Stories from Monday, February 5, 1996

The nation's unemployment rate experienced its first increase in three months in January, soaring to 5.8 percent, the highest level since last spring. The number of jobs declined by 210,000, the first drop in 10 months and the largest in six years. But, many business executives in the Midwest are still optimistic about 1996...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "What do you think of the proposal to shackle Missouri inmates in a chain gang fashion while they participate in a prison work program?" Eileen Owens, Cape Girardeau "I'd say if they're in there (prison) for a serious crime I don't see anything wrong with that."...

The Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority is a link to the world. The local port handled more than 362 tons of freight durihjng the past year. The barge industry is riding the waves of success. The barge industry and cargo shipments on two of the nation's largest inland rivers -- the Mississippi and Ohio -- hit record levels last year...

Continuing brutally cold weather brought Mississippi River barge traffic to a halt Sunday, leaving two tugs and their loads frozen immobile near Cape Girardeau. One tug, the Dennis Hendrix of Jeffersonville, Ind., was stranded just a couple hundred meters north of the water system pump house at Cape Rock Park. Another tug based in Minneapolis, was stopped slightly upstream but still visible from the park...

Wishing upon a star didn't get him very far, so Kevin Lossing and his parents made his ultimate wish known to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Lossing asked for a new home computer. His wish was granted this week. Kevin, 12, is awaiting a heart transplant. Doctors diagnosed his heart problems about three months ago. His heart functions at only 20 percent of its normal capacity...

JACKSON -- Despite her name, Charity doesn't take kindly to strangers. A knock on the Birk family's door gets her attention, the entry of unfamiliar visitors evokes a low growl. It takes a soothing pat from any of the five Birks to quiet her. But that's just fine for the golden Labrador's owners. They wanted Charity for her protective nature and generally calm disposition, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation made the match possible...

Jenifer Gordon has taken her share of college accounting classes. But much of what she has learned has come from on-the-job training as an intern at a Cape Girardeau manufacturing plant. Internships are a key component of Southeast Missouri State University's strategic plan...

Braving the arctic air the other night after work, I wandered to the river to watch the snow fall and the ice float past. It's a strange and wondrous sight, and oddly hypnotic, the ice and snow and mist against the cold gray water. Winter's beauty is so essential, pared down to whites and grays, that it's easy to miss, I realized...

I'M CALLING regarding the comment about the Reagan and Bush administration and the way the GOP is knocking Clinton's family and has been ever since they heard of them. I want to tell you, I lived through the Hoover administration, and we almost starved. I think they're being petty, and it's political, and I think it should stop. I am a Democrat and always will be...

Earl Stroder, 80, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Feb. 4, 1996, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

The Cape Girardeau area chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons will meet at 1:30 p.m. today at Grace United Methodist Church. A video of the Leisure Time Fair held in 1992 will be shown and members will vote on new standing rules for the organization...

Firefighters responded to two separate house fires Saturday night in Cape Girardeau. The first incident occurred at 8:56 p.m., at 625 N. Spanish. A firefighter suffered minor injuries in a fall, and was taken to Southeast Hospital. He was later released...

7:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 5 Public Hearings A. A public hearing regarding the request of Calvin and Vera M. Sailer to rezone 726 Independence from C-1, local commercial district, to C-3, central business district. B. A public hearing regarding the request of M. Paul and JoEllen Crosnoe for a special use permit for a mail-order sporting goods business at 1515 Kurre Lane in an R-1, single family residential district...

Agnes Heuring, 84, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, Feb. 4, 1996. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

BERTRAND -- Lloyd Diamond, 86, of Bertrand died Sunday, Feb. 4, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born July 30, 1909, at Pittman, Ark., to Mont "Gorel" Diamond and Tina Ellen Grisham. He married Edith Shively Crosier on April 28, 1980, at Charleston...

In frigid Iowa, one presidential contender must be warmed by the flames his flat-tax proposal is fanning in the Republican race. Steve Forbes has gone from political outsider with a chance to, at best, help shape the campaign with his supply-side ideas on taxes, to a genuine contender in early Republican caucuses and primaries...

People who steer political campaigns often complain of the apparent fickleness of the American voter. Public opinion polls drive most campaign, as voters seem to shift positions in a matter of weeks, or sometimes, days. Why is this? Are voters so easily influenced by persuasive candidates? Or is it something else?...

