Stories from Thursday, August 15, 2002

SIKESTON - The Scott-New Madrid-Mississippi Cooperative Association headquarters will be transferred this weekend from 515 Greer St. to Highway 60 East, superintendent H.M. Zaricor of the REA co-op announced. BLOOMFIELD - In spite of the vehement denials of everybody in the ASC from the executive director down to the office manager in Stoddard County, it is reported there are farmers throughout Stoddard County ready and willing to make affidavits of irregularities in the handling of cotton reapportionments, attempted intimidation of voters and other alleged illegal practices by ASC personnel during the recent pre-election campaign.. ...

Why do certain people's pictures get in the paper when they've been arrested on drug charges? There's a certain person who was arrested in East Prairie and I haven't seen anything about her. We call the Mississippi County Sheriff, East Prairie Police and Charleston Department of Public Safety daily, Monday through Saturday and the information you have was not given to the Standard Democrat for publication....

KELSO - Martha C. Robert, 98, died at 6:10 p.m. Aug. 13, 2002, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Born Oct. 22, 1903, in New Hamburg, daughter of the late Louis and Martha Kilhafner Westrich, she was a member of St. Augustine Catholic Church, St. Ann's Sodality and the quilting club of the church...

ST. LOUIS - Malinta Lee Butler, 41, died Aug. 12, 2002, in St. Louis. Born Oct. 9, 1960, in St. Louis, daughter of Sam and Rose Phillips Butler of Festus, she was a member of the New Testament Christian Church. Survivors in addition to her parents include: one sister and brother-in-law, Linda and George Kirk of Caseyville, Ill.; one brother, Samuel Phillip Butler of Festus; and two nieces, Sarah Butler and Melissa Sue Kirk...

CHARLESTON - Dorothy Marie Jackson, 86, died at 3:36 a.m. Aug. 14, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Nov. 28, 1915, in Wyatt, daughter of the late Albert and Bertha Mason Fields, she lived in Mississippi and Scott Counties most of her life. She retired from Brown Shoe Company in Charleston and was a member of the Cornerstone Church in Bertrand...

Have you ever started reading a great book that you just couldn't put down? Well that is exactly what the history of Primos Hunting Calls company is like. The American dream is alive and well in Mississippi, with a 26-year history of how Will Primos' hunting calls started and where Primos Hunting Calls is going...

SIKESTON - The Sikeston Black 10-year-old All-Star team finished its season with seven wins and 10 losses this summer. The team competed in four tournaments in Sikeston, East Prairie, Bernie and Bloomfield. Their best performance was a second place finish at Bloomfield...

SIKESTON - Mr. and Mrs. Jerry R. Davis have announced the engagement of their daughter, Amanda Gail, to Todd Michael Anthony, son of Dr. and Mrs. Larry J. Anthony of Sikeston. A 1997 graduate of Sikeston High School, the future bride graduated with honors in 2000 from Southeast Missouri State University at Cape Girardeau, where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi. She is pursuing a juris doctorate at the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia...

HERNANDO, Miss. - Mr. and Mrs. William Whitten Ballard have announced the engagement of their daughter, Margaret Elizabeth, to David McClain Raffety of Memphis, Tenn., son of John Ulysses Raffety of Germantown, Tenn., and Mrs. Richard Lawrence Bach of Cordova, Tenn...

JACKSON - Sheila K. Williams and Terry L. Steele were married June 22, 2002, in Las Vegas, Nev. The double-ring ceremony was performed by the Rev. J.O. Freshner. The bride is the daughter of Delbert and Ruby Williams of Jackson and her husband is the son of Gladys Steele of Cape Girardeau and the late Leslie "Bud" Steele...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The New Hamburg 12-and-under softball team suffered a 1-0 loss to Liberty Recreation in the Babe Ruth World Series on Wednesday in Louisville. Liberty held New Hamburg to one hit in the game. They plated the winning run in the top of the fifth inning...

There's rarely anything to celebrate when the state of Missouri executes someone. Wednesday's execution of Daniel Basile is no different. Basile, convicted in a murder-for-hire scheme in 1992, was put to death Wednesday night following a 22-hour reprieve from Gov. Bob Holden. In the end the courts found insufficient evidence of any wrongdoing during his trial and Basile died by lethal injection...

CANALOU - As a result of an audit conducted of the City of Canalou, officials more money is going out than is coming in to some funds. During 2001, the City of Canalou spent more than it received in the General Fund. "If this trend continues, the city's reserves will be depleted and the city will be unable to provide basic services in the future," the Missouri State Auditor's office stated in their report...

SIKESTON -- "Busy, busy!" was the phrase loan originator Michele Knickman used to describe her current working conditions as 30-year mortgage rates plunged to a 32-year low last week, resetting the record from two weeks ago. "People who are refinancing their older mortgages are having phenomenal savings," said Knickman, who works at U.S. Bank. "Some people are worried about the closing costs, but in the end, there are long-term benefits."...

SIKESTON - As students filed into their respective schools this morning, eager to see what the day would bring, Sikeston Public School officials breathed a sigh of relief. They had a great deal to do this summer to get ready for today and they did it...

Susan Dillender kisses her son goodbye before he and the rest of the Sikeston 12-year-olds leave for the Cal Ripken World Series Wednesday afternoon.

MINER -- Budget talk, a tax levy and election results were among the topics in Miner Tuesday. According to Miner City Clerk Janet Tuttle, the board held an unusually quiet meeting. The council agreed to amend the budget of 2001-2002 and in turn passed a new budget for 2002-2003. A tax rate levy of 19 cents per $100 evaluation was approved, which is the same it's been for several years, Tuttle said...