Stories from Monday, February 16, 1998

The Missouri Small Fruit Conference will be held Tuesday and Wednesday at the Sheraton lnn Hawthorne Park in Springfield. A wide range of topics will be included at the two-day meeting, including marketing, production, and advertising.

Mr. Muffler is under new ownership. Mr. Muffler, a 21-year-old Cape Girardeau business that provides a number of service to vehicle owners, including custom exhaust systems, brake installation, shocks, oil changes and Missouri State Inspections, has been purchased by Bill and Sally LeGrand...

This "Financial Focus" column is prepared by Edward Jones Investments, headquartered in St. Louis. Jones includes branches throughout the nation, including Cape Girardeau and Jackson. Or how about getting a 15 percent tax break? You may be in luck due to legislation passed in August 1996...

St. Louis-based Emerson Electric Co. has manufacturing facilities at more than 300 sites throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Asia. One of them is in Southeast Missouri. The company's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EMR and appears to be a value investment to watch...

Ellen Venturella of Cape Girardeau shopped for a Valentine card at Walgreen's. The Valentine's Day holiday is a big money maker for retailers. This is everyone's chance to impress their significant others and show the people they love just how much you care about them...

Bank of Missouri officers were elected during the bank's annual shareholders meeting. Douglas M. Watson was elected community bank president of the Bank of Missouri at Cape Girardeau. Other officers are Kathy Roth, branch operations officer; Narvol A. Randol Jr., vice president; John Thompson, vice president; Barbara Burnette, loan officer; and Dawn Crader, loan officer...

Plaza Tire Service Inc. of Cape Girardeau will open two new facilities this summer. The company has plans for a new seven-bay, 4,600-square-foot building in Jonesboro, Ark., and a five-bay store at DuQuoin, Ill., which includes a showroom and warehouse...

The Beetle is back! The new Volkswagen is cute as a bug! But, hey, where did they hide the motor? It's not in the trunk any more! The new and improved redesigned VW was one of 30 new vehicles that debuted in the Midwest recently at the Greater St. Louis International Auto Show...

Sabreliner Corp., an aviation service, maintenance and modification company, is working on a modification project for Hawker 800XP aircraft for Lockheed Martin Co. Sabreliner and Lockheed Martin officials met at Sabreliner's Perryville facility recently for a look at the first Hawker 800XP to be modified...

The 1997 totals are in. Missouri construction finished with a flurry but was still down 5 percent for the year. Total construction was up 27 percent in December, from December 1996, following increases in commercial, educational, and streets and highway construction...

Union County Counseling Services Inc. has received a three-year accreditation from CARF, the Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission. The counseling service was recognized for accreditation in the mental health programs of case management, crisis intervention, outpatient treatment and case management of psychosocial rehabilitation program...

Ameren Corp., a new parent company formed by the merger of Union Electric Co. and Central Illinois Public Service, has a logo. The logo, created by Kiku Obata & Co., a St. Louis-based design firm, worked with team of UE and CIPS employees to develop the bold green, warm red and black corporate colors of the logo...

ST. LOUIS -- May Department Stores Inc. has reported that fourth-quarter earnings rose more than 6 percent from a year ago, boasted by healthy sales during the holiday season. The retailer earned $445 million, or $1.79 a share, compared with $418 million, or $1.59 a share, during the same period a year ago. Sales for the quarter rose 6 percent from $4 billion to $4.2 billion...

The annual Downtown Merchants Association auction will be held Saturday at the River City Yacht Club at Port Cape Girardeau Restaurant. Proceeds from the auction benefits downtown restoration projects. "Mardi Gras" has been selected as the theme for the auction. A number of items will be available for auction, including clothing, furniture, jewelry, art and gift certificates...

The new Missouri Department of Agriculture Hay Directory, a free publication to hay farmers who buy and sell hay, is available on the Internet. The 25th anniversary edition, which list 250 producers and amount and type of hay for sale, may be found on the web page address:...

If old St. Francis Hospital is Cape Girardeau's white elephant, the Marquette Hotel is its faded queen. The five-story Spanish Revival-style hotel was completed in 1928. With 82 rooms -- 66 of them with private baths -- the hotel was once considered one of the finest in the Midwest...

Paint is peeling from the walls inside the entrance of the old St. Francis Hospital. In 1991, members of the Cape Girardeau City Council called for old St. Francis Hospital and the Marquette Hotel to be torn down, citing concerns about the safety of the abandoned buildings. Now new action is being urged...

In the hours after midnight Sunday flames shot from the roof of a building used by the Columbia Construction Corp., near Interstate 55 and the new Highway 74 overpass. "The flames looked like a crown on the top of the building," said Roger English, assistant fire chief from the Gordonville Fire District...

Cape Girardeau County Collector Harold Kuehle has lots of plans for the future, but none of them involve collecting taxes. Kuehle, who has served as county collector for more than three decades, plans to retire when his term ends Feb. 28, 1999. By that time, he will have completed 32 years as the county's tax collector and 34 years in county office...

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department hasn't had a lot of firefighting business during the past year and the fire chief wants to keep it that way. Chief Dan White, who recently completed his first year on the job, said the city does not have a tremendous number of fires but that doesn't mean the department hasn't been busy...

My buddy Sondra got married Saturday. Nice wedding. Short, but sweet, right there in her mother's living room. Nobody cried (of course, it's still early), nobody threw cake at anybody, nobody was too hung over to say their vows. When I met Sondra, she was single and sassy and very proud of it. She called a few nights before the wedding and filled me in on all the details...

