Stories from Tuesday, October 26, 2004

ORAN - Bruce Alvin and Jennifer Noelle Fox are the parents of their seventh child, fourth daughter, born at 11:12 p.m. Sept. 24, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Natalie Marie Fox weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces and was 20-inches long...

SIKESTON -- Mr. and Mrs. Lester G. Wright have announced the engagement of their daughter, Kristin Nicole, to Michael Allen Dodds, son of Mr. and Mrs. Larry Dodds of Burlington, Iowa. A 2001 graduate of Sikeston High School, the future bride will graduate in December with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Mid-America Nazarene University in Olathe, Kan...

KELSO -- Geri Lynn Stubenrauch and Jason Wayne Lawless were married in an Aug. 7, 2004, ceremony at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Kelso before the Rev. James Seyer. The bride is the daughter of Glenn and Doris Stubenrauch of Kelso and parents of the bridegroom are Marvin Lawless of Morley and Esther Lawless of Benton...

PARMA - J.D. Bratcher, 71, died Oct. 24, 2004, at his home. Born May 3, 1933, in Catron, son of the late Dennie and Viola Blair Bratcher, he lived in St. Louis before moving to Parma in 1980. He was a retired farm laborer and veteran of the U.S. Army...

SIKESTON - Pallbearers at services scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the First United Methodist Church for Clayton D. Bohannon, 77, who died Oct. 24, 2004, will be: Mike Bohannon, Mark Wade, Greg Moore, John Bohannon, Jeff Bohannon, Gary Bohannon, Zach Bohannon and Steve Bohannon...

WOOD RIVER, Ill. - Margaret H. "Marg" Hale Armstrong, formerly of Sikeston, died at 7:25 p.m. Oct. 19, 2004, at the Eunice C. Smith Nursing Home in Alton. Born in Equality, Ill., she was the daughter of the late George L. and Grace E. Womack Hale Sr. A former member of the First United Methodist Church in Wood River, she was a member of the LCIA at Chautauqua, Junior Women's Club of Wood River and past secretary for the Wood River Social Planning Council...

SIKESTON - Robert E. "Bob" Stevener, 70, died at 4:35 a.m. Oct. 23, 2004, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born Feb. 19, 1934, in Niagara Falls, N.Y., son of Wilfred E. Stevener of Manistee, Mich., and the late Amelia A. Mesler Stevener, he lived in Sikeston since 1968. He was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War and member of American Legion Post 114...

MATTHEWS - Onie Mae Benson Wallace, 95, formerly of East Prairie, died at 7:55 a.m. Oct. 24, 2004, at Sells Rest Home in Matthews. Born Oct. 28, 1908, in Mississippi County, daughter of the late James and Nancy Kelly Benson, she was a member of the First Baptist Church in East Prairie. She lived in Mississippi County before moving to Salinas, Calif., in 1962, where she worked as a home health aide, and returned to East Prairie in 1988...

POPLAR BLUFF -- No. 5-seed Sikeston eliminated No. 4 Hillsboro in the first round of the Class 4, District 1 volleyball tournament on Monday. Sikeston (15-13) advanced with a 25-18, 25-15 win over the Lady Hawks. "Our season's alive for another night," said Sikeston coach Steve Beydler. "I'm proud of the way the girls played tonight. We played very good defense and kept the ball alive."...

NEW MADRID - A New Madrid County R-1 school teacher faces charges of rape, sodomy and distribution of a controlled substance. Rebecca Susan Sharp was taken into custody Monday and charged in Division 2 of New Madrid County Circuit Court with two counts of second degree statutory sodomy, distribution of a controlled substance to a minor and second degree statutory rape. Judge Charles Spitler set bond at $25,000...

SIKESTON - Mr. and Mrs. Garwood Sharp and son, Garwood Jr., moved from Poplar Bluff Tuesday into property owned by Roy Duncan on Vernon Street. Mr. Sharp will be associated with his father in business at Mitchell-Sharp Chevrolet Co. SIKESTON - Sale of intoxicating liquors and beer were prohibited within the Sikeston city limits for 36 hours after announcement of the defeat of Germany, the city council declared Tuesday night...

George Bush is so stupid he can't even say "nuclear," much less spell it. By the way, when Daddy Bush was president, do you remember what we had in this country? High unemployment and the economy. Well, Junior's in office now. What do we have? No jobs and bad economy. He learned well from Daddy, didn't he? You Republicans need to wake up and let's get a real man into office. Vote Kerry...

SIKESTON - While many are focused on the war in Iraq overseas, there remains a war still not won on the home front: the war on drugs. Red Ribbon Week is being celebrated this week throughout the Sikeston Public School District to secure territory in this war before it's too late...

SIKESTON -- Like any true fan, Andrea Heisserer isn't giving up on the St. Louis Cardinals just yet. The 23-year-old has invested way too much time and money to turn her back on them now. For the National League Championship Series, Heisserer waited online for three hours before getting tickets to last week's Games 6 and 7 at St. Louis, when the Cardinals made a comeback and defeated the Houston Astros to advance to the World Series...

After lengthy study and months of compiling data, the numbers are in. Missouri is smack dab in the middle of the nation when it comes to the smartest and dumbest states. Leave it to the Show Me state to fit the average. But that's not the most disturbing news. It seems that the state ranking puts Massachusetts - home of John Kerry and Teddy Kennedy - as the smartest state in the nation. That says much about the nation and the study that reported these findings...