Stories from Monday, August 30, 1999

Live harness racing will be offered at Players Bluegrass Downs at Paducah, Ky., through Sept. 19. Post times are 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 5 p.m. on Sundays. The racetrack will also offer live harness racing on Labor Day with post time at 5 p.m...

Kathy Schlosser checked her digital camera, which she uses while doing a house appraisal. What do you think it's worth? If you were going to sell this, what would you ask? I need to insure this, what's it worth? You've probably asked one of those questions at some time or another. The item you're questioning could be anything from a piece of Grandma's jewelry to the house you've poured your life savings into...

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. You and your spouse probably share many of the same dreams for retirement. ...

Lonnette M. "Lonnie" Schwent, accountant with Schott and Van de Ven, Certified Public Accountants, has completed specialized training through the Missouri Society of CPA's. Schwent has been an auditing specialist with Schott and Van de Ven since 1996 and is a member of the Cape Girardeau Jaycees...

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce will present two one-day workers compensation seminars in September. The program is designed to help employers understand their rights under Missouri's workers compensation law. The course will be presented Sept. 8 at the St. Louis Airport Marriott, I-70 at Lambert International and on Sept. 22 at the Kansas City Adam's Mark Hotel, I-70 at Sports Complex...

Progressive Auto Insurance Missouri has launched http://personal.progressive.com giving policyholders unprecendeted access and control over their information. With this secure Web site, Progressive policyholders can make changes to their policies, view claims information, make payments and determine rates for policy changes...

Just in time for students to return to school, Mercantile Bank is offering Student Finance 101, a checking account designed for full-time college students who need a basic checking account and ATM services, while writing only a few checks monthly. The student account has a low maintenance fee of only $1 a month, which is waived during June, July and August. There is no minimum balance required...

Unigraphics Solutions Inc. recently announced that Ohio State University selected its Solid Edge mechanical computer-aided design (CAD) software for use within mechanical and industrial engineering curriculums. Solid Edge offers a very short learning curve that allows students to proceed to the most important engineering content of the courses more quickly...

Mel Carnahan, governor of Missouri; Bob Selander, president of MasterCard International; and Jerry McElhatton, president of MasterCard International, Global Technology and Operations, attended the ground-breaking ceremonies for the new GTO headquarters at WingHaven in O'Fallon...

With the help of shelters, veterinarians and locators of lost pets, the AKC Companion Animal Recovery Program (CAR) recorded its 20,000th pet recovered and successfully returned to its owner. The CAR program has been reuniting owners with their pets since 1995. Using a 24-hour hotline and permanent forms of I.D., owners and pets can be more easily reunited...

Members of the Mississippi River Commission will conduct their annual "low-water" inspection trip on the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. The Memphis District portion of the inspection trip includes a 1:30 p.m. today stop at City Front, New Madrid and an 8:30 a.m. Aug. 31 stop at City Front, Memphis...

Illinois Gov. George H. Ryan finalized bill action from the 1999 legislative session by easing the financial burden on chartered veteran organizations with a property tax freeze. House Bill 134 creates a property tax assessment freeze for qualifying veterans' organizations. Declining membership has led to the need for assistance in paying property taxes on veteran groups' halls and social centers...

Schnuck Markets Inc. opened a new supermarket in Pekin, Ill., in the former Mr. K's Super Saver. Schnucks took over the 53,000-square-foot store last week. The store is the first Schnucks in the Pekin-Peoria community. "We are excited to begin serving Pekin customers," said Craig D. Schnuck, chairman and chief executive officer. "Because of our size and the resulting increased buying power, we can bring a broader variety of products at excellent values."...

The one-day course, "How to Hire, Fire and Discipline Your Employees Effectively and Within the Law in Missouri," is scheduled for Oct. 5 at St. Louis, Oct. 6 at Cape Girardeau, Oct. 7 at Springfield and Oct. 8 at Kansas City. The course is designed to help companies understand employment practices, laws and regulations at both the state and federal levels...

Labor Day marks the traditional end of summer, and motorists traveling over the holiday weekend will find nationwide gas prices for self-service regular unleaded up 18 cents over the last year. According to AAA's national gas price survey, the average price nationwide is $1.26...

Magna-Tel Inc. of Cape Girardeau has been named a winner in the 1999 business promotion awards competition sponsored by the Screen printing & Graphic Imaging Association International. An Award of Excellence was given to Magna-Tel for its submission of their 1999 Sample Board in the competition's Print Materials-Screen Printed category. ...

Innovative Idea Integration LLC has been named a Microsoft certified solution provider. These are independent organizations working with Microsoft and include a wide range of companies, such as system integrators, custom application developers, installation and deployment service providers, business consultants and training organizations. ...

Kelly Temporary Services has opened in Cape Girardeau at Suite 9, Sunset Tower Office Building, 1021 Kingsway Drive. Kelly Services has been the leader in the staffing industry for more than 50 years. Employees are available for office services, professional, technical, hospitality, retail merchandising, teleservices, seminar and trade show support, manufacturing, distribution, food service, electronic assembly and customer service...

School tax levies will remain largely the same as in previous years for four Cape Girardeau County school districts. The Cape Girardeau Board of Education will decide its tax rate for the coming year after a tax-rate hearing at 6 p.m. today. The meeting will be held at the board office, 61 N. Clark, and is open to the public...

Although a group has already formed and committed themselves to making the downtown area of Cape Girardeau more attractive, they have yet to determine just where to start. "We will have a plan," said Judith Lang, a downtown merchant. "It will not be a case of the blind leading the blind."...

When Nicki Kraust's husband died 1 1/2 years ago, she not only had to deal with her own feelings of grief but also try to help with those of her children. When Kraust would try to talk to her children about their father's death, she'd usually end up crying. "I was upset myself. And when they would talk, it would upset me," she said. That made the children feel even sadder...

