Stories from Sunday, October 3, 2004

This week brought a landmark event to Sikeston with the first action by the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority. The LCRA leveled the first of well over a hundred houses scheduled for demolition as part of a citywide effort to remove substandard structures from our community. I'm told more structures will come down this week...

MALDEN - The Malden Green Wave were unable to bounce back after their huge loss last week, falling to the Charleston Blue Jays 40-14 on their own homecoming. Charleston would strike on their first drive of the night, scoring after a 9-yard rush by Joseph Watts with 6:27 left in the 1st Quarter. The point-after-attempt was no good...

PORTAGEVILLE -- In another hard-fought contest against the Portageville Bulldogs Friday night at Vic Reaves Athletic Field, the Kennett Indians fell 27-21, however, it was Ben Foster and the Indians defense that had the challenge. The task was stopping Portageville running back Antonio Scott and the ball-control of head coach Ashley Swims' offense...

NEW MADRID -- Undefeated Caruthersville looked as good as advertised in a workmanlike 46-6 win over undermanned New Madrid on Friday. "We're just trying to keep everything humming going into districts," said Caruthersville coach David Gilmore. The 5-0 Tigers' quick-strike, high-scoring offense (51.6 points per game), which Gilmore calls "a fastbreak on grass," probably draws the most notice, but the defense certainly deserves equal "props."...

DEXTER - The Poplar Bluff Mules, who entered Friday night's contest against the Dexter Bearcats with an 0-4 record, played their best game of the season and upset the host Bearcats 24-0. The Dexter record falls to 3-2. The Mules' first three possessions of the contest in the first period looked anemic to say the least. In those possessions, Poplar Bluff gained a combined total of 10 yards and were three and out all three times...

SIKESTON - The Sikeston Bulldogs football team had its best offensive performance of the year but they still couldn't hold off the Farmington Knights on homecoming night, falling 34-13 at SPS Stadium. The Bulldogs racked up 310 yards of offense, by far their best total of the season, but they could only muster 13 points despite a season-high 17 first downs...

SIKESTON - A powerful Bulldog line, with the presence of three fleet backs, Rogers, Arnold and Walker, and fine team direction and blocking by halfback Greer, combined to give the Sikeston High School football team a splashing victory over East Prairie Friday by the score of 26 to 0 to make a running start in what promises to be a lively season...

SIKESTON - Charles Stamp Jr of Sikeston was elected chairman of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers Board of Directors. As chairman, Stamp will help lead the Board of Directors and the association in setting the operating policies and guidelines in areas including product safety and technical support, equipment statistics, market trends data, public policy representation, trade shows, education and training and more...

I would like to thank all the teams that participated in our Annual Golf Classic. The weather was great and we were able to show our out-of-town guests a little Sikeston hospitality. We are looking forward to next year's golf tournament. I would like to use my newspaper time this month to make the Sikeston and Miner communities aware of some changes going on with the Downtown Business Association. ...

SIKESTON - It is a tattoo you don't even notice, but it is a plain as the nose on her face - well, make that the eyeliner around her eyes. The tattoo has gone cosmetic. Sisters Leila Busby and Sheila Armbruster and Armbruster's daughter Melissa Jackson are walking billboards for their business, Defining Looks...

SIKESTON - Sikeston native Kelly Smith has returned home to begin her practice as a doctor of veterinary medicine. In June, Smith became an associate at the Delta Veterinary Clinic, 603 Brunt Blvd., working with Dr. David M. Morris. Explaining she has always wanted to be a veterinarian, Smith completed her undergraduate studies at Southeast Missouri State University at Cape Girardeau earning a bachelor in animal science in agriculture degree. ...

SIKESTON - E.H. "Sonny" Pullen, 86, formerly of Diehlstadt, died at 9:45 a.m. Oct. 1, 2004, at the Clearview Nursing Center. Born Sept. 1, 1918, in Pemiscot County, son of the late Alfred Edwin and Arto Oakley Pullen, he lived in Mississippi County most of his life. He was a self-employed truck driver and member of the Southside Baptist Church in Charleston...

DUDLEY - Betty Jean Kerley, 52, died at 8:02 a.m. Sept. 30, 2004, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Born Dec. 12, 1951, in Sikeston, daughter of the late Frank and Margaret Howard Ross, she was a member of Providence Missionary Baptist Church at Rock Hill...

ADVANCE - Alma Loar Mashek, 83, died Oct. 1, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born March 18, 1921, in Advance, daughter of the late Jacob and Loar Jenkins Tropf, she retired as head teller for the Bank of Advance, where she was employed for 40 years. She was a member of the United Methodist Church and Order of the Eastern Star in Advance...

CLARKTON - Sarah Glenda Redden, 64, died Sept. 30, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born May 14, 1940, in Portageville, daughter of the late George W. and Florence Birdsong Hopkins, she was of the Baptist belief. On Jan. 6, 1953, at Caruthersville, she married Melvin Neal "Pete" Redden who preceded her in death on Nov. 18, 2002...

Hopefully one of your readers can help. I would like to know what connection the following have in the family tree of James Robert Bishop and wives Mary Ellen Bishop and Ophelia Bishop: Mr. and Mrs. William Hastings (she was Maudie Beck before she married); Anna Dodson and children Margurite and Horace Dodson; Mrs. Wilburn; Bill Hollingsworth; Bill York and Billie Talley...

SIKESTON - Thomas Franklin and Sandra Ann Robison are the parents of their second son, born at 4:27 p.m. Sept. 3, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Charles Franklin Robison weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces and was 20 1/2-inches long. The former Sandra Smith, Mrs. Robison is the daughter of Doris Smith of Silo, Okla., and Vergil Smith of Marietta, Okla., and is a social worker...

Amber Coffey was named the 2004 Sikeston Senior High School Homecoming Queen during halftime of Friday night's football game against Farmington. Sikeston lost the game 34-13. A complete game story can be found in today's sports section.

CHARLESTON -- Scottie Presson would be lost without his job. With three years left to serve in his sentence, the low-level offender admits he doesn't know what he would do if he couldn't be working in the garden located on the grounds of the Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston...

Heather Moore, daughter of Johnny and Juanita Moore is the Standard Democrat's Calendar Girl for October and a finalist in the 2003 Miss Sikeston Contest. Miss Moore is currently attending Southeast Missouri State University and intends to major in accounting...

SIKESTON -- A plan to abandon the railroad tracks alongside Malone Avenue has been halted by Union Pacific Railroad. In a letter this week to Sikeston Mayor Mike Marshall, Joseph R. Bateman, senior assistant vice president of government affairs for Union Pacific, told of the railroad's intent to not proceed with the abandonment...

You are saying Bush never lies. Well, that's a lie. Bush just said Social Security was more solvent than ever. They showed it on the news. Then they turned right around and said Social Security is in a very difficult situation and is going down. If the government would leave Social Security alone and quit spending its money, we wouldn't have this problem. ...