Stories from Sunday, October 22, 2006

Probably no one will agree with me, but the number one problem students face each day is not fitting in. Being teased about situations in their life that they cannot help and not being a part of the in crowd is making teenagers pay a high price such as jail time or life in prison or going even further by taking their own lives. ...

It's that time of the political season where everyone - including true political junkies - are getting tired of the rhetoric, tired of the same commercials and tired of the promises we all know won't be kept. I have heard countless times this past week how so many people are repulsed by the negative nature of the political process. There's only one answer why politicians go "negative" during this phase of the campaigning - it works!...

SIKESTON - The Jackson Indians pulled the big upset of the year by defeating the Charleston Bluejays 14-0 in a rough game played at Charleston Friday night. CANALOU - Missouri's outstanding young farmer is a man from a northern city whose love for the soil was nurtured by boyhood visits to his grandfather's farm in the Bootheel. ...

WEST PLAINS -- The Sikeston Bulldogs got off to a fast start on Friday night, but it all was downhill from there as West Plains cruised to a 54-13 victory in Class 4, District 1 action. Sikeston (1-7, 0-1 district) blocked a punt to start things off and Gavilan Bland returned it 25 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead...

MORLEY -- Four Sikeston youths and a Bloomfield man received injuries in a car accident Friday evening. The accident occurred at approximately 6:55 p.m. on U.S. Highway 61 five miles south of Morley when the southbound vehicle driven by Charles E. Sexton, 62, of Sikeston, struck the pickup driven by Steven A. ...

BENTON -- A Chaffee High School student was charged Friday after making an online terrorist threat with school mates Thursday night. Aaron Volkerding, 17, of rural Chaffee was charged with class D felony, which is punishable by up to two years in the state penitentiary...

SIKESTON -- Donnie Beggs knows it takes a good five to six hours to see and do all there is at Beggs Family Farm near Sikeston. And after six years, Beggs believes his customers are finally catching on to that concept. "(This year) Before we open, they'll be 150 people standing in line," Beggs said. "I think they're learning, especially on Sundays, if they don't get there by 2 p.m., they can't get everything done."...

NEW MADRID - The New Madrid County Central Eagles football team rolled to a district opening win over the visiting Kennett Indians on Friday night, 42-0. The Eagles defense held the Indians to 30 yards in the first half and 113, 12 net yards rushing, for the entire game. NMCC sacked Kennett's quarterback Blake Parr eight times in the contest...

PERRYVILLE -- Josh Stevens completed 9-of-15 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns and Zach Ventura put up 125 yards on 22 carries as the Dexter Bearcats turned a first-half nailbiter into a 31-0 rout at Perryville Friday night. A lethargic start saw the 'Cats take a 3-0 lead into the locker room, but Dexter exploded for 28 points in the third quarter to move to 7-1 on the season and get district play off to a 1-0 start...

SPRINGFIELD -- Sikeston singles tennis player Jenni DeWitt won her first two matches in the Class 1 State Tennis Tournament in Springfield on Friday. DeWitt defeated University City's Anna Kackowski, 6-2, 6-0 in the first round and then she defeated Greenwood's Kelle Long in the quarterfinal round, 7-5, 6-2...

CHARLESTON -- The Charleston Bluejays rode a superb defensive effort to victory in its Class 2, District 1 opener against the East Prairie Eagles. The Bluejays shut out the Eagles 20-0 on Friday at Marshall Field. "Offensively, we couldn't move the ball," said East Prairie coach Cory Adkisson. "They had a good gameplan, came out and executed and made the plays."...

BERTRAND -- Armintha Virginia Tyler Haws celebrated her 95th birthday Sept. 2 at a lawn lunch party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Martin in Bertrand. Nearly 70 family members were present for the occasion. Mrs. Haws was escorted from her home in Bertrand to the Martins by a close friend, Lennies McFerren in his limousine. She has always been a fan of the Charleston Bluejays basketball team...

SIKESTON -- Peggy Matthews of Sikeston along with Steve and Viney Mosley of Cape Girardeau have announced the engagement of their daughter, Lauren Patricia Mosley, to Christopher Marc Snider, son of Mick and Donna Hughes of St. Louis and Mark and Sherry Snider of Dexter...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Gilliland Jr., formerly of Morley and Sikeston, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary Oct. 26. The former Verna Jean Cowell and Elmer Jr. were married Oct. 26, 1956, in Vanduser Church of God. They have two sons and four grandchildren. Russell and Shelby Gilliland have two children, Paige and Scott, and live in Edwardsville, Ill. Randy and Norma Gilliland, have two daughters, Moriah and Alexis, and live in Jefferson City...

NEW MADRID - Kontek Industries has received a $1.3 million federal grant to continue its homeland security and force protection research in 2007. The grant was made final when President Bush signed the FY07 Department of Defense Appropriations bill...

