Southwest Missouri News

Branson

Osmond announces new show

Osmond Family Theater Productions announced a new show will open Sept. 6 in the new American Jukebox Theater at 3600 W. Highway 76 Blvd. in Branson.

Jimmy Osmond's American Jukebox Show will feature billboard hits from the 40s to the present, with comedy, dancing and novelty acts from around the world.

Jimmy Osmond is producer and host of the show, which will include Branson Female Vocalist of the Year Babette Young, the Flashback Singer/Dancers and award-winning magicians The Hamners.

Osmond is currently developing new programming for Warner Brothers and has a new album release in Europe titled "Keep the Fire Burnin'." He will be performing the title song from the new album in his Branson show.

Joplin

Trans States restores flight

Trans States Airlines/American Connection is restoring its fourth Joplin-St. Louis flight that was disconnected just weeks after the terrorist attack of Sept. 11.

Beginning May 1, American Connec-tion flights will depart Joplin each business day at 7:57 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 1:43 p.m. and 4:45 p.m.

Trans World Express which was the name of the commuter airline before the merger of TWA and American Airlines discontinued its 5:49 a.m. flight to St. Louis on Oct. 1.

TWE said at the time it was cutting the flight because of the extra time it was taking to screen and handle passengers at airports. Beginning May 1, four flights also will depart St. Louis daily for Joplin at 8:46 a.m., 11:24 a.m., 2:07 p.m. and 8:18 p.m.

The additional flight the one now taking place at 1:43 p.m. will be on a 30-passenger Jetstream 41 aircraft.

"Passengers in Joplin have been supportive of our services and American Connection is pleased to respond with more available capacity to meet this increased demand," said William Mishk, vice president of marketing for the airline.

Ex-Albertson's to be auctioned

A building that previously housed a Joplin grocery store will soon be on the auction block.

An auction is scheduled at 10 a.m. April 19 for the former Albertson's grocery store at 3015 Turkey Creek Blvd.

Albertson's is selling the 69,711-square-foot building as surplus real estate. It has contracted with Higgenbotham Auctioneers of Lakeland, Fla., to handle the deal.

The building sits on 7.6 acres on the north side of Northpark Mall.

Neosho

Nursing student gains recognition

Brian Boone, a nursing student at Crowder College, is one of four state winners of the 10th annual Breaking Traditions awards, which recognize outstanding students for their exemplary vocational and interpersonal skills in nontraditional careers. A nontraditional career is one in which the majority of the work force is comprised of individuals of the opposite gender.

Boone will be honored at a reception at the Governor's Mansion on May 9, where he will receive a trophy and a certificate.

He will also be featured in a statewide calendar and poster, which will be distributed to Missouri's public high schools, career centers, vocational-technical schools and community colleges.

The goal of the Breaking Traditions awards is to oppose the gender roles traditionally seen in the work force today and to support enrollment in Missouri's technical schools. Project ENTER, Education for Nontraditional Employ-ment Roles, and the Missouri Depart-ment of Elementary and Secondary Education sponsor the awards.

Dowd's Catfish enters retail

Wondering what to fix for dinner? A four-state area restaurant hopes consumers will be tempted to buy its new frozen catfish strips.

Dowd's Catfish House, which operates restaurants in Neosho and Bentonville, Ark., will soon begin marketing a new frozen, fully cooked, microwaveable, breaded catfish strip.

The frozen line is being sold at Wal-Mart stores. Dowd's is currently producing 20,000 to 30,000 pounds of catfish each week. By the end of the year, that figure is expected to peak at 350,000 pounds per week.

La-Z-Boy drops 250 jobs nationally

La-Z-Boy Inc. plans to end manufacturing operations at two plants, eliminating about 250 jobs, as it continues restructuring its wood furniture operations. The Neosho plant will not be affected.

The Chilhowie, Va., facility, which makes furniture for the hospitality industry, will close in mid-June, with a loss of approximately 245 jobs. Production there will be shifted to the company's remaining plant in Martinsville, Va., where about 75 jobs will be added, the company said.

Manufacturing operations at the Granite Falls, N.C., plant will be phased out by July and shifted to other La-Z-Boy facilities. Eighty-two positions at Granite Falls will be eliminated, and the facility will become an expanded warehouse.

The company, which is based in Monroe, Mich., said it will take a pretax charge of $9 million, or 9 cents per share on an after-tax basis, in the quarter ending April 27 to cover employee termination costs and the write-down of certain assets and inventories.

La-Z-Boy operates a Neosho plant that employs approximately 1,000, and is one of the largest employers in the region.