Stories from Monday, October 4, 1999

Paul Meier of Jackson owns three bulls listed in the 1999 Fall Sire Evaluation Report, published by the American Angus Association, headquartered in St. Joseph. The new report features performance information available on more than 5,784 sires. Two other Angus breeders were mentioned in the report. Power Play Associates and P.S. High Pockets Assn., of Jackson, each list one bull in the report...

Dodi Elledge and Peggy Maxwell have joined Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel Inc., 829 N. West End Blvd. Elledge, the new office manager, has experience in customer relations, office management and finance. Elledge and her family moved to the Cape Girardeau area recently from Tennessee...

Paul H. Berens of the Cape Girardeau law firm of Bradshaw, Steele, Cochrane and Berens, L.C., is the 1999 recipient of the Missouri Bar Excellency in Bankruptcy Award. Berens received the award during the annual meeting of the Missouri Bar in Kansas City recently...

Construction of a new convenience store, service station and car wash is under way on North Main Street in Sikeston. General Oil Co. Inc. has plans for eight gas-fueling positions with pay-at-the-pump technology for its "Fas Gas" station. A full line of convenience store items and a drive-through will be offered in the 2,800-square-foot building...

A debt management course in personal finance will be offered by the Small Business Development Center along with the "Debt-free & Prosperous Living" program. The course, "Learn to Manage Your Debt" will be held from 6 to 9 Tuesday night at the Dunn Center in Carbondale, Ill...

The Southeast Missouri Private Industry Council had a successful year in placing adults into the workforce. Missouri had expected the council to place 295 adults into jobs. The council exceeded Missouri expectations by placing 552 adults into new jobs, and 427 people into higher paying job...

The U.S. Small Business Administration offers opportunities for all Americans to start, build and grow their own business in the 21st century. In 1998, the SBA: -- maintained a guaranteed loan portfolio of more than $40 billion in loans to 491,000 small business that otherwise would not have had such access to capital?...

The Small Business Development Center will conduct counseling sessions at Cape Girardeau, Sikeston and Perryville this month. The counselor, Gil Degenhardt, will be available Oct. 20, 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...

"Just Kids!" Learning Development Center at Jackson and Cape Girardeau will open a new center at 1709 Business 60, in Dexter. Donnie Harris, owner of "Just Kids!" says future sites are scheduled for Perryville and Fruitland. Cheri Fortner, executive director of the business, says an official opening date will be announced soon for the Dexter site...

Stan Murray of Sedgewickville is among five Missouri pork producers to attend the annual National Pork Producers Council's legislative seminar in Washington. Murray led a group that visited Sen. John Ashcroft and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson. The producers urged members of Congress to include emergency assistance to pork producers in their farm relief package...

Linda Dubin of Fruitland has been promoted to regional manager of "Just Kids!" Learning Development Center, headquartered at Jackson. Dubin has been with the company five months. She has worked in the child-care field more than 12 years.

Fred Ferrell of Charleston has been selected as chairman of the board of the Federal Land Bank Association of Southeast Missouri. He has been an FLB shareholder 29 years and has served on the board of directors since 1975. Ferrell operates a grain farm, producing corn, soybeans and wheat, and has 180 head of beef cattle. He is also president of the Mid-Valley Irrigation Co...

Cheryl Ann Nicholas Rodery, a nurse practitioner at Malden Medical Center, recently earned national certification as a family nurse practitioner from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioner. She earned master's degree at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and has an undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock...

Robin Robertson of Poplar Bluff has been promoted to executive sales representative with Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical Co. Robertson is a graduate of St. Louis College of Pharmacy. He joined Eli Lilly as a sale representative at Poplar Bluff in 1982. He maintains state board pharmacy licensing in Missouri and Florida, where he practiced retail pharmacy...

Sue Long has been named daycare director at Angels Aware Daycare & Preschool Center in Cape Girardeau. Long of Cape Girardeau has previously served as director of two different day care facilities in Cape Girardeau. she has a bachelor of science in education degree from Southeast Missouri State University, and a Missouri Lifetime Teaching Certificate...

Thomas Tucker, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning & Economic Development Commission, headquartered in Perryville, has been elected to serve on the National Association of Development Organization (NADO) Board of Directors for the 1999-2000 term...

