Stories from Monday, December 21, 1998

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. Volatility and risk are two concepts that deter many potential investors from the stock market. ...

Bert's Barbecue Restaurant has returned to Cape Girardeau. The family restaurant, which moved to the Fruitland area last year, is back at its original site, 517 N. Silver Springs Road, where it opened in November 1996. The restaurant, near the North Silver Springs Road-Themis Street intersection, offers barbecued ribs, chicken and sandwiches, and home-made pies...

Edwards Primestar Satellite Sales and Service Provider has opened a new office at 2148 Broadway in Cape Girardeau. The company, owned by C.W. Edwards, provides sales, service and/or leasing of a satellite system that features more than 100 channels with clear digital reception...

Cathi Schlosser has joined Workforce Inc., 2520 William St., as director of personnel. Her appointment was announced recently by Joe Rozier, director of Placement at Workforce. Schlosser previously worked for LDD Inc. and later with MVP Communications where she served as manager of the customer service department...

The list of food products and other quality goods made in Missouri is almost endless. The Missouri Department of Agriculture's AgriMissouri Program wants to help consumers find fresh food products and in turn support the state's ranchers, farmers and agribusiness...

Holiday travel is expected to set a record during the Christmas and New Year's holidays, with as many as 45.2 million people expected to travel more than 100 miles from home. About 35.5 million people plan to travel by automobile during the holiday, up two percent from last year, according to AAA-Auto Club. Another 9.7 million will travel by airplane, train or bus, which is a one percent increase...

ShopKo Stores Inc. has a "Bath, Body Etc." section. This will be a new sign in Cape Girardeau during the first or second quarter of 1999. ShopKo Inc. will open in the former Venture Store space at West Park Mall. Ten new ShopKo stores planned next year include former Venture store sites to be leased from Kimco Realty. This includes West Park Mall in Cape Girardeau and Kentucky Oaks Mall in Paducah, Ky...

A New Madrid Power Plant reached a safety milestone earlier this month: two years without a lost-time accident. Safe operations are a high priority with Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., said Bruce Stone, director of power production. "This is an impressive record in the industry."...

The Mingo Job Corps Center at Puxico will host a job fair Feb. 2, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Local employers, job agencies, colleges, vo-tech schools, military and others have been invited to participate in the session, to be held in the center's gymnasium...

Peddler's Corner II has opened at 1006 Commercial St., in Cairo, Ill. The new store, open Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., will provide used furniture, household items and some antique items. Peddler's Corner is headquartered in Cape Girardeau, where a store is operated at 111 N. Sprigg...

More than 500 representatives of the tourism industry in Illinois will attend the 12th annual Governor's Conference on Tourism, to be held at Springfield Feb. 28-Mar. 2. Tourism is a driving force in Illinois economy says Norm Sims, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA). The DCCA will host the annual tourism meeting, along with Visit Illinois Inc...

The venerable Clydesdales aside, brew pubs are an idea whose time has come. Trendy new drinking, eating and meeting places have emerged during the 1990s. They're called microbreweries or brew pubs. Brew pubs offer the familiar atmosphere of a restaurant bar with a new twist -- beers brewed on the premises, usually within sight of the patrons...

Dr. Jerome J. Gilden has seen his share of Blues hockey games. Gilden estimates he has seen at least 1,500 games over the past 32 years, dating back to the start of the St. Louis franchise. Gilden has been chief of orthopedic surgery at Jewish Hospital for the past 25 years. The hospital is now Barnes-Jewish Hospital...

Steve Hornbeak never expected a rise to fame in the music industry, but the Southern Illinois native is on his way to the top. Hornbeak, 35, lives in Nashville, Tenn., when he isn't traveling with country music star Faith Hill. Hornbeak is a keyboard player and backup vocalist for Hill...

After three months of enrollment, 22,396 of the 90,000 eligible low-income families in Missouri had been enrolled in a medical insurance plan known as the Children's Health Initiative Program. Identifying and finding the 90,000 children who became eligible for health-care coverage has proved a formidable task for the state's social services agency despite widespread publicity about available benefits and a toll-free number...

Dr. Rick Wright talked about his work with the St. Louis Rams at their training facility in Earth City. He is a team doctor for all three professional sports teams in St. Louis: the Rams, Cardinals and Blues. Injuries come with the job in Rick Wright's line of work...

