Stories from Saturday, July 30, 2005

SIKESTON -- Family and friends of J.W. and OmaLeane Dewitt Nelson are invited to attend the couple's 50th wedding anniversary celebration from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 6 at the Bement Baptist Church Activity Building off CC Highway on County Road 408...

BENTON -- John and Nancy Buell have announced the engagement of their daughter, Alicia Ann Crook, to Andrew John King, son of Almos Leo and Leona King of Benton. A 1999 graduate of Kelly High School,the future bride is a student at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. She is employed at Osco in Kansas City...

LILBOURN -- Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Creasy have announced the engagement of their daughter, Heather Ann, to Floyd Robert Frye, son of Randy Frye of Risco and Patty Frye of New Madrid. A 2000 graduate of New Madrid County Central High School, the future bride is employed by Short Cuts Hair Salon in New Madrid...

COLUMBIA -- Karen and Carl Althage and Kenny Cook, all of Columbia, have announced the engagement of their daughter, Stephanie Gail Cook, to Steve L. Isaacs, son of Terry and Sheila Berry Isaccs of Morley. A 1999 graduate of Rockbridge High School, the future bride is a stylist and owner of Bella Salon in Columbia...

SIKESTON -- Lisa Anderson of Sikeston and Darren Launius of Jackson have announced the engagement of their daughter, Brandi Washer, to Robert Williams, son of Dean Williams of Charleston and the late Cheryl Bowers. The future bride is employed by the Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center in East Prairie, and her fiance works for Bizzell Lawncare in Sikeston...

SIKESTON - The smell of barbecue wafts from behind the serving counter. It is a familiar smell but a new face smiling from behind the counter and a new name over the doorway. On May 2, Jimmy and Tami Allen opened Tami's Bar-B-Q at 1609 E. Malone Ave., a location which for years was home to the Sikeston landmark, Bo's Barbecue...

SIKESTON - Sikeston's little league baseball program has put out some top- notch all-star teams in year's past. Every year it seems different age groups are competing for state championships and even World Series appearances. But with all of Sikeston's impressive tradition, there may not be a more dominating team than this year's 10-year-old all-star squad...

SIKESTON - The Sikeston 14-year-old Junior Babe Ruth All-Stars lost in the semifinals to Mineral Area on Friday afternoon 6-2 in the Missouri State Tournament at VFW Stadium. Sikeston was scheduled to play in the loser's bracket on Friday night but results were not available at press time...

SIKESTON - Public Safety Officer Patrick Burns was recently honored as the DPS Employee of the Third Quarter. Mayor Mike Marshall presented Burns with a plaque and check and related how Taylor lifted a car off of a victim who was trapped under it and needed immediate extrication. "This action is indicative of the level of duty and professionalism Officer Taylor brings when he arrives on duty," Marshall said. "He is unafraid to apply himself to any task without regard to his own safety."...

MILWAUKEE -- The Northwestern Mutual Foundation announced that David Hahs of Cape Girardeau, Mo., is an "Outstanding Volunteer" in Northwestern Mutual's national Community Service Award program. Hahs was selected as a winner for his outstanding contribution to Saxony Lutheran High School, which draws students from throughout Southeast Missouri...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The Saint Francis Medical Center Sleep Disorders Center received a Certificate of Accreditation from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), making it is the first laboratory in Southeast Missouri to earn this accreditation. To obtain accreditation, applicants must employ skilled and experienced sleep specialists, provide a comfortable sleep lab environment and develop individualized treatment plans tailored to the unique diagnosis of each patient. ...

MADISON, Ind. - Harlan F. Kriete, 86, died at 9:50 a.m. July 28, 2005, at King's Daughters' Hospital in Madison following an extended illness. Born March 23, 1919, in Jackson County, son of the late William George and Lydia Bishop Kriete, he was raised in Seymour and graduated in 1937 from Seymour High School...

BENTON, Ark. - Iva Louise Park, 74, died July 28, 2005, at the UMA Trauma Center in Little Rock. Born Jan. 18, 1931, in Townley, Mo., she was the daughter of the late Elva Molinza and Iva Lee Dye Wakefield. In January 1973, in St. Louis, Mo., she married Gerald Briggs who preceded her in death. She later married Charles Park on May 2, 1993, in St. Louis. He also preceded her in death...

