Stories from Monday, September 22, 1997

Little Rascals SE, a new day care center, has opened at 3026 State Highway 177. The center is licensed for 48 children, ages 6 weeks to 12 years old. Sue Bippen, who also operates Noah's Ark Center at Jackson, owns the new center, which is open from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m...

After School Kids Club Inc. has opened at 2424 Kingsway. The new program offers activities for children from kindergarten to sixth grade before and after school. "We open at 6 a.m." said Patty Turner, who also operates Friends Forever Pre-School at 1749Y Independence...

The Fashion Bug will open in Cape Girardeau next month. The new store, which specializes in women's fashions, will be in an 8,400-square-foot facility at 258 Siemers Drive in Cape West Business Park. "We're looking at a tentative opening date of Oct. 16," said Marla Katz, a spokeswoman for Fashion Bug...

A petition drive is officially under way: Abolish, or "sunset"' the U.S. Tax Code by the year 2001. "We're calling for repeal of the U.S. tax code," says Jack Faris, president of the National Federation of Independent Business, which has more than 600,000 businesses as members...

Maps showing the spill and containment efforts covered a wall. Kevin Hoskins with Marine Spill Response Corp. showed off the satellite communications suite brought in for the exercise. The suite is able to provide complete communications without outside support...

"Missouri's Bountiful Bootheel," a new regional tourist guide and map was unveiled recently during a special meeting at the Missouri Tourism Information Center on Interstate 55 just south of New Madrid. On hand for the introduction of the new brochure were Chris Jennings, director of the Missouri Division of Tourism, a number of Bootheel area elected officials, representatives of the Bootheel Regional Planning Commission and Bootheel Regional Tourism Committee, and a number of other people interested in tourism.. ...

St. Francis Medical Center has been recognized as a member of Diabetes Treatment Centers of America, the only nationwide network of diabetes treatment centers. The DTCA has delivered its newest version of Diabetes Management System to St. Francis. The new system is used by physicians and hospitals throughout the United States and included physician support services, case management, professional and clinical staff interventions, and comprehensive business management system...

"Providing Exceptional Customer Services" is the title of a seminar to be presented Thursday at the Elks Lodge in Jackson. Rick Sparks, business and industry specialist at the University of Missouri Extension office at Jackson, and Jim Becker, a community development specialist from Madison County, will be guest speakers at a seminar, to be held from 7 to 9 p.m...

The St. Louis District Office of the Small Business Administration is seeking nominations throughout eastern Missouri for "Small Business Person of the Year, '97," and small business advocates in various business categories. Winners will be named during special activities at the 35th annual celebration of National Small Business Association conference next summer...

St. Francis Medical Center has been selected as a national 1997 Tempus Software Excellence Award winner. The award, highest honor given by Tempus Software, recognizes leading hospitals in the healthcare industry. St. Francis received the "60 Second Award," the top overall ratings by a panel of judges in seven different categories...

Overnight Cottage, a bed and breakfast operation, has opened at 605 (rear) Broadway. The cottage is a 119-year-old brick building, which originally served as a summer kitchen for the Victorian-style home at 605 Broadway. The cottage is across the street from Annie Laurie's Antiques and on the grounds of Robertson's Photography...

Thomas M. Meyer, realtor from Cape Girardeau, and chairman of the Missouri REALTORS Economic Development Council, recently attended the 29th annual Midwest U.S./Japan Conference, in Kansas City. More than 300 U.S. business executives and 140 Japanese business executives attended the conference...

A.G. Edwards Inc. has announced record results for the second quarter and the first half of fiscal 1998, which ended Aug. 31. Revenues, net earnings and earnings per share were all at record levels. Net earnings were reported at $69.2 million for the second quarter, or $1.06 per share, up 32 percent from the $42.2 million, or 80 cents a share for the same period a year ago...

The National Federation of Independent Businesses and the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a barbecue at the show Me Center to celebration Missouri's small businesses. The barbecue will be held Friday from 6 to 10 p.m. The barbecue is free, but reservations should be made by calling the chamber office, 335-3312...

St. Louis and Kansas City are big on small business. According to a survey of large metro areas to be published in the October issue of Entrepreneur magazine, St. Louis ranked second only to Portland, Ore., among the best cities for entrepreneurs. Kansas City came in 10th...

Spartech Corp. has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 5 cents a share, payable Oct. 9 to common shareholders of record Sept. 25. Spartech, a manufacturer of engineered thermoplastic materials and polymeric compounds, recently reported record third-quarter results of $123.2 million in sales, net earnings of $6.7 million, and full diluted earnings per share of 24 cents...

A talker is used for patients who are unable to speak. The diagnosis was not good: I'd suffered a stroke, complete with paralysis of the right side and aphasia -- the loss of speech. I would need a wheelchair, and a special keyboard device that did my talking for me...

NEW HAMBURG -- Blandine Blettel Westrich, 88, of Chaffee, had an easier time getting to St. Lawrence Catholic Church Sunday than she did as a school girl in 1917. She was one of about 400 people who gathered Sunday at the New Hamburg church to share stories and remember 80 years of Catholic education...

Sunday's Southeast Missourian newspaper included an ad that should make some people in the northwestern part of Cape Girardeau happy. The ad seeks bids for constructing a wider and straighter Perryville Road. For almost a decade, city officials have discussed improving the northern reaches of Perryville Road. ...

Someday when I'm finally tired of newspapering, I'm going to go into the retail business. I'm going to open up a little store catering to old farts (Curmudgeons' Corner), which will serve as a central shopping point for everyone who has to figure out what to give their father/father-in-law/older male acquaintance for any major gift-giving occasion...

