Stories from Thursday, August 26, 2004

BROSELEY - The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs softball team won their season opener on Wednesday afternoon by blanking Twin Rivers 11-0 in five innings in Broseley. Sikeston's Molly Brinkmeyer threw a complete game no-hitter, striking out 10 and walking just two...

The Republicans will gather in New York next week for their national convention. But unfortunately - and with the help of the national media - much of the focus will fall on the hundreds of thousands of organized and financed protest groups planning to wreak havoc on the city. If you want to know why much of the world has little respect for America, take a look at how we will present ourselves next week...

Bill Powers, River Radio manager, and Mike Conway, the 2005 general chairman of the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo, pass bags of dog food that were donated to the Sikeston Bootheel Humane Society, the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo, River Radio and Blake Shelton collected over one ton of dog food for the shelter...

SIKESTON - Cecil Stoker Daugherty, 93, died Aug. 25, 2004, at the Sikeston Convalescent Center. Born Oct. 27, 1910, in Matthews, son of the late Benjamin Gaither and Bertie May Stoker Daugherty, he was a retired farmer and member of Tanner Street Church of God...

ORAN - Norman "Catfish" Eftink, 65, died at 1:02 a.m. Aug. 25, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Dec. 18, 1938, in Oran, son of the late Frank John and Velma Ida Dannenmueller Eftink, he retired as owner and operator of E&F Masonry in Oran and was a veteran of the U.S. ...

WAPPAPELLO - Jeffrey Ray Martin, 14, died Aug. 24, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, of injuries sustained in a pedestrian/automobile accident which occurred Monday in Wappapello. Born Feb. 23, 1990, in Rockford, Ill., son of Jackie Terrell and Kurt Steiner of Wappapello, he was a freshman at Puxico High School and member of Boy Scout Troop 416 in Wappapello...

DESOTO - Bonnie Lee Sliger, 63, formerly of East Prairie, died at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 24, 2004, at the Baisch Nursing Home in DeSoto. Born Oct. 16, 1940, in New Madrid, she was the daughter of the late Joseph Edward and Hazel DeClue Bisher. She had lived in DeSoto for the past 10 years where she was a retired union cook with the Teamsters Health and Medical Camp 699 in Pevely...

SIKESTON -- Angela Beth Menz and Brian Paul Miller exchanged wedding vows in a 1 p.m. ceremony May 29, 2004, at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church before Monsignor Stephen A. Schneider, pastor. The bride is the daughter of Richard and Judy Menz of Sikeston and parents of the bridegroom are Larry and Mary Miller of Pineville, La...

SCOTT CITY -- A teenager involved in a two-vehicle accident in Scott County earlier this month has died. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Nicholas Torres, 13, of Grand Prairie, Texas, was injured along with other members of his family when a tractor-trailer rig rear-ended the van he was in on Interstate 55 in Scott County just after 2 a.m. Aug. 10. Nicholas Torres was pronounced dead at St. Louis Children's Hospital at 3:02 a.m. Tuesday...

BENTON -- A Blodgett man is in jail on charges of forcible sodomy. According to the Scott County Sheriff's Department, 17-year-old Terry Taylor of Blodgett was arrested Aug. 19 on charges of forcible sodomy against a young child. Officials aren't releasing the name or age of the minor...

CHARLESTON - Charleston High School alumni of the 20th century are gearing up for what they hope will be the biggest and best high school reunion yet. If you graduated from Charleston High School anytime between 1900 and 1999, then this reunion is for you...

SIKESTON -- In order to create a more family-friendly environment and meet increased membership goals, the YMCA of Southeast Missouri is looking to expand its current facility as early as 2007. Although the expansion is only in the planning stages, Jeff Partridge, executive director of the YMCA of Southeast Missouri, said the proposal comes from long-range goals created by the YMCA Board of Directors in 2002...

I am calling about the article, "Back to illegal drug use." The person who said, "Many of us like drugs and rely on drugs to make life more fun, regardless of they're illegal and people do them until they pass out," apparently their person is fried on drugs. ...

LILBOURN - Two bales of cotton were brought into the E.P. Coleman Co. Gin in Lilbourn Tuesday and Wednesday. This is believed to be the first cotton brought into a gin in this area. SIKESTON - The Fabric House, a new business for Sikeston, will be open to the public Thursday. The store is located at 316 E. Gladys St. in the former Hastings Grocery building, which is being remodeled...

SIKESTON - The Department of Public Safety is seeking information on the closing-time armed robbery of Sonic Wednesday. According to DPS reports, the robbery occurred at approximately 11:21 p.m. at the Sonic located at 215 N. Main. After locking the store, the victim reportedly was approached by an unknown black male in a red hooded sweatshirt. ...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Myrick have announced the engagement of their daughter, Susan Rhea, to William Bennett Marshall, son of Mr. and Mrs. Keith Marshall of East Prairie. A graduate of East Prairie High School, the future bride received a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Tennessee at Martin, and in May she graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy in Memphis with a Doctor of Pharmacy. She is employed at Beauton Dug in East Prairie...

LEAGUE RESULTS: Tuesday Senior League: 1st place team: McClendon, Gilmore, Wunderlich, Baker, 62 2nd place team: Andrews, Smith, Long, Davidson, 63 (scorecard playoff) 3rd place team: Glasscock, Feiler, Hollis, Henneman, 63 6th Annual Club Championship...

Sikeston High School sophomore Emily Taylor attempts to dig out a spike during a recent volleyball practice at the Field House. The Lady Bulldogs will open the season on the road on Tuesday against Bernie. The team won't play its first home game until Sept. 14 against Puxico...

SIKESTON -- Family and friends of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Gilliland are invited to attend a golden wedding celebration in their honor from 4 to 6 p.m. Sept. 4 at the North Acres Baptist Church in Sikeston. Wiley Eugene Gilliland and Donna Marie Gossett were married Sept. 4, 1954, at the Vanduser Church of God. J. Marshall Page performed the ceremony. The late Mary Beth Gossett attended her sister as made of honor, and Elmer Gilliland Jr. of Jefferson City served his brother as best man...