Stories from Monday, April 23, 2001

The River Ridge Winery Fermentation Room was opened last weekend at the winery, located near Commerce, Mo. The Fermentation Room is an area for fine wine and food. Jerry and Joannie Smith said seating is available inside and out, and that menu selections would vary from week to week...

Consolidated Insurance Agency of Cape Girardeau has been named Underwriting Agency of the Year by United Fire & Casualty Company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for outstanding and consistent underwriting results. Alan Rausenberger, of Consolidated Insurance Agency at 1707 Mt. Auburn Road, received the award...

Lutesville Motor Co. Inc. of Marble Hill has received the President's Award, the highest honor presented by Ford Motor Co., for second time in the past three years. The award, for outstanding sales performance, customer satisfaction and business management by Ford dealers, was presented recently. Among this year's President's Award winners were 340 dealers out of more 5,500...

Ford Groves of Cape Girardeau and Jackson has received Ford Motor Company's Blue Oval Certification Award, for outstanding sales, service and facility operations. LaToye Brown, Ford Motor Co. zone manager, presented the Blue Oval certificate to Stan Irwin, Blue Oval coordinator for Ford Groves, and Bob Neff, owner of Ford Groves, during a special celebration luncheon Wednesday...

The Lee Company has been named a Sears Partner in Progress for 2000. The award is presented annually to a select group of vendor companies that supply Sears, Roebuck & Co., with quality products and services, from apparel, appliances and tool to marketing, transportation services and technology...

Area Hardee's restaurants in Southern Illinois, west Kentucky and the Cape Girardeau area have raised more than $9,000 for three social service and community agencies that provide energy assistance. The Salvation Army of Cape Girardeau will receive $1,700; the Salvation Army of Southern Illinois will receive $2,300; and the West Kentucky Allied Services will receive $5,000...

Eight members of Old Town Cape Inc., Cape Girardeau's downtown revitalization program, recently attended the National Town Meeting on Main Street, held at Indianapolis, Ind. Attending were: OTC executive director Catherine Dunlop; OTC Board president Greg Williams; Design Committee chairman Steven Hoffman; Promotions Committee chairperson Marsha Toll; Organization Committee chairperson Judith Anne Lang; OTC Board members Jerrianne Wyman and her husband, John Wyman; and OTC graduate assistance Angela Miller.. ...

Bill Duffy of Cape Girardeau has joined A.G. Edwards & Sons at the Cape Girardeau office at Independence and Kingshighway. Most recently, Duffy was a vice president for finance and treasurer at Southeast Missouri State University. He previously worked for Santa Clara University in San Jose, Calif.; DePaul University in Chicago; and as a CPA for Arthur Anderson & Company in Chicago...

Loyd and Jayne Ervin of Jayson Jewelers Ltd. recently visited a diamond mine in South Africa. The Ervins participated in the underground tour of the Bultfontein Diamond Mine in Kimberly, as guest of DeBeers Consolidated Diamond Mines, which mines and markets 80 percent of the world's diamonds...

Eric Neubert of Cape Girardeau has been elected to the Arkansas Asphalt Pavement Association Board of Directors. Neubert, of Delta Asphalt of Arkansas, will serve as the National Asphalt Pavement Association representative on the board. The Arkansas Asphalt Pavement Association, headquartered at Little Rock, Ark., represents hot mix produces, paving contractors, oil companies and other material and supplier firms...

Geraldine Stone, owner of Professional Fashion Uniforms, was named Employer of the Year by the River City Business and Professional Women's Club. Professional Fashion Uniforms, 46 Plaza Way, was founded in 1982. The company specializes in fashion uniforms for men and women, along with fitting bras and prostheses for mastectomy care...

Kimberly Bonney of Jackson recently completed two courses in occupational medicine in Pittsburgh, Pa. Bonney, who is employed by Occupational Medical Services, LLC., 60 Doctors' Park in Cape Girardeau, received certification for the National Institute of Safety and Health (NIOSH) spirometry course. Spirometry testing is used in conjunction with respirator approval for the diagnosis of potential breathing or lung problems and smoking cessation...

LeeRowan is out, Rubbermaid is in. LeeRowan, which was founded more than 60 years ago in St. Louis, became a subsidiary of Newell Co. in 1994 when it was purchased by Newell. Newell and Rubbermaid merged in March 1999 to form Newell Rubbermaid Inc., a $6.2 billion, Fortune 500 company...

