Stories from Sunday, April 8, 2007

SIKESTON -- Billy and Barbara Brown have announced the engagement of their daughter, Brandy Ann, to William N. Roberts V, son of Debbie and Jim Hailey and William N. Roberts IV of Sikeston. The future bride is a 2002 graduate of Sikeston High School. Her fiance is a 1996 graduate of Sikeston High School and is employed by Good Humor-...

ST. JAMES -- Bill and Debbie Sneed of Little Rock, Ark., and Dave and Danielle Verkamp of St. James have announced the engagement of their children, Jamie Jackson and Jeff Verkamp. The future bride is a 2001 graduate of John F. Hodge High School in St. ...

SIKESTON -- Mary Nichols of Sikeston and Jerry Phillips of Hazelwood, Ill., have announced the engagement of their daughter, Page Maria Nichols, to Catlin Eugene Swann, son of Tommy and Shirley Swann of Sikeston. The future bride expects to graduate from Sikeston Senior High School in May. Her fiance is a 2004 graduate of Sikeston Senior High School and is employed by Pizza Inn...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Keshima R. Fuller and Demetrick Cheairs have announced their engagement. The future bride is the daughter of the Rev. David and Betty Fuller of Sikeston, Mo. The prospective groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Higgs of Grand Junction...

Pam Lowe, a kindergarten teacher at Morehouse Elementary, was honored as the "Outstanding Community Teacher's Association" leader of the year at the district teacher's meeting March 23 at SEMO. Lowe is pictured above with Cindy Griffin and Dr. Larry Bohannon, assistant superintendents, and Steve Borgsmiller, superintendent...

NEW MADRID - Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. presented employees at New Madrid Power Plant with its Excel Awards during its annual employee recognition event March 29. Honored were: Larry Binion, Richard E. "Dickie" Bodi, David A. Childers, Steve Cummins, Joseph L. Johnes, Darryl L. Minner and Evelyn J. Williams. E. Dewayne Hawkins also was recognized at the 2006 Safety Person of the Year at the plant...

LONE OAK, Ky. -- The Sikeston Bulldog baseball team remained undefeated on the season with two blowout victories in the McCracken County Wood Bat Tournament at Lone Oak High School. On a bitterly cold, windy day, Sikeston defeated host school Lone Oak 12-0 in five innings and followed that up with an 11-1 victory against North Hardin (Ky.) in six innings...

SIKESTON - The Sikeston Bulls of the Kitty League will have a familiar face taking over the reigns of the team this upcoming season. Jamie Puckett, a 2002 graduate of Sikeston High School, has been named the manager of the Bulls for the 2007 college wood bat season...

SIKESTON - The Scott County Central Braves baseball team defeated the visiting Richland Rebels on Friday afternoon, 9-1. Scott Central braved the elements that included wind gusts up to 30-35 m.p.h. for much of the contest and picked up their first home win of the year...

We're told on a daily basis that American business is suffering because of outsourced labor and because cheap production costs in foreign countries puts us in a non-competitive position. There may be another reason some industries are suffering and some workers are losing their jobs - GREED...

As a Sikeston resident, I greatly appreciate the City Council's position on the sales tax issue. I just hope it's not too late to awaken the citizens of our sleeping city. Folks, Benton is no longer our good friend. Although I have many friends in the north end, they no longer support us in the south end of the county. We are supposed to pay while they play...

SIKESTON - Lieutenant Commander Charles Tanner, on assignment with the Byrd Expedition to the South Pole, wired his wife from the Balboa Canal Zone that he will arrive in the states April 14. BENTON - Plans for the cancer crusade in Scott County were outlined in a meeting at Ann's Grill in Morley last night. The goal in $3,100...

SIKESTON -- Two Sikeston Public Schools students will compete at the state level in a science project competition. Taylor Renfroe, a 9th grade student at Sikeston Junior High School, and Kristin King, who is in 7th grade at the Sikeston Middle School, both qualified for the State Junior Academy of Science competition to be held April 20 at Western University in St. Joseph...

Two year-old twins Madison and Callie Horne needed a bit of practice to prepare for their Easter egg hunt today. Out in their yard they quickly found some eggs but their curiosity got the best of them prompting them to give up the hunt to check out what was inside those eggs...

SIKESTON - The unseasonably chilly temperatures may have some residents donning ear muffs instead of Easter bonnets today. But the cold temperatures should be coming to an end soon. The National Weather Service in Paducah has issued a freeze watch from late tonight through Monday morning. While this morning's lows ranged from around 20 to 22 degrees prompting a freeze warning, Monday morning's lows are expected to only drop into the mid-20s...

