Stories from Monday, July 3, 2000

The biggest jump in demand for electronics equipment in nearly three years helped catapult orders for big-ticket manufactured goods to a surprising 6 percent increase in May. That pushed orders to U.S. factories for durable goods items expected to last at least three years to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $218.9 billion last month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday...

Steve Puchbauer watched instructor Bob Stovall adjust the hoses on the hydraulic simulator on the second-to-last day of the class sponsored by the Vo-tech Consortium. Although hydraulics are used for a various purposes in manufacturing, all systems are built on the basic model the students are learning from...

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've probably heard or read something about "new economy" stocks. But what exactly are they? Is "new economy" just a fancy term for companies that have something to do with the Internet? And what about "old economy" stocks? What are their prospects for the future?...

The Federal Reserve, citing tentative signs economic growth has slowed, decided Wednesday against raising interest rates a seventh time in a year, but Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues left the door open to further increases, perhaps as soon as August, should inflation pressures worsen...

The New Madrid Power Plant and Thomas Hill Energy Center Power Division has been inducted into the Powerplant Hall of Fame. New Madrid Power Plant manager Tom Watkins accepted the award during the recent "Electric Power 2000" conference in Cincinnati, Ohio...

The nation's advertising spending is expected to climb 9.4 percent this year, the biggest increase in 16 years, an industry forecaster said Tuesday in revising his growth estimates upward. Veteran ad spending tracker Robert Coen said the economy's continued resilience and strong advertiser demand that is pushing up prices for network TV commercials prompted him to boost his December forecast of 8.3 percent growth...

The Small Business Development Center will conduct counseling sessions at Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Perryville and Malden in July. The counselor, Gil Degenhardt, will be available July 19, 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...

Coming up Friday Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce First Friday Coffee, 7:30 a.m., Show Me Center. July 19 Business counseling sessions, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 18 Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's "Chamber Means Business" breakfast, 7:15 a.m., Holiday Inn...

Larry Bock, of Gordonville, farmer, agribusiness leader, and Cape Girardeau County Commissioner, has been named "Agricultural Leader of the Year" by the Missouri Association of County Agricultural Agents, at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Bock was recognized for, "active and vocal support of local and state agriculture and the sustaining of the family farm."...

Amy O'Kelly of Cape Girardeau has joined Marilyn's Beauty Shop, 125 N. Main in downtown Cape Girardeau. O'Kelly, formerly with Elan Day Spa, has three years experience in the beauty industry. She is a graduate of Stage One the Beauty School in Cape Girardeau...

Gene Dewrock of Cape Girardeau has joined Ford Groves Motor Co. at Jackson as salesman. Dewrock worked at Super Valu at Scott City before retiring after 27 years service.

Frank Criddle is retiring from the Southeast Missourian Friday after 48 years, 45 of them in the press department. Criddle started with the newspaper in the mail room in 1952; three years later, he moved to the press room, where he started work on a 24-page Goss Letter Press...

Microsoft is giving away a free copy of Windows 2000. It is the beta of the new Commerce Server 2000. With this beta you can quickly and easily set up shop on the Internet with Commerce Server 2000, a fully integrated e-commerce solution that combines functionality with extensive personalization and sophisticated decision support. If you are a local business considering e-commerce as a way to increase sales beyond Cape, then this may be the answer for you...

The Cape Girardeau American Legion Post wants a new one-level home because some of its members "can't negotiate the stairs" anymore. The 80-year-old Louis K. Juden Post 63 has been at 811 Broadway since 1926. "It's upstairs," said post commander Jerome "Jerry" Stauber. "We've reached the point where a new facility is a key in our continued success and service to the community. We've outgrown our current outdated building."...

JACKSON, Mo. -- The decision by the Jackson Board of Education to appropriate money for land acquisition last week has raised some questions by board member Mark Baker and some community members. Baker, who has been the lone dissenter in several school board decisions since his election in April, objected to the $2 million capital projects budget approved Tuesday night for the 2000-2001 school year...

Search efforts continue for a Cape Girardeau man still missing after a boating accident Saturday night on the Mississippi River. No name is being released by authorities until a body is recovered. However, authorities did say the man was 42 years old...

Time magazine "listened to blacks and whites talk about community policing in racially divided Cape Girardeau," but makes no other mention of the city in a 40-page special report on the "Pulse of America." The issue hits newsstands today. The report is also available online at the magazine's Web site: www.time.com...

