West Side Camera is under new ownership and moving to 837 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau. Three R's Plus educational supply store was previously at the site. A grand reopening is planned for Saturday.

West Side Camera's new owners -- David Baird, Tim Buerck and Jeremy Griffin -- are expanding the store's offerings to include digital cameras and accessories as well as traditional film cameras. Brand names include Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sigma and Tamron. They will also offer cleaning and repair of both film and digital cameras.

The business will also offer three-hour digital single lens reflex photography workshops on Saturdays beginning April 28. Workshops will include camera operation, editing with Photoshop and using Lightroom. West Side Camera will now also have a professional studio and darkroom for custom photo printing available for rent on a hourly or daily basis. Restoration of old family photos and historical prints, slides and negatives will continue to be offered. VHS and 8 mm tapes can also be converted into DVD format at West Side Camera.

* The former KFC restaurant, 705 E. Jackson Blvd., is being transformed into a Little Caesars Pizza. According to building permits filed at Jackson City Hall, Brian Weiss plans to remodel the building before opening a pizza business at that location. In addition to removing an exterior awning, he is also renovating the inside of the building, according to city documents. The building has been empty since the KFC closed last summer.

* The Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission has denied a request from Menards to increase the total sign area of a sign at the new home improvement store to 700 square feet. A request to increase the sign's electronic message panel to 300 square feet was approved, with the condition that the total sign area not exceed 400 square feet.

* Cape Girardeau shop Annie Laurie's Antiques, 526 Broadway, is featured in the April issue of Midwest Living Magazine. The magazine has a circulation of nearly 4 million copies, according to its website.

* Old Town Cape has received accreditation from the National Trust for Historic Preservation Main Street Center and the Missouri Main Street Connection. It is one of only six Missouri programs to receive accreditation. This is the eighth year Old Town Cape has received its national accreditation. Accreditation visits and assessments were provided by the Missouri Main Street coordinating program, a partner with the Missouri Department of Economic Development, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Old Town Cape received its accreditation as part of the National Main Street Conference from April 1 to 4 in Baltimore. The conference was attended by board member and adviser, Dr. Steven Hoffman, and staff, project manager Nicholle Hinkle and executive director Marla Mills.

* The Southeast Council on Philanthropy is hosting a conference to lead participants step by step through the fundraising process. "The Ask ... Start to Finish" will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 26 at the Cape Girardeau Public Library.

Those attending the conference will get advice from successful fundraising professionals on prospecting, database organization, donor cultivation, customer relations and moves management, using board members and volunteers, and donor confidentiality.

Speakers at the conference are Donna McGinnis, leader of the Nonprofit Management graduate program at Washington University in St. Louis; Kay Tabscott, president of Independent Development Research in St. Louis; and Wendy Dyer, a not-for-profit consultant with 18 years' experience. Registration fee is $25 per person and includes lunch from Bella Italia. The conference is free to all Southeast Council on Philanthropy members. For more information about the conference or membership in the council, contact Nancy Jernigan with United Way at 334-9634 or email admin@secoponline.org.

Southeast Missourian business editor Melissa Miller may be contacted at 388-3646 or mmiller@semissourian.com.