The Perryville City Council has named its pick to oversee the final stages of construction on a new $9 million multipurpose building and prepare it to open by April 1. Robert Held, previously the activities manager at a private resort in Washington County, has been named director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department and will start work Jan. 4...

When Mrs. Terhune approached my mother with an idea for the church's annual Christmas pageant, it was, I am sure, with the best of intentions. She smiled as warmly as she could, handed my mother a handwritten copy of a Christmas poem and announced that the pageant would be complete if my brother Jim and I would recite the poem at the beginning of the program...

I THINK the American people are finally coming to their senses. Channel 6 news said 80 percent of the people want to impeach Clinton. They also showed that when Clinton put his arm around Hillary, she brushed his arm off. And Jo Ann Emerson said 90 percent of her calls were for impeachment...

Two Scott County school boards hope to tap into a source of money that universities and private schools around the country have depended upon for years: donations through not-for-profit school foundations. The Scott City Board of Education has decided to establish a fund-raising foundation and has mailed letters to alumni explaining the plan and seeking input. ...

A lot of people have taken notice of Dr. Gary Miller's outstanding performance at Southeast Missouri State University this year. The music professor recently received a Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, which is given each year to higher-education and technical-professional educators for excellence in their profession. ...

To the editor: To the person who has been in Speak Out for some time wanting an apology for referring to Clinton as a pervert: I don't know what better definition you could give the skunk. I wonder if the caller knows what Nov. 11 is. If he does, he owes a whole bunch of apologies to a vast number of men and women who have served their country that he might have freedom and justice. ...

A new name and face will be introduced tonight when the Cape Girardeau Board of Education meets. The district's new superintendent, Dr. Dan Steska, will be introduced formally to the public at the 6 o'clock meeting in the cafeteria at Central Junior High School...

The Southeast Missourian asked people how they felt about the U.S. military action in Iraq. Fred Janzow, Cape Girardeau: "I'm concerned about innocent citizens being killed. I realize also that Saddam Hussein is an enemy who needs to be contained. He has defied the world legal system. I think violence is just about the only thing he understands."...

7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 21 City Hall Public hearing -- Hearing to consider the proposed budget for 1999. Power and Light Committee -- Approve the 1999 budget. -- Adopt "Year 2000 Readiness Statement" for the city. -- Authorize quarterly payment of $1,250 to Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association for services provided...

Monday, Dec. 21 City Hall Public hearings -- A public hearing regarding the request of Bible Missionary Church for a special use permit on a double-wide manufactured home with attached garage and front porch at 2885 Hopper Rd., in an R-1, single family residential district...

The filing period for Boards of Education in Missouri opens Dec. 22 and remains open through Jan. 19. In Cape Girardeau and Jackson, three seats will be filled on each of the boards. School board members are elected for three year terms. The election will be held April 6...

PERRYVILLE -- Melvin V. Laws, 74, of Perryville died Saturday, Dec. 20, 1998, at his home. He was born May 21, 1924, in Perry County to Vincent Aloysius and Lenette Frances Ernst Laws. He married Billie Pauline Tucker of Perryville on Aug. 17, 1943...

SIKESTON -- Opal Violet Presson, 92, of Sikeston died Saturday, Dec. 19, 1998, at the Sikeston Convalescent Center. She was born July 5, 1906 at East Prairie to William C. Combs and Pearl Cusick. On June 29, 1936, she married William D. Presson. He died Sept. 23, 1977...

CLIO, Iowa -- Billie True Sheppard, 71, of Clio died Friday, Dec. 18, 1998, at Corydon. He was born July 26, 1927, at Illmo, Mo. On March 11, 1949, he married Luella Langston. She died Nov. 16, 1979. He was raised in Illmo and Scott City and became an Eagle Scout in 1944. He earned a bachelor's degree in education at Southeast Missouri State University and a master's degree at the University of Wyoming at Laramie...

JACKSON -- Larry D. Jennings, 51, of Jackson died Saturday, Dec. 19, 1998, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Aug. 4, 1947, at Des Moines, Iowa, to Roy B. and Lorraine Foster Jennings. He married Barbara Farrow on Dec. 8, 1973...

ANNA, Ill. -- Frances E. High, 96, of Anna and formerly of Cairo died Sunday, Dec. 20, 1998, at Anna City Care Center. She was born Nov. 26, 1902, at Morehouse, Mo., to James and Margaret Edwards. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Cairo and was a retired clerk for Neils Drug Store in Cairo...