Stories from Monday, February 9, 1998

Oz-Arc/Gas Equipment and Supply Inc., a wholesale and a retail welding supply company, is expanding its operation at 1021 Southern Expressway. Oz-Arc/Gas, founded by R.C. and Naomi Garner more than 50 years ago, has been on Independence Street 45 years. The firm operates out of a 3,000-square-foot building. The new building will be a 7,000-square-foot structure that will house a show room, office space, warehouse and repair facility. It will be adjacent to the present building...

St. Louis-based A.G. Edwards Inc. and Edward Jones with offices in Cape Girardeau are among the investment industry beneficiaries of the "raging bull" market of the past few years. Both have been featured in financial publications in recent months for their successes, but you and I can only consider investment in one of them. ...

John Wyman can usually be found during the evenings at the Mollies Cafe & Bar, 11 S. Spanish. John and Jerry Wyman were recently named "Restaurateurs of the Year" by the Southeast Missouri Chapter of the Missouri Restaurant Association. John Peter Wyman graduated from Southeast Missouri State University a week before he and his wife, Jerrianne Malone Wyman, opened Mollies Cafe & Bar in the Harrig area, at 627 Good Hope St...

This "Financial Focus" column is prepared by Edward Jones Investments, headquartered in St. Louis. Jones includes branches throughout the nation, including Cape Girardeau and Jackson. No business owner would argue against the importance of planning for the future. However, the reality is that with the daily demands of running a business, long-term goals are often put on the back burner...

More than $1 billion investments are included in Missouri's "Top 10" business projects in terms of dollar investment. More than half that amount is included in four Southeast Missouri projects, which are included in the "Top 10," and a third of that amount is involved in one Cape Girardeau County project, which was announced in April...

Mary Hostetter of the Blue Owl Restaurant and Bakery in Kimmswick has been selected "1997 Restaurateur of the Year" by the Greater St. Louis Restaurant Association. The Blue Owl is familiar to many Cape Girardeans. Many of the more than 9,000 guests a week who eat at the restaurant are from the Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri area...

BBL Building and Components Ltd. is now 100 percent employee-owned. BBL, a company which specializes in three divisions of construction, including roof trusses and custom homes, was founded in 1975 at Biehle as Buchheit Buildings Ltd. Four years later, the company moved to 754 SEMO Lane -- the southbound outer road along Interstate 55 -- near Perryville,...

PERRYVILLE -- Crafters On The Square has opened at 15 W. St. Joseph at Perryville. The retail mall with up to 100 crafters will feature hand-crafted items, including stained glass, quilts and Victorian crafts. The new business is in the 3,000-square-foot Bey Auditorium building, which has previously housed a movie theater and bowling alley, will be open six days a week. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday...

Quality Trailer Sales Inc., a full-service truck-trailer sales and parts operation, has purchased property on the Interstate 55 East Outer Road Access, across from the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. The company, headquartered at Milan, Ill., has plans to build an office, warehouse and sales lot on the 3.37-acre Cape Girardeau site. The operation will be the seventh nationally and second in Missouri for Quality Trailer Sales, according to Dale F. Mooty, president of the company...

JACKSON -- Mid-America Mortgage Services has opened at 1404 Old Cape Road, Suite 101, at Jackson. Mid-America Mortgage was established in 1984 to provide mortgage products and services. The Jackson office is the ninth for the company, which has offices in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas...

CHAFFEE -- Impressions, a clothing and transfers store, has opened at 127 N. Main in Chaffee. The new store offers a wide selection of clothing and transfers for adult, youth and toddlers, said Joan Hooker, owner of the business. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. The store is closed Monday and Tuesday...

Spartech Corp., headquartered in St. Louis, has entered into an agreement to acquire the stock of Polycom Huntsman Inc. Polycom Huntsman is a supplier of proprietary polymer compounds, color and additive concentrates and toll compounding services, offered to a diversified number of customers in North America and Europe...

Gary Lynch has joined Coldwell Banker Hamilton Realty. Lynch of Cape Girardeau has been licensed in real estate since 1994. He has completed courses in general real estate practice, finance, relocation, buyer representation. He is a multimillion-dollar producer and qualifies for the Summit Level of Achievement from the State of Missouri and the local Association of Realtors for 1997 sales...

Mercantile Bancorporation Inc., headquartered in St. Louis, has announced plans to merge with Firstbank of Illinois in a transaction worth nearly $700 million. The merger is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year, Mercantile spokeswoman Lisa Rainbolt said...

The Missouri Soybean Association will hold its "Soybean Profitability" meeting Feb. 17, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Jackson. A number of topics will be discussed, starting at 10 a.m. Registration is at 9:30 a.m. Subjects include soybean diseases, new uses for soybeans, soybean market outlook and new herbicides...

Dr. Charles Korns, retired professor of horticulture at Southeast Missouri State University, will be guest speaker during the SEMO Master Gardeners' Symposium at Jackson next month. The seminar will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1:10 p.m. March 14 at the Jackson National Guard Armory, 224 Park...

