FLOOD CAUSES RESHUFFLING OF RIVERFEST EVENTS

High water and flooded streets have caused some changes in the Cape Girardeau Riverfest schedule.

The course for the Riverfest Run has been re-routed from Highway 177 to Lorimier Street. The run will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Main and Broadway streets.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department said traffic along Main Street from Broadway north to Cape Rock Drive and along Cape Rock Drive from Main Street east to Cape Rock will be held up during the Riverfest Run. Drivers are advised to find alternative routes or avoid these streets.

The course for the Riverfest Ramble on Friday at midnight hasn't been altered by the high water, said Gene Pulley of the Cape Velo Bicycle Club.

The floodgates will remain closed for the first time during Riverfest. The water hasn't dropped quickly enough to allow the gates to be open, Riverfest officials said.

Other changes caused by the abundance of water include changing the site of the fireworks display. The display will be shot from a levee in Illinois instead of a river barge as planned. Also, the Nina, a replica of Christopher Columbus' ship, won't be able to dock in Cape Girardeau because of restricted river travel.

Last year, a riverboat was expected to dock during Riverfest but couldn't travel upstream from New Orleans because of flooding, said Marc Cook, Riverfest '95 chairman.

Although Riverfest visitors won't get to see the ship, many other events have been planned. There will be three performances of the Bud Light Air Show, concerts Friday and Saturday nights, the annual Miss Riverfest Pageant and a Civil War encampment on the Common Pleas Courthouse lawn.

Visitors to Riverfest will receive free coupons that encourage restaurants to go smokefree. The "Smokefree Tip" vouchers will be distributed by the Missouri American Stop Smoking Intervention Study (ASSIST) and the Southeast Missouri Cancer Control Coalition.

More than 30,000 coupons will be distributed, ASSIST officials said. ASSIST is funded through a grant from the National Cancer Institute.