Stories from Monday, April 29, 2002

NEW MADRID - Play ball! Play ball! Play ball! Play ball! It isn't an echo, it's the sound of the umpires starting games at the four new Little League fields, which officially open for play May 6 following a dedication ceremony. Nearly two years in the making, the four fields at the Hunter-Dawson Park off Highway U are part of Veterans Field, with each dedicated to local individuals who have played a role in the community, its government, its philanthropies and its youth programs. ...

WYATT - A Dexter middle school teacher was killed in a one-vehicle crash at 10:15 a.m. Saturday on U.S. 60, three miles east of Wyatt in Mississippi County. According to the highway patrol report, Susan I. Watkins, 47, of Dexter was eastbound in a 1998 Ford when it ran off the right side of the roadway. Watkins reportedly overcorrected, which caused the vehicle to run off the left side of the roadway where it overturned several times...

SIKESTON - Seven people were arrested Friday on crack cocaine charges, according to the Department of Public Safety. Byron Howard, 30, Allen Howard, 42, and Joe Lee Hatchet, 42, were arrested at approximately 11:30 p.m. when a search warrant was served at 123 South Stoddard. The arrests were a culmination of a month-long investigation in a section of government housing by the Sikeston DPS narcotics division...

I read with great interest your editorial of April 2, which discussed the character education program that has been implemented in the Strafford schools. I thought it might be of some interest to you and your readers what the Scott County R-6 Schools has done and is planning to do in regards to character education...

In response to the city's upcoming financial difficulties, one only has to look around any day of the week and see all the new vehicles that city employees are driving to see where a lot of the money has gone. I'm not talking about police cars. I'm talking about the innumerable new, best of everything vehicles being driven by all of Tim Bridges' crew. ...

SIKESTON - Doyle Horn, 70, formerly of Cardwell, died April 26, 2002, at Sells Rest Home in Matthews. Arrangements are pending at McDaniel Funeral Home in Senath, where visitation is from 10 a.m. Tuesday until service time at 11:30 a.m.

DEXTER - Kristy Lynn Becker, 31, died April 27, 2002, of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Born June 26, 1970, in Sikeston, daughter of Donald Ray and Geneva Wallace Hastings of Sikeston, she lived in Matthews and Sikeston most of her life before moving to Dexter three years ago. ...

DIEHLSTADT - Dorothy Lee Linebaugh, 76, died at 9:04 a.m. April 28, 2002, at her home. Born Dec. 14, 1925, in East Prairie, daughter of the late Albert Lee and Grace E. McClanahan Crosno Sr., she lived in Scott County most of her life. She was a member of the First Southern Baptist Church in Diehlstadt and had worked for Brown Shoe Company and then L&S Pharmacy in Charleston until retiring in 1990...

DEXTER - Willis M. Burkhart, 67, died April 27, 2002, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn. Born May 29, 1934, in Edina, son of the late Milton and Mazy Goodwin Burkhart, he lived in Ute, Iowa, most of his life before moving to Dexter in 2001. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, he was a retired truck driver and member of the American Legion...

MINER - Nannie Lue Bishop, 96, died April 24, 2002, at the Miner Nursing Center. Born Nov. 17, 1905, in Blue Springs, Miss., daughter of the late William and Mattie Miller Greenwood, she was a member of the Foster Grandparents Program and worked at the Kenny Rogers Children's Center for many years...

NEW HAMBURG - Clara H. Vetter, 83, died at 2:55 p.m. April 27, 2002, at Fountainbleau Lodge in Cape Girardeau. Born Feb. 9, 1919, in New Hamburg, daughter of the late Lawrence and Katherine Scherer Bucher, she retired as a utility worker for Thorngate Ltd. in Chaffee. She was a member of St. Lawrence Catholic Church and St. Ann Sodality...

DEXTER - Lena Elledge, 91, died April 28, 2002, at the Blanchette Place in St. Charles. Arrangements are incomplete at Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter.

BENTON - Mike Patrick, 46, formerly of East Prairie, died at 9 p.m. April 26, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Oct. 2, 1955, in Wyatt, son of the late Everett Lee and Vivian Stone Patrick, he lived in Benton for the past seven years and was of the Baptist belief. He was a foreman for Heritage Homes in Sikeston...

DEXTER - Pallbearers at services conducted Saturday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home for Eva Lefler Bleakley, 94, who died April 25, 2002, were: Steve Lefler, Dan Spence, Randy Davis, Paul Lefler, Jerry Beach and Bob Smith.

SIKESTON - Two hundred and seventy-five men, aged 45-65, registered in Sikeston Sunday afternoon at the City Hall under the fourth national sign-up of manpower, said Robert A. Dempster, Sikeston registrar. SIKESTON - Mrs. Flaire Ferrell was installed as president of the Airport PTA when the group met Monday evening in the Airport School auditorium. Melford Winde gave the invocation...

If the new elementary school goes through in New Madrid County, there is no way a young child will reach school who lives south of Morehouse by Tractor Supply with less than two hours on a bus. It takes over an hour, driving in a car going the speed limit. Missouri state law says a student shouldn't be on a bus over 75 minutes one way to school...

NEW MADRID - Before the first pitch is thrown, May 6, the City of New Madrid plans to celebrate and dedicate the new Veterans Field complex. The dedication ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. May 6 along the main walkway leading to the four fields. A flag raising ceremony will be conducted by members of the American Legion Post in New Madrid, assisted by a Missouri National Guard Unit. ...