Stories from Monday, July 29, 1996

Manufacturers are finding Missouri a good place to do business. More than 350 companies either relocated to, or expanded, in Missouri in 1995, creating 20,000 new jobs and bringing in more than $1.5 billion in new investment.

PERRYVILLE -- They say in business it's the bottom line that counts. And for Sabreliner Corp., with its $200 million in annual revenue and 15 productive facilities, including one in Perryville, the bottom line is very impressive. In the 13 years since the company became an independent corporation, the annual revenue has gone from $48 million to $200 million, said Gene Harbula, vice president of government marketing and corporation communication...

Lone Star Industries Inc., a maker of cement, crushed stone and other construction materials, reported that second-quarter net income was up 42 percent, topping analysts' expectations. Lone Star, headquartered at Stamford, Conn., said the lates figures also halted discussions "with all parties who had expressed an interest in merging with, or acquiring the company."...

Dana Corp., buoyed by the continued popularity of light trucks and sport utility vehicles, posts record sales and earnings during the second quarter, ending June 30. Sales for the quarter were a record $2.02 billion, reflecting a 3 percent increase in sales, This marked the first time Dana's sales have topped $2 billion in a single quarter. International sales were up 7 percent, and U.S. sales were up 1 percent...

Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance Co. (MEM), headquartered at Columbia, has received the "Top Partner Award," from the Missouri Association of Insurance Agents. The award is based on commitment to excellence and support of independent insurance agents partners...

Southern Illinois Housecare has purchased TIP. Jack Buckley, president of Southern Illinois Housecare, which owns hospitals in Carbondale, Murphysboro and Herrin, says no changes were planned for TIP. TIP, previously headquartered at Carterville, which served 1,200 patients a day, served 27 counties from 13 home health care offices in Southern Illinois, with more than 350 employees...

Construction is under way on a new Drury Inn Hotel at Charlotte, N.C. The new hotel, at Interstate 85 and W.T. Harris Boulevard, was expected to open next summer. The new hotel will be a 144-room facility including one- and two-room suites. Drury owns and operates more than 80 Drury Inn, Pear Tree Inn by Drury, Thrifty Inn, Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels in 12 states...

A St. Louis-based mechanical contracting company, Haberberger Inc., recently completed an extensive project in Cape Girardeau. Haberberger installed an 800-ton chiller, a cooling tower and pumps, and fiberglass piping system at Southeast Missouri State University and recently completed a 15-month cooling project at Southeast Missouri Hospital...

Sears Canada Inc., with losses mounting, is cutting 1,200 jobs or 3 percent of its work force as part of its ongoing effort to reduce costs. The job cuts announced last week will come in distribution and administration jobs and in the Montreal and Regina, Saskatchewan, warehouses, which will close...

State Farm Insurance Cos., headquartered at Bloomington, Ill., plan to open two new 24-hour claims service centers employing about 400 people each. The centers will be at company headquarters in Bloomington and in Woodbury, Minn., outside St. Paul, said Gerry Colbert, State Farm vice president of customer response centers...

Orscheln Farm & Home Supply has changed its corporate structure to a limited liability company and along with that change is a new legal name -- Orscheln Farm and Home L.L.C. The new name will appear on letterheads, checks and other correspondence, but the stores will continue to operate under the name, Orscheln Farm & Home Supply Inc...

Famous Cuts, a family beauty salon, will open at 2031 Independence Thursday. The salon, owned by Shim Yi, is the former Midtown Hair Styling salon on Good Hope Street, previously owned by Lorene Speer, who is retiring after more than 25 years in the cosmetologist business...

"If at first you don't succeed try and try again" -- Winston Churchill. If at first you don't succeed, try. Then try again. Then give up ... there's no use being a damn fool about it" -- W.C. Fields The famous words of these notables, one a statesmen the other an entertainer, came to mind recently when I attempted to gain entrance to our motel during a weekend trip...

Wilbur Crowder of Chester, Ill., won a Magnavox 27-inch color television from Van Matre Buick, 511 S. Kingshighway, during the "Go for the Green" customer appreciation promotion. The annual promotion is sponsored by Buick dealers nationwide. This is the first time a winner has emerged from the Cape Girardeau dealership...

The "Space Walk" is available in the Cape Girardeau area. Space Walk, a bouncing chamber for children and adults, opened in Cape Girardeau this summer. Randy Short, a branch manager for the L.A.-based Space Walk company in this area, has 15-x-15-foot units available for rent for special events, including fund-raisers, family reunions, picnics and parties...

