Stories from Tuesday, July 11, 2006

HOMER GLEN, Ill. - Harley H. Kelso, 79, formerly of Matthews, Mo., died at 2 p.m. July 9, 2006, at Provena-St. Joseph Hospital in Joliet. Born May 19, 1927, in Fulton, Miss., to the late Walter Davis and Ader Pearl Tucker Kelso, he was a veteran of the United States Army having served during World War II and had been a machinist for Westinghouse Corporation in Chicago...

OZAWKIE, Kan. - Andrew Burton Knotts, 81, died July 8, 2006, at the Hickory Pointe Care Center in Oskaloosa. Born April 12, 1925, at Campbell, son of the late Harvey Burt and Mary Ann Hopkins Knotts, he had lived in Ozawkie since 1984, moving from Kansas City. ...

DEXTER - Pat "Sissy" Roberts, 62, died July 9, 2006, at the Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Born March 1, 1944, in Wardell, she was the daughter of the late Harvey and Bertha Brown Phillips and a housewife. On Oct. 27, 1967, in Wardell, she married Darrell Roberts, who survives of the home...

SIKESTON - Natalie Renae Harden, 45, died July 9, 2006, in the Southeast Missouri Hospital at Cape Girardeau. Born Aug. 11, 1960, at Dexter, daughter of Bobby and Lois DeWitt Manes of Essex, she was a supervisor in the cafeteria at the Sikeston Public Schools...

EAST PRAIRIE -- A celebration of the life of Carl Simpkins Sr., 83, will be conducted at 3 p.m. July 12, 2006 at the Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie with the Revs. Ted Wimberley and George White, pastor of the First Baptist Church, officiating. Steve Douglas will provide music. ...

DEXTER - Glenna Ruth Shearon, 74, died July 9, 2006, in the Missouri Southern Healthcare at Dexter. Born Sept. 20, 1951, at Cincinnati, daughter of the late William Ray and Gertrude Rice Patrick, she was a homemaker and volunteer for Red Cross and had served as a recruiter while in the United States Army in Detroit...

STURDIVANT -- Barry D. Tomes, 41, died July 10, 2006, at his home near Sturdivant. Born July 16, 1964, son of Mary King Harrison of Puxico and the late James A. Tomes, he had lived in Southeast Missouri all his life. He had worked at Tyson Foods in Dexter and as a cook at Lambert's Restaurant in Sikeston...

Shaina Vozar, 6, jumps over water in the curb Monday afternoon. Sikeston received .21 inch of rainfall.

SIKESTON -- Airport improvements, a downtown revitalization program and a proposed ambulance sales tax were among the items addressed during the regular Sikeston City Council meeting Monday. "I think from the standpoint of economic development, we need to do something about our airport," said Councilman Jerry Pullen. "In hot weather, you can't park a heavy aircraft on our blacktop -- it will sink in."...

SIKESTON - Dreams of retirement for the younger generations usually include sitting on the beach in Florida or traveling the world with no more thoughts of work, all by age 50. However, for most people at or near retirement, work is the reality. The Rule of 80 is an optional early retirement provision in which an employee may retire with an unreduced benefit if the sum of their age and years of service equals 80...

SIKESTON - Mrs. M.L. Canedy entertained with a theater party on Wednesday afternoon for her daughter, Sara Sue, who that day celebrated her birthday. DEXTER - The Jaycees met in a special meeting last night to discuss plans for the Home Show to be held Aug. 19-21. It was decided to hold a fish fry Saturday night. The annual talent show will be Friday. It will be open to the public free of charge...

I think you had some good pieces in SpeakOut today Mike Jensen. I hope you keep up the good work. Ol' Dan Rather got just what he deserved. And Mike, I hope you run for President. You'd sure be a good one. And besides that, Dan Rather did everything he could against Bush, lied on him and he's always down on the Democrats. ...

SIKESTON - Drivers who choose to drink and drive may want to reconsider. Captain G.E. Ridens, commanding officer of Troop E, announced that sometime during July, a sobriety checkpoint will be conducted in Scott and Stoddard counties. The Missouri State Highway Patrol in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies will conduct the checkpoints...

CHAFFEE -- The Heartland Americans are a girls 10-and-under fastpitch softball traveling team comprised of girls all across the Heartland. The Americans are the first 10-and-under traveling team to form in this area. The Americans recently took first place in a National Softball Association qualifier that was held in June at Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Bulls Adam Darby was selected the Kitty League Hitter of the Week. Darby, a six-foot, 205-pound outfielder from Harding University, had big production in limited plate appearances with five hits in nine at-bats. Of his five hits, three were for extra bases. He had two home runs and a triple which accounted for five RBIs and three runs scored...

To many combat sports enthusiasts, the Ultimate Fighting Championship appears to have the potential to replace boxing as the top fighting sport for spectators. I'd like to see a comparison of receipts between the last three pay-per-view boxing events and UFC 59, 60 and 61. Or, if you prefer, ask the person sitting next to you to name a current boxing champion in any weight division. Meanwhile, UFC fighters like Matt Hughes are becoming household names...

SIKESTON -- Sikeston Ladies Auxiliary Post 114 Junior American Legion team steamrolled its opponents on the way to a District 14 Tournament championship. Post 114 now advances to the Eastern Zone playoffs at Heinie Meinie Park in St. Louis, opening play on Thursday. Zone playoff champions compete at the four-team state tournament in Columbia later in the month...

Boy when the Missouri Department of Transportation wants to think big, they most certainly can. The top dog at MoDOT said last week he would like to separate large trucks and cars along Interstate 70 by constructing four new lanes of traffic - two in both directions - limited to large truck traffic. The lanes would be separated by a concrete barrier and would obviously help the mid-state corridor which now carries large trucks for 40 percent of the total traffic...