Stories from Monday, May 2, 2005

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Sikeston advanced to the semifinals of the SEMO Conference Tournament with a 10-0 win over seventh-seeded New Madrid County Central on Saturday. There were no surprises as the top four seeds advanced. Sikeston, the second seed, will face No. 3 Cape Central today at 5 p.m., while top-seeded Jackson meets No. 4 Notre Dame at 3...

Audra McMillen blows bubbles Sunday afternoon with a little help from her mother Katie. Temperatures today are expected be in the low 60s.

BENTON -- What started out as a way to keep busy in eighth grade turned into a full-fledge farm project for 18-year-old Clay Mothershead. Since eighth grade the senior at Kelly High School has tended to livestock and farmed wheat, soybeans and corn as well as working other ag-related jobs. "A typical day in the summertime would begin with working on the farm and livestock," Mothershead said. "It changes from day to day. Some days I'm at work and some I'm at the farm."...

COLUMBUS, Ga. - Billy Joe Coleson, 66, died April 30, 2005, at the Columbus Hospice House. Born May 13, 1938, in Mounds, Ill., son of the late Lloyd E. Coleson and Ruby Bell Harp Coleson Rogers, he was a member of the Temple Baptist Church. He served with the U.S. ...

CARUTHERSVILLE - Bessie R. Welch, 75, died April 26, 2005, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born July 22, 1929, in Caruthersville to the late James and Myrtle Doster Sides, she was employed by the Brown Shoe Co. and as a cook for many years prior to her retirement. She was a Boy Scout leader and a member of the Temple Baptist Church, where she taught Sunday School...

ERIN, Tenn. -- Peggy Kearns, 62, formerly of Lilbourn, Mo., died April 30, 2005, at her home in Erin. Arrangements are incomplete at Ponder Funeral Home in Lilbourn.

EAST PRAIRIE -- Woodroe W. Norman, 64, died at 11:45 p.m. May 1, 2005, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Arrangements are incomplete at Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie.

Throughout the last years I have attended classes offered by TRCC at the Bootheel Education Center in Malden. I have always valued the excellent service provided there, and was even quite sad as I heard that TRCC would not be able to continue offering classes at the center. In my opinion, the close cooperation between the two institutions (TRCC & SEMO) has contributed greatly toward the diverse and somewhat unique learning environment...

I'm speaking out concerning cleanup. I believe the cities and the surrounding areas need two cleanup weeks instead of one - about six months apart. That would help to keep the cities much cleaner. I mean a major cleanup. I was calling, I read in your paper approximately a week ago in regard to the yield sign on the corner of Wallace and Moore streets in Sikeston. ...

SIKESTON - In celebration of V-E Day, Sikeston stores and other business houses and the public schools are closed today. It was officially declared V.E. Day by President Truman at 8 a.m. "The flags of freedom are flying all over Europe. For this victory we are thankful to God," declared Gen. Eisenhower...