Stories from Monday, July 17, 2000

Manpower Inc. , headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., has announced the formation of a new operating division, The Empower Group, which provides organizational performance consulting services to multinational corporations. Developed through a combination of acquisitions, alliances and organic growth, The Empower Group is an independent operating division of Manpower. ...

Marble Hill, Mo., is one of seven rural communities to receive state grants to spur economic development. The Rural Economic Development Council has awarded Rural Economic Assistance Program (REAP) grants to the cities of Ellington, Marble Hill, Mountain View, Lexington and Weston, plus Dade and Dallas counties, to hire professional economic developers...

Fru-Con Construction Corp., headquartered in St. Louis, has received a national safety award from the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Fru-Con, which provides construction, engineering and technical services to industrial and other clients, including Procter & Gamble and Nordenia USA Inc. (formerly M&W Packaging U.S. Inc.) in Cape Girardeau County, was recognized as the second-place finisher in the competition for the best record among Group I construction managers...

Wal-Mart has selected a St. James, Mo., site for a new distribution center. The new 1.2 million-square-foot facility will be off Interstate 44 at the St. James exit and will provide 600 new jobs to the area, 90 percent of them full-time. The Department of Economic Development (DED) and the city of St. James worked closely with Wal-Mart to help bring the facility to Missouri...

The recent Missouri Department of Economic Development's trade mission to Africa generated millions of dollars in projected sales and produced more than 300 leads for future sales. Every participant in the trade mission met with success. The Missouri Department of Economic Development led the delegation to Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa, and to Accra, Ghana. ...

Wolverine World Wide Inc., the maker of Hush Puppies shoes, plans to close factories in five cities, including Kirksville, Mo., and cut 1,400 jobs, or 25 percent of its work force. The cuts announced last week are part of Wolverine's new strategic plan to consolidate operations at profitable facilities and focus on a narrower product range, according to Timothy J. O'Donovan, president and newly appointed chief executive...

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman has announced that emergency haying will be permitted on some Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres in areas of the country hit hardest by this year's drought. "The drought has devastated many farmers and ranchers," said Glickman. "This additional emergency relief measure will provide some hay for producers who need it most."...

After the Dierbergs grocery workers rejected its contract, union officials and Dierbergs Markets will go back to the bargaining table. Members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655 last week voted 298-284 to reject the contract. The union's contract with Dierbergs expired June 11. It covers some 2,700 Dierbergs employees working in 18 stores. The agreement was rejected after two days of negotiations...

Two signs reveal the progress of Albertson's Inc. in Cape Girardeau: "Coming Soon: Express Gas & Food To Go." "Coming Soon: Albertson's Food & Drug." More details can be found at the Cape Girardeau Division of Inspection Services offices, where permits have been issued for Albertson's Grocery Center and Albertson's Express...

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. For some time now, technology stocks have grabbed all the headlines, and they have remained the focus of investors, even though their performance has been wildly unpredictable, as evidenced by the stunning volatility of the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index this year...

When Procter & Gamble, long one of the most conservative companies in the nation, introduced Casual Fridays at its corporate offices in Cincinnati, Ohio, it only meant men could wear a coat without a tie. But P&G now allows all employees in Cincinnati to dress casually throughout the week, and casual now means slacks, nice shirts and no coat or tie...

Tuesday Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's "Business After Hours," 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Business counseling session, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 27 Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's "Chamber Means Business" breakfast, 7:15 a.m., Holiday Inn...

Buck Collier, editor of the Daily Statesman newspaper at Dexter, has been named to a new 13-member panel, formed to oversee job-training and job-related programs administered by the Southeast Missouri Workforce Board (WIB), based in Cape Girardeau. WIB, formerly Southeast Missouri Private Industry Council (PIC), administers federal and state funds aimed at job-training and job-related programs, including transportation programs designed to enable workers to get to jobs throughout 13 counties...

Michael Radake, CPA with Schott & Van de Ven, Certified Public Accountants, has completed two pension plan educational classes a 401(K) update and a course related to changes made to Form 5500, a required filing for employee benefit plans. Radake has been a CPA since 1994, and is licensed in Missouri and Illinois. He specializes in plan design and administration of employee benefit plan...

