Stories from Wednesday, May 15, 2002

SIKESTON -- The 12th Annual Ed Nunnelee Memorial Tennis Tournament will take place May 31 through June 2 at the Sikeston Senior High and Sikeston Country Club tennis courts. The event is the largest tennis tournament in Southeast Missouri every summer for both male and female players of all ages and experience levels...

HOLCOMB - The second seeded Mustangs from North Pemiscot 10-runned Risco's Tigers Tuesday afternoon in the 1A District 1 Tournament. North Pemiscot's Jeff Bogan threw four innings and collected five strikeouts while getting the win in the 10-0 ballgame...

DEXTER - The Class 3A, District 1 baseball tournament had no upsets in the first round on Tuesday at Dexter's East City Park. Second-seeded Kennett squeaked by Perryville 9-8; No. 3 Dexter rallied past No. 6 Doniphan 9-8; and No. 4 New Madrid County Central beat No. 5 Fredericktown 6-1...

Interstate 66 is a national project to design and construct a new east-west interstate bridging the nation from Washington, D. C., to California. Though the completed project is generations away, the early planning is now under way. That's critical to Southeast Missouri because the interstate will enter Missouri in our region and then head westward. The question of the day however is just where the interstate will enter Missouri and what route it will then take...

I want to thank Sikeston for all the tree trimmings that took place around the power lines. This is to whoever picked up the child's picnic table on a field on County Road 480. We're alongside BB Highway. We would appreciate the return of it. The wind storm blew it out there; it wasn't thrown away. A reward is offered for its return...

ADVANCE - Advance faces dark nights as the result of last month's election in which voters failed to authorize an additional 15-cent sales tax levy to pay for street lights. 40 years ago May 15, 1962 BLOOMFIELD - The Board of Education of the Bloomfield R-14 School District has accepted the application of Charles L. Nelson for principal of the high school. He succeeds Wayne Walker who resigned last month...

COLUMBIA - Ruth Ann Ashby Russell, 79, formerly of Charleston, died at 7 a.m. May 14, 2002, in Pleasant Hill. Born Sept. 28, 1922, in Charleston, she was the daughter of the late Frank Kelly and Effie Mai Anderson Ashby. A 1944 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, known then as "Cape State," she spent 14 years as a naval wife. ...

DEXTER - Dr. Ronald T. Hill, 63, died May 14, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born Feb. 23, 1939, in Cape Girardeau, son of the late T.S. and Mary Ann Hastings Hill, he was a member of the First Baptist Church in Dexter, where he served as a deacon, Sunday school teacher and was a member of the choir and men's prayer group. ...

TAMPA, Fla. - Mae E. Miller, 76, died May 12, 2002, at her home. Born Sept. 9, 1925, in Dushore, Pa., daughter of the late Edwin and Margaretta (Green) Miller, she was a certified nurse aide before retiring. On Sept. 14, 1941, she married Wesley Miller who preceded her in death on March 1, 1981...

BENTON - Lori A. Price and Trevor Michael are the parents of their second child, first daughter, born at 6:48 p.m. April 19, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Kaylyn Jo Michael weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces and was 19-inches long...

SIKESTON - Sikeston Public Schools' continuous efforts for excellence was evident Tuesday afternoon as numerous programs, organizations and students within the district were recognized as award-winners. To begin, the Sikeston Board of Education applauded two students who were first-place winners at Math Field Day, conducted in April at Southeast Missouri State University...

BENTON - Are renovations to the Scott County courthouse repairs or replacements? The answer to that question will determine whether county commissioners violated the Missouri Prevailing Wage Law or not. Commissioners met during Tuesday's county commission meeting with Elaine Welch, wage and hour investigator for the Administration and Wage and Hour Division of Labor Standards from the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, regarding the possible violation...

SIKESTON - The Sikeston High School track and field team has seen a resurgence the last few years. Last year, the team won its first district championship since 1992. And last Saturday, the Bulldogs repeated as district champs in Perryville. One of the main reasons for the Bulldogs' success has been the accomplishments of senior jump specialist Andrew Lambert...

SPRINGFIELD -- After a disappointing first round, Sikeston's golf team made a drastic turnaround in the Class 3A Golf Championships on Tuesday, moving from 13th place to sixth with a team score of 320. It was the second best team score posted in the two-day event...

MINER - As if falling tax revenues aren't putting enough of a strain on their budget, Miner officials recently received word from the Justice Department that the city owes $51,247.19. "We need to figure out how we're going to pay them," said Mayor Frank Tatum during Tuesday's meeting of the board of aldermen...

Lt. Jim McNeil and Trooper Kyle Wilmont of the Missouri State Highway Patrol look at the Heavens Watch "Heroes on Patrol" police vehicle. The vehicle, which is from Louisiana, is a memorial to all the law enforcement officers who gave their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. The car is painted as an American flag waving in the wind, with each star on the flag representing one of the 71 officers who gave his life that day...