BOOTHEEL PHONE OUTAGE BROUGHT ANXIOUS MOMENTS

Police in Malden sweated out nearly five hours without phone service Wednesday morning, worrying about what might be happening in their town.

"We were scared to death," said Vernon Earnheart, Malden police chief. "We kept three cars out on the street circulating in case someone had to flag us down. Thank God nothing happened."

Malden was one of a half-dozen Southeast Missouri prefixes without phone service Wednesday from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The outage was caused by a computer software malfunction.

With phone service out, people couldn't call police about emergencies, and alarm systems were out. Many alarm systems automatically notify police by phone.

An off-duty Malden police officer brought his personal cellular phone to the station during the outage.

"I went and ordered a cell phone," Earnheart said. "I was convinced maybe we do need one."

Lack of telephones didn't stop mail delivery in Wardell, but getting business done was a lot tougher, said Postmaster Jim St. Cin.

The biggest difficulty was handling customer complaints. Postmasters talk with each other daily via telephone to get mail troubles resolved.

Not many organizations or businesses had emergency plans to contend with a phone outage, St. Cin said.

"We just waited," he said. "It was quiet with no phone ringing, but actually for us it was terrible."

Joyce Nimmo, deputy city clerk in Malden, had a different opinion.

"It was wonderful," she said. "It was very quiet in the office."

The city clerk's office gets a steady stream of telephone calls. Most callers request city information and other telephone numbers. Nimmo said lots of office work got done while the phones were quiet. But she did miss the telephone when it came time for her to make a call.

"It's kind of like water and electricity. You don't miss it until it's not there," she said. "Are we spoiled or what?"

Carolyn Hampton, secretary at Hayti High School, had a peaceful morning Wednesday.

Mornings typically bring non-stop phone calls from parents and others to the school office. With no phone service, Hampton said she had time to get lots of work done.

"We had no emergencies, thank goodness, so it didn't really affect us there," she said.

Instead of waiting for phone calls from Hayti schools about medical troubles, Belinda Laster, school nurse, headed out in her car to make the rounds of school buildings.

Aztar Casino, a riverboat gambling operation which depends heavily on telephone service for reservations and customer service, was impacted by the telephone outage.

"We also have a certain level of company business nationally," said Michael J. Facenda, marketing manager at the Caruthersville-based casino. "For four hours Thursday, we couldn't use the telephone or fax."

The biggest inconvenience may have been to Aztar's "Interstate 55 Campaign." "We place literature at spots along the interstate," said Facenda. "We receive a lot of calls from the literature."

It could have been worse. Weekend and holidays are the busiest telephone days for the casino.

Kennett Police Department, which dispatches calls for fire and ambulance also, operated with one cellular phone during the outage. Radio station announcements advertised the phone number for emergency calls. Of course only those with a cellular phone could call in, said Kennett police officer Thomas Arnold.