Stories from Monday, May 4, 1998

Roger Niswonger of Jackson has joined McDowell South Inc., 4670 E. Jackson Blvd., Jackson, as a sales representative. Niswonger has 14 years experience in the automobile industry, Michael Seib of Cape Girardeau has been named operations manager of Wolsey Investigation Service Inc., headquartered in Cape Girardeau...

Bert's Barbecue Restaurant, located in the Bavarian Haus, located at the intersection of Interstate 55 and Highway 61 at Fruitland, has added some specialty items to its menu. The restaurant, open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., has added an open-fire grill and is now serving a steak and potato plate, with stir-fry vegetables and roll. Also on the new menu is a chicken fajita skillet plate, with chicken fajita, bell peppers, tomatoes and onions, served with Spanish rice...

Buchheit Inc., headquartered at Biehle, a family owned company founded 65 years, will open its 5th store in early 1999. The newest Buchheit's will locate in the current 50,000 square foot Wal-Mart building, 1011 S. Perryville Blvd. Wal-Mart is in the process of constructing a new, 109,000 square foot Wal-Mart Supercenter...

The "Second Sunday Antique Market" will have its first showing Sunday. The new show will be held at the Bavarian Hall, near the intersection of Interstate 55 and Fruitland Exit (Mile 105), will be held each "second Sunday" said Fred Eggley of Cape Girardeau, who is manager of the new market...

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. After months of cheering the stock market as it climbed to record heights, some individual investors are now taking up a new sport -- bear watching...

CHAFFEE -- Ken Schlitt eyes the rainbow of colors that fill a rectangular shape on the computer screen in his office. The colors -- red, yellow, blue and green -- show the soil composition of a farmer's field. It's all part of the high-tech world of farming...

Construction of commercial, manufacturing, education and other nonresidential buildings is up 18 percent in Missouri, but overall construction is about even with first-quarter totals of a year ago. Non-residential totals for January, February and March place the year's total at $525,523,000, up from $446,522,000 during the same period a year ago...

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Membership Committee has established a goal of 60 new members for its one-day membership blitz, to be held May 12. Ross Austin, Interim Personnel, and Allen Phillips, Prudential Insurance and Financial Services, are co-chairmen for this year's membership drive...

Prudential Insurance has achieved certification and membership in the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association (IMSA), an industry organization that established standards for ethical conduct in the insurance market place. IMSA membership demonstrates that Prudential has adopted IMSA's principles of ethical behavior...

Dana Corp., headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, has announced record first-quarter sales and profits. Sales for the quarter were a record $2.35 billion, reflecting an 11 percent increase in sales. Profits were up 16 percent, at $108 million, marking the first time that the company reported earning of more than $100 million during a quarter...

Chrysler has escalated the rebate war, saying original owners of a Big Three vehicle can save $500 or more on a new Chrysler. Ford and General Motors announced similar programs earlier this month. But Chrysler's new program goes farther than its competitors, at least for now. The No. 3 automaker said people who have been mailed coupons under GM and Ford rebate programs can use those coupons to buy a Chrysler...

Spartech Corp. has announced the purchase of the net assets of Prismaplast Canada Ltd. (Plasticolour), a manufacturer of color concentrates and specialty compounds, located in Montreal, Quebec. "The acquisition of Plasticolour will complement our Korlin Concentrates operations located in Stratford, Ontario," said Bradley B. Buechler. The acquisition price for Plasticolour is approximately $5 million, which was financed through operating cash flow and bank credit...

Well spring is in the air and so is a new flood of Ultra High Performance Computers. Intel has released the all new 400-Mhz Pentium CPU that clocks in at a whooping 42 percent faster than a 233-MHz. This coupled with a faster motherboard speed that has increased from 66 MHz to 100 MHz, is an impressive technical feat...

An Internet Marketing Seminar will be held at Glenn Auditorium in Robert A. Dempster Hall on Southeast Missouri State University campus May 12, from 7:45 a.m.-4 p.m. The seminar, sponsored by the Missouri Procurement Assistance Center in conjunction with the Missouri Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and the Orange, Texas Electronic Commerce Resource Center, will include topics on introduction to the Internet, marketing on the Internet and business opportunities with the Department of Defense Through EC.. ...

When Ruben Mazariegos returns to his native Guatemala as an industrial arts teacher, his job of educating the children of his village will not be easy. His hometown of Rio Dulce is a small village in the jungle with dirt roads. There are no computers and the library has few books...

Students throughout Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio will benefit from a local business' efforts to protect the lives of high school seniors and others who might come into contact with them on graduation nights throughout the region...

Cape Girardeau County voters would oppose a new tax to fund state transportation projects, two legislative surveys suggest. The annual surveys were conducted by state Reps. Mary Kasten of Cape Girardeau and David Schwab of Jackson. Kasten's district takes in most of Cape Girardeau. Schwab's district takes in the rest of the county...

