Stories from Monday, January 3, 2000

Missouri construction through 11 months of 1999 was up 12 percent, but November totals fell in residential and nonresidential building. Total construction for the year topped $6.6 billion going into December, up from the $5.9 billion during the same period in 1998, according to the F.W. Dodge Division of McGraw-Hill Cos., which keeps tabs on the nation's construction...

Kara Heuring has been appointed branch manager of the Commerce Bank banking center at 160 S. Broadview. Heuring's appointment was announced recently by Cord Polen, community bank president of Commerce Bank. Heuring has been with Commerce Bank four years as teller, teller supervisor and financial services representative...

Carolyn Rouviere, former owner of Hair Biz, will be an "independent contractor" for Gary and Company Hair Designers, 1017 Harmony. Rouviere, who has been involved in cosmetology since 1960s, will specialize in all phases of hair care, including men and women haircutting, styling, perming and color techniques. She also does manicures and pedicures...

Terry Fulk, Cape Girardeau Project Impact coordinator, and Kent Eftink, Cape Girardeau developmental services coordinator, recently participate in the second annual Project Impact Summit at Washington. The topic of the national summit was: "Project Impact: Building Disaster Resistance Communities." The summit shifted the focus from simply responding to disasters to taking actions in advance to prevent property damage and loss of life associated with severe weather and other forces of nature, including earthquakes.. ...

Clint E. Karnes recently joined the foundation board of Community Counseling Center. Karnes, vice president in the small business banking division at Bank of America, is president of the Eagle Ridge Christian school board, and the Southeast Missouri School Foundation. He has been involved in volunteer and fund-raising work for Untied Way, Boy Scouts and Red Cross...

Two KFVS12 employees have received annual awards presented by the CBS Television station at Cape Girardeau. Randy Ray received the Jerry Hollis Salesperson of the Year award for 1999 and Ron Wilson received the Don Sherwood Award for Community Services...

Spartech Corp. has entered into an agreement to acquire net assets of the High Performance Plastics Inc., (HPP), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uniroyal Technology Corp., and a manufacturer of proprietary plastics products based in South Bend, Ind. "We are enthusiastic about the prospect of adding the strength and diversity of Hip's business, which had with annual sales of $130 million during the most recent fiscal year," said Spartech chairman, president and chief executive officer, Bradley B. ...

A.G. Edwards has been named as one of Fortune Magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America." Edwards, one of two retail brokerage firms on the 1999 list, is ranked 37th. This marks the third time that Edwards has been included on the list. "We're honored to be included on the Fortune list," said Benjamin F. Edwards III, company chairman...

WASHINGTON -- Feeling confident and with money to spend, Americans pushed up sales of existing homes in November after higher mortgage rates had helped drive sales down four months in a row. Sales of existing single-family homes surged 6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.09 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday...

Erica J. Schultz has been named community relations coordinator for First National Bank, headquartered at Sikeston. Schultz's main focus will be to manage the public relations efforts at branches at Cape Girardeau, Caruthersville, Chaffee, Jackson, Miner and Sikeston, as well as St. Louis area branches in the Affton, Chesterfield, Crestwood, St. Louis Hills and Union...

Record box office receipts, the best attendance in four decades, had one of the most diverse lineups in a long time. Even that clairvoyant kid from "The Sixth Sense" could not have foreseen the year Hollywood had. The movie industry is putting the wraps on its second straight record-breaking year...

I hope that no major Y2K issues have affected your life at this start of the new Millennium. But I have already had calls from friends whose BIOS in their computer were not Y2K compliant. Consequently, some boxes were not booting while others were driving their applications mad. ...

Stories that touched emotions, shattered lives, and fueled disputes around the region topped the news in 1999. A teen-age prank upset an entire community, forcing many to question school policies. Jobs were lost in an attempt to operate more efficient companies. An arrest by police broke into a riot, and the region went on a manhunt for a serial killer riding the rails. Questions arose over school district boundaries as the district talked of opening the newest elementary school in 1999...

