sunday at the Southeast Missouri State University courts. Hale beat Larry Albritton 6-2, 6-2 for the Men's 35 title; Bradley edged Wade Russell 7-5, 7-6 for the Men's A title; and Mejia downed Lynn Casteel 6-1, 6-0 for the Women's crown...

SIKESTON -- Chesterfield defeated Festus 8-4 Sunday afternoon to capture the American Legion Zone 4 Tournament championship and earn a berth in this week's Missouri American Legion State Tournament. Festus, which came all the way through the loser's bracket after losing to host Sikeston in Thursday's opening round, had forced Sunday's game by beating Chesterfield 7-4 Saturday night...

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill., -- Mearl S. Dickerson, 59, of Edwardsville and formerly of McClure died Saturday, Aug. 2, 1997, at his home. He was born May 28, 1938, in McClure, the son of Elmer and Marie Hutchison Dickerson. On May 1, 1938, he married Velma Stevens in Elco...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Bill L. Criswell, 73, of Olive Branch died Friday, Aug. 1, 1997, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 27, 1924, in Dupo, son of Harry and Hetty Gaines Huff. He was a retired juvenile parole counselor with the Illinois Department of Corrections and a U.S. Air Force veteran...

WYATT -- Clifton C. "Tootie" Brumley, 72, of Wyatt died Saturday, Aug. 2, 1997, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Jan. 25, 1925, in Mississippi County, son of Grover and Della Miller Brumley. He had lived in Mississippi County all his life and had worked as an insurance salesman with the Western-Southern Insurance Co. in Sikeston...

SIKESTON -- Funeral services for Kenneth D. Stahl will be at 2 p.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston with the Rev. Ken Cook officiating. Mr. Stahl, 60, of Arnold and formerly of Charter Oak, died Saturday, Aug. 2, 1997, at St. John's Skilled Nursing Center in Creve Coeur...

POPLAR BLUFF -- Three fatal automobile accidents were reported Sunday from Missouri Highway Patrol Troop E in Poplar Bluff. The first occurred at 10:55 a.m. in Stoddard County on Route ZZ four miles south of Dudley. Margaret E. Jackson, 57, of Campbell, a passenger in a vehicle, died when the vehicle ran off the road and overturned. Carol A. Summers, 31, also of Campbell was the driver and received moderate injuries, police said...

Agenda Monday August 4, 1997, 7:30 p.m. Public Hearings: -- A petition for voluntary annexation from the Cape Girardeau County Commission and Bruce S. Watkins for a 39-acre tract adjoining the city limits along Kingshighway. -- Property tax rates for the city and the Special Business District...

ANNA, Ill. -- Alfred L. Bradley, 46, of Anna died Saturday Aug. 2, 1997, at his home. He was born Nov. 15, 1950, in Tamms, the son of James Frances and Louise Tanner Bradley. He was a construction laborer. Survivors include his mother, Louise Bradley of Anna; two brothers, J.D. Norman of Dongola and Francis "Hoss" Bradley of Anna; and a sister, Agnes Geraldine Zappa of Amory, Miss...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Graveside services for Lee Mayville, 89, of East Prairie will be at 2 p.m. today at East Prairie Memorial Park Cemetery with Bro. Richard Farquhar officiating. Mr. Mayville died Saturday, Aug. 2, 1997, at the East Prairie Nursing Home...