Employees who don't wash their hands after using the bathroom or handling food. No soap at the hand sinks. No screens on the windows. Those are all red flags for Cape Girardeau County health inspectors as they check approximately 400 sites every year for potential sanitary violations...

SCOTT CITY -- The Rev. Randall Morse had a message he wanted the entire community to hear. So he decided to preach from the rooftop of First Assembly of God Church Sunday night. It was unlike any other outdoor worship service ever held at the church. Music resonated from a covered walkway in the parking lot where members had gathered nearby with lawn chairs, folding chairs and blankets...

I'm now getting by on two doses a day: a cup of coffee in the morning and a Coke in the afternoon. My doctor wants me to become decaffeinated. She's a nice woman, really, but I wonder if she knows what she's asking. We won't go into the health reasons here (my blood pressure is just fine, thank you, or at least it was before I was told to give up my drug of choice), but caffeine is making an annoying situation more annoying...

TO THE caller who was praising the Republican Congress, please give us a little credit. We, of course, know that Congress approves and balances the budget, but it's the president who submits the budget and, therefore, sets the nation's agenda, priorities and trends. ...

Two hundred years worth of county records, even with some being microfilmed or put on computer disks, represents a lot of documents, and Cape Girardeau County is drowning in them. The county faces the problem of what to do with all the documents it has accumulated, some from as far back as the late 1700s...

Chambers of commerce and industrial development organizations across the country have found that putting up their own industrial buildings in hopes of selling them to attract new or expanding businesses works well toward that end. The same holds true here...

Standing on the steps of Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau Sunday amid the cheering faces of his supporters, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon pledged to fight for the state and its families if elected to the U.S. Senate. Nixon -- accompanied by his wife, Georganne, and their two sons, Jeremiah and Will -- was in Cape Girardeau on the second day of a three-day senatorial campaign kickoff tour that began Saturday in Independence and ends today in St. Joseph...

Four of Southeast Missouri's most well-respected musicians will join each other at the keyboard Thursday evening for "Four Pianos," a concert to benefit the Cape Girardeau River Heritage Museum. The concert, which will be held at 7:30 in Glenn Auditorium of the Dempster Building on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University, will feature Beverly Reece, Dr. Earl Johnson, Dr. Richard Moore and Richard "Butch" Eggimann...

The Ohio Valley Conference softball tournament has been little more than batting practice for Southeast Missouri State University. The Otahkians piled up eight runs and 12 hits in their opener against Austin Peay Saturday. In the second round Sunday afternoon, Southeast got 14 hits and beat Tennessee Tech 8-2...

Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team lost two out of three games to Morehead State over the weekend -- but the Indians couldn't be any happier. The reason was simple. By beating the Eagles 6-1 Sunday afternoon in the completion of Saturday's rain-suspended contest, the Indians wrapped up second place in the Ohio Valley Conference and thus earned the right to host the OVC Tournament that will be played Thursday through Saturday...

After watching the distribution of individual awards Sunday during the Notre Dame Booster Club Athletic Banquet, there wasn't much doubt who would be taking home the most distinguished awards of the ceremony. Two individuals -- Jennifer Glueck and Jonathan LeGrand -- had already won an armful of awards before the Bulldog and Lady Bulldog Awards were announced at the close of the evening. One last time, the two seniors moved to the front of the high school gymnasium for a final honor...

CHARLESTON -- Funeral for Billy Gene Oliver will be Tuesday at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Opportunity Church of God in Christ. Steve Betts will officiate with burial in the Oak Grove Cemetery. Friends may call at Sparks Funeral Home from 7-8 p.m. today. Oliver, 58, died Thursday, April 30, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Leland F. "Jake" Hale, 73, of Jonesboro, formerly of Grand Tower, died Sunday, May 3, 1998, at his home. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at the Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home in Anna.

Funeral for Albert W. Brockmire will be at 1 p.m. today at Ford and Songs Sprigg Street Chapel. The Rev. Hubert Larson will officiate with burial at Memorial Park. Brockmire, 86, of 823 County Road 630 died Saturday, May 2, 1998, at his home. He was born Nov. 22, 1911, at Egypt Mills, the son of Ollie and Linda Lange Brockmire. He and Mamie Habeck were married in 1938 in Benton. She preceded him in death...

SIKESTON -- John H. Pobst, 73, of Sikeston died Sunday, May 3, 1998, at his home. He was born Aug. 8, 1924, at Essex, the son of Henry and Iva Mobley Pobst. He and Mary L. Heath were married Jan. 9, 1950, at Piggott, Ark. Pobst was a retired farmer...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "Why do you own a pet?" Melanie Clubb, Cape Girardeau "Well, I've got four dogs, a cat and two parakeets. They just kind of complete the family circle." Julie Farrow, Cape Girardeau "I own a bunch of them. We have two boxers and we're a foster family for Boxer rescue. Just the companionship. Boxers are real athletic so we enjoy taking them out to the park and playing with them."...