Heard on the Street

RESIGNA T. ION. Lance T. Brown, first permanent executive director of the Urban Districts Alliance, has submitted his resignation to the organization's board, effective Nov. 12. Brown will pursue the well-known other interests. Brown took the job April 15, 1998, after Brian King had served in the position on an interim basis (and on loan from Ozarks Technical Community College) in the alliance's infancy. During Brown's tenure, parking was changed along South and Walnut to accommodate more vehicles, McDaniel Street became a two-way affair, the infamous tuning forks were done away with, Park Central Square was beautified and the Community Improvement District was established downtown. Lance T., we hardly knew ye. The UDA's board of directors will begin a search for Brown's successor immediately following a rewriting of the executive director's job description (and perhaps a reconsideration of that $65,000-plus salary). Another interim director may be named in the, uh, interim.

BOX OFFICE. In other career news, Terry Cone has left her position as manager of The Palace theater to take a job with the Missouri Division of Family Services. Cone's show business career with local movie houses spans 23 years, but now she may put to more suitable use her sociology degree (though there must be a sociology doctoral thesis in the habitu?s of Monty Python midnight shows). She also, by more than mere happenstance, is the wife of SBJ film reviewer Jim Wunderle. Best of luck, Terry, and give some thought to proposing that popcorn and Hot Tamales be WIC-approved.

WEB AND FLOW. Multiple news items concerning the World Wide Web scream out for attention. Debate on the floor of the Missouri General Assembly, both the House and Senate, will come to you live beginning with the start of the 2000 session in January. Leaders of both chambers announced Oct. 25 the technological advancement to provide legislative debate audio in real time to Internet users. "This system will bring the process to the people as it occurs," said House Speaker Steve Gaw, a Democrat from Moberly. Check out

www.house.state.mos.us

and

www.senate.state.mo.us

for further information. And your local daily Gannett newspaper is joining the electronic revolution. The Springfield News-Leader has launched its news Web site at

www.springfieldnews-leader.com

and will offer daily news, sports, business (ahem) news, weather and obituaries. Of course, the site will have to compete with

www.sbj.net

that you've already bookmarked on your browser for seminal business news, slated to offer daily content in January. Finally, and undoubtedly most enticingly, Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Stores launched a new site at

www.braums.com

Oct. 25 that will allow users to order ice cream and have it shipped anywhere in the continental United States. For Braum's aficionados in the Springfield area this is less important than it might have been a year ago, before the Oklahoma-based chain descended on the city, but expatriate Oklahomans everywhere must be cheering. "Customers in a five-state area have been able to enjoy Braum's products for the last 30 years," said Drew Braum. "Now our adventure onto the World Wide Web enables us to offer our products to people throughout the United States. We're excited about that."

LAND GRANTED. Fred Hall Oct. 25 was awarded the Gordon Warren University Outreach and Extension Land-Grant Award. If the name of the award itself is a mouthful, it's not as lengthy as the list of Hall's civic involvement. The recognition is given annually to someone who uses university knowledge and resources to assist others in the community. Hall was a member of the University of Missouri Board of Curators from 1993 to 1999. He has been a member of the Greene County Extension Council as well as past president of Cox Medical Centers and Burrell Mental Health Center, among other service.

ON THE UNITED WAY. As the Nov. 10 finale to this year's United Way campaign approaches, area organizers report the effort has reached 76 percent of its goal with $2.24 million as of Oct. 27. "Now is the time to keep pushing toward the goal," said John Twitty, co-chair of the 1999 campaign. The figure is about $108,000 ahead of that collected at the same time last year. This year's goal is to raise $2.96 million for area United Way agencies.

SLICE OF NICE. A pancake breakfast to benefit Developmental Center of the Ozarks will be held 7-9 a.m. Nov. 5. The breakfast, sponsored by the Southeast Lions Club, will be held at the DCO Adult Services Building, 1545 E. Pythian. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for children 12 and under. Village Inn is donating the pancake batter. For more information, call DCO at 831-1545.