Stories from Monday, November 22, 1999

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. Not that long ago, investment strategies were pretty simple. As recently as the 1970s, many people took the fixed-income approach. They put their money in passbooks and certificates of deposit, and made their big gains in the appreciation of their homes...

Wendy Marberry has joined Capitol Hill Realty as a real estate agent.Marberry, a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, with a B.S. in Business Administration, has more than 10 years experience in sales.

Jim Litz of Occupational Medical Services (OMC), #60 Doctors' Park, recently completed training to become a certified breath alcohol technician and a breath alcohol technician trainer.Litz has trained on the CMI Corporation Intoxilyzer 440, which will give OMC the ability to test for breath alcohol both on-site and in-house for Department of Transportation Standards...

Melvin J. Van de Ven and Scott A. Van de Ven of Schott & Van de Ven Certified Public Accountants recently attended the Missouri Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (MAMIC) 104th Convention at Lake Ozark.More than 650 people attended the conference, which featured a number of education program aimed at helping mutual insurance companies better serve their policyholders.Scott Van de Ven was a guest speaker at the convention. ...

Ron Swift, executive director of Southeast Missouri Private Industry Council, and Bev Long, are director of Division of Family Services at Cape Girardeau, recently attended the Governor's Conference on Workforce Development, held at Tan-Tar-A Resort at Osage Beach.More than 1,200 people attended the three-day conference, including 30 members of the Southeast Missouri PIC Board and staff ...

Dr. Zenon Duda of Cape Foot Clinic, 1345 Mount Auburn Road, recently attended a diabetes seminar at Houston, Tex.The two-day event was sponsored by the American Association of Diabetes Education and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Topics at the workshop included current treatment guidelines for acute and chronic complications, screening techniques, evaluation of available medications and alternative treatments for use in diabetes management...

The Spicer Light Vehicle Axle Division of Dana Corp. at Cape Girardeau has received the "Facet of Excellence Award," presented to Missouri Quality Award applicants, for its unique work system.Dana has created a four-shift, seven-day operation with broad job descriptions that give employees multiple responsibilities. ...

WASHINGTON -- -- Get ready. A big Abe Lincoln and Alexander Hamilton -- part of new $5 and $10 bills aimed at tripping up high-tech counterfeiters --4 will be coming to a cash register or ATM near you by the middle of 2000.Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers unveiled the new bills Tuesday that include a number of new features, but it's the bigger and slightly off-center portraits -- much like what was done to President Jackson on last year's new $20 -- that people will notice first...

Don Schrieber, publisher of the daily American Republic newspaper at Poplar Bluff, received the News Media Award at the 35th annual Missouri Community College Association Convention (MCCA), held at Springfield recently. Schrieber, one of only three statewide recipients of the News Media Award, was nominated by Three Rivers Community College because of his years of support of the college...

Dr. Brian Norman has joined Sears Optical at 2102 William St.Norman, a graduate of Indiana University School of Optometry, previously practiced a the Premier Eye Clinic & Contact Lens Center at Pascagoula, Miss.Norman and his wife, Laura, were formerly of Cape Girardeau...

David Spriggs has joined Southwestern Bell Wireless, 3363 Gordonville Road, as sales representative.Spriggs, a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, has several years experience in sales and management. He previously worked at the university and the Holiday Inn at Cape Girardeau. Southwestern Bell Wireless offers wireless (cellular), paging and messaging services...

Veteran Canada geese know their way around the outdoors scene. How else could they make their annual migration from the Canadian Northlands, down the Mississippi Waterfowl Flyway into warmer areas in Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri. Then, following a two-to-three month winter vacation, the giant birds leave the area in their traditional V formation, en route back to the northlands...

Volunteers are needed to help other people with their tax returns in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program conducted during the tax filing season. Volunteers provide free assistance to taxpayers who cannot afford professional tax help, particularly those who file basic tax returns. Volunteers assist those with special needs, including persons with disabilities, non-English speaking persons and older taxpayers...