I suppose anyone who has ever taken American history or freshman political science knows that if the Continental Congress hadn't agreed to demands for 10 amendments guaranteeing personal liberties, Americans might still be arguing over a Constitution. ...

Herbert Wickham, a retired art teacher from Jackson, called himself a lucky coach who had too many players to put in the game. And with 541 entries, Wickham had to narrow his list to just 72 players. Wickham judged the 18th annual High School Art Symposium, an exhibit open to students in grades 10-12...

I could see it in their eyes, glowing like those of dingos which have caught the scent of a recent kill. I, obviously, was not Mrs. Peukert. Nor was I a substitute teacher with whom they were familiar. That meant only one thing. Fresh meat. Few things brighten a seventh-grader's day like a rookie substitute teacher. ...

7:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 5 A. Accept the proposal of Walker and Associates Inc. of Fenton to provide aerial photographs of city at a cost of $1,280. B. Record the disposal of city records which have met their retention schedule under RSMo 109.230 and were disposed of at the landfill utilized by the city...

The Sunshine Corner Herb Shop in downtown Cape Girardeau is expanding its business to include new product lines and a therapeutic massage school, with a variety of classes and workshops. The new classes, said owner Teresa Pullum, will include basic massage for couples, introduction to mediation, Tai'Chi classes, Shiatso demonstrations and an introduction to growing your own herbs...

Bob Bowman has been appointed general manager of General Sign Co.'s wholesale division, Admiral Plastics. Bowman of Cape Girardeau has been with General Sign since 1981. In other promotions, General Sign announced that Jennifer Emmett has been named assistant apprentice in the company's design department and Walt Margrabe has been appointed manager of the installation and service crew...

Applegate Restaurant opened recently just south of Kelso. The restaurant is on a site that previously was an apple orchard, thus the name, said Darrell Long, one of three owners of the restaurant that specializes in barbecued ribs and steaks. Long and Norman Robert, both of Cape Girardeau, and Don Rogers of Scott City are owners of the restaurant, which seats about 80 people...

John Cai started cooking Chinese food in 1985. He was working at the Chemical Fibre Weaving Mill in Shaoxianga City, Republic of China, when a vacancy came up in the dining room. Cai, a Chinese native who had completed middle school at Shaoxinga City in the Zwejiang Province of China, had previously worked as an electrician, mechanic and welder in the Tashan Village Cold Role Steel Works...

Glik Stores is expanding. The family-owned apparel store headquartered in Granite City, Ill., has acquired five Sycamore Stores, which will reopen in Illinois and Indiana March 1 under the Glik name. The three Indiana stores at Farnkfort, Brazil and Brownsburg, and the Olney, Ill., store will be operated as Glik's, featuring branded men's and women's apparel. ...

The Cape Girardeau Kmart employees Good News Committee has donated $650 to the Missouri Veterans Home. A portion of the funds will be used for entertainment, outings and other activities at the Veterans Home, 2400 Veteran Memorial Drive. A portion of the funds were placed in the indigent fund to purchase clothing and other personal items for needy veterans...

Orders for American-made machine tools rose in December, helping make 1995 the industry's best year since 1979, an industry trade group says. December orders were $377.5 million, an increase of 16.8 percent from November, but down 31.9 percent compared with December 1994, the Association for Manufacturing Technology said...

The Fastenal Co., a national distributor of threaded metal fasteners and related construction supplies, reports fourth-quarter sales of $57.9 million -- a gain of 30 percent from sales of $45 million during the same period of 1994. Net earnings per share increased from 14 to 19 cents. Net earnings were $7.2 million for the quarter, up 31 percent from the $5.5 million the year before...

Total construction activity in Missouri was up 14 percent last year. Totals for the year were reported at $6,339,416,000, compared to 5,554,281,000 for 1994, by The F.W. Dodge Division of McGraw-Hill, an authority on the construction market, Nonresidential construction was reported at $2.8 billion, up 41 percent from the $1.9 billion for 1994. ...

State and community officials and community leaders will meet at the sixth annual Bootheel Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission's Elected Officials Conference Feb. 16 at New Madrid. The 1:30 p.m. meeting will be held at Becky Sharp's Restaurant, with registration to start at 1 p.m...

Central Hardware, the 93-year-old chain founded in St. Louis, is closing. The company's remaining 10 stores in the St. Louis area and five stores in Memphis, Tenn., are expected to close by June. Central's parent company, Handy Andy Home Improvement Centers Inc. ...