Stories from Monday, October 13, 1997

A full line of Lee-Rowan products is available at the Lowe's Home Center, 3440 Lowe's Drive in the Cape West Business Park. Lee-Rowan, a manufacturer of wire and wood storage and organization products at it Jackson facility, received a major contract from Lowe's Distribution Center at Mount Vernon, Texas, which services the local Lowe's store...

The Kitchen and Bath Showplace has opened at 355 N. Kingshighway and will conduct a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday at 4 p.m. The new business features kitchen and plumbing fixtures, whirlpools and other items. The new business, owned by Cape Winnelson Co., is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ken Enke is president of Cape Winnelson Co....

According to expert shoe salesman Homer Gilbert, the fit comes first; then the sale. Properly fitting children and adults for shoes is a labor of love for Gilbert. His motto is to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you," which he said means a salesman should fit a person for a shoe the same way he would want his shoes to be fitted...

A yearlong celebration is under way at Children's Bazaar. "It's our 25th anniversary," said Judy Wilferth. "In today's retail environment, independent specialty stores who have been in business for 25 years are increasingly rare." Actually, Children's Bazaar has been around almost 30 years. The Wilferths, Fred "Rock" and Judy, purchased Children's Bazaar in 1973, from Ed and Lois Nenninger, who had operated the store five years...

Mike Bacon has joined ERA Cape Realty, 1409-A N. Mount Auburn Road, as a sales associate. David S. Glastetter, member/broker of the company, announced Bacon's appointment recently. Baker, a native of Poplar Bluff, has lived in the Cape Girardeau the past seven years...

$3.7 billion in sales. 57,943 jobs. $535 million in wages. 1,814 businesses. $470 million in various taxes. A $7 billion boost in economy. These are some impressive statistics attributed to the state's interstate highway system. The results of a year-long study by the NATSO Foundation -- the research and educational subsidiary of America's travel plaza and truckstop industry -- reveal that 1,800 highway service businesses employing almost 59,000 individuals can be found at interchanges along the interstate system in Missouri.. ...

Plans are being formulated for the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's annual Transportation Dinner, to be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 6, at Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau. The dinner is sponsored by the chamber's Transportation Committee. Representatives of the Highway Commission and the Missouri Department of Transportation will be at the meeting...

A "Career Fair" focusing on law enforcement and corrections careers, will be held at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale on Oct. 22. More than 40 law enforcement and security agencies will be on hand at the meeting, to be held in the university's Student Center Ballrooms...

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson will hold two economic development meetings in Southeast Missouri this month with business and community leaders. The first meeting will be held Tuesday at Southeast Missouri State University's Glenn Auditorium in Dempster Hall, from 9 to 11 a.m...

Richard Henson, a humorous speaker, will be guest speaker at two Southeast Missouri Chamber of Commerce banquets this month. Henson, of Cayce, Ky., will speak at the New Madrid Chamber of Commerce annual banquet, to be held Saturday at 6 p.m. at Rebecca Sharp's Catering, 1325 Mill St., and at the East Prairie Chamber banquet Oct. 24...

Ikon Office Solutions will hold an open house Oct. 23, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at its site at 760-B S. Kingshighway. A number of Ikon representative will be available to answer questions. Door prizes and food will be available.

The Carbondale Chamber of Commerce has announced plans for a daylong "Technology Expo," to be held in January. The Expo, scheduled Jan. 15, at the Carbondale, Ill., Civic Center, will concentrate on computers, communications and Internet, said chamber director Pat Brown...

The Finish Line Oil and Lube Centers of Cape Girardeau have opened at a site in Blytheville, Ark. The Finish Line, with corporate headquarters at 889 N. Kingshighway, has oil and lube centers in Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and at two sites in Jonesboro, Ark...

Jenny's Ole Fashion Barbecue has opened at 517 Silver Springs Road. The restaurant, owned by Jack Hunt and Jenny Niemczyk, offers a number of barbecue sandwiches, including ham and turkey. The business will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It will be closed on Sunday...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has announced it will open 185 stores in the fiscal year that started Feb. 1. The company, headquartered in Bentonville, Ark., said the openings will include 120 to 125 Supercenters, 50 discount stores and 10 Sam's Club Stores. Although official plans have not been announced, speculation is that a new Supercenter will be built near Jackson on Highway 61 East...

Wright's Place Bar has opened in Commerce. The new business at 40 St. Mary St., serves hamburgers and barbecue, and is open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight. Theresa Wright is owner/operator of the lounge.

It took four years for Rose Mary Bayer to find her past. When she did, Bayer found it buried under nearly 60 years of underbrush and fallen trees. Bayer of Huntsville, Ala., arranged a ceremony Sunday for Confederate Army Pvt. Perry P.W. Hopper, who died in 1923. Hopper is Bayer's great-grandfather -- something she learned within the last four years...

The line to the Ma and Pa Kettle Korn booth Sunday at the Black Forest Village's 7th Annual Octoberfest was the longest of any attraction. Inside the booth were Vickie Jennings and Nathan Wyrick who were doing their best to fill in for the grandfather of kettle corn cookers, Arnold Brunk...

Residents wander away from nursing homes at times, the head of the Missouri Health Care Association says. But overall, nursing homes have a good record of keeping track of their residents, said Earl Carlson, the association's executive director. The association, based in Jefferson City, represents 380 of the state's nearly 1,300 licensed nursing facilities...

