Stories from Thursday, March 17, 2005

SIKESTON - Mr. and Mrs. Sigmund Arbaugh received a Purple Heart medal Monday awarded to their son, Cpl. Harry Roger Arbaugh, for wounds received in enemy action on the Palau group. SIKESTON - Clem Beal, vice president of the First National Bank in Sikeston, has just returned from the Nebraska Center for Continuing Education, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, where he has attended and completed the 1965 session of the School of Basic Banking. ...

I am a citizen of Sikeston and have been for 47 years. I have a nephew and a few other children are going to the school system. I noticed this year they are suppose to have a dress code over certain things. I've noticed that their dress code, there needs to be done about it. ...

MORLEY -- Ernie Robert Jones, 85, died at 10:17 p.m. March 15, 2005, at his residence. Born May 19, 1919, in Dover, Ark., son of the late Charlie and Clemmie Boze Jones, he was a farmer and served as a corporal in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He was a former member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 702 and formerly worked on electrical line constructions. He was also a member of the Hooe Baptist Church...

SIKESTON - Flora M. Hawkins, 105, died at 12:01 a.m. March 15, 2005, at the Sikeston Convalescent Center. Born Nov. 12, 1899, in Greenfield, daughter of the late Joseph and Laura McLemore, a graduate of Drury College in Springfield, she taught elementary school in Greenfield and in Kansas City for a number of years. ...

DEXTER - Landon Marcel Misouria, 22 days old, died March 15, 2005 at St. Louis Children's Hospital in St. Louis. Born Feb. 21, 2005, at St. Louis Children's Hospital, he was the son of Kimberly Haws and Demetrick Misouria of Dexter. Survivors in addition to his parents include: one brother, Demario Jones; two sisters, Hailee Casey and Romeka Jones; maternal grandparents, Johnny and Pamela Haws of Dexter; and paternal grandparents, Billie Moore of Lilbourn and Sandra Misouria of Marston...

NEW MADRID - Richard B. "Elmo" Hall, 68, died March 15, 2005, at his home in New Madrid. Born June 27, 1936, in New Madrid to the late Elmo and Alice McGill Hall, he was a member of the New Life Ministries in New Madrid and the T.C.T. and Plain Truth Ministries. In 1990, he retired from Noranda Aluminum Co. Inc...

PUXICO -- Andrea Kay Luttrull, daughter of Ralph and Carolyn Rodgers of Puxico, died March 16, 2005, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Puxico.

KELSO - Jerry Emerson Klaffer, 43, was called home to heaven on March 15, 2005, after a courageous battle with cancer. Born Jan. 19, 1962, in Paducah, Ky., son of the late James A. and Mary DeMaris Klaffer, he grew up in Brookport, Ill. After receiving his degree in radiologic science from SIU-Carbondale in 1985, he moved to Missouri. He was employed at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston for 17 years before leaving for the Cape Radiology Group where he was presently employed...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Louise Razor, 78, died at 3:45 p.m. March 16, 2005, at the Sikeston Convalescent Center. Born Feb. 25, 1927, in Jackson County, Tenn., to the late William "Pink" and Mary Moore Wilson, she lived in East Prairie most of her life and was of the Baptist belief...

DEXTER - John R. Warren, 75, died on March 15, 2005, at the Missouri Southern Healthcare Facility. Born May 29, 1929, in Tremble, Tenn., son of the late Shirley Lee and Bertha Mae Harper Warren, he was a member of the First Pentecostal Church in Dexter, a retired truck driver and a member of the Teamsters Union...

DEXTER - John Wilson McKinley, 86, died March 16, 2005, a the Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born June 16, 1918, at Advance to the late Henry and Ada Chambers McKinley, he was a member of the First Church of God in Dexter. A former employee of the Brown Sand and Gravel at Dexter, he was a veteran of the U.S. Army serving in World War II...

SIKESTON - Haley J. Bryant, 1, died March 16, 2005, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born Jan. 2, 2004, in Sikeston, she was the daughter of Joey Phillip and Lee Reynolds Bryant of Sikeston. Other survivors include: one brother, Justin Tyler Reynolds of Sikeston; one sister, Sierra Nicole Reynolds of Sikeston; her grandparents, Steve and Susie Reynolds of Oran and Terri Ferguson of Sikeston; and her great-...

ORAN -- Melba Nadine Beyer, 79, died March 16, 2005, at Delmar Gardens Nursing Center in Chesterfield. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Oran.

DEXTER - Mary Lee Burton, 73, died March 15, 2005, at her home. Born June 9, 1931, in White Oak, daughter of the late Alfred Lee and Betsie Mae Whitenberg Taylor, she lived in Piedmont and St. Louis before moving to Dexter in 1999. In 1955, in DeSoto, Miss., she married Harold Burton who preceded her in death on Feb. 23, 2001...

PORTAGEVILLE - Helen Catherine Durbin, 84, died March 16, 2005, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Aug. 24, 1920, in Portageville, daughter of the late Ida Ellen and Daniel Kingston Durbin, she was a member of the St. Eustachius Catholic Church in Portageville...

ELLISVILLE - Janice Emerson Edmiston, 92, died at 2:02 p.m. March 11, 2005, at Bethesda Meadow Nursing Home in Ellisville. Born July 8, 1912, in Morley, daughter of the late Henry Franklin and Ollie Mae Smith Emerson, she was one of the early social workers with the Missouri Division of Family Services for 27 years. ...

BLOOMFIELD - Woodie Payne, 88, died March 14, 2005, at the Beverly Healthcare. Born Oct. 26, 1916, at Bath Springs, Tenn., daughter of the late William Allen and Kathalena Tucker Strawn, she was a member of the First Baptist Church in Bloomfield and a volunteer member of the Helping Hands at the First Baptist Church...

SIKESTON - A painting and three plaques will soon be displayed at the Sikeston Library commemorating a Sikeston man's contribution to the battle against tuberculosis. Glenn Harper was a teacher at Sikeston schools until 1980 but started his teaching career in New Mexico after receiving his bachelor's degree. ...

CHARLESTON -- From a vaudeville couple and Hawaiian hula dancers to a soldier and an Easter bunny -- there's something funny-looking about those flamingos in Charleston. Beginning last Wednesday through April 9, some Charleston merchants are displaying hot pink flamingos inside and outside their businesses...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Three Southeast Missouri men are in custody on charges of possessing counterfeit money. On March 10, an indictment was returned by a Federal Grand Jury in Cape Girardeau charging John Hendrix, 28, of Malden, with possession of approximately $4,000 in counterfeit currency on Feb. ...

It's March Madness time in college basketball where the nation's top teams compete for bragging rights. The annual tournament has great appeal for a number of reasons but primarily because the athletes are students, not professionals. I think in some ways we can all perhaps relate more closely to the student athletes just a rung above the high school level...

I have read articles, and heard news stories about Governor Blunt's proposal to trim Missouri's Social Services program in regards to toughening the eligibility standards for Medicaid, and eliminating some of the service it covers all together. It is getting a lot of attention, and there are many people concerned about the impact these changes could have for Missouri citizens...

NEW MADRID - New Madrid County Central boys basketball coach Scott Kruse has resigned coaching and physical education positions to take an assistant principal position at the NMCC Middle School. Kruse, 34, spent two years coaching the NMCC basketball program after a successful coaching stint at Twin Rivers High School...