Stories from Monday, November 20, 2000

Doug Friese, manager of fitness and wellness at St. Francis Medical Center's Universal Health and Fitness Center, recently attended the Medical Fitness Association's 6th annual conference in New Orleans. Friese participated in discussions on the future of medical center-based fitness centers and employee wellness programs...

Houchin's Do-nuts Drive In will open in Cape Girardeau Friday at the intersection of Kingshighway and Hopper Road. "We make all kinds of donuts -- glazed and cake," said Sherry Johnson, an owner in the operation. "We'll also have custard and cream filled long johns, and Danish."...

Hanners Wholesale and Retail has opened a new store on Highway 25, about two mile south of Jackson, Mo. Mike and Jeannie Hanners previously operated Hanner's Handy Tools in Pocahontas, Mo., for about five years. The couple have added to their line of items, which now includes tools, hunting and fishing supplies and clothing...

Matt Seyer of Seyers Garage, 2334 Rusmar St., Cape Girardeau, has become a distributor for Five Star Muffler. Seyers Garage, which offers complete automotive services, can offer mufflers and tail pipes for all types of vehicles. One of the focal points of the Five Star dealership is a state-of-the-art pipe-bending machine. The new computerized machine can fashion pipes to fit virtually any car on the road...

Harold Lang, formerly of Old Appleton, Mo., has been honored by AGCO Corp., a farm equipment company headquartered in Duluth, Ga. Lang, who has been with Massey Ferguson, a wholly owned subsidiary of AGCO Corp., was one of 11 award winners worldwide for exceptional contributions to the company...

This "Financial Focus" column is prepared by Edward Jones Investments, with headquarters in St. Louis and branches in Cape Girardeau and Jackson. Do you know what happened to last quarter's GDP? How about this month's CPI? Or last month's PPI? If you find all these initials a bit confusing, you're not alone. ...

David M. Plassman, Lonnie Lusk and Michael A. Radake, CPAs with Schott & Van de Ven Certified Public Accountants, have competed training classes. Plassman and Lusk recently completed the corporate and business tax tour course, a review on taxation and tax changes. Radake completed a continuing education class on Roth IRAs, employee benefit plan distributions and rollovers...

Dr. Shanon Kirchhoff, a Cape Girardeau orthodontist, recently presented a "Bite Mark Presentation" for Southeast Network Against Sexual Violence at the 2nd annual SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) training group. Registered nurses, law enforcement and social services employees attended the session to learn about forensic sexual assault examinations...

Kristina Reaves of Dexter, Mo. has joined Princess House as a lifestyle consultant. The company is headquartered in Taunton, Mass., and is a direct sales company offering a line of home-enhancement products. Consultants provide consumers with a shopping experience in a home party setting...

Ann Swanson of Gulliver's Travel Agency in Jackson, Mo., recently attended an educational tour of Tunisia, North Africa. Swanson toured the Troglodyte villages of Matmata, and ruins of ancient Carthage. She also took excursions to the resort island of Djerba, Roman ruins at Sbeitla and several oases in the Sahara Desert...

Business incubation has come a long way in 20 years. This worldwide industry creates opportunities for almost any type of entrepreneur, from the smallest communities to metropolitan areas. Let's take a look at some numbers. An incubation program's main goal is to produce successful graduates -- businesses -- that are financially viable and freestanding when they leave the incubator, usually in two to three years. Thirty percent of incubator clients typically graduate each year...

Bob Evans Restaurant, at the intersection of Interstate 55 and Route K, will open next month. The restaurant, which offers a full line of breakfast, lunch and dinner entrees, is set to open Dec. 11. The restaurant will be open Sunday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m...

The $8.8 million Otto and Della Seabaugh Polytechnic Building, being constructed on the north campus of Southeast Missouri State University, is expected to be complete by May 2001 in time for fall classes. The new building will house the School of Polytechnic Studies, which includes the university's Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology. The new facility will provide training space for industries and the latest advanced manufacturing technology for students...

Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys remained at the top the list of vehicles most favored by thieves last year. High-end light trucks are still popular targets for swiping, the National Insurance Crime Bureau said in its latest list last week. Accords and Camrys -- tops on the list for the past few years -- were followed by the Oldsmobile Cutlass, Chevrolet full-size pickup truck, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicles, Chevrolet Caprice, Ford Taurus and the Chevrolet Cavalier.. ...

Scott City Feed will hold a grand opening Dec. 1-7. The newly expanded business, owned by James and Carolyn Cauble, offers food and supplies for animals, small and large. The business is at 2607 Main St. in Scott City and also offers antiques and collectibles. The grand opening will get under way each day at 10 a.m. and on Saturday, Dec. 2, will features free sausage dogs, coffee and prizes...

The Marketing Department at St. Francis Medical Center received a first place honor in the Show-Me Excellence Awards. The awards were presented recently during the Missouri Association for Health Care Public Relations and Marketing Conference. St. Francis won for "Children's Fun Run," entered in a special public relations project category...

Cotton production in Missouri has ended with decent yields for Bootheel cotton producers. The projected yield of 660 pounds an acre -- 59 pounds higher than the 1999 yield -- is 550,000 bales and 17 percent above last year's yield. The year started well, said Missouri University extension state cotton specialist Bobby Phipps. Farmers completed planting early, but high winds and rains created problems...

Editor's note: This is part of a continuing series about the area's industrial parks. STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- Trautman Industrial Center is running out of room for new businesses and industries looking for ready access to electricity, gas, water, sewers and paved streets...

