FIRST FRIDAY COFFEE MOVED TO DRURY LODGE

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee will be Friday at the Drury Lodge.

The monthly event, usually held at the Show Me Center on Southeast Missouri State University campus, has been moved because of a scheduling conflict.

Missouri State Auditor Claire McCaskill, and Cape Girardeau Public School Superintendent Dan Steska will speak.

"We'd like to see a big turnout," said John Mehner, president and chief executive officer of the local chamber. "Members may bring guests.""

McCaskill, elected auditor two years ago, will discuss the duties as auditor, and Steska, will discuss the April 4 school bond issue.

Cape Girardeau school officials will ask voters to approve an $18 million bond issue to complete construction projects included in a long-range plan created five years ago.

If approved, money from the measure would be used to build a new high school and complete renovations to Central High School. After the projects are completed, the district would reconfigure grade levels and close Louis J. Schultz School.

Voters approved the first half of the plan, a $14 million bond issue, in 1997. Money raised through that measure enabled the district to build Barbara Blanchard Elementary School, renovate remaining elementary schools and Central Junior High, and build a new vocational career center.

The bond issue will not create new taxes but would extend the 1997 tax levy of $3.41.

McCaskill, a native of Rolla, was raised at Columbia and graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor's degree in political science. She later attended Georgetown University and returned to graduate from the UM-Columbia Law School.

She joined the Jackson County prosecutor's office as an assistant prosecutor and worked four years as a felony trial prosecutor, specializing in the crime of arson.

In 1982, she ran for the Missouri Legislature and was elected to the House, representing the 42nd District in Kansas City.

At the time, she was the only female attorney in the General Assembly.

She chaired the civil and criminal justice committee and served on the House budget and judiciary committees.

The St. Louis Globe Democrat named her one of the Ten Most Outstanding Legislators.

In 1990, McCaskill ran for an at-large seat on the Jackson County Legislature and served as a county lawmaker before being elected prosecutor in 1992. As prosecutor, McCaskill headed the state's largest prosecutor's office, with a staff of more than 225.