Stories from Friday, February 21, 2003

SIKESTON -- Warmer temperatures and melting snow have given the Missouri Department of Transportation road workers a chance to catch their breaths this week. But don't expect to find members of the MoDOT Southeast District to be sitting around twiddling their thumbs. All of the salt they've used to melt snow and ice has taken a toll on the roadways, prompting the need for pothole repairs...

CHARLESTON - Mississippi County will join Charleston and East Prairie as respondents for hearings on the St. John's Bayou Basin project. "We're on board," said Presiding Commissioner Jim Blumenberg during Thursday's county commission meeting. David Brewer, Charleston's city manager, said the Missouri Coalition for the Environment and Environmental Defense has filed a motion to be included as a respondent in the water quality certification hearings...

MINER - A man will face charges including DWI, resisting arrest by flight and numerous traffic offenses after leading local law enforcement agencies on a chase. At approximately 3:47 a.m. today, two Miner police officers began the pursuit of a vehicle with Missouri plates. The chase started on eastbound Highway 62 near the Interstate 55 southbound exit, ending at 4:17 a.m. on Route K's dead end...

NEW MADRID - A move by the New Madrid County R-1 School Board will save taxpayers more than $142,000. During its February meeting, the board voted to refund a $2,120,000 general obligation bond, reducing interest rates to about 2.08 percent from about 4.21 percent. According to Paul Northington, director of business and finance for the R-1 School District, this will reduce future interest expenses by about $106,575.43 prior to reimbursement from the state for some of its costs of issuance...

State Farm Insurance Company officials and Sikeston Public School's Career and Technology Center representatives look over a damaged 2001 Dodge Stratus that the insurance company donated Thursday to the center. The car will be a teaching tool for the auto body repair class during the next school year and will be given as a prize for students in the "SHS Attendance Incentive" in May 2004...

COLUMBIA -- Six Sikeston wrestlers hit the mat in Columbia on Thursday for the first round of the 2003 state wrestling championships. Of the six, Kyle Weeks (135) and Joe Johnson (275) defeated their first round opponents to advance to the quarterfinal round, which takes place today at the Hearnes Center...

DELTA -- Sikeston's girls basketball team lost its final game of the regular season on Thursday night, falling to Delta on the road, 43-37. The Lady Bulldogs led at the end of the first quarter, only to see Delta outscore them 13-5 in the second frame...

SIKESTON - Sikeston Public School students Monday were given an auspicious start in the Buy A Bomber campaign. Almost $50,000 in war bond purchases were credited to the students before the drive had been fairly started. MOREHOUSE - After 20 years of active duty with the U.S. Army, Major Manuel Taylor of this city has retired. With his wife, the former Miss Evelyn Dickerson of Morehouse and their two daughters, Judith Carol and Patricia Ann, he will make his home here...

BERRYVILLE, Ark. - J.C. Henderson, 75, formerly of Charleston, Mo., died at 5:20 a.m. Feb. 21, 2003, at the Beverly Healthcare Facility in Malden, Mo. Born June 29, 1927, in Marston, Mo., son of the late Eli and Dora Stephens Henderson, he lived many years in Charleston where he was employed by the Enterprise Courier until retiring. Following his retirement he moved to Memphis, Tenn., where he was a member of the First Baptist Church...

The following has been making the Internet rounds in recent months and has been a staple on conservative talk radio as of late. It's an interesting and thought-provoking tale of just how the proposed tax cuts impact our economy. Though I take absolutely no credit for the authorship (I wish I had), I think it might clearly illustrate a lesson worth learning...

BORGER, Texas - Lois Marie Hahs Harvey, 82, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., died Feb. 18, 2003, in Amarillo. Born July 1, 1920, in Sikeston, daughter of the late J. Otto and Lena Smith Hahs, she lived in Borger since 1978. She had taught school at Hugoton, Kan.; Dumas, Texas; and Beaver, Okla., before retiring and was a member of Chapter CS of PEO Sisterhood and the First United Methodist Church...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Louise Boston, 93, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., died at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 19, 2003, at the Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock. Born Aug. 22, 1909, in Murray, Ky., she was the daughter of the late Herman and Zadie Wells Bridges. She was co-owner and operator of Boston's Grocery and Boston's Dairy Cream in Sikeston, where she was also a member of Hunter Memorial First Presbyterian Church...

HILLSBORO - Harrison Manley, 73, formerly of Dexter, died Feb. 19, 2003, at the St. Joe Manor in Bonne Terre. Born July 19, 1929, in Sikeston, son of the late Audie Lee and Bernice Mott Manley, he was a member of St. James Catholic Church in Potosi where he worked for the International Shoe Factory before retiring...

MATTHEWS - Hilyard Winters Sr., 72, died Feb. 17, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Sept. 23, 1930, in Tallahatchie County, Miss., son of the late Bozie and Georgia Henry Winters, he retired from farming in 1995 and was a member of Morning Star Baptist Church of Tippo, Miss...

The citizens have spoken by voting no on the PILOT, just like we voted no on the swimming pool, which now sits on Tanner Street. I just wonder how long it will take the City Council to launch another Kamikaze pilot to try to bring down the power plant...

MALDEN - Aaron Ray Brannon Sr., 91, died Feb. 20, 2003, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Born Feb. 19, 1912, in Point Pleasant, son of the late Henry and Alice Trout Brannon, he was a past member of the Parma School Board and was of the Protestant belief...