Stories from Sunday, October 19, 2003

Buttons & Bows, 122 Center St. in Sikeston, held a grand opening ribbon cutting recently. Cutting the ribbon are owners Keith and Aleta Trankler. In addition to maternity wear, children's clothing and gifts, the store offers a baby registry. Also pictured are members of the Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce and sales associates Pat Comstock and Kathy Skelton. The store is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday...

The Sikeston and Miner Convention and Visitors Bureau has completed their fiscal year for 2003 and what a year it was. When calculating all the advertising we did this year, we were very pleased. The budget for the CVB is less than $100,000 and the magazines we advertised in were the September issue of The Group Traveler, six issues of the Bus Tours Magazine, six months of the Midwest Traveler, four months of the Home and Away, six months of Southern Traveler, the 2003 Missouri Vacation Planner, three issues of Missouri Life, the 2002 Holiday insert, the 2003 Spring insert, the Sikeston Chamber of Commerce Images, the Winter 2002 and Spring 2003 issues of the Show Me-Missouri , March-September of Midwest Livings Best Vacations, the Antique and Collectibles tabloid and one full year of Missouri Meeting and Events Magazine. ...

SIKESTON - When George and Sue Simmons decided to develop a new subdivision for Sikeston, the easy part was deciding on the name. Looking over the land as crews worked to create streets and install water and sewer lines, Simmons said he scribbled several possible names then knew he hit upon just the right name - Cotton Estates...

NEW MADRID - The New Madrid County Sheriff's Department is investigating the death of a white female from the Marston area. The name of the victim is being withheld pending notification of kin. An autopsy was scheduled for Friday. In contacting the New Madrid County Sheriff's Department and New Madrid County Coroner Tim Clayton, no further was available as of press time on Saturday...

Six-year-old Hayden Samons, right, and Andrew James Smotherman, 7, found more than just leaves in their pile they raked in a front yard in New Madrid. Erica Hardin, 7, just couldn't resist tunneling into the pile then being buried by more leaves "but no sticks" provided by her friends, who fully intended on taking their own turn in the leaf pile...

SIKESTON - A drug-resistant bacteria responsible for skin infections in prisons and jails across the country has raised concerns among Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but has not yet been a problem in Bootheel facilities, according to officials...

BLOOMFIELD - Dale and Nikki Hudgens are the parents of their first child, a daughter, born at 10:15 a.m. Sept. 8, 2003, at Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Ashlynn Bailey Hudgens weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces and was 19-inches long...

JACKSON -- Through five games this season the Jackson Indians football team allowed only one team to gain more than 300 yards of offense. The Indians gave up 301 yards of offense in the first half alone Friday night and lost a SEMO Conference North battle to Poplar Bluff 28-13 at Jackson...

PORTAGEVILLE -- The Portageville Bulldogs wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard Friday night against the Fulton City (Ky.) Bulldogs. Antonio Scott opened the contest with an 87-yard kickoff return to give Portageville a lead en route to a 34-12 win for its fifth victory against only one loss...

BREESE, Ill. -- Remond Willis rushed for 240 yards and three touchdowns as the New Madrid County Central Eagles held on to defeat Mater Dei (Ill.) 39-31 on Friday night. The Eagles (5-2) led 19-9 entering the fourth quarter. A 2-yard run by Willis gave NMCC a seemingly safe 26-9 lead with 11:55 left in the game...

CHARLESTON - Michael Grimes of GH Home Furnishings in Charleston was a speaker at the National NARDA Institute of business Management Oct. 11-14 at the Whispering Woods Conference Center in Memphis. Grimes spoke on Successful Small Business Management. He covered such topics as business organization, sales training and promotion...

Artist Michael McClure paints the east wall of the Craftmaster's warehouse with the help of Emily Limbaugh, Alexandra Merrill, Emily Palmer and Ali Bedell. McClure is painting the second part of the "Historical Mural of Sikeston." The mural is a time line collage of pictures starting with the 50th anniversary of the Rodeo and going all the way back to the Mound Dweller Indians. Sikeston Missouri Arts Inc. is sponsoring the mural...

