BUSINESS MEMO: EXPLORER TO STOP AT CAPE

The R/B River Explorer, a floating hotel and touring vessel headquartered in New Orleans, will make its first Cape Girardeau stop of the summer season Tuesday.

The Explorer, which will stop here seven times this year, will dock at 3 a.m. in the morning, and leave about 2 p.m. The Explorer will dock her overnight Sept. 15 and Sept. 30.

Paddle wheeler riverboat traffic along the banks of the Mississippi River in downtown Cape Girardeau will be down during the first year of the new millennium. The "Queens" will make only three more stops in 2000. The Mississippi Queen and Delta Queen will be here July 3, en route to St. Louis in the annual New Orleans-to-St. Louis race. The two queens will be here from 8 a.m. to noon. The final Queen stop will be Oct. 10.