Stories from Monday, March 6, 2000

The Southeast Missouri Homebuilders Association Lawn, Garden and Home Improvement Extravganza will be held at the Show Me Center on Southeast Missouri State University campus March 17-19. The three-day event is sponsored by the Southeast Missouri Home Builders Association...

'Most-stolen' cars Test driven a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord lately? America's car thieves have, and they're big fans. Those two models dominate the most-stolen vehicle list for 1999, with 19 of the top 25 spots, as they have in years past. The 1989 Toyota Camry kept its ranking as the most-stolen vehicle for the third year in a row, followed by the 1990, 1991 and 1988 Camrys...

BioKyowa Inc. has announced promotions for the start-up of its first phase of new expansion at the Cape Girardeau plant. J. Brad Wilson of Tamms, Ill., has assumed the position of production operations manager for the Threonine-Trytophan division, and Kenny Ross of Marble Hill has been named process superintendent for the new division. ...

Biokyowa has announced promotions for the start up of its second phase expansion -- Kyowa Foods Division. The company, which produces L-Lysine, will produce nucleotide seasonings for IMP, GMP and WMP, which are used as food additives for human consumption...

Cynthia New and Christine Szpak have joined Southwestern Bell Wireless. New will be account executive in charge of sales in the Poplar Bluff, Charleston and the Bootheel area. She is a graduate of Sikeston High School and had attended Southeast Missouri State University. ...

James Zimmer, a native of Southern Illinois, has returned to the area to accept the position of airport manager of the Mount Vernon Airport. Zimmer has been around the aviation scene a number of years. He has served as a flight instructor and has flown corporate jets as a charter pilot. Zimmer also has a bachelor's degree in aviation management and a master's in airport administration from SIU-Carbondale...

Lula C. Boshell has been named director of medical records at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Boshell attended Stephens College in Columbia and St. Louis Community colleges. In 1979, she received registration from the American Health Information Management Association as a Regional Health Information Technician...

David Alberson and Becky Davis have joined Crown Cadillac Olds Nissan, 607 S. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau as sales representatives. Alberson of Cape Girardeau was in construction before getting into auto sales. Davis of Burfordville has about five years sales experience in other products...

Dennis Bess, vice president training and customer care at Crown Cadillac-Oldsmobile-Nissan in Cape Girardeau, recently accepted a service excellence award presented to the Cadillac Service Department. Bess has been with Cadillace-Oldsmobile-Nissan since 1993...

Diane Runnels types in a Web address on her terminal at Clas Computers in Cape. A few more keystrokes. A point, a click, a point, a click. On the screen appears the image of the original land patent of one of her ancestors, Asher Pipkin. Genealogical research has changed a lot in the Information Age. ...

Genealogy research can turn up a lot of information names, dates, locations, but these are the bare bones of history, not the flesh. They tell us the what, not the why. Why did someone move from Pennsylvania to Ohio, then from Ohio to Missouri? That why, though, can be filled in for future generations if today's seniors will take the time, according to Diane Runnels of Clas Computers in Cape Girardeau, who is also a genealogist...

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. The recent volatility in the stock market brought out a fact many people had almost forgotten: stocks can go down as well as up...

Gasoline prices jumped 6 cents a gallon at the pump in the past two weeks, surpassing the all-time peak recorded in November 1990, an industry analyst said. High crude oil prices and strong demand combined to drive up the national average price, including all grades and taxes, to $1.4713 as of Friday. That was an increase of 6.08 cents from Feb. 11, according to the Lundberg Survey of 10,000 stations nationwide, analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday...

Westvaco Corp., a major manufacturer of paper, packaging and chemicals, has reported first-quarter sales and earnings. Westvaco, headquartered in New York, reported sales of $799.6 million in the quarter ending Jan. 31, up 23 percent from a year ago. Net earnings were $50.2 million, or 50 cents a share, double the total of $25.2 million and 25 cents a share for the same period in 1998...

Nearly a third of American companies expect to hire more workers this spring, the strongest demand in more than two decades, according to a survey being released. The survey of second-quarter hiring plans, conducted by the temporary staffing agency Manpower Inc., indicated especially strong demand for workers in financial services and in manufacturing durable goods...