U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft of Missouri endorsed Texas Gov. George W. Bush on Wednesday, saying he has the "moral character" to lead the nation. Ashcroft voiced his support for Bush in a campaign appearance with the Republican front-runner in South Carolina...

The amount of decay on one of Jessica Kooyer's molars was so small that in the past dentist Dr. Jeffrey D. Patton might have taken a watch-and-wait attitude. But last week, he used a new air abrasion machine in his office to remove the decay with tiny particles under air pressure (sort of like mini-sandblasting), then used a flowable composite to fill the small hole. ...

Perry and Cape Girardeau counties are among the top 25 counties in Missouri regarding the welfare of children while the Bootheel counties of Pemiscot, Mississippi and Dunklin remain among the worst for children for another year. Such were the findings of the annual Kids Count Missouri report recently released by Citizens for Missouri's Children, a St. Louis-based advocacy group...

JACKSON -- The 2000 budget includes millions of dollars for infrastructure improvements that will keep the City of Jackson busy in the coming year. The work to be done is substantial, "more than we have seen in years and years in Jackson," City Administrator Steve Wilson says...

A Cape Girardeau development company thinks it has an acceptable plan to create a buffer between the commercial developments along Siemers Drive and the residential area along Bloomfield Road. The plan is to create a mobile home park district with a neighborhood of mobile homes. But RAD Investments, a company owned by Robert Drury, needs permission from the Cape Girardeau City Council to create the park...

Don't worry about a license ANYONE WHO keeps poisonous snakes in their house doesn't need a license. They need a psychiatrist. Or a padded cell. Tax-and-spend mentality I'M AMAZED that the school board once again is ready to tax and spend the citizens of Cape Girardeau's money. ...

After lengthy construction delays, Barbara Blanchard Elementary School, the Cape Girardeau School District's first new school in almost 30 years, is open. With a vocational center under construction and a new high school on the drawing board, the opening of Blanchard School marks a new and progressive era for the district. Renovations of other city schools have taken place, and more new schools likely are to be built early in this new century...

It's hard to imagine why someone would want to slash the bubble over the Central High School swimming pool, but that's just what happened last week. Vandals cut a 3-foot-long gash in the bubble, which has been in place only since early December. The damage wasn't enough to render the pool unusable. The slash was repaired with tape until permanent repairs can be made...

To the editor: The more I try not to think about the problem we might face at the dawn of the new millennium, the more I find myself diverting from society. I cannot help but think the Y2K bug might destroy many things or even leave most of us miserable. But I am sure the Y2K bug will not be the end of the world as some would suggest. Definitely it is something to think about and prepare for...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois hex lives on for Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team. Southeast had another less than stellar performance against the Salukis Sunday afternoon, dropping a 62-51 decision in front of 4,824 fans at the SIU Arena...

The weekend weather warmup allowed Cape Girardeau Country Club to record its final hole-in-one of the 20th century and first of the 21st century. Both occurrences took place on No. 8, a 140-yard par 3. On Friday, Dec. 31, Tommy Owens recorded his first hole-in-one ever with a 7-iron. Jim Eakin, Bill Bishop, Lance Bray and Neil Prater all witnessed the shot...

ULLIN, Ill. -- Christopher Shane Cooley, 28, of Ullin died Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000, at his home. He was born Dec. 27, 1971, at Carbondale. He was a deck hand at Players Casino and a 1991 graduate of Dongola High School. Survivors include his wife, Kim Cooley of Ullin; a daughter, Kyla Renee Cooley of Ullin; his parents, Terry and Barbara Tucker of Dongola; two brothers, Randy Cooley and Joshua Tucker, both of Dongola; and his grandfather, Joe Alsip of Anna...

