Stories from Thursday, July 18, 2002

Oh my God, what did you do? Don't act like you don't have a clue. How could you just kill someone? Was it for money, or just for fun? How could you? What were you thinking? Were you high? Or were you drinking? It doesn't matter; now he's gone. Another young black man murdered, What in the world is going on?...

SIKESTON - The mercury zoomed to 101 degrees Monday in what was probably the highest reading in Sikeston this summer. SIKESTON - Charles M. Mitchell, president of the Lions Club, made public the club committee appointments for this year at the regular noon luncheon meeting of the club yesterday. Charles L. Blanton III was named first vice president. Other appointees include: Lee Austin Bowman, Matt Williams, Raymond Crews and Ed Matthews...

I want to see if Mike will put this in the paper about the highway, new taxes and adding gasoline taxes for our roads. I wish all the disabled people, senior citizens and everybody who is not on welfare or who draw free checks, I hope we all pull together and vote no on this tax. ...

Go figure! A new Gallup poll was released this week that asked what profession was the most and least trusted in America. Teachers topped the list with an 84 per cent "trust" rating. CEOs of large corporations and managers of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) were at the bottom of the list with around a 20 per cent "trust" rating...

SCOTT CITY - Marshall Pobst, 79, died July 17, 2002, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Born Feb. 13, 1923, at Lusk Chapel, son of the late Lawrence and Effie Knight Pobst Sr., he was a farmer and member of the Broadway Methodist Church in Scott City...

SIKESTON - Donna Mae Hasty, 53, died July 18, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born Nov. 23, 1948, in Sikeston, daughter of Helen Mae Ziegenhorn Daniel of Sikeston and the late Heartsill Daniel, she was a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sikeston. She was a presser and seamstress for King's Laundry for 20 years and an Avon representative for 35 years...

ST. LOUIS - Viola Regina Dannenmueller, 87, died at 3:25 p.m. July 16, 2002, at the Green Park Nursing Home. Born Nov. 18, 1914, in Oran, daughter of the late Frank and Sophie Goetz Heisserer, she was a member of St. Gabriel's Catholic Church in St. Louis...

CLARKSTON, Mich. - James Chester Jennings Sr., 86, died July 14, 2002, at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac. Born Dec. 5, 1915, at Dexter, Mo., son of the late Carrie Jennings Chase and stepson of the late Sylvester Chase, he was a member of the Waterford Community Church in Waterford. A U.S. Army veteran of World War II and member of the Masonic Lodge, he was a tool and die maker for General Motors before retiring...

DELTA - Carol Leon Crowden, 69, died at 1:30 a.m. July 17, 2002, at his home. Born March 15, 1933, in LaMar, Ark., son of the late Mary Crowden Ferguson, he retired as a self-employed farmer and as an inseam trimmer for Florsheim Shoe Company in Chaffee. He was a member of the Little Ole Opry in Burfordville...

DEXTER - Holland A. Niederstadt, 79, died July 16, 2002, at Missouri Southern Healthcare. Born Nov. 2, 1922, in Fifty Six, Ark., son of the late Arthur and Laura Peters Niederstadt, he was a lifelong resident of Dexter and retired as a heavy equipment operator...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - W. Maxine Ancell, 77, died at 7 a.m. July 17, 2002, at the Lutheran Home. Born Feb. 18, 1925, in Chaffee, daughter of the late Edward Franklin and Audra Leota Patterson Alsobrook, she retired as an insurance clerk for the Cape Girardeau Surgical Clinic and was a member of the First Christian Church in Chaffee...

PORTAGEVILLE - Annie Lee Garrett, 87, died July 17, 2002, at the Portageville Nursing Center. Born June 29, 1915, daughter of the late John Arthur and Martha Jane Smith Weed, she was a member of the First Baptist Church in Portageville. On Oct. 12, 1931, she married Thomas Arvin Garrett who preceded her in death on Dec. 16, 1980...

HOWARDVILLE - Mr. and Mrs. John Mann have announced the engagement of their daughter, Kelly Leeann, to Darron Andrew McCracken of Cape Girardeau and formerly of Portageville. A 1998 graduate of New Madrid County Central High School, the future bride is a receptionist for Physician Associates in Cape Girardeau. She is the granddaughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Robert Mann and Mr. and Mrs. Cleo Elrod...

LILBOURN - Charles and Gwen Swain have announced the engagement of their daughter, Shannon Denise, to Paul McCane Jimerson, son of Ronnie and Loretta Jimerson of New Madrid. The future bride graduated in 1996 from New Madrid County Central High School...

SIKESTON - Hindsight is 20/20, but if St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Darryl Kile had the information from cardiac scoring he could have been pitching in tonight's game. The 33-year-old pitcher, found dead in the team's Chicago hotel June 22, had no known health problems and was not taking medication...

SIKESTON - Eric Ray and Lauren Denise Blackwelder are the parents of their second son, born at 3:49 p.m. June 26, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Nicholas Aaron Blackwelder weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces and was 20 1/2-inches long...

AUSTELL, Ga. - Kristina Marie Leible and Thomas Micheal Allmon II have announced their engagement. The future bride, daughter of Linda S. Goulding of Powder Springs and Harry Leible Jr. of Perryville, Mo., graduated in 1996 from McEachern High School in Powder Springs. She is employed by First Union National Bank...

BENTON -- The recently initiated chaplaincy unit may be new for the Scott County Sheriff's Office, but it's definitely nothing new for the three clergymen who are volunteering for the program. Rev. John Harth, pastor of Guardian Angel Church in Oran, has been an active chaplain for 15 years, with more than 500 hours of training and countless Missouri cities and counties under his belt, and over the past couple weeks, he's added another notch to that belt...

SIKESTON - Tara Shoemaker is going to have an exciting start to the school year. She will return to Sikeston Senior High Aug. 15 not only as a senior and vice president of Future Business Leaders of America, but as a national winner. The 17-year-old placed 10th in the nation in Word Processing I during a Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference conducted June 29-July 2 at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Sikeston Senior Legion Post 114 has had some wild and long baseball games this summer, but none were more wacky than the 12-inning game at Capaha Field on Wednesday night. In a game where Sikeston was one strike away from winning in the bottom of the ninth, Cape Ford & Sons rallied for five runs to tie the game. They eventually won 10-9 in the 12th on a walk-off home run by Dustin Tatum...

SIKESTON -- Leible Auto Sales took fifth place in the Musial League this year, finishing with a record of 2-10. "We improved from practice to practice and from game to game, so I consider the season a success," said Leible head coach Mike Brashear. "Every player I had got better as the season went along."...