A second Blimpie Subs & Salad has opened in Cape Girardeau. The newest restaurant in the Blimpie International Inc. group is at 3036 William St., across the street from West Park Mall. The first Blimpie's opened here in May 1995 at 1001 Broadview. Both Blimpies are operated by Susan Stanfield and Brad Farrar...

GORDONVILLE -- It is easy to find the radio-controlled aircraft practice field near Gordonville. Just look up. Failing in that, stop off at a local antique shop or gas station. Just about all the locals know about the model airplane pilots who gather every weekend on Highway Z just outside the Gordonville city limits...

KENNETT -- Erasmo Garza wants his daughters, Norma, Nora and Nydia, to break a family tradition. Garza, a second-generation migrant worker from Edinburg, Texas, wants them to have better jobs and lives in the United States. His children have one advantage already -- they speak English...

Melissa, the cat with whom I share my home, turned 2 the other day. She didn't get any cake, because frosting makes her throw up, and she upchucks enough without provocation. She didn't get any ice cream because we didn't have any and she likes yogurt better, anyway. Preferably blueberry, but she'll settle for strawberry...

America's founding fathers made it quite clear at the very beginning of our nation that the system of governance they were proposing, and the system that was ultimately approved, was one of self-government. In plain, clear and concise English, this term simply means that each of us is to have a voice in the affairs of state, that all individuals are to take part in making decisions that will affect our collective society...

Revelations from the Clinton White House had started to lose shock value until the recent announcements regarding drug use by a number of administration staff members. As Congress continued to sort through the mystery of FBI files that were inappropriately gathered by a White House minion, an oversight committee was startled -- as was much of the American public -- to learn that the Secret Service at one point denied passes to several Clinton aides because they either had used or were using drugs such as cocaine and hallucinogens.. ...

Education reform in Illinois is following the course already charted by many other states, including Missouri and Kentucky. Basically, each of the states has drafted new school standards which sound like an attempt to upgrade the quality of what schoolchildren are learning but which, in fact, are little more than a system for state control of learning at the local level...

Doing a story about migrant workers seemed simpler than it turned out to be. A friend had worked with Hispanic migrants in Kennett last summer, so I called her in Oklahoma for some insight. She gave me some names to help me get started. After an initial phone call to the Migrant Health Center in Kennett, I was prepared to find people who couldn't speak English. But I'd taken Spanish classes in college and was ready to put my limited skill to use...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Ronald Dale Humphries, 45, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, July 27, 1996, in an auto accident on County Road 620. He was born Feb. 24, 1951, in Morehouse, son of Charles and Christine Trout Humphries. He married Nancy Birk on Oct. 29, 1982...

WEST PLAINS -- Jane Ellen Watson, 24, of West Plains died Friday, July 26, 1996, at the O.M.C. Hospital in West Plains. She was born Oct. 10, 1971, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Paul Bucheitt and Donna Mabrey Fisher. She married Sherman Watson on July 5, 1995...

JACKSON -- Visitation for Eugene "Gene" Wade Sr., 63, of Jackson, who died Friday, July 26, 1996, will be from 1 to 2 p.m. Tuesday at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. Funeral services will begin at 2 p.m. at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson, with the Rev. Jimmy Merity officiating. Burial will follow at Russell Heights Cemetery...

ZALMA -- Jared Phillips Rogers, 15, died Saturday, July 27, 1996, at Southeast Missouri Hospital, following an all-terrain vehicle accident. He was born July 29, 1981, in Dexter, son of Roy R. and Cynthia L. Phillips Rogers. He was a freshman at Zalma High School, a member of the TREND Club, the ZHS basketball team and the Community Church of Christ at Lowndes...

SIKESTON -- Robert J. Ashbaugh, 80, of Sikeston died Sunday, July 28, 1996, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Oct. 18, 1915, near Clarkton to the late Walter Bethel and Florence Ginny Dunn Ashbaugh. He was a retired farmer, a 32nd-degree Mason and a member of the Clarkton Masonic Lodge 406, AF and AM. ...

ZALMA -- A 14-year-old Zalma boy was killed Saturday when his all-terrain vehicle ran off Wayne County Road 501 four miles south of Lowndes. Jared Phillips Rogers was pronounced dead at the scene after the 1996 Polaris 4-wheeler he was driving missed a curve and struck a tree at about 8 p.m., according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol in Poplar Bluff...

SCOTT CITY -- Lura Lee Sandvos, 78, of Scott City died Sunday July 28, 1996, at her home. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City.

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "What do you think of the proposed one-quarter cent sales tax for Cape Girardeau to be used to increase Cape Girardeau's potable water supply?" Carla Young, Cape Girardeau "I think I would go ahead and vote for it. I think it would be fine since it would go ahead and pay off the bond. With Cape getting bigger I think we need to take care of the water supply."...