PORTAGEVILLE -- Twice-a-week physical therapy sessions and monthly blood transfusions have become a way of life for 12-year-old Caleb Booker of Portageville. The Portageville Middle School student, who is the son of Roy and DeLois Booker, was diagnosed at birth with sickle cell disease, a painful and debilitating blood disorder that primarily affects the black population...

VANDUSER -- Pallbearers for funeral services conducted Friday at Ponder Funeral Home in Sikeston for Leslie Todd Eskew, 45, who died April 3, 2007, were: Terry Burton, Toby Burton, Larry Boley, Billy Joe Boley, Jamie Easter and Teren Eskew.

EAST PRAIRIE -- Audie Lee Butler, 87, formerly of Bertrand, died at 7 a.m. April 6, 2007, at the Bertrand Nursing Facility. Born Feb. 7, 1920, in Risco, son of the late David Sherman and Lillie Shaw Butler, he lived in East Prairie before moving to Smithland, Ky., in the late 1960s...

DELTA -- Ronald Lee Schrum Sr., 54, died April 5, 2007, at his home. Born July 14, 1952, at St. Louis, to Irene Steger of Chaffee and the late Ollie Earl Schrum, he was a retired truck driver for Obie and Pete Solid Waste of Delta. On Jan. 4, 2007, he married Kathleen Curneal who survives of the home...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Alvin Griswell, 92, died at 2:55 a.m. April 6, 2007, at Ratliff Care Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Sept. 16, 1914, in Dyersburg, Tenn., to the late Archie and Sarah Patterson Griswell, he was a farmer. On Dec. 5 1932, he married Ocie Smith who preceded him in death on Nov. 26, 1998...

KELSO -- Doris Marie Welter Smith, 86, died April 5, 2007, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Her final years were spent at the Auburn Creek Residential Care Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born July 15, 1920, in Kelso, to Edward and Ella Pfefferkorn Welter. She married Jack Smith Jr. of Fornfelt on Aug. 27, 1942. He preceded her in death on March 28, 1981...

GRANITE CITY, Ill. - Edna Mae Ryan, 82, died at 11:20 a.m. April 5, 2007, at Stearns Nursing Home in Granite City. Born Aug. 23, 1924, in Campbell, Mo., to the late Benjamin Franklin and Linda Mae Blevins Sanders, she had been a bookkeeper for Penske Trucking Company...

NEW MADRID - Christina Jenkins Sumner, 55, died April 6, 2007, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete with Richards Funeral Home of New Madrid.

SIKESTON - Ronald E. Creed, 61, died April 6, 2007, at his home in Sikeston. Born April 12, 1945, in Mayfield, Ky., son of Herschel and Mildred Martin Creed Sr. of Paducah, Ky., he was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and had owned and operated Creed Window Cleaning before retiring. He was a member of Tanner Street Church of God, assistant Boy Scoutmaster, chairman of Youth Government Day, a 25-year member of the Optimist Club and active in the Shoe Program for Children...

WYATT - Evelyn Wilson, 82, died at 7:15 p.m. April 6, 2007, at Charleston Manor. Born April 2, 1925, in Mayfield, Ky., to the late Robert and Georgia Copeland Rodgers, she lived most of her life in Wyatt where she attended the Pentecostal Holiness Church...

PUXICO - Pallbearers for funeral services conducted Saturday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Puxico for Eli Burton Davis, 76, who died April 4, 2007, were: Tammy Farris, Jill Hathaway, Lisa Franklin, Liz Clark, Sue Elledge, Sharon Chism, Nancy Griffin and Amy Griffin...

SIKESTON - Louise Kellis Dorris, died April 7, 2007, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Monday at the Ponder Funeral Home in Sikeston, where services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

SIKESTON - Margie H. McDonald, 74, formerly of East Prairie, died at 9:25 p.m., April 6, 2007, at West Ridge Place in Sikeston. Visitation will be at 6 p.m. today at the Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie, where services will be conducted at 1 p.m. Monday...

SIKESTON - Latoya Jackson is the parent of her second child, first daughter, born at 10:58 a.m. Feb. 22, 2007, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. A'man Latrece weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and was 19 inches long. Grandparents are Julie Jackson, Eli Jackson and John Jackson...

URBANA, Ill. -- Richard and Sherilyn Butler have announced the engagement of their daughter, Courtney, to Jonathan Whitener, son of Sandy O'Guinn of Sikeston, Mo. A 1995 graduate of Urbana High School, the future bride graduated from Parkland College in 2002...