Cape train route makes contest's last round

Cape Girardeau has made it to the third and final round of Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure "You Route the Steam" competition.

Voting continues through Jan. 17 on four proposed railroad routes to be traveled this summer by Union Pacific's steam-powered locomotive. The route with the most online votes will be selected.

Cape Girardeau is included in the route titled "Little Rock Express." Starting in Kansas City, the route travels east through Missouri to Boonville, Jefferson City, Charmois and St. Louis, before heading south to Cape Girardeau and onward through Dexter and Poplar Bluff, then on to Bald Knob and Little Rock, Ark.

As of Saturday, the route was in second place, 2,250 votes behind the leader, "The Tuscola Turn." Other routes proposed are "The Baton Rouge Rambler" and "The Boise Limited."

To vote, go to http://upexcursion.com/#votenow.

* New owners at Coldwell Banker Select: Gary Turner, Harriet Drusch and Ken Ruth recently purchased Coldwell Banker Select from Mike Mathes. Turner has lived and worked in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson area for the past 24 years. He has been a real estate broker for the past 20 years. He is also an active member and past president of the Cape Girardeau Noon Optimist Club. Drusch has lived and worked in the local area all her life. She has worked in real estate and been a broker for 32 years. For the last 26 years, Harriet has been involved with The Iron Mountain Railroad in Jackson. Ruth has lived in the Cape Girardeau area for 34 years. After retiring from Procter & Gamble after 27 years, he has been in real estate sales for more than seven years. The office is at 123 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau.

* Southeast recognized for stroke care: Southeast Hospital has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines: Stroke bronze performance achievement award. The award recognizes Southeast's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.

* Emerson co-sponsors health care reform repeal effort: U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, in the first major legislative effort of the 112th Congress, on Thursday co-sponsored a measure to entirely repeal the federal health care legislation. The Senate is expected to ignore the bill supported by Emerson and other Republicans. "We need a fresh start, and that means repealing the health care law instead of attempting to untangle it while the administration continues to make new health care regulations that will force Americans out of their existing coverage, increase federal spending, cut Medicare and add bureaucratic inefficiencies to the American health care system," Emerson said. "Of course there are parts of the bill which weren't controversial, like covering pre-existing conditions, and those provisions ought to be reshaped in a new effort to lower costs and expand private coverage -- two aims which were not objectives of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid bill." The health care repeal bill will be voted upon in the U.S. House of Representatives this week.

* Neighborhood Preservation Act applications: The Missouri Department of Economic Development has announced applications are being accepted for the Neighborhood Preservation Act. The purpose of the act is to provide an incentive for the rehabilitation or construction of owner-occupied homes in certain areas of the state. The tax credit is issued at the completion of the project and based upon approval of the final paperwork. The credit must first be applied against the tax liability for the tax year in which the credit is issued. Thereafter, any excess credit may be applied toward the tax liability for the three prior years or the five subsequent years. Applications must be postmarked no later than Feb. 15. For additional information regarding the program, including an application, process and review criteria, visit DED's website at www.ded.mo.gov.

* Tax information: The Missouri Department of Revenue will be distributing important tax information in a new way. In previous years, the department mailed a Form 1099-G letter to taxpayers who itemize their deductions on their federal income tax return. Beginning today, the department will mail a postcard, instead of a letter, to affected taxpayers showing them how to retrieve their 1099-G information online or by calling the Department of Revenue. The postcards will be mailed in stages, and all postcards will be mailed by Jan. 31. The 1099-G notes the amount of overpayment a taxpayer received from the department during the preceding calendar year. The amount noted is usually an income tax refund received during the previous year.

Southeast Missourian business reporter Melissa Miller may be contacted at 388-3646 or mmiller@semissourian.com.