Region digest 11/07/04

Site for new fire station to be dedicated Monday

The public is welcome to attend the site-dedication ceremony at 3 p.m. Monday for the new fire station No. 3 in Cape Girardeau. The new station will be built north of Blanchard Elementary School on North Sprigg Street. It will replace the existing station No. 3 on Emerald Street. The new facility will also house the city's emergency operations center and the emergency communications center. Funding for the project will come from the quarter-cent fire sales tax approved in June.

Astronaut appearing on KRCU show today

Astronaut Linda Godwin will be the guest today on KRCU's "Going Public" radio show. Godwin, who grew up in Cape Girardeau County, will be interviewed about her career at NASA, including spaceflights. The show will be broadcast at 3 p.m. on 90.9 FM, the region's Public Radio affiliate station.

Delays more common at Lambert this year

ST. LOUIS -- While the numbers of flights from Lambert Airport have declined significantly this year, delays at the airport are on the rise. Lambert's ranking for on-time departures slipped to No. 11 from No. 8 among major airports in the nation through the first nine months of the year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The federal agency found nearly 15 percent of the more than 45,000 major airline flights leaving Lambert's gates were late. Only 10 percent of Lambert's departures among major airlines were late in that period a year ago, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday. And that was when the airport had a heavier schedule of more than 82,000 flights. A flight is considered delayed if it leaves the gate 15 minutes or more after the scheduled departure time. Airport officials point out the airport has diminished flight capacity during bad weather, but they're building a new $1.1 billion runway in large part to address that concern.

-- From staff, wire reports