HORN LAKE, Miss. -- Mildred V. Miner, 78, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., died July 29, 2005. Born July 9, 1927, in Oklahoma, daughter of the late Arthur and Seedie Lashley, she was a member of the Bethel Baptist Church. Her first husband, Charles Holden, preceded her in death. She then married Ken Miner who also preceded her in death...

DEXTER - Charles McGowen, 82, died July 28, 2005, at his home near Dexter. Born July 19, 1923, in Dunklin County, son of the late Thomas W. and Bertha Jackson McGowen, he was a former member of Sugar Tree General Baptist Church in Dexter where he had served as a deacon, a former welder at Arvin Automotive in Dexter, and a veteran of the U.S. Army...

SPRINGFIELD - Bessie B. "Beth" Radford, 74, formerly of Sikeston, Jefferson City and Poplar Bluff, died July 28, 2005, at her home. Born July 29, 1930, in Coal Hill, Ark., daughter of the late Brice E. and Audrey Wren Rowland, she graduated from Vanduser High School in 1948. In 1993, she retired from Southwestern Bell Telephone Company after 23 years of service...

MUSKEGON, Mich. - Pauline C. Kelley, 65, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., died July 25, 2005. A retired school teacher for the Muskegon Heights Public School System, she is survived by a daughter, Felice, and four grandchildren. Visitation is scheduled from 11 a.m. Monday until time for services at noon at the West End Baptist Church...

CANALOU - Earl Edward Johnson, 89, died July 28, 2005, at Sells Rest Home in Matthews. Born Sept. 6, 1915, in Scottsville, Ark., son of the late Albert S. and Myrtle Iva Harmon Johnson, he was a farmer and of the Assembly of God faith. On Aug. 21, 1943, in Russellville, Ark., he married Inez Edwards who preceded him in death on Oct. 20, 1998...

SIKESTON - As a precautionary measure, the local swimming pool was ordered closed yesterday by Dr. H.M. Kendig, city health physician. The action was taken after George Bennett, 5-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Bennett, sustained a stroke of paralysis, which affected his left leg and right arm. The child is being treated at St. Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau...

HAYTI -- A Cottonwood Point man was arrested Thursday on a federal warrant for methamphetamine-related charges. According to the Bootheel Drug Task Force, agents arrested Jessie McClemore, 34, on a federal warrant charging him with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and possession of pseudophedrine with intent to manufacture methamphetamine...

SIKESTON - 'I'm lovin' it.' That's the reaction most people are having to the new service vans for McDonalds, that just hit the streets with their new 'mobile billboard' designs about three weeks ago. "Our service guys said anywhere they go, there's a kid who sees them and is waving, frantically trying to get the guy's attention," said Shannon Davis, owner of 12 McDonalds restaurants in Southeast Missouri...

SIKESTON -- First-time author Barb Watkins of Sikeston has no problem admitting the idea to write her recently published book came from a green man. Well, sort of. The green man is actually an imaginary friend of her preschool- aged grandson. "My grandson would come up with these stories about the green man and talk about how he would help him out when he was scared," Watkins recalled about her book's origin...

I would like to know, has the government of this world gone crazy? People who are going to have to pay high spend outs for their Medicaid cards, they aren't going to be able to do it. My husband is in intensive care right now and he has to pay $150 for a card when there are people out here who don't even need this card and they are getting it for free and abusing it. ...

I walked into a drugstore this week to purchase two small items. That much I remember. As I walked into the store, an employee greeted me with a "welcome" and a smile. I returned the favor. And then I forgot the two items I needed. I just plain could not remember why I had come into this particular store...

Brittany DeWitt, daughter of Gerald and Charlotte DeWitt is the Standard Democrat's Calendar Girl for August. Brittany, a finalist in the 2004 Miss Sikeston Contest, plans to attend University of Missouri-Columbia and major in elementary education.

Byrum JACKSON - Joseph and Jennifer Byrum are the parents of their third child, all sons, born at 7:08 p.m. June 10, 2005, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Mason Joseph Byrum weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 inches long. Mrs. Byrum, a teacher at Nell Holcomb School, is the daughter of John and Nina Mehrle of Cape Girardeau...