Belvia Elnora Cheek, 97, of Cape Girardeau and formerly of Marble Hill died Sunday, Jan. 2, 2000, at the Beverly Health and Rehab Center. She was born April 11, 1902, at Shrum in Bollinger County, daughter of Columbus Marion and Alice Mae Huffman Robins. She and Clarence "Ed" Cheek were married April 11, 1920, at Shrum. He died Aug. 25, 1965...

Odaale Anderson, 75, died Sunday, Jan. 2, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

BALLWIN -- Rushing, Leslie M. (nee Allen), Sunday, January 2, 2000. Husband of the late Albert Rushing. Dear mother of Allen (Ellie), Robert (Kathy), Gary (Mary) and David Rushing. Dear Grandmother of 11 and Friend. Mrs. Rushing taught grade school in Barnhart, Mo. in the 1930s, was a Home Teacher with the Special School District in the 1960s and was the on-site teacher at Ranken-Jordan Children's Home in the 1970s...

SEDGEWICKVILLE -- Kenneth Ray Mungle, 51, of Sedgewickville died Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000, at his home. He was born April 4, 1948, at Rector, Ark., son of Everett J. and Leona Sanders Mungle. He and Rene Sharrock were married Dec. 11, 1976. He was a heavy equipment operator for Welfare Fund of Operating Engineers, Local 513 at Cape Girardeau...

Glenda Ruth Smith, 43, of Cape Girardeau and formerly of Memphis, Tenn., died Wednesday, Dec. 29, 1999, at St. Francis Hospital. She was born Feb. 12, 1956, daughter of Robert Lee and Sadie McCoy Sr. She and John P. Smith were married April 13, 1990 at Dewitt, Ark...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Mabel Lenora Lutz Norris, 95, of Jonesboro died Thursday, Dec. 30, 1999, at the Carbondale Memorial Hospital. She was born at Sparta. She and Cecil Norris were married in 1925. She was a member of the Union County Hospital Auxiliary, the American Legion Auxiliary, the Anna-Jonesboro Garden Club, the Friday Night Club, Delta Theta Tau Sorority, the Tuesday Tea Club and the First Evangelical Presbyterian Church at Anna...

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Donna Rae Scott Magnuson, 50, died January 1, 2000, at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia. She fought a long battle with kidney failure and was on dialysis for the past three years awaiting a transplant. On November 5, 1999, she suffered a heart attack and had been hospitalized since that date...

Fred W. "Pat" Lucey, 77, of Cape Girardeau and formerly of Benton died Sunday, Jan. 2, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born July 30, 1922, in New Madrid County, son of Fred W. and Lena Allen Lucey. He and Margie Mobbs were married Feb. 13, 1955, at Bell City...

CHARLESTON -- Doris Vowels Forbey, 83, of Charleston died Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000, at her residence. Arrangements are pending at McMikle Funeral Home at Charleston.

MORLEY -- Dulcie Ann O'Neal, 93, of Morley died Sunday, Jan. 2, 2000, at the Sikeston Convalescent Center. She was born Dec. 27, 1906, at DeKalb, Miss., daughter of John and Annie Hudnall Pierce. She and Walter M. O'Neal were married Oct. 5, 1922, at Lepanto, Ark. He died Jan. 9, 1976...

BERTRAND -- Stella Eunice Cannon, 95, of Bertrand died Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000, at the Bertrand Nursing Facility. She was born May 22, 1904, at Carthage, Tenn., daughter of Joseph Layton and Miralda "Tinnie" Matthews Phillips. She and John Cannon were married July 27, 1946. He died Aug. 29, 1976...

Stan Popp has retired from the insurance business after more than 40 years. Popp started his career with America Family Insurance in March 1957. During the past 43 years, he has operated the agency in five locations, starting at 720 Good Hope. The office move from Good Hope to 205 S. Spring, to 215 S. Plaza Way, 67 Plaza Way and in the current location, at 77 Plaza Way...

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. With more than 9,000 mutual funds available, you might think there's not much of a market for new ones. ...