I have been running Windows 2000 here at my shop for over a good year and I like it very much. Now that the production version of Win2000 is shipping, my friends ask me quite often if they should upgrade. The answer to this huge question is YES and NO. ...

Dr. Beverly Cleair, of Regional Eyecare Center, 1749 Independence, Cape Girardeau, recently attended the 77th Southern Educational Congress of Optometry, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. More than 200 hours of optometric-related courses, lectures, panel discussions and hands-on workshops were presented during the five-day conference...

Five Cape Girardeau physicians and staff members from Southeast Missouri Hospital's Regional Brain and Spine Center recently attended a seminar on "Percutaneous Electrothermal Treatment of Discogenic Pain," sponsored by Oratec in St. Louis. This therapy may be an effective option for people suffering from lower back pain...

Wednesday Missouri Main Street workshop (Presbyterian Church): 9 a.m., Promotion, Scott Sewell, Eclipse Communications, Topeka, Kan.; 3 p.m. Design, Mark Miles, Historic Preservation Program, Missouri Department of Natural Resources; 6:30 p.m., Organization, Sheri Stuart, Program Associate, National Main Street Center, Washington, D.C...

Brad Jones, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, will be guest speaker at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's "Chamber Means Business" Breakfast March 30 at 7:15 a.m. at the Holiday Inn. Additional "Chamber Means Business" sessions are scheduled May 25, July 27, Sept. 28 and Nov. 30...

The Small Business Development Center will conduct counseling sessions at Cape Girardeau, Sikeston and Perryville this month. The counselor, Gil Degenhardt, will be available March 22, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office. The counseling sessions (about one hour) are free. Call 335-3312 for appointment...

It took only a second for the dog Emily Dietl was petting to turn and bite her in the face, but she'll probably live with the scar for the rest of her life. The 10-year-old Jackson girl and her mother, Cathy Dietl, were at a friend's house Feb. 13 when the chow bit the child with no apparent provocation...

The Southeast Missouri State Indians are riding a wave of popularity that carried them to a seed in the NCAA Tournament and could take them even further before breaking. The team broke school records by winning the Ohio Valley Conference Championship Sunday afternoon with a 67-56 victory over Murray State University. Winning the championship game qualified the team for the NCAA tournament its first ever in university history...

The monstrous tractor-trailer rig pulled off the interstate and into one of the giant gasoline centers which provide food, office space and bedding for drivers and diesel fuel for the rig. The driver already knew what to expect. Another $400 refill...

Jeanie Stewart always wanted to be a writer. But the former Cooter High School English and history teacher says, "It seemed like an unattainable goal." Since 1994, Stewart has won prizes in the Heartland Writers Guild's Great Beginnings Writing Competition five times. And since 1996, seven of her novels have been published in the teen-age fiction Sweet Valley University series...

Cape Girardeau and Jackson Board of Education candidates will face off in upcoming public forums sponsored by city American Business Women's Association chapters. Jackson residents will hear from incumbent Tom Ludwig and challengers Mark Baker, Mack Illers and Brent Wills at 7 p.m. March 20 at the Jackson Middle School. The event will be held March 23 in case of inclement weather...

Cape Girardeau could get a new public works site for $491,000 if the council approves a lease-purchase agreement tonight during its regular meeting. The council meets at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 401 Independence. The new site, a 12-acre tract along Corporate Circle near Southern Expressway, would give the city's public works division a chance to spread out and work better...

BENTON -- Makers of methamphetamine in Scott County know who Bobby Sullivan is. Sullivan takes pride in this. "I've heard that me and my partner's names have been passed around, and they're saying 'watch out for these guys,'" said Sullivan, referring to himself and Bobby Penrod, deputies for the Scott County Sheriff's Department...

Spending the afternoon with the likes of Mark Twain, Homer and Walt Whitman along with Kate, Beatrice, Petruchio, Leonato and Benedick from Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Much Ado About Nothing" and the apprentice from Goethe's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" would delight anyone with a love of literature. That was the highlight of Sunday's Showcasing the Cannon, the first event of Southeast Missouri State University's Millennial Symposium of the Arts...

Millstream Gardens Conservation Area on the St. Francis River near Fredericktown will be the place to be March 18 and 19 when qualifying competition is held as part of the process to select a whitewater canoe and kayak team for the summer Olympics in Australia...

