Stories from Sunday, September 17, 2006

LOWNDES - Cynthia Bosse and Anthony Taylor are the parents of their third child, first daughter, born at 9:50 a.m. Aug. 16, 2006, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Angela Jene Taylor weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long. Maternal grandparents are Angela Fischer and Daniel Bosse...

SIKESTON -- Ronnie and LaDonna Tidwell have announced the engagement of their son, Justin Tidwell, to Kimberly Jo McCall, daughter of Bruce and Rita McCall of Bethany. A 2002 graduate of South Harrison High School in Bethany, the future bride is attending Missouri State University, where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in nursing...

SIKESTON -- The children and grandchildren of Sue Fox and Calvin Arnold of Sikeston have announced the couple's engagement. Plans are being finalized for a Sept. 23 wedding at a private residence with family and close friends in attendance.

A ribbon cutting was conducted recently to celebrate the opening of the Carhartt Concept Shop at Slushers Farm and Home. The shop, designed and constructed by the Carhartt company, is filled with a variety of clothes for men and boys. According to Cindy Farrenburg with Slushers, the shop offers more than 400 coats, a large selection of bib overalls and 16 different styles in bottoms, all in variety of colors. ...

SIKESTON - A special loan program will be offered by First State Bank and Trust Co. to assist downtown Sikeston business owners with revitalization efforts. The program was announced by Mike Marshall, president of First State Bank and Trust Co. "During the past several months, we have met with local business leaders and residents as part of the Historic Midowntown Development Group," said Marshall. ...

The downtown revitalization efforts through our Historic Midtown Development Group are progressing. Present with me for the Sept. 7, 2006 were: Chuck Grant, vice president; Kathy Medley, secretary; Jim Bucher, treasurer and chairman of the Organization Committee; Harry Sharp, chairman of the Design Committee; Jonathan Maloyed, chairman of the Economic Restructuring Committee; David Friedman, chairman of the Promotion Committee, and Susie Kenedy, vice chairperson of the Promotion Committee. ...

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. - Efforts by a former Sikeston, Mo., resident to encourage her students to find the drama, emotion, conflict and glory in history has earned her local and state honors. Now, Leigh Ann Keller is being considered for national honors for her innovative teaching...

SIKESTON -- Elizabeth Marie Barkett and Gregory Hasbrouk Skidmore exchanged vows in a 3 p.m. ceremony May 6, 2006, at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Sikeston. Monsignor Richard Rolwing was the celebrant. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Barkett Jr. of Sikeston. She is the granddaughter of Mrs. Marie Harper of Sikeston and the late J.D. Harper and the late Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Barkett...

BROSELEY - The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs softball team notched their first victory of the year on the road late Thursday night with a 5-1 victory over the Twin Rivers Lady Royals. The Lady Bulldogs plated three runs in the top of the seventh to put away Twin Rivers...

MARSTON -- Pallbearers for services held Friday at Richards Funeral Home in New Madrid for Richard Dell "Dickie" Ash, 60, who died Sept. 12, 2006, were: Mark Ash, Grant Ash, Casey Ash, Billy Clayton, Barry Ash, Wayne Guthrie, Ben David Ashley and Jeff Thomason...

WEST COVINA, Calif. -- James C. Spivey Sr., 79, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., died Aug. 24, 2006, in West Covina. Born June 25, 1927, he was the son of the late Armel and Jewel Ralph Spivey. His wife, Carmen Spivey, preceded him in death. One son, James C. Spivey Jr., also preceded him in death...

DEXTER - Wava Lee Gillespie, 70, died Sept. 14, 2006, at her home. Born March 6, 1936, in rural Dexter, to Ruth Allstun Larsen of Bloomfield and the late William Norvel Larsen, she was a homemaker. She was a member of the Dexter Church of Christ and volunteered at the Bootheel Youth Camp...