To the editor: The following report shows global warming to be the manufactured myth it really is. Memo To: Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) From: Judge Wanniski Re: Global warming science On CNN's "Crossfire" you argued that the science on global warming is decided. ...

With Missouri having gained the undesirable reputation of ranking second only to California in illegal methamphetamine production -- and possibly first in the number of discovered labs, state lawmakers are scurrying to introduce legislative proposals aimed at cracking down on meth-lab operations...

One of the most counterproductive, wasteful and devious components of governance in our state, and in every other one in America, is the Politics of Bricks and Mortar. It is a practice that can best be described as the use of public money to construct multi million-dollar buildings and facilities that are irrelevant to the delivery of services to the public. ...

Sentencing guidelines are faulty I WOULD like to express my feelings about federal guidelines on drug offenders. The average prison term for drug offenders is 86 months. For someone who molests children, it is 67 months, and for manslaughter it is 26.8 months. ...

To the editor: One must surely wonder, perhaps even shout, What on God's earth life is all about. The presidential scandal, the war in Iraq -- How ever can one handle the stress of such a weight? With April soon approaching, tax time drawing near, Now must I fear no food on my plate?...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "What do you think about a judge's decision to allow pro golfer Casey Martin to use a golf cart in tournament play?" Don Marler, Cape Girardeau "I feel that it's actually not OK because you look at guys like Ben Hogan. He went out and played despite the pain and everything else. Rules are rules. I feel sorry for the guy that he has that disability but rules are rules."...

Cape Girardeau County officeholders want to keep their jobs. Nine county offices are up for election this year: presiding commissioner, circuit clerk, county clerk, recorder of deeds, prosecuting attorney, county auditor, county collector, associate circuit judge Division III and associate circuit judge Division IV...

U.S. Senator Christopher S. "Kit" Bond will hold a series of kick-off events across the state today, including one in Cape Girardeau, to announce his bid for re-election. In Cape Girardeau, the event will be held at 2:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Oak Room. In addition to Bond, U.S. Senator John Ashcroft, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and Missouri Republican Party Executive Director John Hancock are scheduled to speak...

Three Southeast Missouri State University women's basketball players will be seeing the final home action of their college careers tonight when the Otahkians face Tennessee-Martin. The squads will square off in a 7 p.m. Ohio Valley Conference contest at the Show Me Center...

OXFORD, Miss. -- For the third straight game, Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team could not hold a late lead. As a result, the Indians fell to 0-3 as Mississippi rallied for a 15-9 win Sunday afternoon to sweep the three-game, season-opening series...

ST. LOUIS -- Six Jackson wrestlers and one Cape Girardeau Central grappler advanced through Saturday's sectional meet and qualified for the state tournament that will begin Thursday in Columbia. Competing in a rugged sectional at Oakville High School, Jackson's Brett Stroud (103 pounds) and Dustin Baker (171) placed second; Eric Rhodes (119), Lance Schlick (125) and Kent Langston (189) were third; and Kyle Watson (130) finished fourth...

Evelyn M. Millering, 63, of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, Feb. 14, 1998 at her home. She was born Nov. 29, 1934, at Libby, Mont., daughter of Paul C. and Delia Vanderwood Schulz. She was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church and was employed by Campbell Mattress Co...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Earl John Miller, 62, of Aurora, Ill., formerly of East Prairie, died Friday, Feb. 13, 1998, at the Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora. He was born Sept. 10, 1935, son of Amos L. and Estelle G. Davis Johnson. He was employed by Aurora Truck Body as a welder...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Ulva Mae Gulledge, 92, of Cobden died Saturday, Feb. 14, 1998, at the Jackson County Nursing Home in Murphysboro. She was born Jan. 4, 1906, in Cobden, daughter of Harlan H. and Hulda Foster Dean. She married Elmer William Gulledge Dec. 31, 1942. He died March 28, 1974...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Helen Carroll Finch, 82, of Jefferson City died Friday, Feb. 13, 1998, at her home. She was born April 21, 1915, at Jerseyville, Ill., daughter of the Rev. Edwin T. and Addie Krause Carroll. On Aug. 28, 1937, she married Judge James A. Finch Jr. at Greenville, Ill. He died April 1, 1988...

Thelvan Franklin Rickard, 87, died Saturday, Feb. 14, 1998, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Dec. 17, 1910, at Cape Girardeau, son of Thomas I. and Ada Bratton Rickard. He was a retired contractor, bricklayer and engineer, and he was a member of Bricklayers Local 1 in Virginia. He attended Southeast Missouri State University...

NEW HAMBURG -- Leon William Glastetter, 89, of New Hamburg died Saturday, Feb. 14, 1998, at his home. He was born Oct. 20, 1908, at New Hamburg, son of Martin and Bertha Gerst Glastetter. On May 6, 1939, he married Mary Kosciulek at St. Louis. She survives...

DUTCHTOWN -- Kenneth Harold Koch, 78, of Dutchtown died Saturday, Feb. 14, 1998, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Crystal City. He was born April 17, 1919, at Gordonville, son of Otto Jacob and Stella Louise Obermann Koch. He was a retired apartment manager for the Badenhaus Apartments in St. Louis and was also a retired inspector for Emerson-DayBrite Electric in St. Louis...

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- Charlene Swan Kaufman, 33, of East Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Feb. 14, 1998, at her home. She was born in Cape Girardeau Jan. 13, 1965, daughter of Charles and Shirley Sprengel Swan. She and Thomas E. Kaufman were married Aug. 19, 1983, in Cape Girardeau. She is a past employee of Florsheim Shoe Co...

Scott City -- Geneva Smith Miskell, 70, died Sunday, Feb. 15, 1998, at the Chaffee Nursing Center. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City.