MEMO

Barge tows are still piling up and snarling river transportation throughout the Midwest river system.

More than 2,000 barges are stalled in and around the St. Louis harbor because of flooding conditions, according to Paul Werner, an executive with American Waterways Operators, a trade group for barge operators.

About 1,000 barges are in the St. Louis Harbor and another 1,000 upstream and downstream near the St. Louis area.

As many as 500 barges are tied up at Cairo, Ill.

Coast Guard officials halted barge traffic past St. Louis -- one of the busiest inland port in the country -- 12 days ago to protect levees holding back swollen rivers.

The Mississippi River is closed from Cairo to Granite City. The Missouri River is closed for the 366 miles from Kansas City to its confluence with the Mississippi. The Illinois River is closed for its 187-mile length. There are no predictions on when the rivers may reopen.

Total construction activity in Missouri was up 12 percent in April, with a big increase in nonresidential construction.

The F.W. Dodge Division of McGraw-Hill, an authority on the construction market, reported total construction for April at $487,732,000, up from the $434,815,000 for April 1994.

Nonresidential construction in the state during the month, which includes commercial, manufacturing and other buildings not designed for shelter, was reported at $229,195,000, up 67 percent from the $137,424,000 of April a year ago.

Residential construction for the month was $176,516,000, down 16 percent from $209,267,000 in April 1994.

Nonbuilding construction, which includes streets, highways, bridges, river and harbor developments, airports and other projects, was reported at $82,021,000 for April, down from the $88,124,000 million for April 1994.

Total construction for the first three months was up 15 percent. Overall totals for January, February and March were $1.9 billion, compared to $1.7 billion a year ago. Nonresidential construction for the first quarter was reported at $888 million, up 62 percent from the $548 million for the same period a year ago; residential construction was reported at $676 million, down 18 percent from the $828 million of 1994; and nonbuilding was reported at $349 million, 21 percent more than the $288 million of a year ago.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. recently conducted a four-day canned food drive that netted 4,000 cans of food and $1,200 for area agencies.

Following the event, the canned goods and cash were divided equally among the Salvation Army, Safe House for Women, F.I.S.H. and the Gibson Recovery Center.

Volunteers from the Gibson Center distributed the goods to the agencies.

"The Professional Woman," a workshop on women's issues, will be held at Player Riverboat Casino in Metropolis July 14, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Linda Eastman, president of the Professional Woman Network, will be speaker.

Additional information is available by calling 618-997-5336

Westvaco Corp., a major manufacturer of paper, packaging and chemicals, has reported record sales for the second quarter and six months of fiscal 1995, which ended April 30.

Westvaco, which includes a paper processing facility at Wickliffe, Ky., reported sales at $804 million the first quarter, up 28.4 percent from the same period in 1994. Second-quarter earnings were a record $65 million, or 97 cents a share, compared with 1994 second-quarter earnings of $16.3 million or 24 cents a share.

Sales for the first six months were $1.55 billion, up 28.5 percent from the same period a year ago. Half-year earnings were $114 million, or $1.70 a share up from the 1994 totals of $32 million or 48 cents a share.

Westvaco purchases timber from a number of Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri timber growers.