Love Creations Beauty Salon has opened at 110 S. Sprigg. Mary Sloan, who is a graduate of Stage One, the beauty school in Cape Girardeau, is owner of the new salon. The shop will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday...

Unemployment rates nationwide hover around 4 percent and a good economy has opened the door to a new career for many people who might not have considered it otherwise. Surveys from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics show that nearly a quarter of the workforce in February 2000 had been with their current employer a year or less -- which indicates that people are changing jobs, and sometimes often...

At the Bellevue Bed & Breakfast, owner Marsha Toll pulled out pictures she has taken of Cape Girardeau's dirty little secret. Unfortunately, litter isn't that much of a secret. A member of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Beautification Committee, Toll has started an anti-litter campaign that could lead to an affiliation with Keep America Beautiful Inc., the non-profit environmental education organization that sponsored the famous Iron Eyes Cody ads of the 1970s...

It's not just the smaller class sizes or the caliber of the education students receive at Notre Dame Regional High School that make the school a success, school supporters say. It's the combination of a good education and family atmosphere. About 100 school supporters, teachers, students and alumni gathered for a family picnic Sunday afternoon on the school grounds. The event was the kick-off to next school year's 75th anniversary celebration...

Before the days of the steamboat, settlers would pack their belongings on a keelboat, flatboat or raft and float down the Ohio River until they hit the Mississippi. If they were lucky. Many downriver travelers never made it past Cave-in-Rock, Ill. The cave at that small Southern Illinois community became headquarters for outlaw gangs which preyed on travelers on the river...

Cape Girardeau firefighters remained on the scene Sunday night where a 40-foot-long tractor-trailer tanker filled with a "sugary material" turned over on North Spanish Street that morning. Fire Capt. Mark Starnes said the tanker turned over when the roadway it was parked on gave way at 8:54 a.m. Sunday in the 800 block of North Spanish...

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- A preservationist group's new list of Missouri's "most endangered" historic places includes shuttered hotels, neglected church buildings and decaying railroad depots. The list of 10 structures or places "highlights the variety of architectural resources we have in our state, because these are all historic and worth saving," Deb Sheals, president of the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation, said Sunday...

Ten teachers from Cape Girardeau schools will be pegged to receive a combined $100,000 in awards for excellence when winners of the first annual Edna C. Kinder Excellence in Teaching Awards are announced today. Dr. Jerry Kinder, a retired general surgeon and Cape Girardeau resident, will join schools superintendent Dr. Dan Steska to announce the award winners in a news conference at 4 p.m. at the Board of Education office, 61 N. Clark. A small reception will be held following the event...

Patryce "Patches" King, Miss Missouri 1999, will speak at the Salvation Army's annual civic dinner today. Punch will be served at 6 p.m. followed by the dinner at 6:30 p.m. at the Salvation Army office at 701 Good Hope. The Salvation Army Timbrel Brigade and Drama Team also will perform at the dinner. Cost of the event is $10 a person. Tickets are available by contacting the Salvation Army at 335-7000...

A Honor Roll 6th grade Alex Kies, Murielle Wyman. 7th grade Candice Perry. B Honor Roll 6th grade Megan Leus. 8th grade Christina Perry.

A honor roll 4th grade Rikki Doan, Alexus Gammon, Tyler Payne, Jared Siemers, Jonathan Siemers. 5th grade Erich Arvidson, Olivia Jenkins, Aleta Musgrave, Amanda Petty, Desiree Ross. 6th grade Rachel Burnett, Brie-Anne Egbuka, LaQuean Lands, Tracy Kiser, Carly Trautwein...

High honor roll 9th grade Renee Compass, Jessica Estes, Jessi Glueck, Loren Groves, Kieran Healy, Amanda Raines, Rebecca Reed, Darren Willey. 10th grade Chris Bradshaw, Angel Butler, Brandi Compass, Ashley Davis, Amanda Eades, Audrey Heisserer, Loretta Holmes, Terri McBride, Katie Mirgeaux, Megan Ressel, Hannah Robert, Kristin Schaefer, Joe Wormington...

Twenty-two Girl Scouts earned the Gold Award, the organization's highest honor Sunday during a recognition ceremony at First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. Former state Rep. Mary Kasten was the keynote speaker. The Girl Scout Gold Award has five requirements and all demand organizational, time management and leadership skills. Elks Lodge 639 purchased the Gold and Silver Award pins and hosted a dinner for the girls and their families...