MARBLE HILL -- Calvin Troxell has spent about 20 years running off at a moment's notice, day or night, to battle with intense heat, smoke and sometimes death. He still remembers a 4-year-old girl whose body he discovered after a fire. "To this day I can still picture her face," said Troxell, assistant fire chief for Marble Hill. "She would have been 17 this year, the same age as my daughter."...

COOL Camp, a one-day bereavement camp for children who have lost a loved one, will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sept. 11 at Deerfield Lodge off Interstate 55. The goal of the camp is to provide education and understanding about the grief process so children can better express their feelings and cope with what has happened, said Lynn Boren with Southeast Hospice, which is sponsoring the camp...

IF YOUR pay is fair, then you don't need a union. If you're not forced into unsafe working conditions, you don't need a union. Many people don't want a union that takes your money and you have no say about it and then you have fat-cat union bosses on the top. ...

To the editor: There has been a lot of talk in Washington about what the government should do with the budget surplus, which is projected to reach as much as $3 trillion over the next 10 years. While some members of Congress argue the surplus should be returned to taxpayers through tax cuts, I say return it to those people who have paid into the system the longest: senior citizens...

A new Missouri law that requires child-support payments be made to one place in the state for distribution to custodial parents should help streamline the child-support system and make it easier for businesses that deduct payments for employees who are under child-support orders...

Effective Saturday, it became illegal in Missouri for motorists to disrupt funeral processions by driving between, joining or passing them. The law also placed new safety requirements on vehicles involved in processions. There always has been confusion concerning what motorists can and cannot do when encountering a funeral procession. ...

To the editor: The Republicans are up to their old tricks, promising something they don't plan on delivering, a tax cut. Editorials in the Southeast Missourian wonder why people are not "jumping for joy" for the tax cut the Republicans promise. We just don't believe them any more. ...

SPRINGFIELD -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's soccer team ran into a strong Southwest Missouri State squad Sunday and the Otahkians were dealt a 5-1 pounding. The Lady Bears led 3-0 at halftime and 5-0 until less than two minutes remained, when the Otahkians broke the shutout on a goal by Jenny Hamilton, with an assist from Nichole Thiele...

SCOTT CITY -- Due to the extreme dry conditions, the Scott City fire department has issued a no burn order. "We usually issue a no burn order without a permit, but right now we're not issuing any permits," said deputy fire chief Billy Crump. An example of how dry the conditions are was evidenced in a Sunday evening motorcycle accident on Route PP east of Kelso in Scott County...

ANNA, Ill. -- Vivian Presley Stallings, 86, of Anna died Sunday, Aug. 29, 1999, at the City Care Center at Anna. She was born Jan. 23, 1913, at Herrin, daughter of James and Mary Venegoni Marlow. Her first husband, J.B. Presley, died in 1968. She later married Albert Stallings. He died in 1976...

He was born Dec. 25, 1955, at Dexter, son of Marjorie Jarrell and Johnny Thomas Black. He and Cynthia Turner were married July 2, 1983, at Dexter. He was a former resident of the Bloomfield community. He was an employee of Arvin Automotive at Dexter, a UAW member and a member of the Dexter Eagles Club 4062...

MARYVILLE, Tenn. -- Nina Mae Arnold, 91, of Maryville died Saturday, Aug. 28, 1999, at the Colonial Hills Nursing Home at Maryville. She was born Sept. 22, 1907, at Cross County, Ark., daughter of Solomon and Annie Eliza Griffin Hinton. She is survived by two sons, Larry Arnold and James Arnold, both of Maryville; five daughters, Darlene Blackwell of Glen Allen, Frances Dixon of Villa Park, Ill., Anita Burridge of Maywood, Ill., Jean Zaremba of Rolling Meadows, Ill., and Jane Hanson of Franklin Park, Ill.; 17 grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren.. ...

GLEN ALLEN -- Pauline Sitze, 83, of Glen Allen died Saturday, Aug. 28, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Dec. 15, 1915, at Marquand, daughter of James and Mildred Brown Gibbs. She and Raymond Sitze were married Jan. 14, 1939. She was a housewife, a member of the Old Trace Creek Baptist Church and the Eastern Star Victory Chapter 431 at Marble Hill...

Cape Girardeau School Board Special Meeting Agenda 6 o'clock meeting Action items: -- Tax-rate hearing for the 1999-2000 school year. Agenda Special Meeting of the Board of Education Cape Girardeau School District at 6:30 Action items: -- Approval to change order No. 2 for Vocational Career Center...

Illinois State Police reported two Anna residents were injured in a one-vehicle accident Sunday on Illinois 3. The report said the driver, Roberta L. McMahan, 63, might have fallen asleep. The car left the roadway and overturned in a field. She was reported in serious condition at Southeast Missouri Hospital with injuries to her head and neck...

After a five-week stay in Scotland, members of the Southeast Missouri State Golden Eagles marching band returned to Southeast Missouri Sunday evening. The band had performed in the prestigious military tattoo while in Scotland. "It was wonderful, I wanted to stay," said Erin Fluegger, featured twirler for the Eagles...

The Missouri Department of Transportation will close two roads today to install drainage pipes beneath in Bollinger County. At 7:30 a.m., a section of Route M, 0.9 miles east of the Route 51 and Route M junction will be closed, and at 8 o'clock, a section of Route WW 0.7 miles west of the Route K and Route WW junction will be closed...

THEBES, Ill. -- Daniel Seip, 57, of Thebes died Sunday, Aug. 29, 1999, in Williamson County. Arrangements are pending at the Jones Funeral Home at Tamms.