Stories from Monday, March 31, 1997

Gina Beussink has joined the staff of Orthopaedic Associates of Southeast Missouri, P.C. Beussink is a registered occupational therapist with the group's hand center, which specializes in the rehabilitation of the hand and upper extremity impairments...

Air travelers, beware! Some fares probably will be rising after a 10 percent ticket tax is revived in the next week or so -- even though base ticket prices reflect the tax already. President Clinton is expected to sign legislation quickly to reinstate a package of aviation taxes that are used to pump $2.7 billion into airport safety projects. The taxes take effect seven days after the president's signature...

One year after its introduction, the newly designed $100 bill appears to be accepted at home and abroad and -- more importantly -- seems to be deterring counterfeiting. In the largest attempt to date, four men from Kingston, Jamaica, were charged earlier this month with printing more than $10 million in bogus $100 bills in Miami. In January, three men were arrested in St. Petersburg, Russia, after trying to sell 14 phony bills at a shopping mall...

Ken Clark weighed his dog, Auggie, before the dog was examined for allergies and annual shots. Tonya Glastettler, a veterinarian technician, and Dr. John Koch, transferred a dog to a stretcher to be taken to a recovery area after being neutered. Linda Essner, left, and Dr. Karen Bangert at the Skyview Animal Clinic, used an Avid Microchip scanner to check the operation of a computer chip that had been implanted below the surface of the dog's skin. The chip identifies the dog's owner and address...

The Glik family has been selling merchandise for well over a century. During the mid- to late-1880s, a Joseph Glik sold merchandise from a horse-drawn wagon in northern Missouri and southern Iowa. Later Glik moved his family to St. Louis and settled in as a clerk in a clothing store...

Alliance Blue Cross Blue Shield's Alliance preferred provider organization (PPO) is the first in Missouri to receive National Network Accreditation from the Utilization Review Accreditation Commission (URAC). Nine URAC accreditations have been granted nationwide, with seven being received by Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans...

Tom Doyle, job developer with the "School-to-Work" program at the Cape Girardeau Vocational-Technical School, and Ron Swift, director of Private Industry Council, will speak at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee on Friday. The monthly coffee will be held at the Show Me Center on Southeast Missouri State University campus at 7:30 a.m...

Aid Association for Lutherans Branch 7776 of Cape Girardeau has been awarded a Gold Star rating by the fraternal benefit society in recognition of exemplary volunteer service in the community. To achieve the highest AAL rating, gold or silver stars, branches must annually sponsor at least one benevolent activity (fund-raising event or work project), conduct at least nine meetings, sponsor one educational activity and one member-awareness event, and comply with AAL's attendance, voting and reporting requirements.. ...

Health Services of America (HSCA), headquartered in Cape Girardeau, has signed a five-year, $200 million contract with Moore Corporation Ltd. of Lake Forest, Ill., to provide HSCA members with print and digital technologies services. HSCA, which records more than $2 billion in purchasing volume annually, negotiates agreements and provides services, such as an electronic catalog and electronic data interchange, to more than 2,400 health care organizations (including almost 1,000 acute-care hospitals) through a combination of direct representatives and affiliate groups.. ...

NEW MADRID -- Noranda Aluminum Inc. Primary Products and United Steelworkers of America (USWA), Local 7686, have announced approval of a new five-year collective agreement. USWA members voted by a two-thirds majority to approve the new contract, which goes into effect Sept. 1...

A $200 million stock buyback and an 11 percent dividend increase have been authorized by the RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. board one day after a dissident shareholder bailed out of the food and tobacco company. RJR's biggest single shareholder, Carl Icahn, disclosed recently he sold his entire 7.3 percent stake in the company...

Luxury automakers Lexus, Cadillac and Audi make the most dependable vehicles, according to J.D. Power and Associates' latest ranking of how cars and trucks hold up after four to five years of driving. Other high-ranking makes were Infiniti, Lincoln, Acura, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Buick and Toyota, the market-research firm said Tuesday...

