Stories from Monday, May 11, 1998

Homer Yount is retired, but he works about 40 hours a week at the East Missouri Action Agency in Cape Girardeau. Yount of Cape Girardeau has retired from two careers -- as chief hospital corpsman with the U.S. Navy after about 20 years and as a certified school counselor for 20 years...

Southern Missouri Savings Bank is out, Southern Missouri Bank and Trust Co. is in. Officials of the Poplar Bluff-headquartered bank announced the name change recently. The bank operates facilities in seven cities -- Poplar Bluff, Van Buren, Dexter, Malden, Kennett, Doniphan and Ellington...

Mike Simmons uses martial arts to teach kids values. Simmons, the creative director of St. Francis Medical Center's marketing department, founded the knights of St. Michael Martial Arts Team at St. Mary's parish in 1989 with five kids. Today the team has 40 members ranging in age from 8 to 20...

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. Edward Noble was one of those people who understood that variety is the spice of life. ...

When Lloyd Williams was a child, he spent many hours at the Cape Civic Center. "I really grew up in the Civic Center," he said. "I learned chess from a guy named Jimmy, who was a university student. The first club I ever belonged to was at the Civic Center. We had 4-H then."...

SPARTA, Ill. -- After years of effort to keep the presses rolling, SIPCO Spartan International Printing Co. has closed. At its peak, Spartan Printing was the largest employer in Sparta, with 1,200 workers in a town of 4,800. When the doors closed last week, the company had only 44 employees...

1. Deliver fresh-baked cookies to city workers. 2. Collect goods for a local food bank. 3. Brings some fragrant flowers to work and share them with the office. 4. Garden clubs can make floral arrangements for senior centers, nursing homes, hospitals, police station or shut-ins...

Hickory Hills Barbecue has opened at 517 N. Silver Springs Road in Cape Girardeau. The family restaurant near Silver Springs and Themis features barbecued ribs, chicken, turkey, beef and pork. Sandwiches, salads and desserts are available. Brenda Lair and Viola Lair are owners of the new restaurant...

The Super 8 Motel, which opened recently, held its grand opening last week. The 49-unit motel, owned by Ashvin M. Patel, is at 2011 N. Kingshighway. The $1.4 million facility includes some suites and a swimming pool. Patel also owns the Day's Inn Motel at Jackson and a new Comfort Inn, which opened recently at Perryville...

McKinley Delivery Service Inc. makes a lot of runs throughout Southeast Missouri. The delivery service at 231 S. Ellis serves as a focal point for delivery of a number of items, from pharmaceuticals to machinery and paper products. "Shipments are sent here, and we deliver them to businesses within about a 100-mile radius," said Dennis McKinley, of Scott City, owner of the business. "We contract with a lot of manufacturers for delivery of their products...

Atlantis Services, a swimming pool maintenance service, has opened in Cape Girardeau. Pool ownership is a lot more than just installing and filling up a pool, said Randy Barnhouse, owner of the new business. Atlantis offers a complete maintenance program -- pool skimming, vacuuming, water testing and the adding of chemicals...

Dollar General Corp., headquartered at Nashville, Tenn., will build a multimillion-dollar distribution center at Fulton. Construction of the 1 million-square-foot, $50 million facility will start this year with an operation target date of mid-1999. The new center will be built on a 262-acre site in Fulton...

The Small Business Development Center will conduct counseling sessions in four areas this month. The counselor, Gil Degenhardt, will be available May 19, 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...

A 112,000-square-foot building on a 13.5-acre tract has been listed for sale at Kennett with a national broker -- Hart Corp., headquartered in Philadelphia. The UARCO Building, which previously housed the UARCO Office Paper Products plant, was constructed in 1980. The company, a manufacturer of stock paper products, closed the plant, which employed 120 people, in late 1997, citing economic reasons for the closures...

Sunday was National "Tax Freedom Day," the day average Americans earned their first tax-free dollar of the year. Tax Freedom Day is determined each year by the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit group headquartered in Washington. The first Tax Freedom Day calculated was Feb. 12, 1930. Since then, Americans have been forced to work further into the year to pay their tax bills...

Jungle Gems, a pet store in West Park Mall, has been named one of the "Top Ten" pet stores in the country for customer service. The store, owned by Perryville residents Cheryl Scott, Crystal Scott and Randy Scott, opened here in April 1995. Pet Product News, an industry publication, conducts annual competition of pet stores, and selects the "Top Ten" in 10 specific categories...

Lin Jones has been named group sales director for the Cape Girardeau Convention & Visitors Bureau. Jones, a native of Howell, N.J., is a graduate of Rowan University, with a bachelor's degree in marketing and a minor in communications. In her new position, Jones will be responsible for enhancing the city's image as a destination for conventions and visitors. She will create new brochures and serve as special activities coordinator during festivals and special events in the city...

For the second year in a row, the Southeast Missourian walked away with top honors for news and sports reporting when the Associated Press handed out its awards Saturday at the annual convention of newspaper editors. Top accolades for spot news went to staff writers Peggy O'Farrell and Peggy Scott for their December 1997 reports on the permanent affiliation talks between Southeast Missouri Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center...

Farmers markets are not just for small farmers and hobbyists. More than 18 growers set up stands weekly at the Cape Girardeau Farmers Market in Plaza Galleria parking lot And many operators of medium and large farms have turned to the "no-middleman" marketing activity because it's a low-capital activity...