City officials tonight again will consider placing video cameras at one Cape Girardeau intersection a move designed to discourage red light runners and thwart potential accidents in the city. This is the fourth time an ordinance permitting the city to install the video system has appeared on the City Council agenda...

Three city advisory board members have been removed from their seats after failing to meet the city's attendance requirement, but the former members say they are not upset about their dismissals and understand the city's motivation in setting the policy...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Teresa Meier picked her way through the hillside of pine trees, ignoring the cold wind swirling around her. She gazed lovingly at her crop of Christmas trees, tagged and priced and ready to be cut down for holiday shoppers who will begin arriving at her farm near Jackson on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving...

From 1992 to 1999, 1,654 businesses were started in Cape Girardeau. Almost half -- 806 -- are still in business. This surpasses the national success rates that indicate small business start-ups have only a 20 percent chance of survival. But with a "business incubator," the survival rate could have been even more. The national success rate of small businesses hatched in a business incubator reach more than 80 percent...

Monday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. Council Chambers, City Hall, 401 Independence Study session at 5 p.m. Public hearings n A public hearing regarding proposed amendments to the Subdivision Regulations and Stormwater Management Regulations to request copies of record plats and as-built drawings for subdivision improvements in digital exchange format, and to include stormwater management plans with as-built drawings, as well as certifications on construction...

A lighting ceremony to open the annual Holiday of Lights display in Cape Girardeau County's North Park will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The display, started in 1987 with 11 displays, has more than 200 displays this year. The ceremony at Shelter No. 8 will feature The New Generations Choir from Mid-America Teen Challenge and the Salvation Army choir...

Tonight's opening of the annual Perryville Thanksgiving Tournament will help usher in the first real night of the area high school basketball season. The four-team round-robin girls event features two games tonight: Notre Dame vs. North County at 6 p.m. and Perryville vs. Chester, Ill., at 7:30. There will also be two games both Tuesday and Wednesday nights...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Edith E. Kilmartin, 99, of Carlyle, Ill., formerly of Cairo, died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2000, at St. Joseph Hospital in Breese, Ill. She was born Feb. 4, 1901, in San Gabriel, La., daughter of Felix and Emma Guidry Clouatre. She married Daniel Kilmartin, and he died in 1960...

Grace Erlbacher Dace, 95, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Nov. 18, 2000, at the Chateau Girardeau Health Center. She was born May 22, 1905, near Gordonville, Mo., daughter of Samuel O. and Adalia L. Kinder. She and Edwin (Eddie) A. Erlbacher were married March 17, 1928. He died April 15, 1961. On Feb. 11, 1968, she married Melvin Dace of Sikeston, Mo., and he died Nov. 18, 1985...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Jack Allen Anderson, 62, of Sikeston died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston following an extended illness. He was born Aug. 24, 1938, in East Prairie, Mo., son of Clyde and Colleen Murrow Anderson. He and Eugenia Dollar were married Dec. 21, 1955, in Hernando, Miss. She died Dec. 12, 1998...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Irma G. Stortz, 79, of Perryville died Saturday, Nov. 18, 2000, in Red Bud, Ill. She was born Nov. 26, 1920, in Frohna, Mo., daughter of Gotthilf Henry and Christina Elmshaeuser Schmidt. She and Edwin B. Stortz were married Oct. 7, 1946. He died April 27, 1986...

ANNA, Ill. -- Cecil Treece, 89, of Anna died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2000, at his home. He was born Aug. 22, 1911, in Anna, son of Lorran and Elvenna Thorn Treece. He and Cathryn Alene Turner were married Sept. 6, 1942, in Jackson, Mo. She preceded him in death...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Dorothy M. Tindall, 72, of Slinger, Wis., died Friday, Nov. 17, 2000, at St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee. She was born July 9, 1928, in Perryville, daughter of Henry and Louise Hunt Bohnert. Survivors include one son, Greg Tindall of Milwaukee; one daughter, Julia Buerck of Cincinnati; one brother, Donald Bohnert of Arnold, Mo.; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren...

LEOPOLD, Mo. -- Lolon Huffman Benton, 77, of Leopold died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Jan. 13, 1923, in Oran, Mo., son of Simon Harrison and Ada Alice Huffman Benton. He was a disabled veteran of the U.S. Army, having served in the South Pacific during World War II...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Pauline Johnson, 74, of Olive Branch died Thursday, Nov. 16, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 11, 1926, in Olive Branch, daughter of Leonard and Gladys Free Bennett. She and J.D. Johnson were married on Dec. 10, 1943...

I HAVE one thing to say about your editorial concerning county planning and zoning which said the next effort will have to come as a request from the rural residents. As one of those rural residents, this is all I have to say to this: Don't hold your breath...

Cape Girardeau County and the Missouri Department of Conservation are about to embark upon construction of a nature center in Cape Girardeau County North Park. The Cape Girardeau County Commission and conservation department have discussed the project for a couple of years. The nature center, which would incorporate exhibits and nature trails, would be a good addition to the park, which includes an area of undeveloped forests covering rolling hills that could benefit from some nice trails...

Within a span of a few days, Miki Gudermuth resigned from the Cape Girardeau County Transit Advisory Committee and announced that SADI, the organization she directs, will start a transportation service of its own for disabled people. SADI, which stands for SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence, is operating that service with a donated van and start-up money from Missouri Department of Transportation, the Area Wide United Way and other agencies. ...