Plaza Tire Service Inc. of Cape Girardeau will open a new five-bay facility at Highway 72 and 00 in Fredericktown on May 1. Plaza Tire operates 22 stores in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Arkansas. The group will open stores next summer at Perryville and Farmington...

McDaniel Hair Corner has opened at 510 Main St., Scott City. Carol McDaniel is owner-operator of the new full-service beauty shop. A tanning facility is also available at the shop. Judy Kurtz is a stylist at the salon. The beauty salon is open at 8 a.m. Tuesday through Friday, and will be open Saturday by appointment...

Construction at Warren Place, a 132-acre residential subdivision with building lots ranging from a half-acre to 1.3 acres, will get under way this spring at Jackson. Lorimont Place Ltd., a Cape Girardeau realtor and developer, will oversee and market the subdivision...

A new antique store has opened in Cape Girardeau. Antiques With An Attitude at 705 Broadway is owned by Gary McMillan. The new antiques and collectibles operation features furniture, glassware, toys and other collectibles. The store is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday...

Gulliver's Travel Agency, 2424 Kingsway Drive, is under new ownership. Ann Swanson, who has served as manager since 1990, has purchased it from Lynn and Dave Moll. Swanson, who has been in the travel industry since 1981, has worked at Gulliver's Travel since 1988. She has visited more than 40 foreign countries and has traveled throughout the United States...

It looks like chicken. It tastes like chicken. But it is not chicken. It's not even meat, but a "meat analog." It's a new soybean product fabricated out of a soybean protein and flour and a bit of wheat starch. Fu-hung Hsieh, a food engineer at the University of Missouri, and his research team used an extrusion process to make the product. A similar process is commonly used in the cereal and pet food industries to reshape and reconstruct food components by combining heat and pressure...

The soybean has often been referred to as the "miracle crop." The world's foremost provider of protein and oil, the soybean -- second largest cash crop in the U.S. -- is grown by more than 380,000 farmers in 29 states, and has hundreds of uses. Soybean products can be found everywhere from the dinner table to furniture to gravel roads, and researchers are finding new uses for the diverse farm commodity every year...

CHARLESTON -- About 300 people gathered at Charleston High School Saturday night to watch about 20 individuals take their first steps toward fame. The Clara Drinkwater Newnam Auditorium was the home of a talent and variety show sponsored by SEMO Community Programming and the Business Research Institute. Both companies are based in Sikeston, and work to provide positive social, business and educational activities for communities in the region...

An Arizona appeals court judge is suing Barry Manilow because his concerts are too loud. Excuse me, but isn't that like complaining that Lawrence Welk played the accordion too fast? Sorry; I digress. Anyway, Philip Espinoza is suing Manilow (he writes the songs that make the young girls cry -- apprently because they're too loud. ...

Let Hollywood have its Oscar, the world of music its Grammy, the TV people their Emmy. Missouri has its share of make believe and deserves its own award. So in honorof our state's most famous citizen, we hereby establish the Harry. The award is in loving memory of Missouri's foremost national actor, a former U.S. ...

With new scandals every week and a bevy of congressional probes and independent counsels at work, some in Washington are reporting a feeling of deja vu. Comparisons are increasingly drawn between the travails facing the Clinton administration and the constitutional crisis over Watergate that gripped the nation during 1973-74. As with any comparison of disparate circumstances, both similarities and differences abound...

It is good to see the General Assembly moving toward passage of a major welfare reform bill to build on passage of last year's historic federal legislation. A Senate bill received first-round approval last week after days of debate. "Welfare is over. There is now a program to get people into jobs," says principal sponsor Joe Maxwell, D-Mexico. "This endless system of welfare is over."...

A group representing 10 Cape Girardeau County organizations has implemented a health service information hotline. The local number has 10 extensions each with a two-minute recorded message describing the services of area health-care providers and their phone numbers...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "What do you think of the Hale-Bopp comet?" Debbie Popp, Cape Girardeau "I think it's a wonderful opportunity to teach my kids about astronomy -- the little that I know. We went out and looked at it last night in the driveway. It's just something to help them be interested in things about astronomy."...

