Stories from Wednesday, April 6, 2005

CHARLESTON -- Lonnie Fisher Johnson Jr., 26, died April 1, 2005, at his home. Born Sept. 30, 1978, in Charleston, to Lonnie Johnson of Charleston and Lorrann Fisher Johnson of Sikeston, he was a 1996 graduate of Charleston High School. In addition to his parents, other survivors include: four daughters, Qualithia McCatrey, Soronya McCatrey, Brianna McCatrey and Lorrtria Fisher of Charleston; one son, Delontre Fisher of Charleston; five brothers, Elijah Fisher Johnson, Shaundale Johnson and Evan Johnson of Cape Girardeau, Marcus Johnson of Charleston and Lavontay Johnson of Sikeston; two sisters, Sadie Johnson and Sylvanna Johnson of Sikeston; his maternal grandparents, Richard and Martha Murray of Charleston; and a special friend, Mary Ann McCatrey of Charleston.. ...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Kathleen Powell Robinson, 47, died March 31, 2005, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born July 24, 1957, in Charleston, to the late Walter and Claudia Williams Powell, she was a lifetime resident of Missouri. Survivors include: two sons, Carlos Robinson of Jonesboro, Ark., and Dominique Powell of Memphis, Tenn.; four sisters, Margaret Powell and Johnnie Mae Howard of Chicago, Christine Clark of St. ...

CHAFFEE - Stanley Brown, 80, died April 5, 2005, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee is in charge of arrangements, which are incomplete.

SIKESTON -- Pallbearers at services held Tuesday at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel for Annie Ruth Dugger, 85, who died April 2, 2005, were: Joey Clark, Brian Wood, Thomas Kirksey, Darrell Birk, Shawn Dugger and Justin McGuire.

BURFORDVILLE - Anna Lee Quade, 78, died April 4, 2005, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born March 2, 1927, in Oak Ridge to the late Oscar and Anna Hahs Schweer, she was employed by the former International Shoe Co. in Jackson for 32 years and was a member of the Burfordville Baptist Church...

UNIONTOWN - Edgar Leo Balsman, 81, died April 4, 2005, at the Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born Feb. 20,1924, in Perry County to the late Leo Andrew Balsman Sr. and Gertrude Caroline Unterreiner Balsman of Uniontown, he was owner and operator of Balsman Sales and Service where he performed auto body repair, welding and custom combining then later he taught auto body repair at Sikeston Public Schools for 24 years. ...

TULSA, Okla. -- Thomas Hershel Duncan Jr., 48, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., died Feb. 4, 2005, in Tulsa. Born Oct. 11, 1956, son of Marlene Troutt Duncan Karres of Hernando, Fla., and the late Thomas Hershel Duncan Sr., he was a 1975 graduate of Sikeston High School. He served in the U.S. Air Force and was discharged in 1979...

There are crimes and then there are crimes. But the individual responsible for stealing donated aluminum cans from the Sikeston YMCA fits into a very special category. The YMCA here has had the aluminum can donation site for over two years. Proceeds from the sales of the cans help children and families within the community. The program generates money but it also generates pride and participation...

Brenda Munger, an election judge in Miner, has a voter sign the log before voting Tuesday at Miner City Hall. Voters in Miner and Sikeston overwhelmingly approved the school bond issue.

I have a bit of a problem with you saying that prison life is easy. I am taking a course called Corrections from The University of Tennessee at Martin and I once had the same view as you until I became educated on the topic. I watched the same special and you failed to mention it was an all women's correctional facility. ...

ORAN - Aviation Machinist's Mate 3-C Herman Leon Bucher of Oran has received the Purple Heart for a fractured leg suffered in a Japanese air attack on his light aircraft carrier during the invasion of Luzon. SIKESTON - The old ticker will have to be moved up an hour come April 25, 2 a.m. for the Sikeston City Council officially adopted Daylight Savings Time at their meeting last night. This standard of time will continue until Oct. 31, 2 a.m...

BENTON - It was a sweet victory for the Sikeston R-6 and Kelly R-4 schools as voters in both districts approved their general bond obligations during Tuesday's municipal election. "The Board of Education was extremely pleased with the citizens of Sikeston," said Sikeston R-6 Board of Education President Greg Colwick. "We've always felt the public school systems are very dear to them - and they showed that by going to the polls and voting."...

BENTON - Residents in rural Scott County will now have the option of hooking on to the county's proposed public water supply district as the measure passed, 790 votes to 347 votes, during Tuesday's municipal election. Scott County Clerk Rita Milam said voter turnout was 17 percent - up from 14 percent turnout last April -and provided the following election results, which are unofficial:...

CHARLESTON - Despite key municipal positions and school board seat races, most Mississippi County voters left the decisions to others during Tuesday's election. Junior DeLay, county clerk and chief election officer, said the turnout was low at only about 20 percent of registered voters casting ballots...

NEW MADRID - It was an election marked by contrasts. Some races were won by a single vote while other seats failed to draw even a write-in candidate. Some New Madrid County municipalities will have new leaders while in many others, the incumbents easily defeated any challengers...

Your commentary on the Branson Celebration for Vietnam Era Veterans was right on. Many of us still feel entirely left out, shunned, and ignored by the nation we so gallantly served. Events like the Branson Celebration are entirely commercial and do not serve the healing process that is truly needed in this country...

POPLAR BLUFF - Joey Mack made it two-for-two at the Poplar Bluff Speedway in Poplar Bluff, MO, as he captured his second straight victory in dominating fashion last Saturday night. The young Benton, Missouri driver lapped up to the third place car en route to the $1,200 payday...

SIKESTON -- Ron Simmons of Cape Girardeau won the feature race, the Super Pro, at the Sikeston Drag Strip on Saturday. Simmons ran an elapsed time of 6.009 seconds with a dial-in of 6.001 at 113.89 mph with a reaction time of .564. Cecil Whitaker of Dexter was the runner-up in the Super Pro class with an elapsed time of 4.933 (4.91 dial-in). He averaged 135.25 mph with a reaction time of .549...

POPLAR BLUFF - The Sikeston boys and girls track and field was swept in a dual meet on Tuesday at Poplar Bluff. The boys team fell 97-49 while the girls team lost 75-66. On the boys side, Sikeston got a first place finish in the 4 x 100 meter relay race and Felante Larry was a double winner in the long and triple jumps. Sikeston also got first place finishes from Trey Stone in the pole vault and Taylor Old in the discus...

Ever since the Gracie family's Ultimate Fighting Championship hit the scene and gained popularity, an ongoing debate is going on among martial artists: Is Gracie Jiu-Jitsu really the best fighting system out there? Brazilian Carlos Gracie founded the style in the early 1900s, according to the Gracie's official Web site at www.gracie.com. The site quotes a newspaper advertisement from 1920 which documents the longstanding challenge to take anybody on regardless of size, weight or style...

SIKESTON - The Sikeston Bulldogs continued their torrid start to the baseball season with a 20-2 demolition of Poplar Bluff in five innings on Tuesday at VFW Stadium. It's the second time in three games Sikeston has posted 20 or more runs, but this was against a Class 4 SEMO Conference foe that many had pegged to give the Bulldogs a run for their money...