Heard On The Street

SUDS. Organizers of the Boonville Brewing Company LLC are still looking for investors. Julie Taylor, president, said nine pieces of the action have been sold of the 20 units available to investors. Each unit requires a $30,000 investment, 80 percent of which is subordinated debt repaid at 12.5 percent interest. The remaining 20 percent of the stake gets the investor 1 percent equity in the company. Taylor will present her case Jan. 15 to the Venture Capital Forum of the Springfield Business & Development Corporation. She said she is confident of the brewery's success and that the 11 remaining investors will be attracted through the forum.

MORE DAMN PEOPLE. The U.S. Census Bureau announced that the population of these United States is up just shy of 1 percent as 1998 begins. There are 268.9 million of us Americans, 2.4 million more than there were at the beginning of 1997. That figure is the result of 3.9 million births (at least four of which are directly attributable to SBJ staff members), 2.3 million deaths (thankfully, none of which are directly attributable to SBJ staff members), and net immigration of 827,000 people. The census folks said the nearby Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Ark., metroplex was the sixth fastest-growing metropolitan area from 1990 to 1996, increasing at a 23.7 percent clip in those six years. The nation as a whole grew by 6.7 percent in the same period. Springfield still has a way to grow before challenging the New York City metro area's 19.9 million people, even with Nixa added in. Four out of five Americans now live in what the Census Bureau defines as metropolitan areas.

BRANSON TID. The role of Rhetta in the Branson musical "Pump Boys and Dinettes" went to the second understudy Dec. 27, an 8 1/2-month pregnant second understudy at that. A fax from theater owner Maggie LaMee who also plays Rhetta Cupp in the production said she had laryngitis and Amy Davis, the understudy, was abed with the stomach flu. Susie McMonagle, great with child, took on the role, as well as a modified costume, so that the show, as they say, could go on.

BRANSON BITS. For those of you with a scorecard at home, you'll know that Tony Orlando and Wayne Newton already left early from the Yellow Ribbon Theatre, for what they said was nonpayment for their work. The two are opening this year in another theater. Their replacements are Kirby Van Burch and Philip Wellford, who Dec. 26 announced they, too, were shutting down their show at their previous digs for nonpayment. A release from the pair's attorney said owners of Magical Mansion were in arrears and wouldn't be coming current. So the show has stopped, until the magician and comic can start with a clean slate at the newly dubbed VanBurch and Wellford Theatre. In other theater-shuffling news (though unrelated to a failure to meet contractual payments), Moe Bandy will move his show in 1998 to the Anita Bryant Theatre. Bandy, who was at the Mickey Gilley Theatre playing mostly matinees, will perform three evening and three afternoon shows a week starting in the spring. This latest move comes after "It's a Cheatin' Situation." Bandy sold his Americana Theatre in 1990 and left there after 1995.

APOLOGIA. City Manager Tom Finnie has said that all Springfieldians should wave amiably as cars with out-of-state license plates make asinine traffic moves on their way to Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. After all, Finnie said, those folks are paying about a quarter of the city's operating expenses through the sales tax they pay. It is in that light the Heard on the Street authors soften last week's some-could-interpret perjorative reference to motorcycle riders, in particular members of the Gold Wing Road Riders Association, who may descend on the Queen City in 1999 for its Wing Ding with thousands of Honda enthusiasts, and they're not driving Preludes. So, dear motorcyclists, please come to Springfield and spend money. We'll even address you kindly in the street, with our car windows rolled down, and offer to unburden you of fast-food cups, gum wrappers, cigarette butts and any other biker trash you may have accumulated on your way here.

SLICE OF NICE. A dinner and dance to benefit the Springfield Little Theatre will be held Jan. 30 at the Riverside Inn. Make your reservation now in order for your name to be included in a drawing for a 1998 Cadillac Sedan de Ville. Ticket prices are $250 per couple and patron tables are available for a cost of $1,500 for a table of 10. The party starts with cocktails at 6:30 p.m. and dinner at 7. The door prize drawing and dance will follow. All proceeds benefit the Springfield Little Theatre. This is the third year for the event. For more information, please call 869-3869,

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