The American Legion baseball season doesn't start until June, but Tom Reinagel is already getting plenty excited as he jumps into the role of manager for the Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons Funeral Home team. "I've always enjoyed working with young people and I'm really looking forward to doing this," said Reinagel. "It should be a lot of fun."...

RICHMOND, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University's softball team dropped the third game of its weekend series at Eastern Kentucky 2-1 as the Ohio Valley Conference race tightened up considerably heading into the last two weeks of the season. The Otahkians (19-20 overall, 12-4 OVC) had taken the first two games on Saturday to gain a one game lead in the league race. But Sunday's win by EKU (34-14, 12-4) vaulted the Colonels back into a first-place tie...

HEATH, Ky. -- The Cape Girardeau Central High baseball team won both its games during Saturday's Heath (Ky.) Showcase. Central (9-8) defeated Riedland (Ky.) 9-4 and then routed Heath (Ky.) 10-1. Justin Welker was the winning pitcher against Riedland, allowing four runs (two earned) and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings. Mark Wittenborn hurled a hitless 1 2/3 innings...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff was the setting for the area's best basketball players on Friday night. Picking up where the "Area's Best" all-star game left off, HoopStars Midwest sponsored this year's all-star game along with Three Rivers Community College...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Kathryn Gunderson, 87, of Seminole, Fla., formerly of Mounds, died Saturday, April 21, 2001, at Seminole Nursing Pavilion in Seminole. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Barkett Funeral Home in Mounds.

Frieda Dena Jones, 93, died Saturday, April 21, 2001, at The Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 3, 1908, at Egypt Mills, Mo., daughter of Fred and Lena Schwettman Dillingham. She and Clarence Anderson Jones were married Oct. 29, 1927, at Jackson, Mo. He died Oct. 8, 1989...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Milton A. "Milt" Stelling, 62, died Saturday, April 21, 2001, at his home in Uniontown, Mo. He was born Nov. 3, 1938, at Menfro, Mo., the son of Alonzo Joseph and Lenita Hacker Stelling. He was first married in 1959; his wife, Rosemarie, preceded him in death. He and Marian Gae Stokan were married June 30, 1979...

BERNIE, Mo. -- Naomi Canady Reynolds, 91, of Bernie, died Saturday, April 22, 2001, at Three Rivers Healthcare North Campus at Poplar Bluff, Mo. She was born Sept. 11, 1909, at Bernie, daughter of George T. and Virgie Livingston Canady. She and Theodore R. Reynolds were married in 1925. He died in 1981...

Mary Lou Snell, 74, of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, April 21, 2001, at Heartland Care Rehab Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 21, 1927, at Egypt Mills, Mo., daughter of Martin L. and Mildred L. Heise Haupt. She and George C. Snell were married Feb. 5, 1947, at Jackson, Mo. He died July 20, 1978...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Ellen C. Overton, 90, died Saturday, April 21, 2001, at Advance Nursing Center in Advance. She was born July 27, 1910, at Rumbaur, Mo., daughter of Charles and Eva Looney Scowden. She and Basil Overton were married Oct. 5, 1937, at Sturdivant, Mo. He died in 1979...

I JUST wanted to say thank you. My car broke down on the interstate, and three nice people stopped. One was the driver of an 18-wheeler. He had to stop and back all the way to us. There are still nice people. Thank you. TO THE caller who said, "The Clintons, the Kennedys, Ted Turner, the Hollywood crowd and Gore will have enough power to get by with," what do you think the rich Republicans are using? Mud tires?...

Cape Girardeau's John and Jerrianne Wyman have expanded their downtown holdings to include the Himmelberger-Harrison Building at Broadway and Fountain. They hope to soon find new tenants for the building's vacant offices. The couple purchased the building from AmerenUE and the Oliver, Oliver and Waltz law firm. AmerenUE soon will vacate the ground floor, and the Oliver firm will continue to own the fourth floor of the five-story building...

A recent audit by State Auditor Claire McCaskill shows that state agencies, boards and commissions aren't much better than local governments in complying with Missouri's Sunshine Law. The finding from McCaskill's audit that nearly 45 percent of state agencies did not respond to requests for information within the required three days wasn't quite as bad as results of her 1999 audit of 214 local governmental bodies that included rural water and library districts, city councils and village boards...