DEXTER - All year long the Caruthersville football team had doubters. But win after win, the Tigers continually answered all their critics. After an impressive 32-20 win over Dexter at Charles Bland Stadium on Friday night, if there are any doubters left, they haven't seen the Tigers...

EAST PRAIRIE -- The stars of tomorrow were on display at East Prairie High School on Friday night. Joseph Watts and Paris Tipler, two of the top young running backs in the area, went head-to-head with Watts' Charleston Bluejays topping Tipler's Eagles 28-20...

ILLIOPOLIS, Ill. - Irvin Arnold Martin, 69, died at 12:17 a.m. Oct. 17, 2003, at Memorial Hospital in Springfield. Born Aug. 5, 1934, in Scott City, Mo., son of the late Edward Joseph and Ellen Virginia Smith Martin, he was a retail clerk for National Foods and veteran of the National Guard. He was a member of the Niantic Foursquare Church in Niantic...

SESSER, Ill. - Margaret Ann Elliott Little, 72, formerly of Charleston, Mo., died Sept. 26, 2003, following an extended illness. Born Feb. 26, 1931, in Paducah, Ky., daughter of the late Hillman and Owen Barrow Hendricks, she was raised by the late Stanley T. and Eva Pearl Elliott in Charleston. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Sesser and worked for the Lyn-Gai Garment Factory for more than 30 years before retiring...

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. - Lisa Hope Ross Gribble, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., left this earth the join her Lord and Savior on Oct. 14, 2003, in Bethesda, Md. Lisa was given to Vester and Patricia Ross of Sikeston on May 19, 1965, to care for and love. Along with her parents, siblings LuAnn Elrod, Margie and Eddie Moore of Sikeston, Terri and Jack Hackney of Fort Worth, Texas, and Billy and Angie Ross of Holland, Mich., all survive. ...

SCOTT CITY - John "Buddy" Bethel, 63, died Oct. 17, 2003, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at DeLisle Funeral Home in Portageville.

BENTON - Norman William Brainer, 73, died at 12:45 a.m. Oct. 17, 2003, at his home. Born March 11, 1930, in Louisville, Ky., son of the late Clarence and Catherine Roehrig Brainer, he was a truck driver for Hedrick Concrete in Sikeston before retiring in 1992. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy...

ESSEX - Winford Lewis, 91, died Oct. 17, 2003, at Beverly Healthcare in Bloomfield. Born Feb. 21, 1912, at Flat River, son of the late James Samuel and Emma Leona Lee Lewis, he was a retired brick mason. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. He was first married to Anna Mae Lee in 1935. In 1968, he married Lorene Delay who preceded him in death in 1992...

SIKESTON - The Sikeston gridmen grappled with the Caruthersville Tigers Wednesday night in a scoreless battle, waged on the Sikeston field before a crowd of over 1,000 fans. --- SIKESTON - Malone Theatre today and tomorrow: "Slightly Dangerous" with Lana Turner and Robert Young...

SIKESTON -- Shortly after her husband of just 11 months was deployed to Kuwait, Wendy Lasters' car quit working. Normally a job Lasters would leave up to her husband, Lasters was forced to find a solution on her own. The 23-year-old decided to teach herself how to drive her husband's stick-shift truck and hasn't looked back since...

Warning: The following column may contain language that is offensive to some. But if you think it's offensive now, you wait! Ok, let me get this out of my system. I have been sitting on this column for a week and contemplating whether it deserves a place in a family newspaper. And the more I think and the more I discuss this with others, the more I see this issue as yet another block being removed from the foundation of a decent society. And as a result, it deserves mention...

In today's City Court there was someone who was fined for failure to register and in parenthesis it said "dog." Is there a new city ordinance where you have to register dogs and if so, is it just for certain breeds? The ordinance which went into effect July 4, 2003, for the city of Sikeston, specifies that pit bulls and/or any dangerous dog be registered with the city at Sikeston City Hall. This registration is mandatory...