When Buford Filer was diagnosed with low-grade lymphoma four years ago, the news wasn't good. Doctors told him the cancer was terminal. But as Filer and his wife, Alice, have struggled with the illness, their neighbors have stepped into help with everyday tasks...

Chaffee is turning back the hands of time -- to as far back as 1905. People will dress in vintage clothes, and antique cars will be on display during the first Chaffee "Old Fashion Days" festival. The festival begins Saturday and continues through Sunday with many events scheduled...

Cape Girardeau city officials wonder if they will have to cut services in the face of rising costs for the city's taxi coupon program, and Cape Girardeau County officials are wondering how they might be able to set up a countywide public transportation system...

Some 66 "official" outdoor markets offer vegetables, fruit, flowers and bedding plants from local farms, gardens and orchards in Missouri. Unofficially, there are many more when you count all the roadside stands and truck tailgates in towns where surplus produce from family gardens is sold...

A friend's daughter wants to be Xena when she grows up. You know, as in, "Xena: Warrior Princess," the Amazon who goes around kicking butt on syndicated TV. "She's cool," says Courtney, who is 8. Courtney made this pronouncement when she came home from a career day activity at school. We're not sure which of the speakers was her inspiration...

Two state lawmakers' recent surveys of Cape Girardeau County voters again served to reinforce what is generally accepted to be a conservative attitude in the county. The surveys were conducted through the mail by state Reps. David Schwab of Jackson and Mary Kasten of Cape Girardeau. ...

A state aviation official told a Cape Girardeau gathering that a considerable amount of money awaits airports that qualify, and Cape Girardeau Regional Airport appears to be on track for doing so this year. Ten thousand passenger boardings a year would qualify the airport control tower for about $400,000 in Federal Aviation Administration funding, and the airport could surpass that figure this year. ...

To the editor: The sun is setting, and the clouds are gathering here. A storm is brewing, and the warnings are near. So here I sit with the greatest of fear Waiting for those dreaded human cockroaches to appear. I baited my yard and filled it with junk...

I WOULD like to pay another poetic Speak Out tribute to SEMO president Dr. Dale Nitzschke. Dr. Nitzschke's endless travels abroad to attempt to recruit foreign students to come to Southeast Missouri State University are very admirable and, in my view, very necessary. His South Korean karaoke performance of "Puff the Magic Dragon" was an ingenious technique. I predict it will attract tons of curious South Korean students to come to SEMO. Now the poem. The title is "Magic Man."...

To the editor: State Sen. Peter Kinder was recently raked over the coals in a letter to the editor. It was alleged that Kinder is a captive of the tobacco industry. The charge is correct, but I think it unfair. That is because I am convinced Kinder is literally a captive of tobacco-industry supporters. So instead of criticizing him, we should be trying to find and liberate him...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "Why do you buy produce from roadside stands rather than a grocery store?" Clifford Self, Dongola, Ill. "Because it's cheaper and fresher. You get more for you money." Mary Sloan, Dongola, Ill. "I can get more for my money. It's cheaper, better quality and I like it better. It's fresher, better to eat and easy to cook."...

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce will seek new members this month. Sixty new members is the goal when the chamber kicks off its annual one-day membership blitz early Tuesday. The goal is set each year based on membership, said Linda Minner, special projects director for the chamber...

The Cape Senior Center at 921 North Clark will serve a family-style dinner of chicken and dumplings and ham May 17. The meal will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The menu also features side dishes of vegetables and homemade pies and cakes. Proceeds will go into the center's building fund...

Brian Bowers is a master of an instrument long associated with campfire songs and tone-deaf musicians. The autoharp is Bowers' instrument, a box with strings known to hill people as a "mountain piano." "When they couldn't get it in tune it was called `idiot's delight,'" Bowers said in a phone interview from Madison, Wis...

He was a first-round draft pick this past February and, entering his initial season as a professional, Cape Central graduate Craig Scheer is just one step away from the majors -- that is, Major League Soccer. Scheer, a 1994 graduate of Cape Central, is currently a midfielder with the A-League Hershey (Pa.) Wildcats, the top minor-league affiliate for the MLS Kansas City Wizards. ...

Meeting Tuesday, May 12, 1998 7:30 p.m. Jackson Board of Education Office Action Items: -- Consider furniture bids. -- Consider acceptance of foreign exchange student. -- Consider guidelines for admitting and/or continuing companies to write tax-deferred annuities and supplemental plans for payroll deductions...

BARLOW, Ky. -- Ina Mae Rice, 64, of Barlow died Saturday, May 9, 1998, at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah. She was born Feb. 19, 1934, at Unity, Ill., daughter of Hugh H. and Margaret Ray Brown. She was married to Harvey Rice. She worked for Sears Department Store in Paducah. She was a member of the Ohio Valley Baptist Church and the Women's American Legion Auxiliary Post 3...

MORLEY -- Albert N. Morgan, 82, of Morley died Sunday, May 10, 1998, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Nov. 23, 1915, at Brockett, Ark., son of Albert "Newt" and Nora Buxton Morgan. He and Lena Johnson were married May 1, 1937, at Pocahontas...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Kay Ellen Pearson Robinson, 47, of Cobden died Friday, May 9, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born March 1, 1951, at Cobden, daughter of Herbert Lee and Roxie Newberry Pearson. She and Howard Robinson were married June 14, 1997...