Stories from Monday, July 21, 1997

Jonesboro and Paragould have been identified among Arkansas' fastest-growing cities. More than $106 million worth of commercial/industrial projects were completed or started at Jonesboro, a city of more than 50,000 residents. Dominating the Jonesboro construction scene is the $85 million, 400,000-square-foot Frito-Lay Inc. plant, which is expected to start cranking out snacks early next year...

Child care center opens Kids R Us, a child care center for children ages 1 to 12, opens today at 525 N. Silver Springs Road. "We're licensed for 40 children," said Mark Lamont. Lamont and his wife, Wendy, are owners of the new center, which is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday...

During the early Henry Ford assembly-line era, from 1914 to 1925, the Model T could be had in any color, as long as it was black. By B. Ray Owen Color today's car buyers "color-conscious." While car buyers dutifully listen to sales representatives talk about engines, gas mileage, special brakes and other mechanical factors of a new car, they also want to hear about something else -- color options...

Henry "Butch" Holyfield Jr. has joined Commerce Bank as an associate in the commercial and real estate loan departments. Holyfield, a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University with a bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting, has more than 10 years of experience in banking. He previously worked at Union Planters Bank and Boatmen's Bank...

Coming up: Wednesday SBA counseling sessions, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (one-hour sessions), 335-3312. July 31 Franklin Quest Seminar, a "TimeQuest" program, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office, 1267 Mount Auburn Road, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m...

Like a familiar painting that leaves a bare spot on the wall when it is taken down, Beverly Strohmeyer's resignation last week created a void in the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri that will not be easy to fill. Strohmeyer has been the Arts Council executive director for 12 years. She's been with the council in one capacity or another for more than 20 years. The experience she's gained over that time is what landed her a job as a program specialist with the Missouri Arts Council in St. Louis...

Teachers from school districts within the Mississippi River Delta are in the midst of a two-week interactive learning experience at Southeast Missouri State University. The university is hosting two institutes for The National Faculty Delta Teachers' Academy from July 14-25. ...

Sojourn Ministries landed on Cape Girardeau this month, bringing with it an "Awake and Quake" revival. Jerry Powell and Stan Stadig conducted the first two weeks of Sojourn Ministries' revivals in a tent on the lawn of Grace United Methodist Church at the corner of Caruthers and Broadway. Good attendance convinced them to stay in Cape Girardeau an extra five days, and poor weather convinced them to move inside the church for those days...

By Benjamin Israel If the Cape Girardeau City Council adopts an annexation policy at its meeting tonight, it will probably contain eight areas to be considered for annexation. But Mayor Al Spradling III said that doesn't mean the city will aggressively pursue annexation of any areas...

SUMMARY: The Anti-Martha moto: Why stencil when you can tattoo? I was visiting my friend Tina the other day when something struck me about her shiny new house. Everything matches. The teal carpet nicely coordinates with the teal in the living room set, and the stencil border along the walls repeats the fan leaf motif in the upholstery, and when you look into the kitchen, you can see touches of teal so the two rooms don't clash like Republicans at a party fund-raiser...

This year's session of the Missouri General Assembly barely addressed the one issue that has proved so disillusioning to today's public: the connection between money and politics. State lawmakers, however, are no less diligent than their federal counterparts in the circumspect balancing act of walking both sides of the street, accepting large amounts of cash while at the same time deploring the practice...

City Councilman Melvin Gateley put forth an interesting suggestion when the council and officials of Southeast Missouri State University met earlier this month to discuss issues of common interest. Gateley raised the possibility of the university expanding its shuttle-bus service to make it available to nonstudents...

Dearly Beloved, we take as our text today a comment from Jane Alexander. Shes the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, and she was talking to Congressional Quarterly at the candid time. She was explaining why a state like Arkansas would get turned down on 11 out of the 12 grants it had sought from the NEA. And in the course of her remarks, Chairperson Alexander dropped that oh-so-democratic mask of hers for a moment to reveal the congealing mass of condescension behind it...

WE WOULD like to thank the Cape Girardeau Police Department for the quick response and thorough investigation of a late-night Sunday call. Your efforts were very much appreciated. I WOULD like to comment on this Disney boycott. Disney said the reason its latest release, Hercules, did so poorly at the box office was because people did not get out and watch the movies on the Fourth of July. ...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department plans to ask the city council tonight for its permission to apply for two surplus military ambulances. If the department were to get these vehicles, it would use one to process crime scene evidence. The other would be used to transport and store Operation Safe Streets and Special Response Team equipment...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "What do you think of the law that was recently passed that allows 18-20-year-olds to sell alcohol?" Phil Finney, Cape Girardeau "If you can't consume it I don't see how you can sell it." Orville Krauss, Cape Girardeau...

Over the last 12 years the Cape Girardeau Police Department has placed a higher priority on its relationship with the public and the press. Starting in 1985, with the hiring of the first public information officer, the police department has shown a progressive trend toward greater communication with community and media...

Montgomery signs softball scholarship Notre Dame graduate Becca Montgomery signed a full-tuition softball scholarship with St. Louis Community College in Florissant Valley early this month. "She's a good player and a real good kid," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim. "She's the type of kid you want to see do well."...

Cape Girardeau City Council Agenda Monday, July 21, 1997 Public Hearings None Consent ordinances, Second and third readings -- Relating to municipal court costs. -- Relating to mobile and modular homes. -- Relating to subdivision ordinances including sidewalks...

City of Jackson Board of Aldermen Meeting 7:30 p.m., Monday, July 21 Action Items Power and light committee To consider -- Approving semiannual financial statement ending June 30. -- Authorizing quarterly payment of $5,500 to the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association...

KENNETT -- Tommy Mobley and Robert Cude drove a truck to the Bootheel this past weekend to sell produce. Sunday, Cude was in a hospital in Memphis in serious condition and Mobley was in jail in Tennessee charged with shooting Cude. Dunklin County Sheriff Bob Holder said the pair sold watermelons and tomatoes out of the back of a truck on rural roads. ...