Stories from Monday, August 9, 1993

A meteor shower producing about one a minute will be visible Wednesday night. But Craig Joseph, assistant professor of physics at Southeast Missouri State University, said a chance exists for the meteor shower to become a storm in which hundreds or even thousands of meteors would be visible...

Area relief organizations have pooled their efforts to create a "grocery store" where people don't need money to take home plenty of food for their families. In the old IGA building at 80 Plaza Way, aisle after makeshift aisle stands stocked with food, clothing and cleaning supplies to be distributed to flood victims...

Amidst the rolling hills and bluffs edging the Mississippi River Valley, the most appropriate site for local airports often is in the level flood plain. And although many of the municipal airports between St. Louis and Memphis, Tenn., are situated in areas that aren't typically prone to flooding, the summer of 1993 has been anything but typical...

It wasn't the business LeGrand's Transmission Tom LeGrand, family members and others fought to save throughout Saturday night's 47.9-foot Mississippi River stage. They battled so desperately because they hoped to spare the family house attached to the garage at 1237 N. Water St. They grew up in that house, and their parents, Lucille and Ben, lived there until just a few days ago...

JACKSON -- Officials of Cape Girardeau and Perry Counties are encouraged to attend an informational meeting Tuesday, hosted by the State Emergency Management Agency. The meeting, which begins at 10 a.m. at the County Administration Building across from the Jackson Courthouse, is designed to brief officials in jurisdictions eligible for federal public assistance funds as a result of the severe flooding...

The Southeast Missourian asked people what they thought of the deficit reduction tax increase proposed by President Clinton that was passed by Congress Friday. Mary Sue Vandeven of Pilot Knob said: "I hope he (Clinton) didn't have to give away the farm to get the Senate and the Congress to vote in his favor. ...

When Pope John Paul II addresses teens at World Youth Day later this week in Denver, Colo., about 30 young people from Cape Girardeau will be in the audience. The teens from St. Vincent de Paul and St. Mary parishes in Cape Girardeau leave for Denver on Tuesday...

Mercantile Cancorporation has set up an immediate $10 million low-interest consumer loan fund for flood victims in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. In making the announcement, Mercantile officials said the program is a corporate-wide initiative to help individuals across the three-state region clean up and rebuild following the devastating floods...

When it comes to a crisis, advance planning is always the best action. Then responses can be based on rational thinking instead of knee-jerk reactions. Too often, human nature pushes the possibility of disaster - and thus planning for it - out of mind...

Responding to a recent column on the need for Missouri to reinvent government, a state official called to declare his full support of the idea while expressing numerous reservations about his contemporaries being as "enlightened." Thanking him, as I do any reader who expresses positive responses, I proceeded to inquire about the degree of his commitment. He assured me it was "total."...

JACKSON -- Cecil J. Unger, 67, of Jackson, died Sunday, Aug. 8, 1993, at his residence. He was born July 18, 1926, at Cape Girardeau, son of Cecil and Lucy Clippard Unger. He married Edith Maxine Seabaugh, Aug. 17, 1947, at Jackson. Unger was a member of the First Baptist Church in Jackson where he was a deacon, Sunday school teacher and served as president of the corporation of the church...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Christa W. Nave, 85, of Tamms, Ill., died Sunday, Aug. 8, 1993, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Oct. 2, 1907, at Equality, Ill., daughter of Isaac and Dee Helm White. She was married to Vernel F. Nave. He died Sept. 10, 1990...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Harold D. Jones, 81, of Mound City, Ill., died Sunday, Aug. 8, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Dec. 23, 1911, at Conrad, Mo., son of Everett and Anna Barth Jones. He married Altha Modglin in 1935, at Cairo, Ill...

JACKSON -- Russell Edwin "Eddie" Puls, 40, of Manhattan, N.Y., died Thursday, Aug. 5, 1993, at his studio in Manhattan, N.Y. He was born Aug. 5, 1993, at Cape Girardeau, son of Edwin and Evelyn Puls. He married Sonya Von Kester, June 21, 1986, at Ridgewood, N.J...

THEBES, Ill. -- Clyde Dunn, 68, of Thebes, Ill., died Saturday, Aug. 7, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Sept. 20, 1924, at Thebes, Ill., son of Clyde F. and Ida Mae Mosher Dunn. He married Ida Mae Peter, Jan. 13, 1945, at West Palm Beach, Fla. She died Nov. 15, 1986...

JACKSON -- Virginia M. Proffer, 71, of Jackson, died Sunday, Aug. 8, 1993, Cape LaCroix Manor in Cape Girardeau. The Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee is in charge of funeral arrangements, which are incomplete at this time.

Several businesses in Perry and Cape Girardeau counties have fallen victim of the flood of '93. Sabreliner and Glister-Mary Lee in Perryville were two businesses hardest hit. But even with the Mississippi River floodwall some businesses in Cape Girardeau also have been affected...

The words scream out at you in big block letters from across the giant parking lot. "We Sell For Less" proclaims the sign on the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Cape Girardeau. The 170,000-square-foot Supercenter sells everything from groceries to sporting goods. The store is part of a retailing empire that takes in more than $1 billion every week...

Robert B. Hendrix of Cape Girardeau has joined AmeriFirst Bank's Advisory Board. Hendrix has been president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce since June 1972. He will retire as president later this year. He was instrumental in building one of the state's strongest chambers over the past 21 years, and has overseen a number of community accomplishments in the recruitment of new businesses and industry...

Metro Electric/Metro Lighting will host its grand opening ceremony on Friday at 4 p.m. The store specializes in electrical supplies and has a lighting showroom. The electrical store is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday. The lighting showroom is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday through Friday, and from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday...

The June work force decreased in Cape Girardeau County. "Our civilian labor force for June was 35,881," said Jackie Cecil, office manager of the Division of Employment Security in Cape Girardeau. "This figure is down 729 from May's total." Even though students entered the labor market in June, the number is still less than that of May, Cecil said...

David A. Goncher of Cape Girardeau has been recognized by the JR Mentel Agency of St. Charles as that agency's leading producing agent during the year ended June 30. His sales in excess of $9 million in group and individual life and disability coverage led the way...

Assistance is available to businesses and employees displaced by the Mississippi River floodwaters. "Although, there are no direct grants or anything like that available for businesses, businesses can apply for loans from the Small Business Administration," said Sharon Riegel, public information officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency...