Stories from Friday, September 21, 2007

SIKESTON -- Halene B. McGee, 77, died Sept. 21, 2007, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Arrangements are incomplete at Ponder Funeral Home in Sikeston.

DEXTER -- Lillie Brehmer, 86, died Sept. 21, 2007, at Cypress Point Health Care in Dexter. Funeral arrangements are incomplete with the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter.

VALLEY STATION, Ky. -- William Harold Helms, 86, died Sept. 20, 2007. He was an Army veteran, having served during World War II. He belonged to the VFW Post 1181 and American Legion of West Point and was a Kentucky Colonel. Survivors include: one son, Harold Lee Helms of Louisville; three daughters, Pat Baker, Ava "Tootie" Brown and Marie Carroll, all of Louisville; one sister, Marian Warren of Sikeston, Mo.; and 10 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren...

LILBOURN - Rueben Archie Marsh Sr., 58, died Sept. 18, 2007, at the Barnes- Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Born May 18, 1949, in Lilbourn, to the late Percy and Mildred Gardner Marsh, he graduated in 1969 from Lilbourn High School, where he was a member of the basketball team. He was formerly employed by Delta Growers of Lilbourn and QMI of Parma as a fertilizer distributor...

According to David A. Lieb (AP) in his recent news article printed in most area papers: Missouri House Republicans have chosen Rep. Ron Richard to take over the chamber's top position in 2009 - assuming he wins reelection to the House, assuming Republicans hold onto power and assuming new lawmakers abide by the wishes of their predecessors...

SIKESTON -- It's mid-September, the fall sports are in full action as the air begins to show signs of cooling down. Soon the leaves will be changing colors as autumn arrives. However, inside you flip through the sports channels only to see Tiger Woods hoist up his sixty first PGA Tour title while capturing the FedEx Cup. Thinking to yourself "Hey, I can do that."...

Fans of all sizes turned out Thursday evening to cheer the New Madrid County Central High School Eagles during their fall Homecoming parade. Tonight the Eagles will play the Charleston Bluejays at 7 o'clock with the crowning of the homecoming queen scheduled before the game...

CARUTHERSVILLE -- Charges were filed against the two men in connection with an armed robbery and the shooting of a Pemiscot Sheriff's Department employee. Anthony Harold Flint, 32, of Cape Girardeau, was charged by Pemiscot County Prosecutor Michael B. Hazel with first degree robbery, first degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action. The other suspect, James H. Thompson Jr., 29, of Cape Girardeau, was charged with first degree robbery and armed criminal action...

The Sikeston Skatepark Committee held a groundbreaking Thursday afternoon at the Sikeston Sports Complex for the park. The park will be located southeast of the southeast softball field at the corner of Stephens and Campanella Drive. A 30 by 80-foot concrete pad will be poured in October to house the five pieces of equipment for the skatepark. ...

EAST PRAIRIE -- East Prairie will have a new football coach on the sideline for tonight's football game against the Kennett Indians. In a special East Prairie R-2 School Board meeting held Monday night, members voted to suspend head coach Jason Aycock. Assistant coach Gary Scott was promoted to interim head coach and will coach the team tonight when the Eagles take the field against the Kennett Indians...

MOREHOUSE - Fire early today destroyed the contents and heavily damaged the building of Chris' Standard service station near the western city limits. --- SIKESTON - Mrs. Flora Shain, who 63 years ago moved from Hodgenville, Ky., to Sikeston, will return to town for a visit Saturday...

Mike, I was reading SpeakOut in the paper on Monday, Sept. 10. The article said women were not to rule over men. It went on to say that the churches weren't preaching the truth anymore. How true that is! If you can show me anywhere in scripture that allows a woman to pastor a church, I haven't found it. ...

SIKESTON -- Good food and entertainment always make a carnival fun, but it's the togetherness that sets the American Legion Cotton Carnival apart from the rest. That's why the annual Sikeston event is special to so many Sikeston residents, said Geniece Kinder, past president of American Legion Ladies Auxiliary and Cotton Carnival program book chair...

CHARLESTON -- Mississippi County's Web site will get a facelift. At Thursday's regular commission meeting, County Clerk Junior DeLay asked for a reconstruction of the site. "It's just sort of outdated," DeLay said of the site, www.misscomo.net. It has been at least six years since the site was developed, he estimated...

BENTON -- Improvements in the Ramsey Creek area near Scott City at the border of Cape Girardeau and Scott counties will benefit the county with more commercial opportunities. Commissioners discussed the outer road extension project at their regular meeting on Thursday...

NEW MADRID -- The New Madrid County Central eighth grade football team dominated the Caruthersville Tigers 14-0 Tuesday afternoon in a battle of undefeated teams. NMCC lost to Caruthersville last season as seventh graders and the Tigers appeared to be the favorite again this year. However, NMCC's Lorenzo Hill had other plans...

EAST PRAIRIE -- It was guaranteed that an Eagles' squad would win on Thursday afternoon, as the East Prairie played host to Oran on the diamond, but visiting Oran swooped in for the kill, defeating East Prairie by a score of 13-0, in five innings due to the ten-run mercy rule...

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston girls tennis team found the going tough against the visiting Kennett Lady Indians Thursday afternoon, losing 7-2. Sikeston's Jenni DeWitt kept her undefeated singles season going with an 8-1 victory over Kennett's Brook Burcham. Sikeston's only other win on the day came in doubles play when the team of DeWitt and Campbell Moore beat Kennett's team of Burcham and Susan Shetley 8-0...

SCOTT CITY - The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs volleyball team was back in action Thursday night as they traveled to Scott City to play the Lady Rams, dropping the match in straight sets 21-25, 17-25. Even though the Lady Bulldogs lost, coach Steve Beydler thought his team played better than what the final score presumed...