PUXICO - Murtin M. Stewart, 85, died Sept. 13, at the Bay Medical Center in Bay City, Mich. Born Aug. 7, 1921, in Puxico, to the late Jesse Columbus and Lulah Venita Maddox Steward, he enlisted into the Civilian Conservation Corps and was a U.S. Army veteran, having served in Italy, France and Germany during World War II. He worked as an assembly man and fork lift operator for General Motors in Pontiac, Mich., and after retirement lived in Waterford and West Branch, Mich., and Homasassa, Fla...

SIKESTON - Luther Stroop entertained Sept. 10 in honor of her son, Joe, who was celebrating his fifth birthday. SIKESTON - Nine classes of competition will provide the entertainment at the Junior Chamber of Commerce Jackpot Horse Show Sunday at the rodeo grounds. Entrance fees will be divided among the four top winners in each class of competition...

In response to the woman asking about the motorcycle classes, we offer basic rider courses that are developed by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. For information call Bootheel Motorcycle Training at 748-5756. I want to commend the man who bought the old Diehlstadt school property and is in the process of cleaning it up. ...

Michael Jensen wrote that Claire McCaskill's comment that "George Bush let people die on rooftops in New Orleans because they were poor and black" were "absurd." At an exclusive white tie dinner George Bush said to his audience "I call you the haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite; I call you my base."...

Today's column is coming to you by way of Bullshead City, Ariz., or thereabouts. Putting it mildly, I've taken a trip out West. There's an isolation to the West that gives you ample time and space to think and ponder the great questions of life. It's not that I'm partial to the flatlands of southeast Missouri but the mountains make you seem so very small. And then maybe we are...

PORTAGEVILLE -- The Portageville Bulldogs dropped their third straight game of the season with a 37-7 home loss to Fulton County, Ky. Turnovers by the Bulldogs turned a close first half game into a rout by game's end. Portageville threw four interceptions that Fulton County capitalized on...

NEW MADRID - The New Madrid County Central Eagles football team let a three point lead slip away in the fourth quarter as the visiting Poplar Bluff Mules captured a 24-6 win. The Mules scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth as Poplar Bluff took advantage of two costly Eagle turnovers in the quarter and converted them into 14 points...

SIKESTON -- Turnovers and injuries came to the forefront as the Sikeston Bulldog football team suffered a 38-0 loss to Dexter on Friday night at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium. With starting running back Byron Davis not playing and starting quarterback Chase Ferrell missing practice all week with an injury, the Bulldogs were already short-handed...

Steve Borgsmiller, Sikeston R-6 superintendent, congratulates Judy Burge after she and others were honored for their achievements and athleticism as they were inducted into the Sikeston R-6 Honor Wall/Hall of Fame Friday night at the Sikeston-Dexter football game. ...

CHARLESTON -- To motorists driving across it at 60 miles per hour, it is just another stretch of pavement, but to the Missouri Department of Transportation it is an experiment in speeding construction. "It's approximately 1,000 feet long and it's made up of roughly 100 precast concrete panels," said Eric Krapf, project manager for MoDOT, of the experimental stretch of pavement...

A majority of the state's cotton crop is rated good by the Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service, but that came as no surprise to Robert Gonzalez, who was busy chopping weeds out of a cotton field north of Salcedo Road. Cotton boll opening was at 55 percent last week, at least five days ahead of last year and ahead of the five-year average. ...

MINER -- Miner police are looking for a white male in his 40s for his involvement in a recent stabbing. At about 12:07 a.m. Thursday, the Miner Police Department responded to a 911 report of a person lying in the roadway at the intersection of Highway 62 and Interstate 55, according to a press release from the department...

EAST PRAIRIE -- The East Prairie Eagles took advantage of Scott City's lax ballhandling to capture its first victory of the season. East Prairie squeaked out a 26-20 win over the visiting Scott City Rams in a SEMO Conference Southern Division matchup on Friday...

NEW MADRID -- Work at Mud Ditch is the first step of the St. John's Bayou- New Madrid Floodway Project that if completed will ultimately close the gap between the frontline and setback levees. Hill Brothers Construction of Falkner, Miss., is expected to move on site Monday, according to Larry Sharpe, the Corps' lead project manager for the St. John's Bayou-New Madrid Floodway Project...