Stories from Wednesday, April 18, 2007

By way of disclosure, former Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell is a friend of mine. So when I express satisfaction that an indictment against Ferrell was dropped this week, please understand that I am not an impartial observer. As I assume you have heard by now, stealing charges brought against the former Sheriff were dismissed this week by a special prosecutor appointed to hear the case. ...

CANALOU - Shelby Smith and Justin Spraggs are the parents of their first child, a son, born at 11:17 a.m. March 3, 2007, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Justin Lee Spraggs Jr. weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces, and was 19 inches long. Maternal grandparents are Tonia Ann Smith and Charles Duane Smith...

BELL CITY -- The Chaffee Red Devils baseball team picked up a hard fought road win at Bell City on Tuesday afternoon, 9-6. The game went nine innings and Chaffee put the game out of reach in the top of the ninth with five runs. The Red Devils had to rally from a 4-1 deficit through five innings of action to overtake the Cubs...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Sikeston tennis team dropped its first dual match of the season, falling to Cape Central 5-4 on Tuesday in Cape Girardeau. Sikeston is now 5-1 on the season. All varsity matches were the best two out of three sets, with the third set being a super tiebreaker...

SIKESTON -- City Manager Doug Friend presented council members with an overview of revenues since 1997 and expenditures for unrestricted funds since 2005 during a special budget preparation meeting Tuesday as part of what he called the "first informational meeting for the Council on the budget process."...

SIKESTON -- Sikeston will have a public pool this summer. Jiggs Moore, parks division director, reported on the Jaycee Municipal Pool during a special budget preparation meeting Tuesday. "We filled the pool up," Moore said. "We needed to have it running to see what would happen."...

Think about your definition of "Homegrown" Homegrown has a lot of different meanings. It might mean the tomatoes were homegrown. His watermelon was homegrown. Or homegrown could mean a graduate, fresh out of high school. He's homegrown, but leaves his hometown to further his education, or find a job in the bigger city. ...

I have been married for 3,119 days (at least that is how many notches I have scratched on my wall) and during that time I have learned some valuable things. One is never to write about your wife in the newspaper without her permission and that women speak an entirely different language than men...

Nobody asked me but...junior Jordi Ferrell and sophomore Abbi Keefer get the bulk of the attention on Sikeston's soccer team due to their offensive abilities. However, the Lady Bulldogs' defense has been solid of late and deserve some attention. Katie DeLaRosa, Laura Atchison, Ashley Angle and Jennifer Millington are quietly having solid seasons for Sikeston...

SIKESTON -- Michael "Flipper Cool" Gipson, 52, died April 12, 2007, at the home of his sister. Born Dec. 2, 1954, in Sikeston, the son of Julia Renfro of Sikeston and the late Sylvester Williams, he was a member of West End Baptist Church of Sikeston...

MATTHEWS - Billy Jack Plunk, 69, died at 11:25 p.m. April 15, 2007, at Barnes- Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Born Sept. 29, 1937, in Crump, Tenn., to the late Virgil Dean and Bertie Estella Duren Plunk, he was a self-employed farmer, a member of Potter's House Ministries and Sikeston Eagles Aerie 3319...

CHAFFEE -- Patrick Shane Kennedy, 49, died at 1:30 a.m. April 16, 2007, at his home. Born March 15, 1958, in Chaffee, son of the late John Lee and Patsy Lou Taylor Kennedy, he was a retired maintenance man for the Zimmer Radio Group in Cape Girardeau and a member of the Greater Vision Church of Chaffee...

SIKESTON -- Jean S. Collins, 93, died at 4:14 a.m. April 18, 2007, at Sikeston Convalescent Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel.

SIKESTON - Preston R. Smith, 75, died at 10:30 a.m. April 15, 2007, at his home. Born Oct. 3, 1931, in Chicago, to the late John and Betty Vance Smith, he attended Dulittle High School and graduated from Baldwin High School in Baldwin, Mich. He was a U.S. Army veteran, serving during the Korean War...

DEXTER -- Mary Fears, 71, died April 17, 2007, at Crowley Ridge Care Center in Dexter. Born Sept. 28, 1935, in Bloomfield, daughter of the late George Edward and Louise Lula Williamson Neal, she was a former farmer in the Bernie area for many years until 1985 when she moved to Branson, where she and her husband owned and operated several businesses...

DEXTER - Pallbearers for services conducted on Tuesday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter for Louis Amel Frank, 85, who died April 13, 2007, were: Travis Casey, Garrett Casey, Scott Ray, Gatlin Ray, Andy Love, Harold Watson, Frank Watson and Wilson Frank...

EAST PRAIRIE - Fred Gilligan, 82, died April 17, 2007, at the Charleston Manor Nursing Facility. Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie is in charge of arrangements, which are incomplete.

DECATUR, Ill. - Phyllis Murray-Townsend Taylor, 42, died at 2 a.m. April 13, 2007, in Decatur. Arrangements are incomplete at Richards Funeral Home in New Madrid.

DECATUR, Ill. - As of Tuesday there are still no suspects in the shooting death of a former Sikeston, Mo., woman. Authorities are following up leads in the death of Phyllis Murray-Townsend Taylor, 42, whose body was discovered at 1:23 a.m. April 13 in the 1000 block of North Edward Street, just off the alley, said Lt. David Dickerson, who is in charge of the detective division of the Decatur Police Department...

CHARLESTON -- The cold snap may have affected the spring foliage somewhat, but Charleston is still gearing up for it annual Dogwood-Azalea Festival. The festival will be April 19-22 this year, according to Claudia Arington, executive director of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce...

NEW MADRID - Faced with an aging infrastructure, the New Madrid Board of Aldermen turned to its citizens in the first of a series of town meetings for possible solutions. More than 50 residents attended Tuesday evening's meeting, which Mayor Donnie Brown described as an opportunity to hear from citizens. "We are looking for ideas," said Brown. "We are looking at the big picture in an effort to better the town we live in."...

BENTON -- Scott County commissioners will attend a training session on resolving assessment challenges. Commissioners said during their regular meeting Tuesday that they will attend the Missouri State Tax Commission's Board of Equalization Workshop scheduled from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. May 29 at the Cape Girardeau Administration Building in Jackson...

DEXTER -- The Dexter School Board Tuesday night voted to hire Rob Nichols to lead the Bearcats' basketball program next season, according to Dr. Ken Jackson, superintendent of schools. Dr. Jackson said Nichols had been notified of the board's decision, but The Daily Statesman was unable to reach Nichols for comment before the paper's deadline...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs soccer team picked up a big road win over Cape Central on Tuesday night, 2-0. The Lady Bulldogs took advantage of a couple of Lady Tigers mistakes in the first half to essentially put the game away at halftime...

CHARLESTON -- The Sikeston Bulldog baseball team improved to 10-2 on the season with a 6-1 victory against Charleston on Tuesday at Hillhouse Park. The Bulldogs rode the arm of senior hurler Jerod Scott to victory. Scott had a shutout through six innings, allowing Charleston's only run in the bottom of the seventh...

SIKESTON - April is diamond month. Fitzpatrick brings you another sensational offer, only $29.75, federal tax included, for a ladies approximately 1/20 carat diamond ring. Only $5 down is required with payments of $1 weekly. It takes only 3 minutes to open a charge account!...

I can't believe that MSNBC would even consider humoring the demands of Sharpton and others. Imus did nothing different that Dave Chapelle, Carlos Mencia, and others have been doing for years. Dr. Martin L. King Jr. preached for Americans of all races to have equality. ...