POCAHONTAS, Mo. -- Few people standing amid the graves at Apple Creek Presbyterian Cemetery knew of John Gilliland, but they were certainly proud of what he accomplished. About 35 people attended a ceremony Sunday afternoon to honor Gilliland for his service as a soldier in the American Revolution. He is one of four Revolutionary War soldiers buried in the cemetery...

The Southeast Missourian will not publish on Tuesday, July 4. Schedule of Events At Jackson 7:30 a.m. -- Drug Free Council Fun Run 8 a.m. -- Mud Volleyball 9 a.m. -- Car and Truck Show 10 a.m. -- Noon Optimist Youth Games 10 a.m. -- Pony Rides Open 1 p.m. -- Karaoke Contest...

Two riverboats will dock today at Riverfront Park for a stop before racing up the Mississippi River. The Mississippi Queen and Delta Queen are scheduled to stop in Cape Girardeau as part of the Great Steamboat Race between New Orleans and St. Louis. The boats will dock from 8 to noon...

Without revealing too many top government secrets, Wade Stevenson, a former special agent and investigator for the U.S. Department of Defense, has woven a tale of mystery, suspense and espionage. Stevenson, a native of Southeast Missouri, was accustomed to writing technical and classified reports for the government and surprised himself a bit with the manuscript to "The Salzdorf Wellspring."...

A Cape Girardeau woman has been released from a Rome, Ga., hospital following an automobile accident Saturday that claimed the life of her husband. Mary Hunter Kinder was released late Saturday and returned to Cape Girardeau with her family. Kinder and her husband, Dr. James A. Kinder, were involved in a two-car accident three miles east of Cartersville, Ga., on Saturday...

Monday, July 3 at 7:30 p.m., City Hall, 401 Independence St., Study session at 5 p.m. Public hearings Consent ordinances (Second and third readings) New ordinances (First reading) Resolutions (Reading and passage) Other...

Muralist and chalk artist Craig Thomas and his artist/teacher wife, Elizabeth Thomas, will paint two giant drawings on concrete inside of the Broadway flood wall today. Noted for their large-scale chalk drawings of "Old Masters," the Thomases will work on 6-x-9-foot interpretations for the benefit of the riverboat passengers from the Delta and Mississippi Queens...

7:30 p.m. Monday, July 3 City Hall Action Items Power and Light Committee Street Committee...

VALMEYER, Ill. -- The Capahas' drive for the championship of the eight-team Valmeyer Fourth of July Tournament was put on hold Sunday as rain interrupted semifinal play with McDowell leading Waterloo (Ill.) 5-4 in the fifth inning. The Capahas were batting in the bottom of the fifth when rain suspended play. In a regular season game, McDowell would have been declared the winner, but in tournaments, play is suspended and picked up from the point of interruption...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Jerry Wayne Statler, 52, of Sikeston died Sunday, July 2, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born Oct. 17, 1947, in Cape Girardeau, son of John and Willie Minton Statler. Statler had resided on the family farm near Jackson and worked at VIP Industries for several years before moving to Sikeston Regional Care Center. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Jackson...

Eugene L. Farmer Jr., 76, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, July 2, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

BENTON, Mo. -- Vera Nell Huff, 71, of Benton died Sunday, July 2, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Feb. 9, 1929, in Bessville, daughter of Virgil and Vallie Robins Stone. She and Dale Huff were married Dec. 8, 1948, in Marble Hill...

Funeral for Dr. James A. Kinder will be Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at Centenary United Methodist Church. The Rev. Dr. Clayton Smith will officiate. Friends may call from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Chapel. Kinder, 82, a longtime pediatrician, died Saturday, July 1, 2000, following a car accident in Cartersville, Ga...

ON ABC, the most liberal station of the Big Three, Peter Jennings hosted a show on Jesus. What a disgrace, with their so-called scholars -- of what I don't know. To have atheists with no rebuttal by any Christians for two hours is a new low even for ABC and Peter Jennings. ...

On Tuesday, Americans will celebrate the nation's 224th birthday. What follows are excerpts from The Declaration of Independence adopted by Congress July 4, 1776. When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.. ...

To the editor: I want to applaud the editorial in the Missourian some days ago regarding the transit question. The editorial was surely right. We riders of the transit system want to have our say, and we should. We ride every day and know how it's done...

To the editor: On June 12 you had an article extolling the virtues of urban sprawl, euphemistically called new subdivisions. At the time, it inspired me to wax poetic, but since I was busy and soon to leave town for a week, I failed to act. Then, Sam Blackwell wrong his lovely column about preserving neglected beauty, and I became re-inspired...