Stories from Monday, August 10, 1998

Approved Mortgage and Financial opened last week at 1467 N. Kingshighway. Partners in the new company are Judy Brandt, Rodney Arnold and Gary Arnold. The new business provides mortgage and personal loans. The office will be open form 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday...

Under Cover, which provides custom slip covers, table covers and pillow covers, opened recently at 911 N. Missouri. "Slip covers can provide a seasonal change, protect upholstery or add new life to a worn-out chair or sofa," said Debbie Bruns, owner of Under Cover...

Pizza Pro has opened at 525 N. Silver Springs Road. The local operation of Pizza Pro, a delivery and carry-out pizza operation, is the fourth in the Southeast Missouri for Ed Behlmann, who opened his first Pizza Pro at Jackson in July 1996. Behlmann opened a Pizza Pro at Marble Hill in November 1996, and at Scott City in last August...

DETROIT -- Recent strikes cost General Motors Corp. its No. 1 spot in domestic vehicle sales last month, letting Ford Motor Co. come out on top for the first time in 28 years. GM's weak performance pulled down the entire U.S. market, with sales off 9 percent in July compared with a year earlier. The world's largest automaker reported Wednesday its sales plummeted 39 percent from the year-ago level...

The Missouri Division of Liquor Control is moving. Charles "Speedy" Wagoner, district supervisor, said the office will relocate on Wednesday to 3102 Blattner Drive, Suite 104. "We have been in our present location -- 2711 Thomas Drive -- almost 20 years," said Wagoner...

Next Generation, an authorized agent for Southwestern Bell Wireless, has opened at 234 West Park Mall. Leroy Wright of St. Louis is owner of the new business. Wright has more than 15 Next Generation stores in St. Louis and Columbia area malls. Next Generation offers cellular products, paging and Lucent AT&T home product lines...

Marvin Wormington of Marble Hill has been named general manager of the Banner-Press in Bollinger County and the Jackson USA Signal in Cape Girardeau County. Wormington has been a sales representative with the Southeast Missourian the past nine years and has been the sales manager for the Jackson USA Signal the past five years...

The Small Business Development Center will conduct counseling sessions in four areas this month. The counselor, Gil Degenhardt, will be available Aug. 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 (573)-335-3312 for appointment...

Spartech Corp. has announced record sales and earnings for the quarter, which ended Aug. 1. Bradley B. Buechler, Spartech president and chief executive officer, reported quarterly sales for the quarter at $177.7 million, a record for a three-month period in the company's 30-year history and 44 percent greater than last year's third quarter...

Illinois casinos attracted 1.9 million visitors and reported $87.7 million in revenues. Visitor totals were up 3 percent from June 1997 but down almost 6 percent form the more than 2 million of a month ago. Revenues were up 7 percent from June 1997 but down 5.6 percent from May 1998...

Union Planters Corp. reported record earnings for the second quarter of 1998. Net earnings for the quarter were $78.3 million, up from the $68.3 million during the same period in 1997. Fully diluted earnings per common share for the quarter were 90 cents, up 12.4 percent from the 80 cents a share during the same quarter a year ago...

KANSAS CITY -- May Department Stores Co., making its first cross-state foray out of St. Louis, will retain the Jones Store name when it buys the Kansas City-based chain from Dillard's Inc. The Jones Store Co.'s fate was put in doubt three months ago when Dillard's Inc. announced it was buying Ohio-based Mercantile Stores, owner of the seven Jones outlets and 112 other stores...

If you've grown weary of mowing the clearing around your home or business, it may be too late to hire one of the area's larger lawn maintenance services to relieve you of the drudgery. But some local lawn businesses say it's never to early to inquire about next year...

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. The introduction of Roth IRAs this year spurred a barrage of investor interest. ...

Logli Supermarkets, a division of Schnucks Markets Inc., has opened the largest supermarket in Schnucks' trade area of Illinois, Missouri and Indiana. The new, 143,000-square-foot supermarket opened last week at 1810 N. Harlem Road in Rockford, Ill...

In Paducah people don't head for the couch on Saturday night. They head downtown. It's all part of the successful "After Dinner" promotion, designed to encourage Paducah and nearby residents to enjoy -- and rediscover -- their downtown area. Here's what's happening Friday and Saturday evenings in downtown Paducah...