Diana Beeson recently joined Re/Max Achievers of Cape Girardeau. Beeson, of Jackson, is a member of the National Association of Realtors, Missouri Association of Realtors, Cape Girardeau Board of Realtors and Cape County Multi-List. She is also a past board member of the Missouri State Mental Health, Brehm Preparatory School and Missouri LDA...

Almost a year after Cape Girardeau police started using tape recorders during traffic stops, officers have seen a few minutes of recording save hours of investigation. A case in point involved patrolman Rollin Roberts, Chief Rick Hetzel said. After stopping a driver for a traffic violation, Roberts went through the usual conversation that police and many motorists are familiar with...

That yellowish-green glow of the lightning bug is more than just magic -- it's a handy tool for genetic and medical research. Scientists look for two chemicals obtained from Lampyridae, the official scientific name of the firefly, or lightning bug. Officials say that 100 fireflies will provide a milligram of concentrated light-emitting "luciferin" and "luciferase" chemicals, used in medical research in such ailments as cancer, heart disease and genetic disorders...

At Central High School in 1996, Ginny Overholser played a blind woman terrorized in the theatrical thriller "Wait Until Dark." The following spring, she was Mama in "I Remember Mama." Now 21, Overholser credits her high school drama training with enabling her to become what she is now, a New York City model whose first magazine cover hit the newsstands Friday...

Monday, July 17 at 7:30 p.m. City Hall, 401 Independence Study session at 5 p.m. Consent ordinances (Second and third readings) n Ordinance annexing land upon the request of Deer Creek Christian Academy Inc. n Ordinance amending Chapter 30 of Code of Ordinances by changing the zoning of 2039 State Route W from R-1 to C-1...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- They're seeking to become better Christians by using instruments such as prayer and witnessing. But they're gaining much more than that. All week long people from Sikeston and the surrounding area have participated in Christian Life and Witness Classes in preparation for the Ralph Bell Crusade coming here in August. They will continue attending classes until July 22, when the second two-week series begins. Each series consists of four classes...

Two area men were in court Friday on drug trafficking charges. De Regionald Cain, 41, of Parma was sentenced to 57 months on six felony counts of distribution of cocaine base. He appeared before U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel. According to reports, Cain sold a quantity of crack cocaine on six occasions to an undercover officer for the Bootheel Drug Task Force in New Madrid County...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- "I could be happy living and working here if that works out for the future," said Trisha Pelczynski. She is in a good position to know. In addition to being a Sikeston native, Pelczynski is one of 17 advancing first-year medical students at the University of Missouri-Columbia who took advantage of an opportunity to participate in the MU Area Health Education Center's (MU-AHEC) Rural Medical Scholars Program...

It didn't bother Stan Wicks that about half the crowd at a political rally and fund-raising event Sunday afternoon weren't old enough to vote. He just wanted everyone to feel welcome. "Everyone should be equal, whether they are eight or 80," said Wicks, a Republican candidate for the Missouri House of Representatives...

An accident Saturday morning south of Center Junction claimed the life of a DeSoto, Mo., man and ejected the driver of another vehicle involved. Michael Andrew Clinton, 22, of DeSoto was fatally injured in the accident and died later at St. Francis Medical Center from massive head injuries...

There was good news and bad news Sunday for the McDowell Capahas. First, for the bad news. The host Capahas suffered an 8-0 loss to O.B. Clark in the championship game of the National Baseball Congress Mid-South Regional Tournament at Capaha Field. Now, for the good news. The Capahas will still receive an at-large bid to next month's NBC World Series in Wichita, Kan., even though they failed to garner the regional's automatic berth, which goes to O.B. Clark...

Without question, the current Chaffee Medicap Pharmacy American Legion baseball team figures to have its best chance yet of bringing home the program's first District 14 Tournament title. But in order to do that, Chaffee will have to get past three-time defending champion Dunklin County and a few other potential contenders during the seven-team, double-elimination event that begins today in Charleston...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Elvis Tidwell, 90, of Sikeston died Sunday, July 16, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born June 20, 1910, in Sikeston, son of Frank and Maggie Whalen Tidwell. He married Lucille Cox on May 18, 1936, in Blodgett, Mo...

