Stories from Monday, February 19, 1996

Scott Washburn, left, and Jessica Dussner talked to Stanley Beggs about preparing their taxes at H&R Block in Cape Girardeau. The number of H&R Block customers at the Cape Girardeau office has exceeded the number at this time last year. Filing income taxes for the 1995 tax year is only a telephone call away for some 23 million Americans...

A record 279 new businesses opened in the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning & Economic Development Commission's seven-county area last year. The new retail and manufacturing facilities created more than 1,000 new jobs. That's the upside of economic news in the area of Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Iron, Madison, Perry, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve counties...

CHAFFEE -- Jeanette Wachter knows all about the latest technology trends in business -- it's part of her job. Wachter teaches business education courses at Chaffee High School. "I had typing exactly 20 years ago here at Chaffee High School and I learned how to type on a manual typewriter," she said. "When I started teaching typing 14 years ago, the students learned on electric typewriters."...

February's a very presidential month. President Lincoln's birthday was Feb. 12, and President Washington's birthday is Feb. 22, so the powers-that-be decided to split the difference and make today Presidents Day, honoring both. As history teaches us, President Washington chopped down a cherry tree and confessed, and President Lincoln kept his papers in his stovepipe hat so they wouldn't blow away...

JACKSON -- As the filing date for statewide office approaches, hardly a day goes by that Paul Sander doesn't hear about the District 157 seat. Now Jackson's mayor and most famous non-candidate wants to set the record straight. He's not filing for state representative...

We're past the midway mark in February, so it's safe to start thinking about spring. Like most people, I think about springy things as the season approaches: Tulips, buds on the trees, green grass, warm weather, cute, fuzzy little baby animals and of course, chocolate Easter bunnies...

WE FULLY agree with the editorial about the site for the new courthouse. Why would GSA want to add to our ever-mounting debt when other sites could be found at lesser cost? Plus it probably would be just as convenient for most people using the courthouse. Let's remember the traffic is a problem in the downtown area...

Few would argue that, all things being equal between two prospective employees, employers should give preference to the hopeful who served under this nation's flag. After all, military veterans sacrificed for this country, and why shouldn't they be given the edge in jobs they are qualified to perform, particularly government jobs. Many states have statutes that outline hiring practices biased in favor of veterans. Illinois is one...

Let's begin with an idea that may not have occurred to some voters but which deserves more thoughtful study than it has received in recent years. But, first, a question: Who owns the political process by which we elect our leaders in the nation's capital, the 50 state capitals and thousands of courthouses and city halls around the country?...

After decades of welfare farm policies, the Senate last week voted to break the link between farm prices and government subsidies. If nothing else, a complete overhaul of this nation's farm policy is consistent with other efforts to diminish government's power and control over the marketplace. If the Republican-controlled Congress is going to make cuts in the growth of spending for education, Medicare, Medicaid and other government entitlements, it also must be willing to cut welfare to farmers...

BERTRAND -- Georgia Marie Bellah Poyner, 76, of Bertrand died Sunday, Feb. 18, 1996, at the Bertrand Nursing Facility. She was born Feb. 22, 1919, in Datto, Ark., to John and Adar Kirby Roark. In 1939, she married Morris Bellah, who died in 1954. In 1961, she married Fremon Poyner, who died in 1988...

FREDERICKTOWN -- A trooper with the Missouri Highway Patrol died in a one-car accident Saturday while attempting to overtake a speeder. Sgt. Randy Sullivan, 40, of Fredericktown was pronounced dead on arrival by rescue workers. Sullivan, a 17-year patrol veteran, is survived by his wife and three children...

SIKESTON -- Bradley Mathis Keck, infant son of Brad and Julie Lambert of Sikeston, died Thursday, Feb. 15, 1996, at the University of California Medical Center Long Hospital in San Francisco. He was born Feb. 12, 1996, in San Francisco. Survivors are his parents; paternal grandparents, Roger and Pat Lambert of East Prairie; paternal great-grandparents, Clifford and Gladys Mathis of East Prairie; and maternal great-grandparents, Grady and Imogene Barnes of Bernie and Juanita Moore of East Prairie.. ...

ROCKFORD, Ill. -- Dorothy G. White, 76, of Rockford and formerly of Charleston, died Saturday, Feb. 17, 1996, at Locustwood Nursing Home in Rockford. She was born Oct. 20, 1919, at Round Knob, Ill., to George Edgar and Essie Mae Bell Lowry. On May 19, 1936, she married Homer L. White, who died Jan. 30, 1985...

NORRIS CITY, Ill. -- Lillian C. Curtner, 79, of Norris City and formerly of Campbell, died Saturday, Feb. 17, 1996, at Ferrell Hospital in Eldorado, Ill. She was born Oct. 31, 1916, at Matthews to Charles Herbert and Susie Bell Morris Counsil. On June 24, 1940, at Sikeston she married Joseph Hilan Curtner, who died March 1, 1964...