Herb Sheets was honored recently for sales by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. Sheets received the "Bull O' the Woods" Award, for highest percent increase in sales for the first six months of 1999. He produced 226 percent of his quota. Sheets receive his award during an awards dinner held at the home of District Agent and Mrs. T. Ronald Hahs in Cape Girardeau. Sheets operates the Sheets Agency in Farmington...

Dr. Sandra Dee Beck, a native of Grand Island, Neb., has joined Shopko Optical at Cape Girardeau. She previously worked as the primary optometrist with Wal-Mart Vision Center in Rolla. Beck, a member of the American Optometric Association and the Missouri Optometric Association, completed her hospital-based residency in 1997. ...

Jeff Thomas of Thomas Insurance services, recently attended the 1999 Top Producers Convention for Pioneer Life, a Conseco Co., in San Francisco. Thomas is a member of Pioneer Life's Top 100 producers.

Jimmy Stone, Southeast Missourian newspaper carrier, has been named 1999 Missouri Adult Newspaper Carrier of the Year by the Missouri Circulation Managers Association. Mark Kneer, director of circulation and marketing at the Southeast Missourian and Rob Walz, assistant circulation manager at the Missourian, accepted the award for Stone, who has been a newspaper carrier for 19 years...

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. Do you have a retirement plan where you work? If so, consider yourself fortunate -- especially if you have a 401(k) or other type of "tax-qualified" plan. ...

Pat Bond arranged DVDs in the rental section of Hastings Books and Music. You've see them slowly creeping into the video rental stores: DVDs, considered by many to be the hottest thing in home electronics. But what the heck are they? The Digital Versatile Disc -- also called the Digital Video Disc -- can be used to store video, audio and computer data...

The non-taxed open access Internet has helped create a flurry of new ISP entrepreneurs. These young stallions of the high tech world allow you to access to the big interconnected pipe known as the Internet. I am asked all the time, which is the best ISP? My answer to this would be that depends. ...

Russell Borders, animal control officer for the city of Charleston during the past two years, has completed 12 hours of training in chemical immobilization, during a training session held recently at Columbia. Among topics at the two-day workshop were animal behavior, tranquilizing of violent or injured animals, emergencies and calculating drug doses...

Nick Arnette, a touring comedian and humorist, will be guest speaker at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Industrial Appreciation Dinner on Wednesday at the Show Me Center. Arnette specializes in the importance of humor in the workplace and in everyday life...

Cameras flashed Sunday after Patryce "Patches" King completed her performance at the Southeast Music Academy concert held at the Old St. Vincent's Church. "It feels like I'm back in Atlantic City again," she said. "There were always cameras everywhere."...

JACKSON -- Northbound and southbound U.S. 61 in the heart of Jackson might be separated into one-way streets, and stop signs on the route would be eliminated under a proposal being considered to help ease mounting traffic congestion. The plan, which city and Missouri Department of Transportation officials stressed is in the "kicking around" stage and might change drastically, would make northbound U.S. ...

Cape Girardeau will play host to more than 75 musical groups Friday and Saturday at the third City of Roses Festival. "Whatever you like, you can find it at this year's festival," said Brad Graham, Music Heritage Association vice president. Artists performing folk, rock 'n' roll, rhythm and blues, country, Christian rock, bluegrass are among the entertainment...

For the first time, the state of Missouri has cited a farmer for a field fire that led to a school bus accident. A division of the Department of Natural Resources recently cited Oran farmer Donald Schlitt. On Sept. 8, he was apparently burning off his corn field when the nearby grass caught fire, according to the Highway Patrol...

Janet Knoderer had symptoms of depression. She had no energy, felt hopeless and helpless, couldn't function for her family, couldn't concentrate. Yet it wasn't until she began planning suicide that she realized she needed help. She told her husband, and together they went to seek treatment for her...

7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 4 City Hall Public hearings -- Hearing to consider the rezoning of property addressed as 2129 Old Toll Road from R-1 (single-family residential) to C-2 (general commercial) as submitted by Brent Wills of the Jackson Jaycee Charitable Foundation...

Parents have no choice about getting a computer education, said police detective Michael Sullivan. "If you have a computer and have access to the Internet, your child can view pornographic sites and come into contact with molesters, no if's, and's or but's about it," said Sullivan, a computer crimes expert who will speak Tuesday night at Southeast Missouri State University...