WYATT, Mo. -- Mildred Rafferty Smith, 90, of Wyatt died Sunday at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at the McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston, Mo.

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Michael Pxatrick McCoy, 47, of Marble Hill, died Saturday, July 15, 2000, at the family home. He was born Sept. 2,1952, at St. Louis, Mo., son of Robert E. and Glenda Hamlyn McCoy. McCoy worked at the Rhodes Sawmill. He was of the Baptist faith...

Bob Wayne Mayfield, 60, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, July 15, 2000, at his home. He was born April 19, 1940, in Bollinger County in Missouri, son of Ernest M. and Beatrice Crites Mayfield. He and Marilyn Bragg were married Dec. 23, 1961, at Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Virginia Mae Bass, 73, of Sikeston, died Saturday, July 15, 2000, at her home. She was born May 22, 1927, at Anniston, Mo., daughter of Allie Jones and Etta May Holland Jones. She and Harold Dale Corbin were married Sept. 6, 1945, at Charleston, Mo. He died Nov. 29, 1991. She and Jim Bass were married Feb. 11, 1970, at Sikeston. He died April 20, 1972...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Victoria Mann, 88, of Advance died Saturday, July 15, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 29, 1911, in Bloomfield, Mo., daughter of Lester and Pearl Arnett Teets. She and George Mann were married Sept. 11, 1928, at Bloomfield. He died Jan. 26, 1982...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Albert E. Bertling, age 77, of Jackson, died Sunday, July 16, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 20, 1922, in Cape Girardeau, son of Walter and Clara Arnettae Oberbeck Bertling. He and Ally Beth "Shorty" Short were married May 18, 1943, in St. Genevieve, Mo. She passed away Feb. 24, 1986...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Glenn R. Ayers, 76, of Dexter died Saturday, July 15, 2000, at his home. He was born May 9, 1924, in New Madrid County, son of the late Wylie Thomas and Susie Viola Morrow Ayers. He and Drucille Pixley were married Nov. 7, 1946, at Sikeston, Mo. She survives...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Alfred Joseph "Joe" Ryan, 71, of Bloomfield died Thursday, July 13, 2000, at Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter, Mo. He was born Jan. 22, 1929, at Sikeston, Mo., son of Tom B. and Ida Mae Williams Ryan. He and Charlene Holifield were married June 29, 1950. She preceded him in death...

OAK RIDGE, Mo. -- Hazel E. Miller, 94, of Oak Ridge died Sunday, July 16, 2000, at Jackson Manor in Jackson, Mo. She was born Feb. 16, 1906, at Kurreville, Mo., daughter of Herman Monroe Kurre and Mary Albenia Bennie Clingingsmith. She and Payton Miller were married March 29, 1929. He died March 4, 1992...

The Israelis and Palestinians are back at Camp David looking for another bribe. Yes that's what it is. We give them money for them to promise to quit fighting each other. Next thing you know they go home and fight with each other. Then they come back and ask for another bribe. Well, how long do American taxpayers need to give them bribes in order to get them to quit fighting? I say let them fight...

The Missouri Department of Transportation's latest estimate to fix the state's deteriorating highways and bridges has been put at $19.7 billion to $24.1 billion, a dramatic increase over an estimate of just eight years ago. That 1992 estimate, included in a 15-year road-building plan, was just $5 billion. Now the range of the department's repair estimate is almost as much as the total estimated cost of repairs in 1992...

A Missouri Department of Transportation traffic planner last week gave Cape Girardeau officials some pointers on how access to businesses near traffic signals can slow traffic on busy streets. The fact is, motorists who frequent Kingshighway and Route K on the west side of town don't need a highway official to tell them that too many entrances, exits and traffic signals slow traffic considerably and pose all kinds of hazards on busy commercial streets...

To the editor: "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." I'm thinking of the war memorial at the entrance to Cape County Park North. It is, indeed, a beautiful, impressive sight as you drive by from either direction. Children also are impressed by the appearance of the flag waving and ask questions. This I know from personal experience...