ANNA, Ill. -- Roy Davis, 88, of Anna died Saturday, Feb. 17, 1996, at the Friendship Care Center in Herrin, Ill. He was born Sept. 25, 1907, in Anna to James R. and Amy Hess Davis. In 1938 in Jackson he married Callie West, who died Nov. 22, 1994. He was a member of Streator Baptist Church and was a retired dietary worker with the state of Illinois. He also worked for the Illinois Highway Department for 20 years...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Donald G. Lewis, 66, of Cobden died Sunday, Feb. 18, 1996, at the Union County Hospital in Anna, Ill. Arrangements are incomplete at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Cobden.

ANNA, Ill. -- Martha Jean McRaven, 45, of Anna died Saturday, Feb. 17, 1996, at City Care Center in Anna. She was born Sept. 24, 1950, at Anna to Claude Henry and Sophronia Harwood McRaven. Survivors are her mother of Jonesboro, Ill.; a sister, Louise Mason of Jonesboro; three brothers, Howard McRaven and David McRaven, both of Jonesboro, and Allen McRaven of Anna...

PERRYVILLE -- A Perryville woman remains in stable condition at St. Francis Medical Center following a Sunday morning car accident. Kimberly Parsons, 17, was southbound on Perry County Road 606, a mile south of Highway K, when she rounded a curve and collided head-on with a car driven by Gregory Baer of Perryville...

Months of hard work by the Vision Planning Committee will conclude tonight with a report on what people in the Cape Girardeau School District want for their schools. Then it will be up to school board members to fulfill those requests. The school board will meet at 6 p.m. in Room 214 of the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "How do you feel about U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft's proposed legislation that would allow greater access to juvenile criminal records for police, school officials, judges and prosecutors?" Penny Blandford, Cape Girardeau...

The First Amendment rights of students involved with school publications should be protected, says a Missouri legislator. Joan Bray, D-St. Louis, is sponsor of a bill filed in the Missouri House of Representatives that intends to strip school administrators of censorship power over school newspapers and place control of and responsibility for such publications in the hands of students and their advisers. The measure is similar to laws in six other states...

Special Effects Styling Salon has a new interior look. A wall has been taken down and one has been added, said Kim Talley, owner of the beauty salon at 2532 William. New floor covering, product shelving, reception desks and a styling station have been added in the most recent renovation...

JACKSON -- Drury Inn & Suites opened at Interstate 55 and Highway 61 Friday. The 79-room hotel has a new look for a Drury Inn. The four-story structure features bell towers and stucco exterior to reflect traditional Bavarian style, same as the adjacent Bavarian Halle, which was constructed more than two years ago...

Kathy Crist has joined St. Francis Medical Center as director of emergency services. Crist, a native of Cape Girardeau and graduate of Puxico High School, has worked the past three years as manager of emergency and outpatient services at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio...

The Walt Disney Co. has completed its $19 billion purchase of Capital Cities/ABC Inc., creating the world's biggest media and entertainment conglomerate with movie and TV production prowess and the broadcast and cable networks to distribute programs...

Sharon Schaefer of Schaefer Enterprises, Wolf Lake, Ill., recently attended the annual National Tractor Parts Distributors Association meeting in Houston. Schaefer, office manager, comptroller, traffic manager and advertising director at Schaefer Enterprises, serves on the NTPDA Board of Directors...

Commerce Bancshares Inc. has approved a quarterly dividend of 19 cents per share, up 11 percent over the previous quarter. The dividend is payable to shareholders of record as of March 8, 1996. In addition, the company recently completed purchases of 1,446,000 shares under its previously announced 2 million share stock repurchase plan...

D&K Wholesale Drug Inc. sales were up 25 percent during the third quarter of its fiscal year, ending Dec. 31. Sales were $108,268,000, up from $86,389,000 during the same quarter a year ago. Net income for the latest quarter was $29,000,000 or one cent per share on a fully diluted basis. That compares to net income of $432,000 or 14 cents a share...

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce has joined the Internet. The chamber's e-mail address is mchamberasummitinfo.com. The chamber also has a home page on the World Wide Web, which can be viewed at www.summitinfo.com/mchamber.html, which contains information aboaut the chamber's mission, services, programs and activities...

Donna Riley and Donna Heuer will be guest speakers at the February meeting of Professional Secretaries International, to be held Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Drury Lodge. The topic will be a "Personal Profile System" for identifying behavioral patterns. PSI meetings are open to the public. Additional information is available by calling 651-2541 or 651-2836...

Dana Corp., headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, has announced record sales for 1995. Sales reached $7.6 billion, up $1 billion, or 15 percent, from 1994 sales. Profits reached an all time high of $288 million, up 26 percent over the previous year. Earnings per share were $2.84...

The ninth annual Downtown Merchants Association fund-raiser and auction will be the topic at the association's February meeting. The meeting will be held at Port Cape Girardeau Restaurant Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m. The date for auction, which will have a Derby Day theme, will be May 5...

Dr. Robert Fox, president of the Cape Girardeau School Board, will be guest speaker at the February meeting of the West End Merchants Association. The Feb. 27 meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. at H.R. Dumplins.

Auffenberg Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge, 611 S. Kingshighway, has provided $4,000 in parts and accessories to the Shawnee Community College Automotive Technology Department. Shawnee student Greg Gibson of Dongola is currently serving an apprenticeship at Auffenberg...