Stories from Monday, April 6, 1998

A DVD movie library is available at Stereo One. The hype sounds great. Digital Video Discs, or DVD, promise the best music, movies and computing yet. Technology magazines and electronics advertisements are filled with DVD. New computers offer DVD players instead of the standard CD players, and video stores are stocking up on their libraries of DVD movies...

Manpower Inc. has been named "America's Most Admired" staffing firm by Fortune magazine for the second year in a row. Manpower, a temporary staffing company headquartered in Milwaukee, has offices at Cape Girardeau, Perryville, Sikeston and Poplar Bluff...

A.G. Edwards has reported record revenues and earnings for 1997. For the fiscal year that ended Feb. 28, net earnings were $269,297,000, up 23 percent from the 1996 fiscal year of $219,057,000. Total revenues for the year were $2,004,000,000 versus $1,696,000,000 in 1996...

Digitron Electronic Cash Registers and Scales of Cape Girardeau has acquired the TEC America dealership. TEC America Inc. is a supplier of retail information systems and equipment, including cash registers, point-of-sale systems and electronic scales...

April 15 Cape Area Personnel Association meeting, Drury Lodge. April 21 Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Business After Hours, Show Me Center, 5:30 p.m. April 22 SBDC business counseling session, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m...

Aid Association for Lutherans 1137 of Pocahontas and AAL 1255 of Friedheim have 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.. ...

A private group of businessmen have purchased the 221,000-square-foot Purolator building at Dexter. Businessmen Sherm Smith and Bruce Miller, both of Dexter, and Bob Hufford, of Fredericktown and owner of the Town & Country supermarket chain, purchased the building recently. The structure is in the Willis Conner Industrial Park...

The Small Business Development Center will conduct counseling sessions in four areas this month. The counselor, Gil Degenhardt, will be available April 22 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office. The counseling sessions (about one hour) are free. Call 335-3312 for appointment...

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. For the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Oct. 27 was a history-making day. ...

LensCrafters has opened in West Park Mall. LensCrafters, founded about 15 years ago, is headquartered in Cincinnati. The business provides eye examinations. "We'll be open seven days a week, with the regular mall hours," said Kim Kolb, general manager of the Cape Girardeau store. An eye doctor will be available for eye testing...

A&W Root Beer at 104 N. Kingshighway has reopened. Bill Bell of Cape Girardeau, who has more than 20 years experience in the fast-foot business, has opened the restaurant, which will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday...

Walter Lange has retired from the Missouri Department of Transportation. Lange of Jackson worked with MoDOT almost 42 years, most recently as a maintenance specialist in the Jackson office. He has held various positions in the maintenance division during his career...

With only 20 months to go till the year 2000, the clock is ticking for a meltdown. The start of this year will bring havoc to us all even if you don't own a computer. Now this is not a doom sayer prediction, it is more like a Joe Friday's answer of "Just the facts, mam."...

"Please call 986-5000." "My number is 331-0000." Long distance? There are just some of Cape Girardeau's newest telephone prefixes. The prefix 986 is designated for large businesses with phones systems containing more than 100 telephones. Another prefix, 331, is used for direct inward dialing or DID customers...

Erin Holt, a freshman at Southeast Missouri State University, pulled rubber cords Friday to strengthen her shoulders for rehabilitation following a volleyball injury. Editor's note: This is one of a series of articles following Bernie freshmen Erin Holt and Bradley Botsch as they navigate their first year of college at Southeast...

Judy Jackson was supposed to the first baby born at Southeast Missouri Hospital, but Rebecca Hahs Bollinger beat her to the punch. Bollinger, who came into the world earlier than expected, was born at the hospital on Jan. 17, 1928 -- a little more than a week after the hospital opened...

Cindy King is about to receive a statewide teaching honor but she seemed more excited Friday about ticket sales for Notre Dame's upcoming musical. Thirty minutes after going on sale, half the tickets for "The King and I" were gone. The musical will be presented April 16-19 at the school...

Portraits of American Indians from Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois may have been part of one of the nation's earliest and largest collections of art depicting native Americans, a former director for the Smithsonian Institute said Sunday. Dr. Herman J. Viola, who delivered the annual Beckwith Lecture at Southeast Missouri State University, said Indians from Missouri and Illinois were a part of the many portraits of Indians painted by Charles Bird King...

Never shop for brown eyeshadow at the end of a really long day. I was putting on my face the other morning when I realized I was almost out of many of the key ingredients necessary for me to be seen in public. That's not a good feeling. What if the end of the world comes and I don't have any mascara?...

Missouri Department of Transportation officials continue to insist that the state's 15-year highway plan is underfunded despite claims by many others, including two former highway officials, that it is healthy financially. The department, it appears, has been listening for too long to the gloom-and-doom assessment of the plan coming out of the state's Total Transportation Commission, a group appointed by the governor to study the state's highway needs and to find other ways to spend highway money. ...

The message was clear at two Missouri Department of Transportation public meetings last week: Build a new highway between Cape Girardeau and Scott City. The question to be decided is where to build it. Interstate 55 carries a lot of traffic between Cape Girardeau and Scott City, an average of 39,790 cars daily. ...

To the editor: I was very sorry to learn of the shootings in Jonesboro, Ark. They follow painfully closely on the tragedies in Kentucky and Connecticut. Nothing I could say would bring back the dead or adequately comfort the living. I may have something to say that could help prevent similar tragedies in the future...

