Updates

Transportation

Company wins safety award

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Breeden Transportation of Sikeston was recently honored by their insurance company for low accident frequency and outstanding safety programs. Melany Buttry, safety manager for Breeden Transportation, received the award from Brent Stacy of Great West Casualty Insurance Company.

Workers show wheel power

At a time when bicycle enthusiasts are pushing to make Cape Girardeau more bicycle friendly, some residents already are making bicycling to work part of their daily routine.

Nationally, 10 percent of people bike or walk as their primary means of transportation, according to executive director Brent Hugh of the Missouri Bicycle Federation. In Missouri the number is less than 5 percent, although 30 percent of Missourians don't have driver's licenses.

Tammy Leible works at Fru-Con Construction Corp. in Cape Girardeau and some of her co-workers are trying to get a shower and lockers installed to make the Highway 177 facility more accommodating for bicyclists to commute to work.

The Cape Girardeau County Administration Building in Jackson recently purchased a bicycle rack from Cape Bicycle Cycling and Fitness. Donna Oldham, administrative assistant in the county commission office, said three or four employees in the building who bike to work previously had to bring their bicycles into their offices or leave them in the hallway.

Cape Bicycle Cycling and Fitness owner Eric Gooden said he donated a bicycle rack to the employees at Burrito-Ville on Broadway in Cape Girardeau a while ago. According to Kris Baranovic, the assistant manager at Burrito-Ville, the donation was more of a barter -- burritos were involved in the deal.

Baranovic hasn't driven a car to work all year. He and a couple of co-workers ride their bicycles to work regularly, not just during Bike to Work Week. Burrito-Ville delivers food on bicycles if the residence is within a reasonable distance, Baranovic said.

"I'm faster than a car within a good mile to a mile-and-a-half on a delivery," he said.

Amtrak ridership reaches record

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- An Amtrak official told the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce that high gasoline prices, along with growing highway and airport congestion, have resulted in record ridership on Amtrak trains for the fourth consecutive year.

Marc Magliari, manager of Amtrak Media Relations in Chicago, said ridership in 2007 is up 5 percent through April and revenue is up 11 percent.

Magliari said the demand for train service has resulted in an increased ridership of 36 percent statewide.

Two Texas Eagle trains raveling between Chicago and San Antonio stop nightly at Poplar Bluff.

State to install new traffic signals

Thirteen city intersections on state routes will get stoplights with non-interruptible power following approval by the Cape Girardeau City Council of a cost-sharing agreement with the Missouri Department of Transportation DOT to pay for installation and maintenance.

The project will cost about $40,000 and will install non-interruptible power supplies at 13 major intersections along Route K and Kingshighway. MoDOT will pay 50 percent of the cost, with the other 50 percent coming from federal urban transportation funds at the city's disposal. The cost of maintenance after installation will be shared by MoDOT and the city on a 50/50 basis.

Installation of the power supplies is part of the city's campaign to install non-interruptible power at all stoplights in the city, said Cape Girardeau Public Works Department director Tim Gramling. Lights without such power go out during power outages, requiring police to man the intersections and control traffic.

City advertising goes on the road

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Jerry Pullen of Pullen Brothers Inc., has placed vinyl advertising signs on his company's over-the-road trucks as part of an advertising campaign to spotlight positive aspects of the Sikeston community to potential industrial/retail prospects. Pullen said these types of signs are being used all over the country and are an inexpensive way to help promote economic growth within the region advertised.

Local woman's new service will shuttle the younger set around town

Sharen Karraker is starting a shuttle service called Cruisin Kids Club exclusively for young people in Cape Girardeau up to age 16.

The taxi service will be available all week from 6:45 a.m. to 6:45 p.m., which should cover after-school activities, she said. Parents will need to sign a permission slip in advance and the person with whom the child is being left with must know a code word as a security precaution.

The service will cost between $3.50 and $4 one-way, depending on what section of Cape Girardeau the customer lives in. She said she's willing to give weekly discounts for regulars.

Karraker's 15-year-old daughter, Kayla Pickens, is going to help her with the service, walking the children to the door so children aren't left alone in the vehicle.

Airline service delayed

Big Sky Airlines' two-year contract with the U.S. Department of Transportation was scheduled to begin service for the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport on June 1, but the airline is still in the hiring process.

According to Big Sky president Fred deLeeuw, if he hired all the pilots necessary tomorrow, it would still take 12 to 15 weeks for them to go through Federal Aviation Administration Certified Ground School and Flight Training School.

DeLeeuw said there's a shortage of qualified pilots throughout the industry because pilots are using regional airlines as stepping stones to ultimately fly bigger jets and not enough new pilots are replacing them.

He anticipates Big Sky, based in Billings, Mont., will be operating later this year as Delta Connection out of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and serving Cape Girardeau, Owensboro, Ky., and Jackson, Tenn.

Bruce Loy, manager of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, said he is hoping for commercial air service to start back up by September, but it's taking longer than he expected.

Loy said he doesn't blame Big Sky for the delay because DOT just awarded the airline the contract -- with an annual subsidy of $3.25 million -- March 9. The incumbent airline normally stays on and continues to provide service until the new airline takes over.

For the time being, the Cape Girardeau airport is losing money with no airline rent coming in and fuel sales at a minimum as a result of the early March pilot-training discrepancy with RegionsAir, a Tennessee-based company.

Loy didn't have any figures to disclose, but Tim Bradshaw, the airport manager of the Owensboro, Ky., regional airport, said he's lost thousands without commercial flights.

Later this month, Big Sky will start getting new airplanes on a weekly basis. Big Sky is also expanding aviation operations in Boston, according to deLeeuw. He said that he has three new $3 million airplanes ordered to service Cape Girardeau.

Delta Connection will offer connecting opportunities to more than 400 daily departures to 122 worldwide destinations, including trans-Atlantic service to London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Rome plus the Caribbean.

Restaurants

Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar opens

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Lonnie Griggs, owner of Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar in Sikeston opened the new location May 3. Buffalo Wild Wings is located at 231 N. Main in the Shops at the Lake Crossing. The family-oriented restaurant offers 14 different sauces and a full menu.

Hickory Log celebrates anniversary

DEXTER -- When John Banken and his business partner purchased Hickory Log in 1967 they knew it was going to be a tough haul.

Originally opened in 1953, Hickory Log has been serving ribs known nationwide. Starting out with a small facility seating 40 people and serving 700 pounds of ribs per week and growing into a huge facility that serves some 5,000 pounds of ribs each week.

Both Banken and Fralick worked for Sigler Chevrolet in Dexter and bought the restaurant because they saw it had potential.

As soon as they bought the place, Banken and Fralick knew the place, which then seated only 65 people, wasn't big enough for them to be able to afford to make the payments so they did the first expansion right at the start.

The area that is now the lobby was built on to the original structure to make for more seating. The main expansion, which gave it the Bavarian-style appearance it has today, was not completed until 1975 and is now capable of seating up to 400 people.

While Hickory Log has been a staple for many years in Dexter, it has had visitors from all walks of life and every corner of the world. Former St. Louis Cardinal Lou Brock, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (who built their coat rack), and a sleuth of others.

Despite the large amount of business they have through the season, after 40 years they still remain closed on Sunday.

Scott City pub opens again

Paul Schock, the owner of the building at the corner of Second Street East and East Hickory Street in Scott City, reopened his bar recently. It's called Schock's Pub. Schock said that soon there'll be a Thursday night poker game every week, but for now the bar is only open Friday and Saturday nights.

The Southern Chef restaurant that was in Schock's building closed. Schock said he has a new restaurant coming in June called Pig's Pit.