Stories from Sunday, January 14, 2007

SIKESTON -- Ann Thompson, children's librarian at the Sikeston Public Library, is fascinated with the 1940s in the United States. "I'm very enamored with the 40s -- it's just such a wonderful time in American history," Thompson said. "We just flew after World War II ended."...

Leonna Heuring Standard Democrat SIKESTON -- Sikeston residents of all ages and races will gather Monday to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the annual community celebration. "He had a dream where his children would be not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their hearts. ... We should always try to keep that dream in the forefront of our memories," Michael Harris, co-chair of the King Day Committee, said about King...

CARUTHERSVILLE - Police and family members are turning to the public for help in locating a teen missing from Caruthersville since Monday. Maria Guadalupe Fields, 15, was reported missing on Jan. 8 to Caruthersville police. The girl is described as 5-feet, 5-inches tall and weighing 120 pounds. She has blonde hair and brown eyes. Also she has a red birth mark on her face...

SCOTT CITY -- After posting five straight victories, and seemingly on the verge of putting together a winning streak, the Sikeston Bulldogs took a step backwards on Friday night with a 68-61 loss at Scott City. The Bulldogs (9-6) let a three-point fourth quarter lead slip away as the Rams (8-5) out-hustled and simply out-played Sikeston all night long...

MORLEY -- The Charleston Bluejays rode a second-quarter outburst to an 81-62 win over the host Scott County Central Braves on Friday at the Ronnie Cookson Gymnasium. A 24-3 run with about 5 minutes left in the first half broke open the game featuring two state-ranked teams. Scott Central, ranked fifth in Class 1, led 26-24 when the Bluejays, ranked third in Class 3, took control...

PORTAGEVILLE - The Portageville Bulldogs basketball team notched a Bootheel Conference win on their homecoming over the South Pemiscot Bulldogs, 56-43 on Friday night. Portageville limited South Pemiscot to 13 field goals with in your face man- to-man defense. South Pemiscot turned the ball over 24 times in the contest, as Portageville racked up 18 steals as a team...

JACKSON -- After splitting the first two meetings, the Bulldogs won the third encounter with Jackson 57-54. In two prior meetings, Notre Dame's and Jackson's boys basketball teams had combined to average 166 points per game while splitting a pair of tournament games in December...

There was a massive demonstration in New Orleans this week demanding action to address violent crime in that hurricane-ravaged city. A number of murders already this year has city residents tired of the gangs, the drugs and the murders. So they marched on city hall to illustrate their frustration...

There was a young couple who had a yard sale this past summer. They lived over near the Middle School. This lady had a knitting machine. If she still has the knitting machine, could she please call me at 472-1758? I was just wondering if anyone is as concerned as I am about being able to look up people's houses and actually being able to see their house on Google Earth? I, myself am quite disturbed by this and hope others will be too and will rally around to get needless privacy invasive things like this taken off our Internet.. ...

SIKESTON - Mr. and Mrs. Roy K. Stanley and son, Frank, were named sweepstakes contestant winners in the tenant division of the Plant-to-Prosper contest sponsored by the Commercial Appeal in Memphis. SIKESTON - All ordinances and codes have been compiled into one indexed volume by the Municipal Codification Service, City Manager W. Raymert Miller said...

CHARLESTON - Cathy Walters, Rural Development manager, and Tracy Williams, Rural Development specialist, were recently recognized for their accomplishments in fiscal year 2006 in Mississippi and New Madrid counties. The local office staff was successful in exceeding their goals for the year and providing over $4.1 million in loan and grants to the citizens of these two counties...

SIKESTON -- Benny and Phyllis Thurston have announced the engagement of their daughter, Misty Dawn, to Charles Darrel Keene II, son of Charles and Cheryl Keene of Farmington. A 2003 graduate of Sikeston Senior High School, the future bride is employed as a pharmacy technician at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston...

CHARLESTON -- Mr. and Mrs. James E. Allen will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary Jan. 18. The couple were married Jan. 18, 1957, in Corinth, Miss. They have five children and their spouses, Kevin and Theresa Garrison of Benton, James E. Allen Jr. of St. Louis, Terri Cross of Sikeston, William and Ann McWhirter of Sikeston and Leo and Barbi McElrath of Cape Girardeau; and eight grandchildren and 16 great-...

Missouri Bootheel Regional Consortium Inc. Senior Outreach Specialist Vannessa Frazier, right, accepted the Employee of the Year plaque from CEO Cynthia Dean. Starting out as a volunteer for the first vice-chair of the MBHS Local Council in New Madrid County, Frazier received certification as a child development specialist and has worked for eight years for MBHS as an outreach educator. She plans to pursue a degree in childhood psychology...

LILBOURN - As the Great River Soy Processing plant takes shape in Lilbourn, shareholders in Great River Co-op will make decisions on the facility's operating future when they meet Jan. 16. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the Lilbourn VFW Hall...

SIKESTON - Someone has taken Ron McCormick to the cleaners and he couldn't be happier about it. McCormick is the new owner of A&B Cleaners, 225 E. Center St. He readily admits it is a business he is learning and one he hadn't planned on. In fact, he had planned on retiring...

NEW MADRID -- Kathryn LeAnne Byrd and Justin Lee Hart were united in marriage during a 4 p.m. ceremony Sept. 23, 2006, at New Madrid First Baptist Church. The Rev. Randy Deprow performed the ceremony. Parents of the bride are Keith and Tammie Byrd of Dexter and Kimberly Sullenger of New Madrid. The bridegroom is the son of Don and Joyce Hart Sr. and Sherry Hart, all of Matthews...

WICHITA, Kan. - Flo Ellen Cude Harness, formerly of Matthews, Mo., departed this life Jan. 11, 2007, following a courageous battle with cancer. She was born Sept. 14, 1935, at Landis, Ark., to the late Coy and Delphia (Massey) Richardson. Flo was a graduate of Central High School at Caraway, Ark. and went on and received a BSE degree from Arkansas State University at Jonesboro. She taught for 31 1/2 years with 29 of them for New Madrid County R1 School District at Matthews, retiring in 1991...

DEXTER -- Priscilla Ann Shell Acord, 65, died Jan. 10, 2007, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Born Oct. 20, 1941, at New Madrid, daughter of the late L.S. Hartzog and Marjorie Schaffer Mims, she was a member of the First Baptist Church in Dexter and a homemaker...

GIPSY -- Dennis Ray McIntyre, 48, died Jan. 11, 2007, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born May 13, 1958, at Advance, son of the late Joe and Berndetta Easterbrooke McIntyre, he was a retired farmer. Survivors include: his wife, Angie McIntyre of the home; three sons, Dennis Ray McIntyre Jr. ...

DENVER -- David Milton Clack, 65, died at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 9, 2007, in Porter Memorial Hospital in Denver following an extended illness. Born Jan. 20, 1941, in Charleston, Mo., to the late Milton and Ida Ruth Black Clack, he had lived for 33 years in Denver, where he attended St. ...