Stories from Friday, January 16, 2004

PORTAGEVILLE - Two games in a row the Portageville Bulldogs have been underdogs, but both times they have pulled out victories. They knocked off Caruthersville on Tuesday, and on Thursday night, they defeated age-old nemesis Dexter 58-54 at Portageville High School...

CHARLESTON - Maple Slough will be cleaned out, but without a consolidated drainage district other ditches in that area can't hope for the same sort of maintenance. The bid to clean out the northern 11,200 feet of the Maple Slough Ditch was awarded to the low-bidder, J&W Construction of East Prairie, during the regular County Commission meeting Thursday...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Sikeston's girls basketball team suffered is fifth loss of the season on Thursday night, falling 64-50 to area power Notre Dame. Sommer McCauley did the most damage, scoring 19 points to lead Notre Dame to its ninth win. "She's a hard-nosed player that comes right at you," said Sikeston coach Lee Brooks. "She is their key, they really feed off her. If you can stop her, you can stop their team."...

SIKESTON - Patricia Anderson and Jerry Johnson are the parents of their first child, a daughter, born Dec. 23, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Ja'Doria Laimya Unique Johnson weighed 7 pounds and was 19-inches long. Anderson, daughter of Pearllean McCauley and David McCauley, is self-employed...

BLOOMFIELD - Joe Link, 53, died Jan. 15, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Aug. 30, 1950, in Bell City, son of the late Calvin C. and Dorothy Shrum Link, he lived in Bloomfield most of his life and was a farm laborer. On Dec. 31, 1971, at Troy, Mo., he married Brenda Vaughn who preceded him in death on Feb. 5, 2003...

SIKESTON -- Although Susan Williams has no intention of leaving the Sikeston R-6 School District or the state, for that matter, it's nice to know she could if she wanted -- especially since she recently received national certification. Williams, who is in her 11th year teaching at the Sikeston Kindergarten Center, is only the second teacher in the Sikeston district to achieve the status. Cindy Mayfield, a preschool teacher at the Kindergarten Center, received national certification in 2001...

SIKESTON - George M. "Mike" Kissell, 57, died Jan. 14, 2004, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born April 4, 1946, in St. Louis, he had been employed by the Miner Nursing Center and was an elder at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Sikeston...

MAINEVILLE, Ohio - Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Charles Grady Beardslee, 84, formerly of Scott City, Mo., died Jan. 15, 2004, at the Meadowbrook Care Center in Montgomery. Born Jan. 14, 1920, at Blodgett, Mo., son of the late Paul and Frances Groves Beardsley, he retired from the U.S. Army after 27 years of service and was a veteran of World War II...

QUINCY, Ill. - Clifford "Jeff" Berry, formerly of Bloomfield, Mo., died Jan. 15, 2004, in Quincy. Arrangements are incomplete at Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield.

Medicaid services cost Missourians millions of dollars each year to provide necessary attention for those unable to provide the finances for themselves. One small portion of the Medicaid program involves "personal care services" intended to allow 37,000 elderly or disabled Missourians to remain in their own homes rather than move to nursing homes...

SIKESTON - The Sikeston Army Flying School is not one of those affected by an announcement that a number of air schools would be closed. No orders have been received in connection with the local school. BELL CITY - Joel A. Montgomery, chairman of the board of Planters Bank, announced the election of T.E. Campbell, owner of the Bell City Gin, as a new director at the annual stockholders meeting Monday...

SIKESTON -- Two juveniles are in custody after a robbery attempt Wednesday afternoon. At about 3:11 p.m. Wednesday, the Sikeston Department of Public Safety received a report of a robbery on the 500 block of Center Street. The victim, Lester Huering, 72, told the first arriving DPS officers that a white male juvenile, accompanied by several black male juveniles, knocked him to the ground and took his wallet...

Whose responsibility is it for the striping on the road leading to the four-way stop to Wal-Mart? I have nearly been hit several times by people straddling what was the white line. I'm not sure where the white line stops and starts, but it was at one time striped. Can you please answer this question for me?...

SIKESTON - Motorists should expect delays on northbound Interstate 55 next week as the girders are set for the new Diversion Channel Bridge, weather permitting. "We will have to stop traffic for 10 to 15 minutes at a time on the northbound interstate on-ramp while the procedure is under way," said Missouri Department of Transportation Resident Engineer Bob Wilson. He said the work is set for 7 am. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Jan. 23...

POPLAR BLUFF -- Sikeston's ninth grade basketball team beat Dexter in the Poplar Bluff Tournament on Thursday night, 35-26. The Bulldogs trailed by four points at halftime, but came back to outscore the Bearcats 22-9 over the final two quarters to pull out the win...