Stories from Tuesday, September 5, 1995

Cotton bows open 50 to 70 days after bloom. Nearly 70 percent of harvested cotton is formed into modules, covered with water-resistant tarps and stored in the field unit it can be ginned. Cotton's role in the Southeast Missouri and U.S. economy is a major one...

The newspaper industry is alive and well. Despite network TV, cable TV, magazines and increased activity on new online computer programs, newspapers are still thriving nationwide. Some impressive, and optimistic, statistics were revealed during the annual meeting of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) national convention at New Orleans earlier this year...

Some cotton growers have fields of brown, red and green fluff. "Actually, we have two shades of brown, and one of light green," said Wallace Hofmann, vice president for production for the nation's leading colored cotton company, Natural Cotton Colours of Wickenburg, Ariz...

Labor Day weekend was long on labor and short on relaxation for about 100 volunteers and members of the SEMO District Fair Board who prepared for the fair's opening next week. The volunteers erected wood fencing around the perimeter of Arena Park, set up parking booths and built a concrete fence around the grandstand...

A few days ago, MDA District Director Ken Lucy said if people donated $1 more this year than last to the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon he would be satisfied. They donated $7,000 more. When the telethon went off the air at 6:30 p.m., pledges totaled $312,023. Last year $305,247 was given...

The Southeast Missourian asked, "Would you support installing air conditioning in Cape Girardeau's public schools, and how should it be funded? Henry King, Cape Girardeau "I think the school should be air conditioned, and there should be a school bond passed by the voters in the city of Cape for the Cape schools."...

Local law enforcement officers said the Labor Day weekend was pretty typical, despite increased traffic in the Cape Girardeau area. Cape Girardeau police said at least four people face charges of driving while intoxicated after weekend arrests. A police spokesman said that number isn't any higher than other weekend arrests for DWI. He said officers also haven't worked a high number of accidents in the city...

THIS IS to all flower lovers, especially those who haven't seen the roses on the First Presbyterian Church property on Broadway. Those roses are just beautiful. Never have been lovelier. Considering the long, hot, dry weather we have had this is certainly remarkable. Mrs. Rogers, you are certainly doing something right...

Tuesday, Sept. 5 7:30 p.m. Public Hearing Hearing to consider rezoning 171 feet along the south line of Emma Street in Eastview Subdivision from industrial to residential. Requested by Gary Bruce. Action Items Authorize partial payment of $30,211 to Caldwell Tanks Inc., as per 300,000 gallon elevated tank contract...

Agenda Tuesday, Sept. 5, 7:30 p.m. City Hall, 401 Independence Public hearings Proposal to amend sections of the zoning ordinance. Request for a special use permit for construction of a church and parking north of the new Highway 74 route and south of Brink Street...

ANNA, Ill. -- Lela A. Kelley, 87, of Anna died Sunday, Sept. 3, 1995, at Union County Hospital. Funeral service will be at 1 p.m. today at Hileman & Parr Funeral Chapel in Jonesboro. Burial will be in Jonesboro Cemetery.

JACKSON -- Funeral service for Geraldine Colman of Munster, Ind., formerly of Jackson, will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at New McKendree United Methodist Church. The Rev. Scott Lohse will officiate, with burial in Russell Heights Cemetery. Friends may call at McCombs Funeral Home from 5-8 p.m. today...

PERRYVILLE -- Ruby Ellen Abernathy, 80, of Perryville died Saturday, Sept. 3, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 22, 1915, to Edgar and Amy Dempster Farrar in Perry County. She married Arlous W. Abernathy on Nov. 29, 1933, in Oak Ridge. He survives...

CHAFFEE -- Charles Wesley Mason Sr., 71, of Chaffee died Sunday, Sept. 3, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Nov. 3, 1923, to James Arthur and Frances Marie Floyd Mason in Kass, Ark. Mason was a retired manager from Caldors Department Store and a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. He also was the president of Alcoholic Annonymous in Chaffee. He was a member of the Southern Baptist Church in Kingston, N.Y...