Although the process has just begun, the result of a nationwide rating of city building codes and building inspection procedures could mean lower homeowner insurance rates for newly built homes in Cape Girardeau. There aren't any guarantees the rates will drop, but chances are favorable they will after the insurance industry applies the ratings for the purpose of establishing premium costs to individual cities nationwide...

It won't be long before the Christian Faith Fellowship's Eagle Ridge Christian School is ready for occupancy. Supporters recently got an opportunity to tour the construction site along Route K as part of an on-going fund-raising campaign. The school is badly needed. It will house more than twice the number of students attending Eagle Ridge this year. They attend classes at two locations, including a rented building that is badly crowded...

To the editor: It seems that as the 20th century winds to a close, all we are faced with are the negatives of our society. Cities are judges and remembered for the actions and deeds of their worst citizens, not their best. For my wife and I, Cape Girardeau was an exception...

To the editor: I would like to address the bicycle patrons of the Mississippi River Trail. Please keep in mind that I agree that our region of the mighty Mississippi is worth marketing and is an area full of historical value worthy of discovery. It is a shame that as bicyclists you haven't noticed the risk you pose to yourself and the motorists who are using the highways at legal speeds of up to 55 mph. ...

This week The Southeast Missourian asked, "What do you think about Mark McGwire re-signing with the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team for the next season?" William Lee, Cape Girardeau "I think it's too much money. The money that was spent you could get two above average players that will do just as much as he can."...

Twelve former patients of the St. Francis Rehabilitation Unit who have successfully returned to home and community activities were honored Thursday as new inductees to the unit's Wall of Fame. Honorees were Francis Cox, Opal Perkins, John Gleason and Helen Kimes, all of Cape Girardeau; Robert Anglin of Cobden, Ill.; Mary Mitchell of Scott City; Charles Camp and Robert Owens, both of Jackson; Mary Anne Clifton of Perryville; J.W. Hughes of Morehouse; and Richard Coffee of Lilbourn...

Southeast Missouri State University volleyball coach Cindy Gannon realizes her Otahkians are a marked team these days. Considering the way Southeast has dominated Ohio Valley Conference volleyball in recent seasons, every OVC opponent is gunning for the Otahkians. Every league foe is ready to give Southeast its best shot...

If fans showed up at Stewart Stadium Saturday night looking for a football masterpiece, they probably went home disappointed. But if fans came out to the Ohio Valley Conference game to see some extremely hard-nosed, rugged defensive play, then they certainly got their money's worth...

DESOTO -- Alice Elizabeth Ward, 86, of DeSoto, formerly of Matthews, died Sunday, Sept. 21, 1997, at her home. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Sikeston.

SIKESTON -- William Freeman Holmes, 63, of Sikeston died Saturday, Sept. 20, 1997, at Hunter Acres Caring Center in Sikeston. He was born April 29, 1934, in Sikeston, the son of Freeman E. Holmes and Opal Geeham Graham. He was an auto mechanic and a musician...

Funeral services for Grace Ann Greenfield, 97, formerly of Sikeston, will be at 2 p.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston. Mrs. Greenfield died Saturday, Sept. 20, 1997, at Bertrand Nursing Facility in Bertrand. She was born Sept. 30, 1899, in Dalton City, Ill., the daughter of Daniel and Minnie Pearl Wimer Flechter. On Nov. 27, 1957, she married John Greenfield in Toledo, Ill. He died in 1972...

CLARINDA, Iowa -- Ruby E. Jones, 88, of Clarinda and formerly of Union County, Ill., died Thursday, Sept. 18, 1997, at Community Care in Clarinda. She was born Feb. 17, 1909, in Dongola, Ill., the daughter of J. Franklin and Fannie Belle Benson Hughes. On Nov. 24, 1928, she married Warner Jones. He died May 7, 1985...

CONWAY, Ark. -- Jeree Corbett, 75, of Conway died Friday, Sept. 19, 1997, at the Conway Regional Medical Center. She is survived by her husband, F.P. Corbett of Conway; a son Charles Corbett Jr. of Chicago; three daughters, Sandura DeVitt of Aurora, Ill., Betty Diane Seebansen of Alton, Ill., and Mary Schauer of Milwaukee; and two sisters, Bobbie Goins of Mounds, Ill., and Betty Lingle of Dongola, Ill...

Ruby Smith, 91, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Sept. 20, 1997, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 6, 1906, in Cape Girardeau County, the daughter of Eli J. and Cora Allen Nations. On Feb. 18, 1930, she married Otto H. Walz in Carlinville, Ill. He died May 8, 1987. On March 8, 1995, she married Harry Smith in Murphysboro, Ill...

ADVANCE -- -- Iona Elizabeth Hedge, 89, of Advance died Saturday, Sept. 20, 1997, at Bonds Nursing Center in Marble Hill. She was born Sept. 12, 1908, in Bollinger County, the daughter of Amos and Alice Davault Rhodes. On May 26, 1926, she married Elsie Ridings in Marble Hill. He died in November 1951. In October 1953, she married Monte Hedge in Mississippi. He died in March 1980...

Avanelle Ella Windeknecht, 86, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday Sept. 20, 1997, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 8, 1911, in Egypt Mills, the daughter of George Anton and Laura Ida Gerlach Exler. On March 16, 1935, she married Otto Windeknecht in Egypt Mills. He died Jan. 6, 1971...

Bonne R. Pletcher, 69, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Sept. 21, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Funeral arrangements are incomplete with the Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home.

BERNIE -- Edith Eva Gough, 75, of Bernie, died Saturday, Sept. 20, 1997, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 3, 1922, in Wilburn, Ark., to Jesse and Eva Gill Foust. She married Arvel N. Gough in Malden on July 17, 1965, and he survives her...