Stories from Monday, October 6, 1997

The new Mills Spring Chip Co. wood processing plant is expected to open full operations later this month. The scale house and maintenance building have been built, and most of the equipment is in various stages of being installed. "We have already chipped some debarked slabs," said plant manager Greg Thompson, "but, full operations won't take place until later this month, possibly Oct. 20."...

Yes, Virginia, there was a Johnny Appleseed. In reality, he was John Chapman, an American pioneer who planted large numbers of apple trees along the frontier during the late 1790s and early- to mid-1800s. Chapman became a folk hero because of many stories, poems and tales of his gifts of apple seeds and saplings to everyone he met...

The Small Business Development Center will conduct counseling sessions in four areas this month. The counselor, Gil Degenhardt, will be available Oct. 22, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office. The counseling sessions are free. Call 335-3312 for appointment...

Representatives of Downtown Merchants, Harrig Development Group, and Downtown Neighborhood Association will meet this month to discuss goals and future activities of the downtown and Harrig areas. Sunday's meeting will be held at the Charles and Adela Kupchella home at 303 S. Spanish...

DELTA -- Kohler's Cafe has opened in Delta. The new restaurant, owned by Phillip and Christina Kohler, is located in the building that previously housed Woodard's Restaurant. "We opened Thursday of last week," said Christina Kohler. The buffet-style restaurant will be open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday...

The Rhodes 101 Stop Convenience Store at 1036 N. Sprigg is the winner of the Orion Food Systems Inc. Mystery Shopper contest for the Deep South District, which includes operations in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama.. Orion Food Systems representatives were in Cape Girardeau recently to present the winning store with a $1,000 check. The store is eligible for the grand prize, which will be presented later...

The rich got richer, the poor got poorer, and the giant middle class did a bit better than treading water last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The bureau, in statistics issued last week, said the percentage of people below the poverty line declined slightly from 1995 to 1996...

A five-day program for loggers and landowners is being offered at Farmington this month. The program includes a classroom session on forest management and four classes in the field, including cutting trees, chain saw operation and maintenance, with emphasis on safety...

Corn and soybean crops in Missouri are the largest in a number of years. The corn crop, more than 2.9 million acres, is up 7 percent from 1996, which was the largest corn acreage since 1976. Corn production, however, may be down. A yield of 108 bushels an acre is forecast, down 26 bushels an acre from the record year of 1996. Corn acreage in the United States, 80.2 million acres, is the largest since 1985...

Wild bands of lasso-twirling, shoot-em-up cowboys aren't exactly sweeping across Missouri livestock farms, stampeding and rustling cattle, but cattle rustling -- even in the 1990s -- remains a real problem in the state. Today's rustlers are subtle and difficult to catch. They "bait" a pasture, back a cattle-transport trailer up to a fence, use a portable corral loading panel, and take 15 to 20 cattle at a time...

The Wright Place, a new hamburger restaurant, has opened in Commerce. The new restaurant, located at 40 St. Mary Street, serves burgers and barbecue, and is open daily at 11 a.m. to midnight. Theresa Wright is owner/operator of the restaurant.

Philip Dame has joined Robert Thomas Securities Inc. He will be a branch manager for the company, at 1320 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau. Karen Eaker-Payne of Chaffee is the new manager at Mail Boxes Etc. in Cape Girardeau. She succeeds Mary Prince of Jackson, who has been promoted to business manager for Mail Boxes Etc. centers in Cape Girardeau and Sikeston...

COLUMBIA -- Warning: Living in outstate Missouri can be hazardous to your health. For the past several years a College of Agriculture professor at the University of Missouri has been waging a virtual one-man campaign to improve the health and longevity of residents in the 100-county rural areas of the state...

SCOTT CITY -- Shirley Young can't say enough good things about the completion of the Nash Road extension into the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority. "It's going to be nothing but good," said Young, president of the Scott City Chamber of Commerce and a former Scott City mayor. "Everything about it is positive."...

Ten-year-old Mikki Drury of Kelso stood along Interstate 55 Sunday with about 100 other people, holding signs and praying for an end to abortion. "You're not supposed to kill babies," Drury said. "It's wrong." The demonstration was part of an annual event by the SEMO Lifesavers. Since 1973, the Lifesavers have participated in either the Life Chain or a demonstration walk on Broadway...