POPLAR BLUFF - Corporal Thad Wilson is the new assistant zone supervisor in Zone 8, which are the Pemiscot/New Madrid county areas. Wilson's promotion was announced by Captain G.E. Ridens, commanding Officer of Troop E. Wilson joined the Patrol as a member of the 70th Recruit Class graduating from the Patrol Academy in December of 1995. ...

Aaron's Sales and Leasing, 1073 E. Malone, held a ribbon cutting recently to officially open the store. Cutting the ribbon are Tammy Flanigan, general manager and Mike Martin, owner. Pictured are members of the Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce with Aaron's employees: Matthew Patterson, Chuck Wise, Anthony Stallings, Melissa Wilson and Thomas Spillers...

HAYTI -- The Portageville Bulldogs lost their district opener on the road at Hayti, falling 42-12 to the Indians in Class 1, District 1 action. Hayti raced out to a 27-0 halftime lead and maintained a 27-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Portageville rallied to cut the lead to 27-12 in the fourth...

OLATHE, Kan. -- Meleesa Louise Younggren and William Thomas Pruett III were married June 10, 2006, at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Olathe. The Rev. Ron Cornish celebrated the nuptial mass. The bride is the daughter of the late Linda Colvin Adams and John Younggren. Parents of the bridegroom are Gerald and Eletra Pobst of Sikeston, Mo...

SIKESTON -- Rebecca Ellen Ballard and Trenton Rudolph Fielder were united in marriage during a 2 p.m. ceremony May 13, 2006, at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Sikeston. The Rev. Steve Giljum of St. Louis performed the ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Anita Ballard of Sikeston and the late Everett Ballard. Parents of the bridegroom are Norma Fielder of Dannebrog, Neb., and Vernon Leroy Fielder of Nebraska...

SIKESTON -- Leslie Annette Louks and Jared Micheal Herndon were united in marriage during a 5 p.m. ceremony Oct. 7, 2006, at Todd's Garden in Sikeston.

SIKESTON - Candis Beasley is the parent of twins born Sept. 13, 2006, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Her first child, a daughter, was born at 5:44 p.m. Zaniyah Aeiriel Beasley weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long. Her second child, a son, was born at 5:45 p.m. Zaelan Amontez Beasley weighed 4 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 17.5 inches long...

SOMERVILLE, Tenn. - Janet Faries, 75, died Oct. 19, 2006, at Memphis. Born July 12, 1931, in Portageville, Mo., to the late Ford and Alma Louise Hall Brodhacker, she held two master's degree and was a member of DAR. She authored a book, "The Other Room" and worked as a drug and alcohol counselor until her retirement...

DEXTER - Pallbearers for service conducted Friday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter for Brenda Duncan, 53, who died Oct. 17, 2006, were: Brent Wood, Anthony Palmer, Ryan McDaniel, John Alternatt, Kevin King and Gale Lewis. Honorary pallbearers were: Leon, Richard, Tony, James and Mike Pullum...

SIKESTON -- Lillian Powell, 70, died Oct. 20, 2006, at her home. Born Aug. 27, 1936, in Portageville, daughter of the late Alfred and Polly DeTie Simmons Sr., she was a member of Murray Lane Baptist Church and had owned and operated Powells Daycare in her home for many years...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Dola Mae Benson, 86, died at 10:30 p.m. Oct. 20, 2006, at her home. Born Dec. 22, 1919, in Sikeston, daughter of the late James William and Mary Frances Smith Cantrell, she had lived most of her life in East Prairie where she worked at Beauton's Drug Store for a number of years and then was employed as a driver for Mississippi County Transit until her retirement. She had attended the First Christian Church in East Prairie...

WYATT -- Mary Allene Brown Todd, 84, died at 10 a.m. Oct. 20, 2006, at her home. Born May 3, 1922, in Wyatt, daughter of the late John Joseph and Maggie Bell Goode Brown, she had lived her entire life in Wyatt where she was a lifetime member of the Wyatt Methodist Church until it closed after which she became a member of the Charleston United Methodist Church. ...

DUDLEY - Jo Ann Kestner, 76, died Oct. 20, 2006, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Born July 10, 1930, in Dudley, daughter of the late Fonzie and Mabel Ann Funkhouser Griffin, she was a homemaker and member of Pleasant Grove Community Church...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Mary M. Brown, 78, died Oct. 16, 2006 in Las Cruces. Born Oct. 6, 1926, in Sikeston, Mo., she was the daughter of the late Charles L. and Julia Hamby. Her husband, Ervin J. Brown, preceded her in death. Survivors include: three sons and two daughters-in-law, Dennis and Joanne Brown of Westchester, Pa., Brian L. ...

SIKESTON - Lucy Miner Brooks, 80, died Oct. 17, 2006, at her home. Born June 29, 1926, in Stanton, Tenn., daughter of the late Glover and Clara Greene Williams, she was a member of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Sikeston. On Oct. 23, 1945, at Ridgeley, Tenn., she married Charles "Sam"Brooks, who preceded her in death March 11, 1983...