ATLANTA -- A two-liter bottle of Coke on sale for less than a dollar has become a rare sight. It will likely become even rarer as the soft-drink company and its largest bottler are pushing prices higher to boost their profits. Prices have increased 6 percent to 7 percent over the last few months, ending the flat pricing environment that had existed for most of the decade...

Southeast Missouri Hospital's Marketing and Communications Department has received statewide recognition for four projects that the hospital produced this year to education and inform comity and area residents on a variety of health-related issues. The "Show Me Excellence" awards were presented by the Missouri Association for Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing (MAHPRM) during the annual Missouri Hospital Association Convention and Trade, held recently at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach...

A $15.6 million permit for improvements to the Cape Girardeau Water Treatment Plant has shoved the value of construction permits past the $50 million mark for the first time in the city's history.The multi-million dollar contract, issued earlier this month, calls for rehabilitation and expansion of the existing treatment plant at 20 East Cape Rock Drive.This includes a clearwell storage basin, which will hold 1.75 million gallons of additional water, as well as construction of alluvial wells and additional filter equipment at the current facility, which will bring total water capacity at the Cape Rock Treatment Plant, from 4.5 million gallons per day to 7.5 million gallons a day.The contract also shoves the permit totals to $53.8 million, topping the previous record of $47,996,699, established in 1992.What a difference a half-century can make.Fifty years ago, Cape Girardeau's 1949 construction total, moving into the final couple of months of the year, was at $1,633,589.A third-quarter residential building boom was also instrumental in shoving 1999 totals to new heights. ...

John L. Lashly works with old wood. Utilizing slabs of old redwood, he turns them into clocks, plaques, tables and jewelry boxes. Redwoods are among the world's largest trees, says Lashly. "They grow to be 200 to 350 feet tall."The wood, he said, is soft, red and resistant to decay...

Michelle Leuckel has added another business at the Lickity Split Water Slide, located alongside Highway 61 between Interstate 55 and Jackson."Kidz Fashion Exchange," which features used clothing for infants through 14 years of age, is now open."We feature children's clothing, but we also have strollers, high chairs, toys and almost anything to do with children," said Michelle Leuckel, owner of the shop.The business is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday...

JACKSON -- The City of Jackson wants more details about how the Jackson R-2 School District will use the city's planned multipurpose building before proceeding toward a proposal to put before voters."We are at a crossroads needing to move one direction or the other," says Mayor Paul Sander.A committee formed by the city in February 1997 has produced a conceptual drawing of the facility, but its chairman, Dale Rauh, has asked the school board to provide more definite information about how the school plans to use the building before making a design recommendation.The facility plan includes a basketball arena with seating for 3,000 and two swimming pools, one for leisure and one for competitive swimming. ...

Any day now, Cape Girardeau County could hit zero unemployment.Impossible, you say?Maybe, but the unemployment rate during the Christmas holiday retail sales period -- November through January -- could certainly fall to less than 1 percent, as employment jumps from 35,500 to more than 36,500."Our unemployment rate for September was at 2.6 percent," said Steve Fuemmeler of the local Workforce Development Division of the Missouri Department of Economics Development. ...

The doors at the Osage Centre opened an hour early Sunday so the elderly and those with disabilities could shop in a more relaxed atmosphere at the annual arts and crafts fair. Elevlyn Taylor of East Cape Girdeau, Ill., took advantage of the less crowded isles. ...

Escalating health insurance costs have driven Cape Girardeau to offer a self-insurance health plan for city employees. The plan will take effect Jan. 1 and will cover 384 employees and their families. City Council members approved the staff recommendation for self-insurance at its meeting Monday. ...

Three area school districts will join a movement to improve educational opportunities for their students and teachers. The Oak Ridge and Perryville school districts have established nonprofit school foundations, and Kelly's district officials are researching the idea of establishing a school foundation...

While other people decorate their Christmas trees with garland, glowing balls and homemade ornaments, the Salvation Army spares no expense on lights. Lots of lights -- bright, colorful bulbs -- adorn an enormous evergreen tree outside the West Park Mall. The lights serve as a visual reminder of the goal for helping others through the Salvation Army's Tree of Lights campaign, event organizers say...