Recycling might not be a money-making venture, but it's a popular concept in Cape Girardeau. Congestion along the drop-off area at the city's public recycling facility, 120 N. Broadview St., is so great that renovations are needed. Plans call for building a drive-through collection site that makes it safer and more convenient for residents to recycle their paper, cardboard, steel cans and other materials...

Three seats on the Cape Girardeau City Council are up for grabs next year. The seats in Wards 3, 4 and 5 are up for election. Candidates will be elected to four-year terms when voters head to the polls in April. Nominating petitions are available beginning today at the city manager's office at City Hall, 401 Independence. The petitions must be signed by at least 50 registered voters eligible to vote...

While some may scorn him for the work he does -- representing those accused of crimes who are too poor to hire an attorney -- Kent Hall enjoys his job and apparently knows it well. The Missouri Bar Association believes Hall is the best at his job. It named the public defender who is headquartered in Cape Girardeau County as the top public defender in the state...

Putting together lists of the top trials and Supreme Court decisions of the 20th century had to be a major undertaking for Stephen N. Limbaugh and his son, Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. The Limbaughs, who are from Cape Girardeau, performed a valuable service in doing so, for the list will serve as a record of important judicial events of the century...

To the editor: While most of the country enjoys unprecedented economic prosperity, there are millions of Americans who live in distressed inner cities and rural communities still trapped in hopelessness and poverty. They have become the America that the president has left behind...

The crowd of 11,015 that witnessed Saturday night's football game at Houck Stadium not only set a Southeast Missouri State University all-time attendance record -- it shattered the old mark by more than 1,000. Previously, the largest announced crowd to watch the Indians play at Houck Stadium was 10,000 during a 1979 contest against Murray State...

Southeast Missouri State University's first-year women's soccer team finally has the first win in the program's brief history. The Otahkians used two goals from freshman Courtney Britt and knocked off Ohio Valley Conference foe Morehead State 2-1 Sunday afternoon in front of more than 500 fans at the Sprigg Street Field...

PERRYVILLE -- James L. Austin, 58, of Perryville died Saturday, Oct. 2, 1999, at the Perry Oaks Nursing Center at Perryville. He was born Aug. 24, 1941, at St. Louis, son of James R. and Velma Safriet Austin. He was a self-employed truck driver. He was a member of the Riverhills Eagle C.M.A. -- St. Mary's and was a member of the Perryville Masonic Lodge...

ADVANCE -- Dottie M. Limbaugh, 88, of Advance died Friday, Oct. 1, 1999, at the Advance Nursing Center. She was born May 6, 1911, at Brownwood. She and W.E. Limbaugh were married Feb. 1, 1930, at Marble Hill. He died April 20, 1982. Survivors include four sons, Tony D. Limbaugh of Tacoma, Wash., Troy Limbaugh of Sturdivant, Dale Limbaugh of Advance and Jerry Limbaugh of Florissant; seven grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren...

Samuel Lee Jones Sr., 45, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Oct. 1, 1999, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born March 6, 1954, at Sikeston, son of Curtis and Della Walton Jones. He was a graduate of Matthews High School, a member of the Church of Christ and was a veteran of the U.S. Navy...

GRAND CHAIN, Ill. -- Janette Watson Mayer, 63, of Grand Chain died Saturday, Oct. 2, 1999, at her home. She was born Sept. 20, 1936, at Villa Ridge. She was employed by the Shawnee Development as a homemaker. She was also a member of the St. Luke Lutheran Church at Olmsted, the Mary Martha Guild and VFW Post 8891 Auxiliary at Mounds...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Eleanor Capp, 66, of Cobden died Sunday at the City Care Center at Cobden. Arrangements are pending at Lutz and Rendleman Funeral Home at Cobden.

ANNA, Ill. -- Robert Charles Witthoft, 56, of Anna died Sunday, Oct. 3, 1999, at his home. He was born Nov. 20, 1942, at Campbell Hill, son of William F. and Mary Brenneman Witthoft. He was a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church at Anna and was a carpenter by trade...

DELTA -- Amos Snider, 84, of Delta died Sunday, Oct. 3, 1999, at Oak Ridge. He was born June 4, 1915, in Cape Girardeau County, son of Oliver Pletus and Mary Davis Snider. He and Connie Marie Fox were married Aug. 29, 1935. She died May 26, 1966. He was a retired construction worker and served in the U.S. Army during World War II...