Heard on the Street

DIRTY SLEEPING. Patrick Swayze, he of "Dirty Dancing," "Ghost" and "To Wong Fu, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar" fame, was in our fair city, oversleeping. Swayze checked in to the Gordon Elliott-owned Best Western Coach House Inn Monday night. He was on his way to Oklahoma. The North Glenstone hotel's 2 p.m. checkout time came and went. When roused at 4 p.m., Swayze distributed hugs and autographs and was on his way. He was not charged for an extra night's stay. Ah, celebrity.

MO MARKET INFO. The Missouri Department of Economic Development announced in a March news release that it has developed a stock market index made up solely of publicly traded Missouri companies. The Missouri Stock Price Index is compiled by Stockmaster, a private company, and is available via the department's home page

www.ecodev.state.mo.us

The index features all publicly held Missouri companies that are actively traded on the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ exchange. Current quotes are available on each of the 124 firms listed, and links enable researchers to view historical performance of individual companies, as well as graphical data. In conjunction with the index, the department has introduced a college-level stock market simulation game to promote the index's use by the next generation of investment professionals, the release said.

THE MAN. A true celebrity, former St. Louis Cardinal Stan Musial, will be in town April 16 to be the first recipient of the Missouri Sports Legend Award, presented by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. (The celebrated Mr. Musial's autograph adorns a baseball proudly displayed in the SBJ offices, his signature beside fellow Cardinals great Dizzy Dean.) An 11 a.m. lunch at the hall is scheduled for the award presentation. In conjunction with the event, the city and county are changing the name of Blackhawk Road to Stan Musial Drive. In time the hall of fame's address will be changed to 6 Stan Musial Dr. Tickets for the luncheon, sponsored by Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co., are available by calling 889-3100.

DE PLANE. Through the first two months of 1999, the number of passengers getting on and off planes at Springfield-Branson Regional Airport is up 5 percent. Information from the airport indicated 83,602 enplanements and deplanements through February this year, compared to 79,563 to that point in 1998. Airport officials expect annual passenger growth of about 3.5 percent per year. TWA and United Express, two of the airport's six carriers, had passenger increases in February of 18 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

STAKE YOUR CLAIM. Missouri State Treasurer Bob Holden wants to give you your money back. His office's Unclaimed Property Division holds abandoned funds for more than 2,700 people whose last known address is in Greene County. Those assets total

more than $327,000. The division will have a booth set up 9 a.m.-3 p.m. April 17 at the Super 8 Motel in Strafford for those wishing to check on the possibility of unclaimed booty. The assets represent such things as abandoned bank accounts, uncollected utility deposits, tax refunds and uncashed checks. For the Web-savvy, a searchable database at

www.sto.state.mo.us

is also available. The Unclaimed Property Division has paid out more than $562,000 in Greene County to rightful owners.

POET'S CORNER

Down goes Proposition B,

done in by city voters.

Now those who wish to carry

must be visible gun toters.

SLICE OF NICE. The Boys and Girls Club of Springfield will hold the third annual Steak & Burger Dinner April 27. Tickets went on sale April 1 for the event, which begins at 7 p.m. at the University Plaza Convention Center. The guest speaker for the event is Jackie Joyner Kersee, who will be inducted into the Boys and Girls Club Hall of Fame later this year. Individual tickets for the event are $75 and table tickets are available at $750 for a silver table, which includes eight individual dinner tickets, and $1,500 for a gold table, which includes eight individual dinner tickets and two tickets to a private reception to be held before the dinner. For more information, call Linda Perkins at 862-9249. Tickets can be purchased at the Boys and Girls Club of Springfield administrative office or at both Metropolitan National Bank locations.

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