As Southeast Missouri State University's football team prepares for spring practice, coach John Mumford doesn't really care to think about last year's dismal 3-8 record. "We're looking forward, not looking back," declared Mumford. The Indians will begin spring drills Tuesday afternoon. NCAA regulations allow for 15 total spring practices, with 10 being full contact, 11-on-11 type scrimmages and five being non-contact workouts...

RICMOND, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University's softball team routed host Eastern Kentucky 15-2 Sunday in Ohio Valley Conference play. The second game of the scheduled doubleheader was rained out. Southeast (9-11 overall, 4-3 OVC) had 17 hits. Kendra Williams and Jenni Gaines led the way with three hits apiece while Kim Palmer, Josie Earnest and Tami Hebert all added two hits. Palmer homered while Gaines had two doubles...

ANNA, Ill. -- Lacy E. Bennett, 80, of Anna died Friday, March 28, 1997, at Union County Hospital in Anna. He was a veteran of World War II, a lifetime member of Disabled American Veterans and a Pearl Harbor survivor. He is survived by two brothers, James T. Bennett of Benton, Ky., and Harry Bennett of Alton, Ill.; two sisters, Frances Pulley of Greenville, S.C., and Pocahontas Nance of Paducah, Ky...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Mary F. Adams, 75, of Jonesboro died Saturday March 29, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 13, 1921, in Bernie, Mo., the daughter of Frank and Emma Wright. She married Hilbert C. Adams in 1937 in Jackson, Mo., and he survives...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Verna Grenley, 68, of Tamms died Saturday, March 29, 1997, at the home of her son in Waterloo. Funeral arrangements are pending at Lutz & Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna.

COBDEN, Ill. -- Austin Wayne Clark-Towle, the infant son of Robin Clark and Buck Towle Jr. of Cobden, died at birth Saturday, March 29, 1997, at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale. In addition to his parents, he is survived by his maternal grandparents, Robert and Martha Clark of Cobden; paternal grandparents, Mary Towle of Cobden and Buck Towle of Marion; paternal great-grandfather, Thomas Strunk of Cobden; and maternal great-grandmother, Eveline Clark of Cobden...

James Walter "Num" Ramsey, 67, of Scott City died March 29, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Jan. 2, 1930, in Roseland, Ark., to Robert and Irene Lape Ramsey. He married Edna Mae Biggs on May 24, 1952, in New Madrid. He was an assembly worker at Superior Electric for 26 years and a machine operator for eight years at Blair Industries. He was an Army veteran of the Korean War...

BENTON -- Viola "Geraldine" Laster, 74, died at her home in Benton Sunday, March 30, 1997. She was born Sept. 29, 1922, in Cape Girardeau, the daughter of Henry and Laura Koch Miller. On Oct. 25, 1945, she married Hassel Wayne Laster in Commerce. He preceded her in death July 22, 1989. She worked as a housewife, and was a member of First Baptist Church in Benton...

NEW WELLS -- Viola Perr, 85, of New Wells died Sunday, March 30, 1997, at Jackson Manor Nursing Home in Jackson. She was born July 17, 1911, at New Wells, daughter of William and Emma Weber Hutteger. She married Herbert G. Perr on April 8, 1934, at New Wells, and he preceded her in death on Feb. 26, 1988...

PERRYVILLE -- Palmer R. Clifton of Florida, formerly of Perryville, died Friday, March 28, 1997, at Horizon Speciality and Rehab Center in Kissimmee, Fla. He was 75 years old. He was born Jan. 16, 1922, in Yount, son of John and Corinna Mercer Clifton. On May 30, 1943, he married Dorothy May Blaylock. He was a self-employed landlord of motels and mobile home parks in Florida and a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, Company H 376 Infantry, 94th Division...