Nature dominated semifinalist selections during the final week of the KINSA contest. KINSA, Kodak International Newspaper Snapshot Awards, is the world's largest annual amateur-snapshot contest. Semifinalists selected this week photographed a rainbow, a storm cloud, a flamingo and a preschooler on a sheep...

PULASKI, Ill. -- Tractors are for more than plowing. Spectators at the 39th annual Pulaski County Fair will see tractors of all kinds take part in tractor pulls. The International Tractor Pull Association sanctioned pull is the big event Aug. 19, featuring a half-dozen classes filled with stock and "souped-up" machines...

ANNA, Ill. -- It's an event not seen at many local fairs, but the Union County Fair still features three days of harness racing. Horses that compete on the Illinois county fair circuit -- where betting is not allowed -- must be conceived and foaled in Illinois...

It could happen here. That's the message participants in a panel discussion on youth violence hope to get across to the Cape Girardeau community. The panel meets Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Harrison Room at Southeast Missouri Hospital. It is the second half of a two-part series on youth violence sponsored by Generations Family Center...

The region's residents no longer talk about a killer quake. Iben Browning's doomsday prediction of a major earthquake along the New Madrid Fault is ancient history. What people remember is that there was no shake, rattle or roll on Dec. 3, 1990, the predicted date for disaster...

The really great thing about working for a newspaper is you get lots of mail. Some of it is important. Some of it is funny. Some of it is written in crayon and is generally uncomplimentary, not to mention poorly spelled. But it arrives regularly in mass quantities...

The Missouri Department of Transportation, in yet another of what has become a steady stream of project announcements in Southeast Missouri, said last week that preliminary studies will be done on the improvement of Highway 34 between Jackson and U.S. 60 near Van Buren...

On Tuesday, Bollinger County joined its neighboring counties in exempting itself from Missouri's law that bans sales of most merchandise on Sundays. By an overwhelming 3-to-1 margin, voters in the county exercised their prerogative and did what other counties and cities all across the state have been doing in recent years: repealing Missouri's so-called Blue Law...

To the editor: Several years ago I made the statement that "if the politicians could figure out a way to meter it, they would tax us for the air we breathe." This statement was made partly in jest and partly for the concern I felt about the politicians' penchant for putting a tax, license, fee or surcharge on everything the populace uses, even our own personal property. ...

I'D LIKE to point out that Bruce Collier does not determine what the standards are for our community. He can only determine the standards for himself. Nobody is holding a gun to Mr. Collier's head and forcing him to buy the Spice channel. The Constitution clearly states that each one of us has the right to view what we want to view on pay-per-view. ...

To the editor: A shadow: Something that's not there, something that's not real. When light is placed upon it, it goes away. Kenneth Starr has been after Bill Clinton like a dog chasing a rabbit. I, like many others, have been amazed by the fact that this rabbit has been able to elude this old dog for so long a time...

This week the Southeast Missourian asked, "At what age do you think juvenile offenders should be charged as adults for serious crimes?" Lynn Maret, Jackson "Sixteen. I just think they're considered young men at the age of 16. At 16 he ought to know right from wrong."...

While Southeast Missouri State University's football Indians won't kick off practice with the entire team until Wednesday, about 25 newcomers were able to get an early start on things over the weekend. The newcomers -- including freshmen and junior-college transfers -- reported to camp Saturday and participated in workouts Sunday...

MORLEY -- Anita Freed, 59, of Morley died Sunday, Aug. 9, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Oran.

Clara LaFont Nussbaum, 95, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Aug. 9, 1998, at Ratliff Care Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn.

MOREHOUSE -- Benny Mooneyhan, 64, of Morehouse died Saturday, Aug. 8, 1998, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Feb. 2, 1934, at Caraway, Ark., son of Benjamin Franklin and Myrtle Moxley Mooneyhan. He and Dorothy McMinn were married Nov. 15, 1952, at Piggott, Ark...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Alvina Huffman, 78, of Cairo died Saturday, Aug. 8, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 5, 1920, in Cairo, daughter of William and Hattie Frields Erickson. She was married to Joseph A. Huffman Sr...