ORAN -- Minnie J. Brinker, 87, of Oran died Monday, Sept. 4, 1995, at the Chaffee Nursing Center in Chaffee. She was born May 26, 1908, at Leopold, the daughter of Henry and Gertrude Seesing Engelen. She and Raymond J. Brinker were married Feb. 7, 1939. He preceded her in death July 22, 1994...

Mary E. Burnette, 80, 2326 Belleridge, died Sunday, Sept. 3, 1995, at the Lutheran Home. She was born May 5, 1915, in Higoon, the daughter of Luke and Bertha Williams White. She married Henry Burnette on March 5, 1942, in Farmington. Burnette was a cashier in the family business, Burnette Meat Market, for 10 years. ...

JACKSON -- Gary Edward Lowes, 48, of Jackson, died Sunday, Sept. 3, 1995, at Meadowview Regional Hospital in Maysville, Ky. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Lennart Mathias Strommer, 94, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Sept. 4, 1995, at the Lutheran Home. He was born April 13, 1901, in Aberdeen, Wash., the son of Matthew and Anna Sophia Seppas Strommer. He married Maxine Lehr on Oct. 14, 1933, in Jefferson City, and she preceded him in death Oct. 8, 1986...

PERRYVILLE -- Helen Marie Klump, 86, of Perryville died Saturday, Sept. 2, 1995, at Texas Medical Center Hospice in Houston. She was born Nov. 7, 1908, to John F. and Louise Elder Lottes in Perry County. She married Alvin Klump on Nov. 17, 1930. He died Sept. 15, 1956...

Charles L. Scheeter, 84, of 216 Hillview Dr. died Monday, Sept. 5, 1995, at the Lutheran Home. Arrangements are incomplete at Lorberg Funeral Chapel, 829 N. West End Blvd.

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Michelle Rene Foster, 23, of Mounds, died Sunday, Sept. 3, 1995, from injuries received in an automobile accident on Route 51 near Mound City. Foster was a cosmetologist and member of First Baptist Church. Survivors include a son, Jonathon Foster of Mounds; her mother and stepfather, Marjorie and Joe Stout of Mounds; father and stepmother, John and Carolyn Foster of Anna; a brother, John Foster Jr. ...

DEXTER -- Funeral service for Mary Maudie Jordan of Dexter will be held at 1 p.m. today at New Prospect Church ner Parsons, Tenn. The Rev. Wayne Dismuke will officiate, with burial in New Prospect Cemetery. Service was also held Monday night at Watkins and Sons Funeral Chapel in Dexter, with Dismuke officiating...

The contractor for the Walker Branch flood-control project explains that weeds that have grown so lush this summer along completed portions of the project will become mulch for fall seeding. It is good to know that something will be done with the unsightly vegetation...

When visitors come to Cape Girardeau, they frequently point out that there aren't very many signs to guide them. Mary Miller at the convention and visitors bureau has a plan to aid visiting motorists: Plenty of directional signs. The project to give more directions also has been endorsed by the Southeast Missouri State University regents. ...

Out of sound, out of sight is the axiom in Dr. Joe Low's managerial communication class at Southeast Missouri State University. The veteran speech professor only sees his students on the television monitors when they speak up. That is because the system is voice activated...

Don E. Scott has spent most of the past 15 years working with family businesses. Scott, a partner and associate of the Arthur Andersen Center for Family Businesses at St. Louis, works with businesses to help provide for a smooth transition from one generation to another...

MORLEY -- Wheeler Steel Works is expanding. Construction on a 38,000-square-foot expansion is expected to be completed next month. The new addition will increase the manufacturing, distribution and warehousing facilities at Morley to more than 70,000 square feet, noted owners Mike Wheeler and Derek Wheeler...

Country Stitches, a retail counted cross-stitch business, has opened at 2031 Independence in Cape Girardeau. The new business will offer materials, pamphlets and books, and other items for counted cross-stitch. Pam Haupt of Cape Girardeau is owner of the new business. Store hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday...

Home Inspections Inc. opened recently at 1339 Copper Drive in Cape Girardeau. Tom Harmon, previously a building contractor, is president of the company, which will provide inspections of structural components, exterior, roofing, plumbing, electrical, heating, central air-conditioning, insulation and ventilation...