Some people in Commerce, the small, Scott County community that is repeatedly ravaged by Mississippi River flooding, have come up with an idea that will allow them to get something back from the river that has taken so much from the community. Dixie Jane Johnson is heading up an effort to build a riverboat landing in hopes of attracting tourists. ...

Southeast's Drew DeMond blocked a shot by Murray State's Chris Shumate in the second half of the OVC Tournament championship game Sunday in Nashville. NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team is going to the NCAA Tournament as a Division I program for the first time ever -- and not even perennial Indian killer Aubrey Reese can do anything about it...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Roderick Johnson, the most valuable player of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, seems sincere when he says he doesn't put much stock in individual accolades. But Johnson knows at least one person who will be elated by the award that Southeast Missouri State University's senior forward captured -- his late mother...

Coming off the program's best-ever state showing, the Cape Girardeau Central High girls swimming team will once again look to make quite a splash this season. The Lady Tigers, who placed fifth at the state meet last year, open the new campaign Tuesday at Parkway Central. The first home meet will be March 14 against Parkway North...

NASHVLLE, Tenn. -- Diane Seng scored 37 points as Tennessee Tech secured its second straight NCAA berth with an 89-80 victory over Austin Peay in final of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. Tech has won the OVC tournament a record nine times, including a record five straight from 1989-93...

Southeast Missouri State's softball team dropped two of three games Sunday in the SEMO Classic Tournament. First, the Otahks (2-3) defeated Bradley 5-1 in a game where Kelsey White and Jenny Doehring each had two hits and Renee Mueller got the win. Southeast was shut out in its second game, losing 1-0 to Creighton. White had the only hit of the game and Jennifer Dippel suffered the tough-luck loss...

Heading into tonight's regional state playoff game against Naylor at Sikeston High School, Advance seems to have everything going its way. The Hornets have had three days between games. Naylor has had two. Advance is 100 percent healthy. Naylor is banged up...

Dolores C. Ziegler, 70, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, March 5, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel.

DEXTER -- Amy Gretchen Edwards Stevens, 98, of Dexter died Thursday, March 2, 2000, at the Beverly Health and Rehab Center at Dexter. She was born Sept. 20, 1901, at Poplar Bluff, daughter of William Valentine and Sara Moorman Edwards. Stevens had lived in McLeansboro, Ill., and then spent many years in St. ...

SIKESTON -- Virginia Hunott, 77, died Sunday, March 5, 2000, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Aug. 5, 1922, in Chaffee, daughter of Henry and Stella Drinkard Campbell Clay. She and Phillip H. "Buck" Hunott were married on Aug. 20, 1942. He died July 28, 1982...

DEXTER -- Lillie Woodruff, 95, of Dexter died Saturday, March 4, 2000, at the Beverly Health and Rehab Center at Dexter. She was born Dec. 26, 1904, in Lawrence County, Ark., daughter of George and Louise May Stephens. She and Allen Horn were married in February 1923. He preceded her in death. On Dec. 19, 1927, she and William Cairl Woodruff were married. He died April 7, 1969...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Gladys Gunning, 72, of Tamms died Sunday at her home. Arrangements are pending at Crain Funeral Home at Tamms.

Etson Charles Steele, 43, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, March 4, 2000, at Barnes Hospital at St. Louis. He was born March 17, 1956, at Cape Girardeau, son of Leslie William and Gladys Hellwegge Steele. He and Jane Wibbenmeyer were married Sept. 4, 1976, at Perryville...

LEOPOLD -- Herschel Hinkebein of Leopold died Saturday, March 4, 2000, at the VA Medical Center at Poplar Bluff. Arrangements are pending at the Liley Funeral Home at Marble Hill.

Betty Lou Uhr, 74, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, March 5, 2000, at the Beverly Health and Rehab Center at Dexter. Arrangements are pending at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel.

A Marston man was killed and his passenger injured Sunday when the vehicle he was driving ran off a road, slid down an embankment and hit a concrete culvert. Henry Pikey, 20, of Marston was killed in the accident. Marsha French, 15, a passenger in the vehicle, was thrown from the car. She received only minor injuries. Neither was wearing a seat belt, according to reports from the Missouri Highway Patrol,...