Stories from Monday, October 4, 2004

SIKESTON - Rudella Katherine Roslen, 63, died Oct. 3, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Morehouse.

PORTAGEVILLE - Loretta Ann Baker, 56, died Oct. 1, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Dec. 27, 1947, in Tiptonville, Tenn., daughter of Lillie Blakley Williams of Portageville and the late James Lee "Tiny" Williams, she attended school in the Tiptonville School District and graduated in 1965 from Portageville High School. She had been employed by Tanksley Trucking in Cape Girardeau and Champion Trucking in Poplar Bluff...

BELL CITY - Drew Henry Carr Asher, 1-day-old son of Matthew and Kelli Steiner Asher of Bell City, died Oct. 1, 2004, at St. John's Hospital in St. Louis. Born Sept. 30, 2004, he is also survived by: his maternal grandparents, Julian and Teresa Warren Steiner of Bell City; paternal grandparents, Allen and Norma Asher of St. Clair; and aunts and uncles, Jeff and Denise Steiner Funston of Festus and Trey Laker and Michelle Asher of St. Clair...

DEXTER - Pallbearers at services conducted Saturday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home for Ada Furlong, 87, who died Sept. 28, 2004, were: Doug Rush, Gary Schmidt, Claude Mize, Mike Mize, Jared Brown and Joe Dean Hill. Honorary pallbearers were: Kenneth Baur, Jonathan Baur, Corey Schmidt and John Furlong...

LILBOURN - Vunda Sue Kimball, 70, died Oct. 2, 2004, at her home. Born Nov. 6, 1933, in Alabama, daughter of the late James and Addie Nelson Knight, she was a school cook waitress before retiring. On June 9, 1955, in New Madrid, she married Billy Ray "Buster" Kimball who survives of the home...

ESSEX - Thelma M. Hicks, 97, formerly of Iowa, died Oct. 2, 2004, at the Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Center in Dexter. Born April 18, 1907, in Casper, Wyo., daughter of the late Jesse Edward and Rose Viola Huntington Munden, she moved to Essex 24 years ago, where she attended the Methodist Church. She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star in Dexter and had attended the First Presbyterian Church in Dexter...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Preston McKinley, 48, formerly of Bertrand, died at 4:05 a.m. Oct. 4, 2004, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Arrangements are incomplete at McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston.

DEXTER - Pallbearers at services conducted Sunday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home for Mabel George, 89, who died Sept. 30, 2004, were: Gary Rogers, Jim Clay, Bill Bennett, Mike Clay, Tony Clay and Mark Roberts.

DEXTER - Pallbearers at services conducted Saturday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home for Willie Taylor, 67, who died Sept. 24, 2004, were: Johnny Taylor, Jerome Taylor, Alonzo Harris, Anthony Dennis, Sonny Dennis and Joe Lott.

The Board of Directors, administrator and staff of the New Madrid County Health Department extend a sincere "Thank You" to the following agencies, organizations, businesses and individuals who assisted with the SNS training exercise on Aug. 25. With your help, the exercise was a very successful event and underscores the fact that our county can accomplish any task when we work as a team...

I am calling about the Miner Police Department. I really have a lot of trouble with them. I am a law abiding citizen and don't try to do anything to hurt anybody but I am continually being pulled over for no apparent reason. I get tickets that aren't even justified. ...

Among the several car accidents this weekend was this two-vehicle collision in front of Jasper's gas station, 1631 E. Malone, which occurred at about 1 p.m. Sunday and held up eastbound traffic for a short period of time.

The Department of Choral Music of the Sikeston Public Schools held their fall concert "Autumn Fantasias" Sunday afternoon at the Field House. The Department is made up of choir members in eighth grade through twelfth grade. Their next performance is for Veterans Day, Nov. 11 at the Field House...

PORTAGEVILLE - A fire along the interstate slowed traffic and damaged a soybean field. At about 4 p.m. Sunday, the Portageville Fire Department was alerted to a fire along Interstate 55. The blaze began at about the 32 1/2 mile marker and spread south approximately a mile and half along the interstate's shoulder...

ADVANCE - A single-vehicle accident resulted in injuries to the car's driver. At 11 p.m. Saturday, nine miles east of Advance on County Road 261 in Cape Girardeau County, a vehicle driven by Kelly Moore, 23, of Chaffee, rounded a curve and ran off the roadway. The vehicle then overturned, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol's report...

NEW MADRID - Inside the gymnasium, the volleyball teams practiced serves along with hits and digs. Occasionally they took a lap around the court when their play failed to meet the coaches' expectations. But these teams are different from many teams practicing on the volleyball courts across Southeast Missouri. Some of the players' heads barely reach the bottom of the net and getting the ball over that net is one of the greatest challenges...

As the presidential election gets closer and the TVs are covered up with campaign ads that try to sway voters to one side or the other, it is time for voters who are not yet decided to try to choose a candidate that best represents their interests and concerns...

EAST PRAIRIE -- The East Prairie Eagles fell about 10 yards short in a heartbreaking 26-20 loss to previously winless Fredericktown on Saturday afternoon. Trailing 26-20, with less than five minutes to go and the game on the line, East Prairie (1-4) took possession on its own 30 and marched steadily downfield...

SIKESTON - Still retaining enough of a teen-age appearance to confuse most people all of the time has led to Mrs. Ida Mae Collins, 30-year-old mother of two children, attending the Sikeston High School as a sophomore without attracting the immediate publicity that such a rare event merits...