Dana Corp., headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, has announced all-time high sales and earnings for 1997. Sales exceeded $8 billion for the first time. Full-year sales of $8.3 billion were up 8 percent from 1996 sales of $7.7 billion. Profits jumped 21 percent to $369 million. Earnings per share increased 18 percent to $3.54...

The head of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce told members of the Downtown Neighborhood Association Sunday that his organization is continuing to look for ways to help revitalize the city's downtown business and residential areas. John Mehner, executive director of the chamber, said he is optimistic that projects currently in the works will help re-establish the downtown area of the city as an attractive place for tourism and business as well as for homes...

Taxis in Cape Girardeau will be a little safer for some young passengers this week when the Cape Girardeau Safe Communities Program donates 10 child safety seats to a local company. Sherry Galnore, Safe Communities Coordinator, said the organization is donating the seats to Kelly Transportation so the company's customers can benefit. The donation also helps promote child passenger safety...

The smell of fresh paint is still evident in Imogene Mayberry's house on South Pacific. Mayberry's home is one of 36 being upgraded under the Locust-Maple neighborhood improvement project, a $733,500 Community Development Block Grant aimed at bring housing in the project area up to standards...

I went shopping for valentines the other day. I found almost everything I needed: A valentine for my father, for several friends and for two old boyfriends I'm still speaking (and sending cards) to. I'm still searching for the perfect romantic but noncommittal valentine...

Because Missourians shouldn't have to continue to pay the shortage each year for the state to regulate highway billboards, a forthcoming proposal by the Missouri Department of Transportation to increase billboard permit fees warrants serious notice by the Legislature...

More than 200 eighth-graders in schools at Perryville are engaged in a educational undertaking for young teens: They hope to make the apple the official fruit of Missouri. The eighth-grade social studies classes at Perryville Middle School, St. Vincent Junior-Senior High School and Immanuel Lutheran School initiated the project. ...

To the editor: Regarding the most recent outrage at the Alabama abortion clinic, all pro-life organizations and individuals oppose abortion-related violence and wish to express unequivocal condemnation of all such criminal behavior. First and foremost, our prayers, thoughts and sympathies are with the victims and their families, friends and co-workers. ...

To the editor: I am writing to let you know how sick and tired I am of hearing about Karla Faye Tucker. This was a woman who was convicted and admitted to the murder of a man and a woman. This was also a person who was a drug user and prostitute in her teen year. ...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "Do you favor a military strike against Iraq for not complying with the U.N. weapons inspection team?" Eric Smith, Cape Girardeau "If Iraq continues to ignore the U.N. Resolution then I favor a full military strike against them."...

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team will try to avoid an 0-3 road swing when the Otahkians play at Tennessee Tech tonight (7 p.m. tipoff). The Otahkians lost at Middle Tennessee State 95-67 Saturday afternoon. Prior to that, they dropped a 69-58 decision at Austin Peay Wednesday night...

The second annual Jammin' Juniors Tennis Tournament concluded Sunday at the Universal Physique Fitness and Racquet Center. Winning round-robin competitions were Ben Askew (boys 18 singles), Kimberly Anderson (girls 18 singles) and James Russell (boys 12 singles) while in boys 16 singles Sean Maguire beat Ed Roeger 4-6, 6-3, 6-1...

PERRYVILLE -- Mary Frances Gotto, 86, of Perryville, died Sunday, Feb. 8, 1998, in Chesterfield. She was born Sept. 22, 1911, in Perry County, daughter of William F. and Mary E. Miget Gotto. Gotto worked at the Miraculous Modal Association office. She was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church and a 25-year member of the Daughters of Isabella...

Lona I. Clay, 78, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, Feb. 8, 1998, at her home. She was born Feb. 6, 1920, in Higdon, Ark., daughter of George T. and Anna Jane Turney Main. She and Jasper E. Clay were married June 26, 1941, in Keiser, Ark. He died Feb. 3, 1964...

ANNA, Ill. -- Lena Smooth, 86, of Anna, died Sunday, Feb. 8, 1998, at City Care Center of Anna. She was born May 17, 1911, at Dongola, daughter of John and Cora Karraker Porterfield. She and Claude W. Smoot were married March 29, 1930. He died Aug. 13, 1983...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Funeral Mass for Leslie E. Webster will be celebrated at 11 a.m. today at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Cairo, with the Rev. Jerome Fortenberry officiating. Burial will be in Beechwood Cemetery in Mounds. Webster, 81, of Cairo died Saturday, Feb. 7, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

Esther E. Pensel, 84, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, Feb. 8, 1998, at the Lutheran Home. She was born Sept. 29, 1913, in Cape Girardeau County, daughter of George and Emma Perry Farrow. She and Herbert H. Pensel were married May 11, 1945, in St. Louis. He died May 7, 1991...

SIKESTON -- Robert A. Brown, 19, of Route 1 Sikeston, died Saturday, Feb. 7, 1998, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Sept. 14, 1978, in Cape Girardeau, son of Robert Lee and Jeris Jean Glueck Brown. Brown was employed as a machine operator at the Vess Supply Company in Sikeston. He had played on the basketball team at Scott County Central High School...