Stories from Tuesday, May 21, 2002

SIKESTON - Officials and residents gathered to determine what can be done about flooding in this area were offered very little hope during Monday's meeting. Members of the Sikeston City Council were joined by representatives from area drainage districts, Scott and New Madrid county commissioners, State Rep. ...

ORAN -- A fire in Oran destroyed two houses and melted the vinyl siding of another early Monday morning. According to Battalion Chief James Watkins of the Oran Fire Protection District, the original fire started at 4:41 a.m. at the home of Dwight Dobbs and his sister, Betty Darnell, located on 115 Elm St. Neither Dobbs nor Darnell were home when the fire began...

SIKESTON -- Allergy sufferers have fought Mother Nature since the beginning of April, and while the allergy season is far from over, the good news for sniffling sneezers is that there are ways to improve their conditions. "I'm an outdoors person and it (allergy season) has almost stopped me from doing anything," said Mary Beth Lee, who suffers from mold and grass pollen allergies. ...

I would just like to say that, after reading up on the ACLU, that they're worse than communists, the biggest threat to America as we once knew it. ACLU, not too much difference from terrorists. I think Hillary Clinton would make a great president or vice president. It would be a heck of a lot better than what we have now. At least when Clinton was in office, we had jobs and money. Now we don't have either...

SIKESTON - Mrs. Fred Cooley entertained for her daughter, Goldie Jean, Saturday night in honor of her birth anniversary. SIKESTON - Three veterans of the teaching profession, who are retiring from active duty this year after having built up between them 118 years of educational service to the youth of Missouri, were honored guests at a recognition dinner served at the Rustic Rock Inn Friday night and sponsored by the Community Teachers Association of Chaffee. ...

When you look on your paycheck each week there's a category for Social Security deductions. In many cases, it's no small amount. So when you read a report out Monday that indicates as many as one in 12 foreigners obtaining new Social Security cards illegally use fake documents to receive the cards, it just makes the blood boil...

BENTON - Carol Riley of Benton and Richard Riley of Blodgett have announced the engagement of their daughter, Rhonda Rochelle, to David Aaron Robert, son of David and Carla Robert of Benton. A graduate of Thomas W. Kelly High School, the future bride graduated with an associate degree in nursing from Jefferson Community College at Louisville, Ky. She is employed by Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston...

SPRINGFIELD - The Sikeston tennis team ended its season Saturday at the Class 1A-3A sectionals in St. Louis, but three individuals will continue their season at the state tennis tournament this weekend. Senior singles player Stephen Pobst and the doubles team of junior Ryne Vickery and sophomore Peter Jones begin competition at the Cooper Tennis Complex on Friday morning...

FESTUS - The Sikeston track and field team competed in the Class 3A Sectional meet at Festus on Saturday. The Bulldogs qualified two relay teams and five individuals for the state championships at Dwight T. Reed Stadium in Jefferson City on Friday and Saturday...

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. - Mr. and Mrs. John Erickson have announced the engagement of their daughter, Jill Marie Kisslinger, to Andrew Joseph Sevic of St. Louis, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Sevic of Wyatt. A graduate of Edwardsville High School, Kisslinger is a student at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where she is working toward a degree in management information systems. She is an occupational therapist assistant at Oliver-Anderson Hospital in Maryville...

PORTAGEVILLE - Ethel Bonee, 76, died May 21, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Arrangements are incomplete at DeLisle Funeral Home.

LILBOURN - Sophia Helen Edwards, 90, died May 18, 2002, at Beverly Healthcare in New Madrid. Born Sept. 13, 1911, in Obion, Tenn., daughter of the late N.E. and Mary Berry Morgan, she was of the Baptist belief. On May 8, 1926, in Essex, she married Aaron Edwards who preceded her in death on July 12, 1979...

SIKESTON - Cecil E. Strachan, 46, died May 18, 2002, at St. Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield. Born April 30, 1956, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., son of Minnie L. Fluellen Strachan of Sikeston and the late Cecil E. Strachan Sr., he was a member of Shady Acres Church of Christ in Sikeston...

VANDUSER - Donnie Chapman, 56, died May 20, 2002, at his home. Born April 26, 1946, in Vanduser, son of the late Clarence William and Laudie Garner Chapman, he was a U.S. Army veteran and a self-employed carpenter. Survivors include: two sons, Michael Gene Chapman and Jeffrey Lee Chapman of Sikeston; one brother, Harold Chapman of Essex; two sisters, his twin Connie Reece and Mary Stalcup of Sikeston; and several nieces and nephews...

ESSEX -- Pearl Morris, 87, died May 20, 2002, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Born Feb. 14, 1915, at Lemont, Ill., daughter of the late Mort and Carrie Sadewater Cornell, she retired as a self-employed decorator and was of the Methodist belief...

WARREN, Mich. - Eugene W. Nolan, 89, died May 18, 2002, at St. John Macomb Hospital in Warren. Born March 26, 1913, in Lilbourn, Mo., he was the son of the late Joseph and Maude Moore Nolan. He was first married to Florine Ward Nolan who preceded him in death...

BENTON- Keith Henry Lee, 53, died May 20, 2002, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at Morgan Funeral Home in Advance.

DEXTER -- Virginia Parris, 80, died May 19, 2002, at the Three Rivers Healthcare North Campus in Poplar Bluff. Born June 24, 1921, in Cooter, daughter of the late John Nimmo and Jenny Frazier, she was a member of the First Pentecostal Church in Dexter...

SIKESTON - Sophia Martinez, 73, died May 19, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born April 10, 1929, in Converse, Texas, daughter of the late Crecenio and Yisdar Garcia Guzman, she was a housekeeper at the Bear County (Texas) Hospital before retiring...