A nationally recognized authority, Dr. Richard Keeling, director of University Health Services and professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will be the Common Hour speaker Wednesday at Southeast Missouri State University as the campus observes World AIDS Day...

Degrees will be conferred on 491 graduates during commencement exercises scheduled for Dec. 11 at Southeast Missouri State University. Dr. Aubrey Lucas, president emeritus of the University of Southern Mississippi, will present the commencement address during exercises scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Show Me Center. Degrees will be conferred on 446 undergraduates and 45 graduate students...

Kelly Kuehn, a seventh grader who lives at Brewer, was so moved by a report she saw about Wigs for Kids that she decided to cut the waist-length hair she had been growing her entire life to help boys or girls who are bald from accidents or medical reasons...

The new director of the Missouri Department of Transportation hasn't wasted any words in telling anyone who will listen that the department needs more money. The director, Henry Hungerbeeler, told a crowd at the annual Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce transportation dinner earlier this month that much of the department's present and future budgets will have to go toward maintenance of the road and bridge system instead of for new construction. ...

TO THE person who said the Ten Commandments shouldn't be in public schools because it would offend Jews, Muslems, Hindus and atheists: Our country was founded by Christians. God is mentioned in our Constitution and on our coins and currency. I don't think reading "Thou shall not kill, steal, commit adultery" and the rest would destroy them...

Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner knows just how dangerous a game against a lower-division opponent can be."Any time you play a team like that, they're going to probably approach the game like they have nothing to lose and their kids will probably be loose and relaxed," said Garner. ...

There was no announcement Sunday regarding the status of Southeast Missouri State University head football coach John Mumford, but the Southeast Missourian has learned Mumford was told at a Sunday morning meeting with school administrators that his contract would not be renewed...

Southeast Missouri State University football players Jeremy Atwell and Rashad West have been honored by the Ohio Valley Conference for their performances during the Indians' season-ending 35-28 loss against Tennessee State Saturday. Atwell, a senior linebacker, was named OVC Defensive Player of the Week. He made 11 tackles, intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble against the undefeated Tigers. Atwell finished the season with 110 tackles and 19 tackles for loss...

Ohio Valley Conference football champion Tennessee State will have a first-round NCAA Division I-AA playoff game at home Saturday when the 11-0 Tigers face 10-1 North Carolina A&T.The Tigers are the nation's top-ranked Division I-AA team. North Carolina A&T is rated 16th...

LEOPOLD -- Bertha Adelhid Beussink, 82, of Leopold died Saturday, Nov. 20, 1999, at the family home. She was born Jan. 25, 1917, at Glennon, daughter of the late Gerhard Louis and Annie DeBrock Jansen. On Oct. 6, 1937, she and Bernard J. Beussink were united in marriage...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Salome Genevieve Reisinger, 87, of Cairo died Saturday, Nov. 20, 1999, at Daystar Care Center in Cairo. She was born Aug. 2, 1912, in Cairo, daughter of Albert and Catherine Beck Schmaeng. She and Isom Reisinger were married. He died in 1957...

ADVANCE -- Robert "Bob" Ritter, 63, of Advance died Sunday, Nov. 21, 1999, at his home. He was born Aug. 14, 1936, at St. Louis, son of Jacob and Maud Barks Ritter. He and Eula Perry were married Dec. 25, 1955, at Forest Hills, La. He retired after 24 years as a truck driver for Bond Enterprises and was a veteran of the United States Air Force. He was also a member of the Bethel General Baptist Church and was a charter member of Advance Eagles and the American Legion at Chaffee...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Lois G. Womack, 65, of Jonesboro died Saturday, Nov. 20, 1999, at the Union County Hospital at Anna. She was born Aug. 10, 1934, at Kankakee, Ill., daughter of William and Winnie G. Reeder Faford. She and Bob G. Womack were married June 30, 1954, at Valparaiso, Ind. He died Aug. 30, 1975...