To the editor: I would imagine the two young men sitting in jail in Jonesboro are completely and totally mystified by society's reaction to what they have done. This is probably the first time they have ever done something wrong that a parent, a relative, an administrator, a social worker or someone threatening legal action has not come to their defense and gotten them off with no more than a lecture or a meaningless punishment. ...

To the editor: Passing the buck seems to be a natural reaction when something needs to be done. Let John do it. It is true in simple personal relationships as well as on the state or national level. One question I heard over and over again during the score of years I lived in other countries was, "Why doesn't the government do something about it?"...

IN RESPONSE to the "Violence is all around us" comment, the caller is only correct on one issue. We do indeed need parental responsibility. But the parental responsibility we need is that parents have to take an active part in raising their children from birth to adulthood, instilling in those children good family, humane values. ...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "What is your reaction to the judge's decision to dismiss Paula Jones' lawsuit against President Clinton?" Angie Vaugier, Jackson "I think it's a great decision if they don't have enough evidence against him. I don't think it's anybody's business what he does on his own time."...

City Hall 7:30 p.m. Monday Public hearings -- Hearing to consider the voluntary annexation of property owned by Weiss Land Development, L.C., Paul and Peggy Fisher and Jackson. -- Hearing to consider the voluntary annexation of property owned by Doyle L. And Robyn M. Morton...

HAYTI -- Youth in four Southeast Missouri counties may soon have what former Missouri state legislator Jacqueline McGee believes they need the most: A place to go. McGee, a Hayti native and former Kansas City state representative, was appalled to see when she returned home four years ago that nothing had changed...

Jackson High School took first place honors in the Sweepstakes of the Southeast Missouri Speech and Debate District competition held March 27 and 28 at Southeast Missouri State University. Jackson competed against 22 schools in the contest. Second place went to Hillsboro and third place to Poplar Bluff...

Tickets are on sale for the big exhibition volleyball match in Cape Girardeau between the United States and Russian national women's teams. The squads will square off in a best-of-five-games match at 7 p.m. April 14 at the Show Me Center. This will be the first time an international volleyball match has been played in this area...

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University sophomore Dan Huesgen pitched 10 scoreless innings in relief Sunday as the Indians beat Austin Peay 6-3 in 11 innings. The victory completed a three-game sweep of the Governors, moving the Indians into a tie for second place in the Ohio Valley Conference with Tennessee Tech. It's the second straight year the Indians swept Austin Peay...

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Southeast Missouri State University gymnasts Erin Chenier and Malia Roberts saw their season's end late Saturday night in the NCAA Central Regional hosted by the University of Alabama. Chenier, competing in her third consecutive regional competition, placed 14th out of 21 gymnasts in the all-around with a score of 38.175. Roberts, a sophomore making her first regional appearance, finished 16th with a 37.825...

Cape Girardeau Central High's girls soccer team played to a scoreless tie Saturday with visiting Ursuline Academy from St. Louis. The Lady Tigers are now 4-0-1. "We played pretty well but they are a very good team," said Central coach Tom Doyle. "We were probably a little lucky to get a tie. They're undefeated and they have very good skills."...

The Southeast Missouri State University softball team improved to 6-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference with two mercy-rule victories over Tennessee State at Park Field on Sunday. Southeast (23-5) out-hit Tennessee State 12-3 in the first game for an 8-0 win. The Otahkians continued to smack the ball all over the park in the nightcap, totaling 16 hits in an 11-0 victory...

Southeast Missouri State University will hold Scholar Athlete Week today through Thursday. The week will highlight and honor Southeast's student-athletes who have excelled academically and allow Southeast athletes to interact with area children. The week begins today with a clinic from 8:30-10:30 a.m. ...

Lorene L. Ernst, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, April 5, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born March 20, 1913, at New Hamburg, daughter of Leo and Regina Bisher Heuring. She and N.J. "Gene" Ernst were married June 28, 1938. He died March 28, 1991...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Dorothy M. "Dot" Thompson, 68, of Jonesboro died Sunday, April 5, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born June 8, 1929, at Anna, daughter of Dewey and Flossie Dill Woolridge. She and Norman Thompson were married April 9, 1948, at Piggott, Ark. He died Dec. 9, 1981...

JACKSON -- Virginia "Virgie" Kinder, 94, formerly of Jackson, died Sunday, April 5, 1998, at Chateau Girardeau Health Center. She was born July 7, 1903, at Whitewater, daughter of Ethel and Dell Erwin Hosea. She and Clarence Arthur Kinder were married Dec. 4, 1929. He died Dec. 20, 1987...

SIKESTON -- Lela Rea Parsons Childress, 79, of Marion, Ark., died Sunday, April 5, 1998, at the Johnson Hobson Care Home in Marion. She was born Sept. 5, 1918, at Delaware, Ark., daughter of Edd and Rosil Pershall Parsons Formerly a resident of Sikeston, she retired in 1981 from the Delta Community Hospital in Sikeston. She was a member of the First Assembly of God Church in Sikeston...

SIKESTON -- Terry Bruce "Bubba" Williford, 36, of Sikeston died Saturday, April 4, 1998, at his residence. He was born Aug. 7, 1961, at Cairo, Ill., son of Bobby Joe and Erma Lee Crisel Williford of East Prairie. He and Tammy Chadd were married Dec. 24, 1997, at Sikeston...

ANNA, Ill. -- Maxine "Mac" Toler, 75, of Anna died Saturday, April 4, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 18, 1922, at Dongola, daughter of Claude and Leta Pender Fisher. She and Don Toler were married June 23, 1942. He died Aug. 9, 1976...