About 35 education majors at Southeast Missouri State University recently started practicing what they'll later be teaching as participants in a national literacy initiative called America Reads. Southeast is one of more than 280 colleges and universities participating in America Reads, a national project which funnels money into the Federal Work Study program and other service programs to promote literacy...

My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1985; she had her mastectomy just after Thanksgiving of that year. She died of cancer in May 1992 when she was 59. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. My point isn't to remind you that breast cancer kills, but that breast cancer can be survived, if it's detected and treated early enough...

Recent complaints from handicapped residents concerning problems in scheduling wheelchair-accessible taxis in Cape Girardeau is evidence that the service is being heavily used. But the handicapped people say their needs aren't being met. The operator of the service, Terrence Kelley of Kelley Transportation, says he is doing everything possible to meet the demand by adding a second wheelchair-accessible van to his fleet. ...

Illinois next year will become the 11th state to implement a graduated driver's license system, and if AAA Auto Club has its way, every state in the nation will do the same. AAA has launched a national campaign for the system, and the AAA office in St. Louis hopes to convince Missouri lawmakers to pass a bill next session that would implement the system. Graduated licensing requires young, novice drivers to go through several licensing stages before receiving full driving privileges...

To the editor: Recently I had the opportunity to attend a New Hamburg School Board meeting. What I observed was opinions based on popular vote rather than good judgment. I would like to describe two issues which were ruled on at this meeting that disturbed me to say the least...

To the editor: State Sen. Danny Staples doesn't want to ruin his chances of furthering his political career with the liberal-controlled Democratic Party in Missouri. This is the reason Staples did not vote to override Gov. Mel Carnahan's veto of the partial-birth abortion bill sponsored by state Sen. Peter Kinder...

THIS IS about the seventh grader over in Illinois who's been suspended again because of the haircut he has. It shows him on television, and I can see nothing wrong with his haircut. What it seems like to me that there must be somebody at the school with a personal ax to grind...

To the editor: I get very upset when people disagree. I hate dissension. As a result, I have been losing sleep over the ongoing controversy between opponents and proponents of a Bollinger County-Cape County lake. This issue must be settled. Laid to rest. Resolved. I have a suggestion that can bring a quick resolution to the crisis...

7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 6 Public Hearings -- A public hearing regarding the request of G. Keith Deimund Trust and Americare Properties, Inc. for a special use permit for a 12-unit residential care facility at 2906 Beavercreek Drive in a C-1 local commercial district...

The works of Jake Wells joined his legend Sunday in the Southeast Missouri State University Museum. "Everybody has a Jake Wells story," said Dr. Jenny Strayer, museum director. "That's one of the reasons that the work is so important to us. But it's just one reason, the work stands on its own as well."...

7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 6 City Hall Action items Power and Light Committee -- Consider motion to set a public hearing relative to the Grandview Acres Sewer Project for 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20. -- Consider a bill proposing an ordinance accepting dedication of a sanitary sewer and utility easement from D&G Investments...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "Do you think that former NBC sportscaster Marv Albert will get another job as a sportscaster?" Robert Jackson, Cape Girardeau "Yes, because he's been doing his job real good. Up until the incident." Charles Stamp, Sikeston...

MARBLE HILL -- Verla T. Lincoln, 79, of Marble Hill died Saturday, Oct. 4, 1997, at Bond Nursing Care. She was born June 16, 1918, in Hurricane, daughter of James and Elmine Upchurch Trentham. She married Milford Lincoln on March 21, 1936, at the Bollinger County Courthouse. He survives...

PERRYVILLE -- Theodore G. Fischer, 78, of Perryville died Saturday, Oct. 4, 1997, at Perry Oaks Healthcare Center. He was born April 6, 1919, in St. Louis, son of Theodore and Louise Hoehn Fischer. He had worked at the International Shoe Factory in the elastic department and was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church...

PERRYVILLE -- Dorothy K. Huber, 78, of Perryville died Sunday, Oct. 5, 1997, at Perry Oaks Healthcare Center. She was born June 18, 1919, in Perry County, daughter of Benjamin and Gilbertha Bergmann Klobe. She married Jessie Huber on Oct. 24, 1943, in Perryville. He preceded her in death Nov. 6, 1987...