Stories from Thursday, July 28, 2005

Editor: Probably few folks think taxpayer dollars should promote teen pregnancy, increase the frequency of single mothers, and promote transmission of sexual diseases such as HIV. Regrettably, under pressure from the Bush White House and religious groups, this is exactly what is happening. ...

DEXTER -- Pallbearers at funeral services conducted Wednesday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter for Deborah Kay Maze, 48, who died July 24, 2005, were Steve Martinez, Ray Martinez, Audie Maze, Curtis Maze, Gary Maze and Dennis Limbaugh.

SIKESTON - Pallbearers at services held Wednesday at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel for Janice Sue Scott, 60, who died July 25, 2005, were: Wayne Davidson, Timothy Harris, Jamie Scott, Michael Cartwright, Bradley Wren and Jerry Wheatley.

ADVANCE - Billie Sims Harris, 68, died July 26, 2005, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born May 4, 1937, at Advance, daughter of the late Nathan and Dortha Johnson Sims, she was a 1955 graduate of Advance High School. A homemaker, she was a member of Dongola Friendship Baptist Church and the Advance Order of Eastern Star...

ESSEX - Lee Daniel DeJournett, 78, died July 27, 2005, in the Crowley Ridge Care Center at Dexter. Born Feb. 9, 1927, at Essex, son of the late Virgil and Mary England DeJournett, he was a member of the South Pleasant Valley General Baptist Church near Essex. A self-employed mechanic in Essex, he was a veteran of the United States Army...

NEW MADRID -- Ernestine Hooks, 67, died July 26, 2005, at her home in New Madrid. Born March 22, 1938, in Catron, she was the daughter of the late Nathaniel and Isabella Miles Johnson. Her husband, Nathaniel Hooks, preceded her in death on June 12, 1988...

SIKESTON -- Mary Margaret Story Yarbrough, 25, formerly of Charleston, died at 5:30 a.m. July 27, 2005, at St. Louis University Hospital in St. Louis. Born June 17, 1980, in Sikeston, she was the daughter of Ernest E. "Pete" and Sara Margaret Sutherland Story, who survive of Charleston. ...

Katie Palmer of Thebes, Ill., was named the Miss Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo. Miss Palmer is the daughter of David and Desiree Palmer. Sarah Long of Dexter was named first alternate.

BENTON -- A collapsed tarp is to blame for rumors circulating the Kelly Elementary School roof recently caved in, superintendent Don Moore said Wednesday. Earlier this month workers began putting a new roof on the elementary school when the Hurricane Dennis system hit the area, resulting in several days of rain, Moore recalled...

ST. LOUIS -- A Sikeston woman died Wednesday at a St. Louis hospital from injuries she received when she slipped and fell down a bluff into Current River. According to the Missouri State Water Patrol, Mary Story Yarbrough, 25, died at 5:46 a.m. at St. Louis University Hospital. She had been severely injured in an accident at 4 p.m. Saturday at Shote Hole, north of Van Buren...

MINER - Residents of Miner will be the only Scott County voters with business at the polls Aug. 2. "On Aug. 2, the city of Miner will ask voters to pass a franchise tax for telecommunication services," according to a prepared statement from Miner's mayor, Mitch Thompson, and the Board of Aldermen. ...

This is in response to the person who called in about Missouri state employees driving a big car and having a new house. if that, in fact, is the truth, then they must have a spouse who has good job or has some supplemental income coming in because out of the 50 states in the United States, Missouri ranks 49th in the lowest paid state employees. ...

MATTHEWS - Mr. and Mrs. Adell Smith of Matthews are the parents of a son born at the local hospital on July 20. CHARLESTON - Dewey Schae, law student of George Washington University at Washington, D.C., and a Missouri University journalism graduate, will be the guest speaker at a joint meeting of the Kiwanis, Lions and Rotary clubs at Charleston tonight...

I've grown weary of America's race to space in recent years as costs spiral and the results are questionable. NASA is an expensive burden on taxpayers when you recognize that what we're paying for are some costly pictures of Mars or target practice with a remote comet. In short, the glory days of our moon missions are now long gone...

SIKESTON - Sikeston's Board of Municipal Utilities hasn't achieved perfection yet, but is performing well when compared with other power companies, according to BMU officials. "Typically we do better than the national average for the number of outages and, especially, on our response times and returning service times," said Wayne McSpadden, operations manager for the Sikeston Board of Municipal Utilities...

Missouri State Senator Jason Crowell speaks at the Sikeston Factory Outlet Stores Wednesday morning to promote the Sales Tax Holiday. The Sales Tax Holiday is the weekend of Aug. 5-7. As Miner, Sikeston and Scott County are all participating, back-to-school purchases may be made there during that weekend without sales tax being added to the total...

Turner SIKESTON - Lekeya Turner is the mother of her first child, a daughter, born at 7:26 p.m. May 28, 2005, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Keysheunna Jahnaé Turner weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces and was 20 inches long. Turner, employed by Walker's and Associates, is the daughter of Debbie Davis and Anthony Timmons...