Stories from Sunday, November 12, 2006

SIKESTON -- Veterans Day is a time "to honor our soldiers, past and present," according to Iraq War veteran 1st Sgt. Dan Armour. Armour offered his comments as keynote speaker for the annual Veterans Day Ceremony Friday at the Sikeston Senior High School Field House...

Every political writer in the nation has, by now, rehashed the results from Tuesday's national elections and the sweeping victory by the Democratic party. I don't pretend to be in the league of most political pundits but I have a few small town observations...

To the person on Medicaid who said the poor couldn't get flu shots. That's wrong. All you have to do is get off your lazy backside, make some money and take the cash to the doctor. You then tell him you want a flu shot, he'll give you the flu shot and then you pay him. That way I don't have to pay for my flu shot and your flu shot...

SIKESTON - Mrs. Marvin Carroll has been recently appointed superintendent of the Sikeston General Hospital by the city hospital board, composed of alderman Ed Smith, John Powell and Tom Rafferty. SIKESTON - The Sikeston Optimist Club, in an organizational meeting at 7 a.m. today at the Rustic Rock Inn, chose new officers and set Jan. 14 as the temporary date for charter night...

SIKESTON -- The National Weather Service predicts a mild winter this year due to El Nino, but the 2007 edition of The Old Farmer's Almanac says it will be a cold and snowy winter in the Midwest. Whatever the winter season brings, Missouri Department of Transportation workers will be ready by the first snowfall...

PETALUMA, Calif. -- Mr. and Mrs. Jeffry D. Recob of Petaluma have announced the engagement of their daughter, Catherine Marie, to Benjamin Gordon Jones, son of Ann W. Jones and Dr. Gordon Jones of Sikeston, Mo. A 2003 graduate of Casa Grande High School in Petaluma, the future bride is a senior at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she is majoring in physical therapy...

Mayor Mike Marshall, pictured right, recently recognized Sikeston Department of Public Safety Officer Bethany McDermott as Sikeston's DPS employee of the fourth quarter. McDermott, who has been assigned to the Fire Division since May, was honored for her work ethic and commitment to DPS operations. ...

The Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce's November Spirit Business of the Month is Sam's Fine Jewelry and Pawn. The award recognizes local business efforts to support and improve the community. Sam's Fine Jewelry and Pawn is located at 130 East Front St. Pictured with the Spirit Award is owner Sam Thomas...

SIKESTON - First it was just a plan on revitalizing Downtown Sikeston. Now, it is a search for the man - or woman - to take the Historic Midtown Development Group that next step to becoming a force within the community. HMDG has started its search for an executive director. Spearheading the effort is Jonathan Maloyed, assisted by Don Pratt, David Friedman and Susie Kenedy...

PORTAGEVILLE - Doing business in Southeast Missouri requires overcoming challenges and bringing about reform according to speakers at the annual Southeast Missouri Economic Development Alliance Conference. "Growing up in rural Missouri, I know the trials and tribulations of rural life and rural America, and the challenges of the Delta. ...

SIKESTON -- Webster's describes the word passion as an object of desire or deep interest. The above definition fits the attitude and mentality of Sikeston junior Jordi Ferrell for the sport of soccer. Last summer, Ferrell went to the University of North Carolina's soccer camp and made the all-camp team, played with a select team from Massachusetts in addition to playing for her club team up to three times a week in St. Louis...

BENTON -- Another dominating season for the Kelly Lady Hawks softball program was topped off with four players making the Class 2 All-State team. Seniors Kalie Hughes, Brittany Ponder and Summer Proctor along with junior Sarah Ruff were the Lady Hawks chosen for the Class 2 first-team honors...

DEXTER - Keith Meade Minton, 82, died Nov. 10, 2006, in the St. Francis Medical Center at Cape Girardeau. Born Dec. 30, 1923, in rural Bernie, to the late Roy Burton and Sara Jane Meade Minton, he lived his entire life in the Pyle community, where he was a farmer. ...

DEXTER - Mary Menley, 90, died Nov. 10, 2006, in the Cypress Point Health Care at Dexter. Born Sept. 9, 1916, in Stoddard County, to the late Henry and Martha Cates Phillips, she had been employed as an inspector with Elder Manufacturing Company and attended the Dexter Church of Christ...

LILBOURN - Charline Whitfield Mead, 85, died Nov. 7, 2006, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Aug. 11, 1921, in Euport, Miss., daughter of the late Pervis and Hattie Miller Boyd, she had lived in Missouri since 1949. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Catron where she served as an usher...

COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. - Alfred Monroe Williams Sr., 68, died Nov. 9, 2006, at Methodist Hospital in Germantown. Born July 7, 1938, in Wise County, Va., son of the late James Oscar and Mamie Louella Shankel Williams, he was a U.S. Air Force veteran and a member of West Newton Masonic Lodge 707 AF & AM. He worked for McLean Trucking Company for 22 years and retired from Roadway Trucking Company...

BROSELEY -- Ralph Sterling Slavings, 80, formerly of Wardell and Malden, died Nov. 9, 2006, at his home. Born Feb. 18, 1926, son of the late Sterling Jack and Erabella Haslip Slavings, he was a U.S. Navy veteran having served during World War II. On March 15, 1968, at Big Rock, Ill., he married Delois Crump who survives of the home...

DEXTER - Bonnie Carroll, 80, died Nov. 10, 2006, in the Cypress Point Health Care at Dexter. Graveside services are being planned for 10 a.m. Monday at the Zion Cemetery, at rural Bloomfield, with Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home of Dexter in charge of arrangements...

WESTVILLE, Ill. -- Wendell Wayne Stephenson, 92, died at 2:15 a.m. Nov. 9, 2006, at his daughter's home in Sikeston, Mo. Born Jan. 10, 1914, in Georgetown, son of the late Charles and Myrta Summers Stephenson, he was a member of St. Isaac Jogues Parish in Georgetown and a graduate of Georgetown High School. ...