Stories from Thursday, February 27, 2003

DYERSBURG, Tenn. -- Mr. and Mrs. James William Tarr II have announced the engagement of their daughter, Staci Renee, to Floyd Robert Sims, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gene Straw of Sikeston and the late James Sims. A 1999 graduate of Dyersburg High School, the future bride is a 2002 graduate of the University of Tennessee-Martin, where she earned a bachelor of science degree in marketing...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Notre Dame ended Sikeston's girls basketball season on Wednesday night in the Class 4, District 1 Tournament. Notre Dame didn't shoot the ball particularly well, but got several second and third attempts, pulling down 28 offensive rebounds in a 75-43 victory...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The season will be on the line tonight at Notre Dame High School when the Sikeston Bulldogs take on Notre Dame at 7:45 in the Class 4, District 1 Tournament. In what Bulldog head coach Gregg Holifield calls "one of the biggest games we've had since the 2000 district championship," Sikeston will try to upset the Notre Dame Bulldogs in enemy territory...

SIKESTON -- Mike and Jennifer Moseley have announced the engagement of their daughter, Penny Michelle, to William Kyle DeKriek, son of Rene and LaDona DeKriek of Sikeston. The future bride is employed by Applebee's. She is the granddaughter of Ben Slaten of Scott City and the late Francis Slaten...

SIKESTON - Almost one-third of the goal for a $175,000 medium-sized bomber has been reached, according to Miss Electa O'Hara, high school commercial instructor. The schools of Sikeston are carrying on this drive to purchase for the U.S. armed services the bomber through the sale of war bonds and stamps. The exact total sales to date is $56,543.75...

Mr. Jensen could not be more correct about people blaming society for an individual's actions. Society does not raise the children nor should they be expected to. Unfortunately society is forced to help provide the needs of a child, such as clothing and food, but how can we be responsible for their individual inherited traits, such as stealing, fighting, drug use, and bathing? If the parent or guardian cannot provide this type of help while the rest of us provide everything else, then the children should be taken away. ...

SIKESTON - Winter weather has once again disrupted travel in Southeast Missouri, none more damaging than a two-vehicle accident that resulted in the death of a Sikeston woman Wednesday morning. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident occurred at 9:55 a.m. ...

In an attempt to reduce state spending and balance Missouri's budget, a Republican-led House committee voted Wednesday to eliminate most Medicaid funding in a state program for children. Though Medicaid is indeed an area for cuts, the MC+ program is not the place to start. Gov. Holden, to his credit, has promised a veto. I doubt however the full House, much less the Senate, will approve the cuts...

SIKESTON - A joint effort by the Sikeston Career and Technology Center's drafting, building trades and graphic arts classes has produced what prison officials say will be a valuable training tool: a scale model of the Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston...

DES PERES - Marada Jenkins, 100, died Feb. 24, 2003, at the Des Peres Nursing Home. Born Feb. 1, 1903, in Stoddard County, daughter of the late John Berry and Martha Price Allen, she was a teacher in the Walnut Grove School District and was of the Protestant belief...

SIKESTON - Tammy Angeline DeWitt Parker, 40, died at 9:55 a.m. Feb. 26, 2003, of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Born Aug. 18, 1962, in Charleston, daughter of Lonnie and Shirley Ann Long DeWitt of Sikeston, she was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Chaffee. She was office manager for Monty's Mobile Homes in Cape Girardeau...

NEW MADRID - Mary Joanne Hunter, 80, died Feb. 27, 2003, at Beverly Healthcare in New Madrid. Arrangements are incomplete at Richards Funeral Home.

GODFREY, Ill. - Nell M. Nunn, 69, died Monday, Feb. 24, 2003, at Alton Memorial Hospital. Born Jan. 9, 1934, in East Prairie, Mo., daughter of the late Jasper Lee and Lunar Irene Narris Tinnon, she was a member of the Resurrection Lutheran Church in Godfrey...

PARMA - Vonnie Woodard, 92, died Feb. 25, 2003, at the Clearview Nursing Center in Sikeston. Born Feb. 8, 1911, in Yuma, Tenn., daughter of the late Robert and Mary Iva Bradfield, she lived in the Parma area most of her life, where she was a member of the Church of Christ...

KELSO -- Lillian Anna Reynolds, 82, died at 2:15 a.m. Feb. 26, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born March 5, 1920, in Kelso, daughter of the late Edward J. and Alma L. Heuring Seyer, she was a seamstress at the Ely Walker Factory in Scott City for 21 years and in housekeeping at Southeast Missouri Hospital for six years. ...

LaMIRADE, Calif. - Agnes Wilson Dunivan, 94, died Feb. 17, 2003, in the Sunbridge Care Center at LaMirade. Born Dec. 30, 1908, daughter of the late William J. and Docia Cline Wilson, she was a 75-year member of the Order of the Eastern Star. Surviving are one daughter, Barbara Milton of LaMirade; and one grandchild and three great-grandchildren...

CHAFFEE - Lorene Bell, 70, died at 12:40 p.m. Feb. 26, 2003, at her home. Born March 28, 1932, in Chaffee, daughter of the late B. and Laura Ross Walton, she retired as a machine operator for Thorngate Ltd. in Chaffee and Cape Girardeau. She was a member of the Northside Gospel Assembly Church in Cape Girardeau...

MATTHEWS - Irene Bruner, 89, died at 4:26 p.m. Feb. 25, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born Jan. 14, 1914, in Center Ridge, Ark., daughter of the late Alvin and May Oliger Polk, she was a member of the Church of Christ in Matthews. In 1930, she married James Thomas Jordan who preceded her in death in 1951. She married Frankie Lathum in 1954, and he died in 1966. She and Charles Bruner were married March 9, 1972, in New Madrid, and he died on July 29, 1990...

PARMA - Bill Hardesty, 76, died Feb. 25, 2003, at Three Rivers Healthcare North Campus in Poplar Bluff. Born July 18, 1926, in Charleston, son of the late Harry and Mary F. Farmer Hardesty, he lived in Parma all his life. He was a retired truck driver, veteran of the U.S. Navy and member of Grace Lutheran Church in Malden and the Veterans of Foreign Wars...

GIPSY - Larry "Dean" Lemons, 43, died Feb. 25, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Aug. 25, 1959, in Gipsy, son of Ethel Porter Lemons of Gipsy and the late William "Willie" Lemons, he was employed by VIP in Cape Girardeau for 20 years and was a member of the Berrong General Baptist Church...