Stories from Friday, December 16, 2005

BENTON -- The white frame house nestled on the corner of New Madrid and Missouri streets in Benton has endured much more over the past 175 years than the daily hustle and bustle of family life. Located behind the present Scott County Courthouse and adjacent to the Scott County Sheriff's Office, the two-story Victorian home was the first frame house built in Benton back in 1831. It was used as a storehouse until about 1840 and later withstood the commotion of the Civil War in the 1860s...

During this Christmas season something has come about that has disturbed me very deeply. There are people in government and others who want to take the word Christmas tree and substitute it with words "Holiday tree." Also some folks are using the word "Xmas" for the word Christmas. We need to keep Christ in Christmas because that was how Christmas began...

Members of the Sikeston High School Choir perform a selection of Christmas music during the Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce meeting Thursday. The choir, under the direction of Nora Fuchs, also presented a public concert Thursday evening. The Sikeston High School Orchestra will present their holiday program at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the Field House...

CHARLESTON -- The ball, so to speak, is now in the county clerk's court. Mississippi County Assessor W.R. "Bill" Thompson turned over the server for the county's geographic information system to county commissioners and the county clerk during the regular Mississippi County Commission meeting Tuesday...

If you are reading this column for lineup assistance this week, it can only mean good things. First of all, it means that you are still alive in your leagues' playoffs. Secondly, it means that the advice offered here can't be all bad. Before offering advice on who to start this week, I ask that you keep in mind the weather forecast. ...

ESSEX -- Richland rode a 21-2 second-quarter advantage to a 72-38 rout of North Pemiscot on Thursday. First-year coach Jeff Jennewein lauded his team's effort on the defensive end. "We took several charges and blocked out well for the first time," he said...

BERNIE -- As University of Memphis coach John Calipari and two of his assistant coaches looked on, Bell City center William Bogan put on a show. Bogan scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half -- including a pair of dunks -- and pulled down 15 rebounds as the Cubs ran past the Bernie Mules, 82-59, Thursday in a Stoddard County Activities Association game...

SIKESTON - T. Sgt. Homer Stallings, after 18 months of Armed Forces' service in Germany, has telephoned his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H.L. Stallings. He says he will be discharged from Jefferson Barracks this week. --- SIKESTON - A.A. Gruggett and A. Riggs and sons have purchased the Kirk-...

Today is Wednesday Dec. 7. There are eight births in the paper. Four are unmarried parents and only one mentions a job. I don't see how the government is going to support all these welfare children forever. I have seen cases where the unmarried father has a job, but won't marry her, and still messes around with the girl because he knows she can collect welfare. ...

BLOOMFIELD - Dorthey Foster, 79, died Dec. 15, 2005, at her home. Arrangements are incomplete with Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield.

TRAFAGAR, Ind. -- Verla M. Laws, 77, formerly of Portageville, Mo., died Dec. 15, 2005, at Trafagar. Arrangements are incomplete at DeLisle Funeral Home in Portageville.

DEXTER -- Pallbearers for the funeral service conducted Thursday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Chapel for Thelma Toombs, who died on Dec. 13, 2005, were: Ray Haley, Don Burnett, Josh Propst, Jason Propst, Robert Johnson and Steven Hughes.

SIKESTON -- Helen Mae Ziegenhorn Daniel, 85, died Dec. 15, 2005, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday and from 1 p.m. until time of services at 2 p.m. Monday at Ponder Funeral Home in Sikeston. Burial will follow in Forest Hills Memorial Garden near Morley...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Joe Howard Sturgeon, 65, died Dec. 16, 2005, at his home. Born April 18, 1940, at Malden, son of the late Alfred Cleo and Helen Bowman Sturgeon, he was a retired farmer and construction worker, a member of the Masons and the Jaycees, and was of the Baptist belief...

SIKESTON -- John Curtis, 55, died at 12:02 p.m. Dec. 15, 2005, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born June 30, 1950, in Sikeston, son of Louise Cothran Curtis of Matthews and the late Wallace Cecil Curtis, he was a self-employed truck driver...

SIKESTON - MaryAnne Johnson, 90, died at 12:01 a.m. Dec. 16, 2005, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Sept. 20, 1915, in Yale, Okla., daughter of the late Charles and Sophie Hughes Snyder, she worked for many years as a medical record technician at the Deacones Hospital in St. Louis and was of the Lutheran belief...

WHITEWATER -- Margaret Spane, 60, died at 9:47 a.m. Dec. 15, 2005, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born Oct. 21, 1945, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of the late Jess and Thelma Boone Chamberlin, she was a retired machine operator from Thorngate Ltd. in Chaffee and a member of the Chaffee General Baptist Church...