Stories from Thursday, September 6, 2001

Going back almost 10 years, the Missouri Department of health knew that all things were not right at the day care center run by Phyllis Mullins of Kansas City. Several inspections in the early '90s against the day care provider indicated the state should take action because Mullins was caring for too many children in her home...

SIKESTON - Commercial and residential construction, estimated to cost a total of $23,300 was approved in city building permits issued during August. Nine permits were issued through the office of City Clerk A.C. Garrett during the month. SIKESTON - The Rev. Robert Seal assumed pastoral duties Aug. 23 at the East Side Church of the Nazarene...

SIKESTON -- After Tuesday's disappointing loss at Marion, Sikeston soccer team turned things around on Wednesday to beat Kennett 4-1. "We improved a lot from last night," said Sikeston coach Derrick Long. "We put a couple of new guys in our defense, and it worked out for us."...

SIKESTON - Many observers in the Bootheel area say the Sikeston-Charleston football rivalry, which is the oldest west of the Mississippi River, is the best in Southeast Missouri. The series has been going on for so long that there is probably not a person alive that can remember the first Sikeston-Charleston game...

SIKESTON -- Sikeston's softball team hosted the area's most dominant softball team on Wednesday, falling to Kelly 17-0 in five innings. "We didn't get the bat on the ball like we should," said Sikeston coach Jenny Hobeck. "We didn't have as many errors as we had yesterday, but we just couldn't get on base."...

NEW MADRID - The large boat sits in the Mississippi River, seemingly unmoving as the muddy water rolls by. The sound of the slapping of the waves is lost in the constant drone of the Ponchartrain's engines and the talk of the crew as they work day and night. While their work seems to keep them in one place, the crew knows it keeps the boats and barges plying the waters of the Mississippi moving...

NEW MADRID - A dredge operation is in essence a self-contained community. With 43 employees, working in shifts of 14 days on the river and seven days off, the men and women of the Ponchartrain's crew work round-the-clock, seven days a week. In addition to the captain, there are dredge operators, boat operators, engine room personnel, deckhands, welders and galley crew...

SIKESTON - Recent tax cuts have left many organizations financially strapped and worried, not knowing what tomorrow will bring. Unfortunately Sikeston's Mission Missouri is not exempt from the changes. The group was forced to make several cutbacks, even having to call off this year's Christian Block Party which would have been celebrating its sixth consecutive year...

PORTAGEVILLE - Two men are in custody in connection with a robbery late Wednesday at a gasoline convenience store. At 11:45 p.m. Wednesday, Portageville Police were notified of a robbery at the Gas-N-Go, which is located just off the Interstate 55 interchange. Employees stated a man entered the business wearing a windbreaker, indicated he had a gun in his pocket and demanded money. After receiving the money he fled on foot into a soybean field located southwest of the business...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - A Mississippi County woman was sentenced to five years in prison on a felony drug charge. Monica Wolford, 28, was sentenced to 60 months in prison on one felony count of attempting to manufacture 50 grams or more of a substance containing methamphetamine. She appeared before U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Tuesday...

CHARLESTON - A two-and-a-half-year drug investigation ended Wednesday with the arrest of several area residents. The investigation was a joint effort between the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bootheel Drug Task Force, Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force, Cairo Federal Housing Authority Task Force, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Scott County Sheriff's Department, Mississippi County Sheriff's Department and the Charleston Department of Public Safety...

BLOOMFIELD - Pauline Jannett McCollom, 52, died Sept. 4, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born March 6, 1949, at Holcomb, daughter of the Lela Chambers Mann of Dexter and the late Lowell Mann, she was employed by Puralator in Dexter for 20 years and was a member of the Second General Baptist Church...

COMMERCE - Linus E. "Bud" Huck, 86, died at 10:34 a.m. Sept. 4, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Feb. 9, 1915, in Crystal City, son of the late George W. and Ilma Baumstark Huck, he was a riverboat captain for U.S. Steel. He was a member of H.O. Grauel Masonic Lodge 672 of Cape Girardeau, Capaha Scottish Rite Club of Southeast Missouri and St. Paul United Methodist Church in Commerce...

NEW MADRID - The Rev. William E. Henson, 79, died Sept. 4, 2001, at his home. Born Aug. 4, 1922, in Campbell, son of the late Jettie Lucy Sanford Henson Boyt of Kennett and the late Jesse Howard Henson, he was a member of the New Madrid Baptist Church and former member of Ely Baptist Church in Kennett...

SIKESTON - Christine May, 84, died Sept. 5, 2001, at the Sikeston Convalescent Center. Born Sept. 23, 1916, in Clay County, Ark., daughter of the late Joseph Lewis and Willie Lavada Wagner Murphy, she was a member of the Sikeston Community Church. On May 19, 1934, she married Oather Liddell May who preceded her in death on Oct. 5, 1980. She was also married to Robert Franklin who preceded her in death...

PUXICO - John Powell, 94, died Sept. 5, 2001, at his home. Born April 8, 1907, near Puxico, son of the late Enoch and Ella Helms Powell, he had lived all his life in Powell and had been a section worker for St. Louis-San Francisco (Frisco) Railroad lines for 37 years. A Past Master of the Puxico Masonic Lodge 596 A.F. and A.M., he had served several times as worthy patron of the Puxico Chapter 422 Order of the Eastern Star. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Puxico...

BERTRAND - Pauletta Hurley Hooper, 71, died at 4:30 a.m. Sept. 6, 2001, at her residence in Bertrand. Born Dec. 29, 1929, in Bertrand, daughter of the late Ernest and Gladys Spicer Hurley, she had lived in Bertrand all of her life. In 1949, she married Harold Eugene "Gene" Hooper, who preceded her in death on Oct. 28, 1992...

The person making the remark about a previous SpeakOut comment brought to surface something that has been bugging me for some time. I figure now is as good as any to vent. I don't understand the total disrespect some dog owners have. My yard, too, has been the bathroom for neighbors' dogs and it irritates me to no end to have to watch where I step in my own yard when I clean up my dog's "mess" every time she goes to the bathroom in my yard. ...

BENTON - Construction on the new Scott County jail will be temporarily slowed by the unexpected death of the project's foreman. Marvin Speer of Advance, who was the jail project's foreman for Penzel Construction of Jackson, died Sunday. In other Scott County Commission business, commissioners appointed Scott Moore of Miner to fill the unexpired term of Gay St. ...