S.R. Vines Surveying has opened in Cape Girardeau. The new land surveying company is located at 281 Navaho Lane. Vines of Cape Girardeau is owner of the new business and has more than five years of surveying experience. She is a registered land surveyor...

Color Tile Inc., one of the largest floor-covering retailers in the country, is now open at 3050 William in Cape Girardeau. The carpet and tile store, which offers all types of flooring supplies along with wall coverings and window coverings, will hold its grand opening Sept. 23, said Rick Stroer...

The Golden Dragon Restaurant, 217 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau, is under new management. The restaurant, which features Chinese cuisine, was founded in 1976 and completely remodeled earlier this year. It is being purchased by Hung Shaw. Shaw, who has more than four years experience in the restaurant business, will continue the hot-food bar at the restaurant and incorporate some new items to the menu...

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Industrial Appreciation Dinner will be held Oct. 4, at the Show Me Center on Southeast Missouri State University campus. Grady Jim Robinson, a humorist speaker, will be guest speaker at the dinner. The highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the eighth annual "Commitment to Excellence" award, present to the 1995 Industry of the Year...

The Cape Girardeau Chamber Board of Directors will hold its annual retreat Nov. 17, to discuss goals, set priorities, establish budgets and discuss other issues. The board retreat will be held at the Lone Star Natatorium.

Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Tom Green National Bank, based in San Angelo, Texas. The Texas bank operates three branches and has about $73 million in assets. Terms were not disclosed. The proposed transaction is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval and is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 1996...

TROY -- Toyota will double the size of its engine-components plant in this eastern Missouri town, adding about 80 jobs. Toyota said it will spend $80 million to expand the plant, a branch of its Bodine Aluminum Inc. of St. Louis. The expansion is expected to be finished by spring 1997...

Total construction activity in Missouri is up. The F.W. Dodge Division of McGraw-Hill, an authority on the construction market, reported total construction for July at $714,373,000, up 22 percent from the $583,988,000 for July 1994. Nonresidential construction in the state during the month, which includes commercial, manufacturing and other buildings not designed for shelters, was reported at $346,943,000, up 30 percent over the $266,605,000 figures of July a year ago...

A new Drury Inn opened recently near Hobby Airport in Houston. The five-story, 134-room hotel is the third Drury Inn to open in Houston during the past year, and is operated by Drury Inns Inc., which operates more than 70 Drury Inn, Pear Tree Inn by Drury, Thrifty Inn, Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels in 12 states...

Spartech Corp., which includes two operations in Cape Girardeau -- Spartech Plastics, 2500 Spartech Drive, and Spartech Compounding on Nash Road -- has completed a private placement of $50 million in bonds. The bonds were privately placed by the investment firms of CS First Boston and A.G. Edwards & Sons, and were purchased by a group of six insurance companies...

TNT Dugan, a subsidiary of TNT Freightways Corp., has announced plans for five new terminals to open the second half of 1995. TNT Dugan of Wichita, Kan., which has a terminal in Cape Girardeau, will open its first terminals in North and South Dakota next month, at Fargo and Sioux Falls. Other terminals will open in Florida and Nebraska. TNT Dugan opened seven new trucking terminals the first half of 1995...

WASHINGTON -- Low mortgage rates helped push sales of previously owned homes in July to the highest level in more than a year as the housing industry continued to rebound from a winter slump. It was the third straight monthly advance. Except for a dip in the Midwest, sales were up in every region, including a double-digit gain in the West...

Auto Tire & Parts has been rated in the top 80 largest automotive retail chains in the United States by Automotive Marketing Magazine. Auto Tire & Parts of Cape Girardeau operates 18 stores in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. The stores provide automotive, agriculture and truck parts, along with paint and body shop supplies...

Kevin Schwab, Don Flanery and Scott Sparks have joined the staff at Dana Corp. in Cape Girardeau, and two men, Rick Drum and Brian DeBrock, have received promotions at the local plant, 2075 Corporate Circle, off of Southern Expressway. Schwab and Flanery have accepted positions of process engineers with Dana...