Stories from Friday, August 9, 2002

SIKESTON - The 50th Annual 2002 Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo resumed on Thursday night with some top performances. Thursday's times and scores were improved in every event except in bareback riding. In that event, Wes Stevenson of Kaufman, Tex., won with a score of 84. Chris Harris of Arlington, Tex., took second with 79 points and Chuck Logue and Tyson Thompson each tied for third with 75 points...

Sikeston football coaches Jerry Dement, left, and Charlie Vickery fit pads on players during varsity equipment checkout on Thursday at the Field House. Sikeston's first varsity football practice will be Monday at 8 a.m.

ORAN - Clinton Andrew Taylor, 51, died Aug. 7, 2002, near Imperial of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Born Nov. 19, 1950, in Stoddard County, son of the late C.B. and Hazel Lee Hensley Taylor Sr., he was a foreman for Wheeler Steel Works in Morley and a member of the Morley Baptist Church...

SCOTT CITY - Dick Arnold Reid, 82, died at 4:45 a.m. Aug. 8, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born June 11, 1920, in Hastings, Fla., son of the late Arnold and Mina Schuman Reid, he was a self-employed farmer and served with the U.S. Navy in World War II. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Hastings, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Loyal Order of the Moose and served with the Florida Auxiliary Highway Patrol for 36 years...

CHARLESTON - Roy Lorene Fields, 92, died at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 7, 2002, at the Clearview Nursing Center in Sikeston. Born May 15, 1910, at Sulphur Creek, Tenn., daughter of the late Robert Lee and Mary Ellen Pierpoint Cherry, she was of the Baptist belief and a lifelong resident of Mississippi County...

ELLINGTON - Martha Elizabeth Forrest, 84, formerly of Mississippi County, died at 8 p.m. Aug. 7, 2002, at her home. Born Nov. 18, 1917, in Charleston, daughter of the late William Douglas and Ella Gertrude Medlin Terrell, she was a seamstress for the Famous-Barr Company. She lived in Ellington since 1976 and was of the Baptist belief...

SIKESTON -- Kidnappings are becoming all too familiar as 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart in Utah, 7-year-old Erica Pratt in Philadelphia and 7-year-old Danielle van Dam in San Diego have become household names over the past few months. While Southeast Missouri isn't at the core of abduction crimes, concerned adults are responding with an effort to teach children safety and preventative measures to ensure they won't be victims of abduction...

Sometimes the news is funnier than a comedy special and as weird as Ripley's. If you tried to make up the following news items from this week, people would not believe you. But in fact, these tidbits of information are actually items coming from the Associated Press wire about your fellow Americans. I'm sure it will make you proud...

SIKESTON - "We have 60 head of bucking horses here," said Dell Hall of Rafter H Rodeo Livestock Company Tahlequah, Okla. Add to that number 40 riding bulls and 80 head of cattle for timed events like calf roping and steer wrestling. Multiply that by about 1,300 pounds for each horse and 1,800 for each head of cattle...

CHARLESTON - The Southeast Correctional Center needs dirt - and lots of it. SECC officials and Chris Forck, the Missouri Department of Corrections's capitol improvements specialist out of Jefferson City, met with Mississippi County commissioners during their regular meeting Thursday to discuss what kind of help they could get from the county in the construction of a firing range...

The Missouri State Women's 67th Annual Championship Tournament recently took place in St. Louis. The team "What U See is What U Get" took first place in Division 3 with a 2,579 scratch. Team members are front row, from left: Vera Brown, St. Louis; Sue Gilley, Mounds (Ill.). Standing: Edith Hasten, Marshfield; Carla Saunchgrow, Troy; and Marilyn Hasty, Sikeston...

SIKESTON -- The American Legion took third place in the National League this year, then went on to place second in the year-end tournament. They were also the only team to beat the powerhouse Lions team. "It was a total team effort and I was proud of all of them," said Legion coach Todd Baker. "The kids improved from day to day."...

SIKESTON - They are the biggest, meanest athletes in rodeo and they're ready to rumble. They are the fighting bulls. "When the gate opens, they punch the clock and go to work," said Rex Dunn of Coyote Hills Rodeo Company in Hastings, Okla., "And they like it."...

I lost my billfold on July 31 at Sanders Produce Market north of Sikeston. If you found it, please keep the money and return the billfold. I need my driver's license. The credit cards have been canceled. It was brought up last year in a school board meeting about drug testing kids in the school system. ...

SIKESTON - Vote for Hess Porter for treasurer. Qualified and capable. Five years experience as assistant to present treasurer. Remember Joe Anderson for co-treasurer. He lives in Sikeston and needs a job bad. BLOOMFIELD - Rep. Tom F. Baker of Essex climaxed a bitter battle with a coalition that backed his opponent and won his bid for nomination for re-election as Stoddard County's representative to the General Assembly by garnering 3,992 votes in the Democratic primary here Tuesday...