Bob Hente counted on a Cape Girardeau nursing home to care for his aging mother. But on the morning of June 26, his mother, Veneda Allison, walked out of the Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Services nursing home at 2852 Independence. Once outside, she fell on the pavement near the front entrance ramp and suffered serious head and facial injuries...

Two women in Detroit are angry that a racial slur made it into the dictionary. The "n" word is included in the latest edition of Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, and Delphine Abraham and Kathryn Williams are both unhappy that the word is not defined primarily as a derogatory term for blacks...

"Why do the deal for the Rams? Because some people around the nation think St. Louis's best days are behind us. We needed to do something dramatic." -- Tom Eagleton, June 1995 Missourians should know that some of the "people" mentioned in the above quote by former senator Tom Eagleton have ideas about performing "something dramatic" once again in the state's largest urban area. ...

The recent story out of Paducah, Ky., about a 2-year-old boy starving to death because his parents didn't feed him and his two surviving but malnourished siblings is a tragic comment on the responsibilities of parenthood. But police say that is what happened to Jeffrey Mitchell, who lived in a nice apartment in one of Paducah's better neighborhoods with his parents, Billy Gene Mitchell, 45, and his wife, Susan R. Mitchell, 37, along with siblings of 3 and 6 years of age...

To the editor: Despite the negative publicity given the Kelso School District, I would like to mention the following: Check the honor rolls of the area high schools. New Hamburg graduates are a high percentage. Thank you, present and past board members, for a job well done. I am a parent of five children who attended this fine school...

To the editor: Your paper seems to carry a considerable number of opinions addressing Christianity, asking what it means to be Christian and how important it is to pass on the Christian word of God. There has been debate over whether God wants us to smoke or not, whether God wants us to look at people who smoke, whether a boy should be allowed to attend school with long hair, whether God says we should listen to rock music or not. ...

The citizens of Cairo, Ill., cite a variety of theories for the city's decline during the second half of this century. Some blame the crackdown on illegal gambling in Alexander County midway through the century, some the exodus resulting from the opening of Interstate 57, others the seemingly never-ending resurfacing of the Ohio River bridge that brought on such long delays that it made crossing almost impractical, and others the racial strife of the 1960s that tore the town apart...

To the editor: I won. When I say the report on TV of the robbery where the robbers absconded with their loot of three rings and the local merchant fired his shotgun in the air trying to stop them, I told my wife, "I'll bet the Cape Girardeau Police Department will try and figure out a way to charge the store owner...

A gas leak prompted Cape Girardeau firefighters to close off traffic to Houck Stadium Saturday afternoon. Firefighters were called to the scene at Broadway and Houck at 3:22 p.m. A "large circus-type tent" had been set up in the area for Southeast's Homecoming celebration, said Capt. Paul Breitenstein, and one of the stakes holding the tent in place was apparently driven into a gas main...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "How do you feel about elementary school children celebrating a fall festival with straw hats instead of celebrating Halloween in traditional costumes?" Charles Dumey, Chaffee "It ought to be up to the kids, if that's what the kids like to do I think they ought to do it. There's nothing wrong with dressing up for Halloween. I think they should be able to dress up for the school party."...

While leaders and pastors of Disciples of Christ Churches in the area gathered to talk about missions and ministry Saturday, youth members put the message into action. About 170 members of the Christian Church, a denomination also known as Disciples of Christ, gathered in Cape Girardeau Saturday at First Christian Church, 2411 Abbey Road, for the Southeast Gateway Area Assembly. About 20 youth members helped build a house for the local Habitat for Humanity chapter...

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University punter Justin Terrill has been named the specialist of the week in the Ohio Valley Conference. Terrill averaged 48.9 yards on nine punts Saturday during a 17-14 loss to Tennessee Tech. Terrill, the OVC's top punter, had a longest kick of 74 yards...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Lewis "Buck" Buckles, 53, of Mound City died Saturday, Oct. 11, 1997, at his home. He was born Nov. 17, 1943, in Mound City, son of Charles and Geneva Robinson Buckles. He had worked as a boilermaker and was a member of St. Marys Catholic Church in Mound City, Boilermakers Union Local 363, Cairo Elks Lodge 651 and Cairo VFW Post 2649...

BLOOMFIELD -- W.A. "Bill" Ham, 68, of Bloomfield died Saturday, Oct. 11, 1997, at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. He was born March 1, 1929, in Fifty Six, Ark., the son of Robert and Oma Southard Ham. He lived in Arkansas until moving to Bloomfield 46 years ago. He was a retired mechanic and musician, a veteran of the U.S. Army and a life member of the American Legion in Sikeston...

METROPOLIS, Ill -- Florence Ash, 88, of Metropolis died Sunday, Oct. 12, 1997, at Magnolia Manor Nursing Home in Metropolis. Funeral arrangements are pending at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms, Ill.

BALLWIN -- Funeral service for Lillie M. Johnston Brotherton, 67, of Ballwin, formerly of Patton, will be 1 p.m. Tuesday at Lang-Fendler Funeral Home in Arnold. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. today at the funeral home. Burial will be in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery...

Jewell M. Cobb, 75, 1318 N. West End, died Saturday, Oct. 11, 1997, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. She was born March 15, 1922, in Delta, daughter of Perry and Ida Snider Crawford. She had worked as a stitcher at Florsheim for 33 years. She married Harold Cobb on Dec. 25, 1940. He died June 17, 1993...

Bonnie J. Daniels, 56, of Scott City died Sunday, Oct. 12, 1997, at her home. Arrangements are pending at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel at Scott City.