Stories from Wednesday, October 5, 2005

PORTAGEVILLE -- Michael DeWayne Bissel, 27, died Oct. 3, 2005, at Portageville Nursing Center. Born Dec. 18, 1977, in Hayti, son of John Michael "Earl" Bissel of Portageville and Patricia "Patty" Jones Birdwell of New Madrid, he was raised by Earl Bissel of Portageville...

PANA, Ill. - Mary Mercer, 83, died at 2:20 a.m. Oct. 3, 2005, in Arcola Health Center in Arcola. Born Jan. 13, 1922, in Bertrand, Mo., daughter of the late Lawrence Wesley and Dorothy B. Sliger Mercer, she was a homemaker and a member of Mt. Pleasant Church of God, Assumption. She was raised in Bertrand and moved to the Pana area around 1970...

SIKESTON - Jewell Perkins, 77, died Oct. 1, 2005, at her home. Born Oct. 12, 1927, in Kewanee, daughter of the late J.B. and Pearl West Miller, she lived in Missouri all her life and was a member of Greer Chapel Missionary Baptist Church where she served in many capacities and on the Mother board...

SCOTT CITY - Joshua Lawrence Klipfel, the infant son of James and LouCinda Copley Klipfel, died Oct. 3, 2005, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born July 7, 2005, in Cape Girardeau, he was a member of the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Scott City...

Katrina greatly moved our hearts and we desperately longed to do something but didn't know what. Many of you did do something that will impact a life time when you gave the best gift you could give - blood. On behalf of the American Red Cross I would like to personally thank each and every donor who took time out of their busy schedules on September 22nd to give the gift of life...

A growing number of communities across the country are having second thoughts about opening their doors to the evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. Cities are torn between compassion for those displaced with the realistic view that most of the evacuees are poor and in need of subsidized housing and long-term government assistance. It's a delicate balance between moral concern and limited resources...

I'd like to speak out about the article on the billboards. I live in Miner and I work in Cape, and I was just driving by where they let the state cut all them pear trees down out there and now all you have to look at is all them dingy signs everyday on the way home from work. I'm just upset over it. I agree with the lady or whoever it was that called in about them billboards...

SIKESTON - In Sikeston High School news, David Rowe was elected student council president last Friday in a close race with Joe Moll and Charles French. SIKESTON - Today marked the opening of the 1965 United Fund campaign, and Chairman Bill Scarbrough reported that 25 percent of the $38,900 goal has been reached...

SIKESTON - The Sikeston Bulldogs boys soccer team took on state ranked Notre Dame Bulldogs and fell 3-0 on Tuesday night. Notre Dame (12-2-2) came in ranked 5th in the state and of their 16 games, only three opponents have scored against them. Against Notre Dame, Sikeston did not have the services of Dakota Trevino and Justin Deere. ...

SIKESTON - Scott County Central High School will host a charity basketball game on Saturday, Oct. 3 for the victims of the hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. Head coach David Heeb of Scott County Central said that the game will feature a "Who's Who" of all-time great Southeast Missouri basketball players. Heeb indicated that the idea sprung from a parent of a Scott County Central basketball parent...

POPLAR BLUFF -- The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs softball team will be playing in the Class 4, District 1 Tournament at Poplar Bluff High School starting tonight at 6 p.m. against Cape Central. Sikeston (11-12) and Cape Central tied for votes for the fourth seed. If Sikeston wins, they will play on Thursday at 4 p.m. versus top-seeded Poplar Bluff...

CHARLESTON -- Charleston has had its problems with Dexter in recent years, losing five of the last six to the Bearcats under coach Aaron Pixley. The Bluejays (4-1), ranked ninth in Missouri's Class 2, look to break a string of three straight losses to the 'Cats when they host Dexter on Friday...

PORTAGEVILLE - The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs volleyball team split a pair of games with Portageville and Scott City. On Tuesday, the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Portageville and won in two sets, 25-11 and 25-22. On Monday, the Lady Bulldogs lost in three sets at Scott City by scores of 12-25, 25-20, 25-22...

Pictured above is the Junior Sportsman Champ Purple for the 6-9-year-old division is Carson Anderson of Paducah, Ky. Results from the races can be found in the Scoreboard.

SIKESTON -- Brian Bickings of Oran, in the Pro class, and William Wilson of Arcadia, in the Super Pro class, won top prize of $2,000 each at the Sikeston Drag Strip on Saturday. Bickings and crew chief Mark Brewer finished first with a run of 92.97 mph in an elapsed time of 7.234 seconds with a dial-in of 7.24 and a reaction time of .560...

SIKESTON - Military vehicles rolled into Sikeston just after 4 p.m. Tuesday as the 1140th Engineer Battalion returned home from Louisiana, where roughly 500 troops spent the last month helping clear streets in cities ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita...

BENTON -- A railroad deal which would route additional train traffic through Scott County would include improvements to four county road crossings. During the regular Scott County Commission meeting Tuesday, Chris Peterson, Union Pacific's director of government affairs and corporate relations for the state, discussed his railroad's plans to acquire the Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks running from Rockview in northern Scott County through Sikeston by trading some of its tracks in Colorado to BNSF.. ...

Phyllis Mattison waters mums Tuesday morning at Bizzell Nursery Co. The brightly colored plants, which signal the arrival of fall, are blooming around the area.