Stories from Thursday, July 27, 2006

MALDEN - Charles Ollen Royal, 85, formerly of Sikeston and East Prairie, died July 24, 2006, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born July 4, 1921, in Sikeston, son of the late Floyd Ollen and Flora Agnes Morrison Royal, he was a banker and realtor. He was a current co-owner and real estate agent for Royal Realty of Southeast Missouri and a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the United Methodist Church in Malden. He was a veteran of the United States Army Air Forces...

NEW MADRID -- Gertrude Schuerenberg, 82, formerly of Kewanee, died at 6:48 a.m. July 27, 2006. Arrangements are incomplete at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston.

BLOOMFIELD - Bob Bennett, 78, died July 25, 2006, in the Cypress Point Healthcare at Dexter. Funeral arrangements are incomplete with the Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield.

SIKESTON - Giva Marie Hill, 90, died at 10:35 p.m. July 26, 2006, at her home. Born July 23, 1916, at Center Ridge, Ark., to the late Issac Newton and Mary Magdalene Smith Bradley, she was a housewife and a member of Miner Baptist Church. On July 2, 1932, in Cedar Ridge, Ark., she married Odis A. Hill, who preceded her in death on Aug. 12, 1995...

BLOOMFIELD - Bessie Aslin, formerly of rural Bloomfield, died July 27, 2006, in Chesterfield. Funeral arrangements are incomplete with Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield.

DEXTER -- Don Edmond Harris, 91, died July 25, 2006, in the Cypress Point Health Care at Dexter. Born July 8, 1915, in Clarksville, Ark., son of the late Robert (Bobby) and Effie Pearson Harris, he was a farmer, resident of Dexter, and member of the Morehouse Masonic Lodge where he has served as worshipful master...

ADVANCE - Margie Nell Hicks, 71, died July 26, 2006, at her home. Born April 15, 1935, at Morley, daughter of the late Dessman Edlridge and Myrtle Ona Bean Harris, she was raised in the Bootheel, where she had worked on the farm. She was a retired child care worker from the Juvenile Center at Bloomfield, had worked s a waitress, at a laundry and cleaners, and was a member of the Church of Christ...

BENTON - David Ray Ervin, 41, died at 7 a.m. July 25, 2006, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. Born Jan. 18, 1965, son of Ronald Dewayne Ervin of Lilbourn and Doris Ann Hopper Heavener of Sikeston, he was employed as a palletizer at Good Humor-Breyers in Sikeston and attended the Church of Christ in Morley...

PUXICO - Pallbearers for the funeral service conducted on Wednesday for Kenneth Morgan, 73, who died on July 23, 2006, were: Scott Morgan, Jimmie Beal, Jesse Beal, Gary Beal, Wayne Cryts, Loren Caldwell and Pete Sifford. Honorary pallbearer was Jordan Cryts...

MATTHEWS - Janie Rodgers, 74, died July 24, 2006, at the Clear Lake Regional Hospital in Webster, Texas. Born Dec. 16, 1931, at Morehouse, daughter of the late Jewell and Fern Williams Bryan, she was a retired nurses aid. Before moving to Texas five years ago, she had lived in the Morehouse and Matthews area most of her life. She was a member of the First Church of the Nazarene in Matthews, where she served as a Sunday school teacher...

Steve Ferrell of Ferrell Excavating loads a truck with concrete from Hunter Street. Hunter Street from Moore Street to Taylor Street is being reduced to one lane due to the reconstruction. The project is expected to take 14 to 21 days while Fronabarger Construction perform repairs and reconstruct the street...

SIKESTON -- Members of the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) are celebrating 100 years of worship in Sikeston. Conveniently, the 100th anniversary of the exact day the church was established in Sikeston, Aug. 6, 1906, falls on a Sunday. "A few people had been meeting in a home, but this was the first formal organization of a Disciples of Christ church here in Sikeston," said Rev. Mary McCord, senior minister at the church...

SIKESTON -- Dance is filling up the media. Movies such as "Shall We Dance," TV shows like "So You Think You Can Dance," and MTV music videos and Barbie dance videos making the art more popular and appealing. That craze is what encourages many to enroll their children or even themselves in dance classes, said Melissa Seiler, owner of Patti Simmons School of Dance in Sikeston...

SIKESTON - A Sikeston woman arrested and charged for abusing a one-year- old child is now facing charges for murder. Ashley Nicole Clark, 23, was initially charged with first degree domestic assault, a class A felony, by Scott County Prosecutor Paul Boyd. The assault charge was amended Wednesday to first degree murder following the death of the Devionah Clark, 13 months...

SIKESTON - The current drive to reach $100,000 for the Missouri Delta Community Hospital has reached the $110,000 mark this week and is continuing. SIKESTON - A four-day revival for the deaf ended last night at the First Baptist Church with the Rev. ...

This might not make any sense to people who write in to SpeakOut about farmers burning their fields, but it helps eliminate bugs that can contaminate the foods that you eat. And also the farmers pay taxes that help welfare people that draw checks that help them when they don't have a job to support their own families. They also pay taxes that you people live off of until you people find your own jobs. You ought to think about that. Who pays your taxes that helps pay your welfare checks?...

In November, Missouri voters will get to decide if we want to raise the minimum wage here from $5.15 per hour to $6.50 per hour. The measure was placed on the ballot by the ever-popular initiative petition process. Proponents of the minimum wage increase say that the current $5.15 is inadequate to provide a living and keeps many full-time workers locked into poverty. ...

Sikeston pitcher Tyler Anderson fires a pitch during the state tournament last week. Anderson and the rest of the Sikeston 11-year-old all-stars will be competing in the Midwest Plains Regional in Waite Park, Minn., on Friday at 5 p.m. against South Dakota...

The Sikeston 10-year-old "A" Team All-Stars went undefeated in winning first place in the Cal Ripken Missouri State Championship Tournament in Brookfield July 13-16 by defeating teams from Brookfield, Mineral Area and Lebanon. Players include Austin Erwin, Adam Kennard, Chase Baran, Patrick Smith, Bryant DeCota, Jerrett Sandlin, Dylan Mason, Colton Black, Caleb Hampton, Doug Still and Gavin O'Brien. Not pictured was Zach Harrison...

The recent Middle East crisis has forced the world to focus it's attention on the nation of Israel once again. But, this latest escalation to the already volatile situation is, as I believe, evidence of God's prophetic Word in the process of being fulfilled. ...