Stories from Thursday, February 3, 2005

Missouri doesn't have a health care crisis, Missouri has a Medicaid crisis. With one million low-income Missourians receiving Medicaid benefits, the state is simply overwhelmed. Recipients are not checked annually to review their eligibility and it seems doubtful to me that the state has adequate manpower to make those mandated reviews each year. In short, Jefferson City we have a problem...

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Department of Public Safety will be testing the City Wide Emergency Alert System on a monthly basis. This test will be conducted on the second Wednesday of each month at 2 p.m. The first test of the system will be on February 9. This is a test only and in the event of inclement weather will be rescheduled for the following Thursday...

NEW MADRID - Bill Henry of New Madrid said he wishes he could have seen those turkeys Tuesday when corn and milo rained down on their heads like manna from heaven. The grain is a gift from "just a group of guys who are avid hunters but also conservationists," Henry said. "We just wanted to do something for this wildlife."...

SIKESTON -- A Sikeston man is in currently in custody on drug charges after a search warrant was served Tuesday. According to Sikeston Department of Public Safety Director Drew Juden, DPS officers served a search warrant at 408 S. Prairie for cocaine and marijuana Tuesday...

SIKESTON - Amber Nichole Williams and Christopher Lee Hubbard are the parents of their first child, a son, born at 7:26 p.m. Jan. 6, 2005, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Blaze Alexander Hubbard weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces and was 19-inches long...

ORAN - The Sikeston girls basketball team fell to 8-12 on the season with a 44-42 overtime road loss to Oran on Wednesday. Sikeston's Allison Blurton tied the game on a driving layup with four seconds in regulation to force overtime. Oran never trailed after that as they managed a 44-39 lead. Blurton hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to reach the final margin...

SIKESTON - Pvt. James A. Billington, 32, was seriously wounded in action in Belgium on Dec. 27. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. Billington were notified by the War Department last week. SIKESTON - Button up your overcoat and keep those long woolies handy - there are going to be six more weeks of winter. ...

SIKESTON - Jeremy Ray Evans, 23, died Feb. 2, 2005, at the Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born May 1, 1981, in Sikeston, he was a graduate of the New Dawn State School. Survivors include: his mother and stepfather, Patsy (Wheetley) and Roger Burns of Sikeston; two brothers, Shawn Burns of Canyon, Texas, and Cameron Burns of Amarillo, Texas; and three sisters, Lori Warren and Sherry Slayden of Diehlstadt and Pam White of Tulia, Texas...

EAST PRAIRIE - Charles Preston Anderson, 75, died at 8:06 p.m. Feb. 1, 2005, at his home. Born March 6, 1929, in Charleston, son of the late Kirb and Vern Baker Anderson, he lived in Mississippi County most of his life and was of the Baptist belief. Before retiring from the U.S. Army, he was a paratrooper in the special forces unit during the Korean War...

EAST PRAIRIE - Josephine Keen, 85, died at 7:30 a.m. Feb. 2, 2005, at her home. Born July 8, 1919, near Middleton, Tenn., daughter of the late Cullen and Rosa Fish Brown, she lived in Mississippi County most of her life. She attended the First Church of God in East Prairie...

SPRINGFIELD - Pearl Claudette Holden, 67, formerly of Sikeston, died Jan. 31, 2005, at the St. John's Hospital in Springfield. Born June 24, 1937, daughter of the late James and Velma Mays Davenport, she had lived in Springfield since 1977 and worked for Terra Cotta Creations until her retirement. She was queen mother of the Red Hat Society of the Springfield Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center...

This is to the person who had a comment in SpeakOut on Jan. 26. This President is not the only one who has dipped into Social Security. They all have since it started. So if you don't like this one, get your facts straight before calling him the only one. Then cry me a river, Crybaby...