Stories from Tuesday, October 9, 2007

SIKESTON -- Even if your child is riding in the best car seat on the market, he or she may not be as safe as you think. Some experts believe as many as 95 percent of child safety seats are improperly installed. Missouri Delta Medical Center is now offering free child safety seat installation checks. "I just thing it's great for the community," said Sharon Urhahn, MDMC's director of marketing...

SIKESTON - "Gentlemen, start your engines." When you hear those four words you instantly think of NASCAR. When Hunter Schuerenberg hears those words, he does too, in a different light. Schuerenberg, 17, of Sikeston, has made his summer-home in Indianapolis to further his racing career, and thus far is fairing very well...

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston junior varsity football team defeated Caruthersville 22-14 Monday night. Sikeston got on the board in the first quarter when C.J. Council returned a punt 70 yards for the score. Quarterback Tanner Bryant scored the two-point conversion to give the Bulldogs an 8-0 lead...

INDIANAPOLIS--New Madrid native Trey Edwards spends his Saturdays roaming the sidelines of Ole Miss football games as equipment manager, but the scenery changed this summer for Edwards as he headed north to Indianapolis. Edwards was asked by a graduate assistant at the University of Mississippi if he'd like to be a summer intern for a pro football team, and he jumped at the offer...

To the person that said the police department has nothing better to do but stop someone for that person to do a marriage proposal. Do you even pay taxes? If you do, I bet it's not much. I know the officer would like a big raise because you pay so much taxes. ...

SIKESTON - The Sikeston General Hospital is to be closed Nov. 1 according to contemplated action by city officials who have been unable to find a means for the city to continue the operation of the hospital financially. --- SIKESTON - E.P. Aldridge, a contractor, sustained a fracture of the left leg in a fall from a ladder yesterday while working on a farm building near Sikeston...

BENTON -- A New Madrid County man was killed after being struck by a vehicle Monday afternoon on Interstate 55 near Benton. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident occurred at 3:40 p.m. on Interstate 55, about three miles south of Benton, as Dwight K. Douglas, 62, of Lilbourn walked into the path of the northbound vehicle driven by Caryn L. Roslen, 22, of Scott City...

SIKESTON -- Once considered not much of a problem, a soybean pest has become just that for Southeast Missouri growers this year. Dectes stem borer --a small, gray, long-horned beetle that attacks soybeans -- has popped up in more fields this year than ever before...

DEXTER -- A third person is in jail for her involvement in making a false bomb threat to Tyson Foods last month. Sondra Jean Link, 39, of Dexter was arrested Sunday on charges of making a terroristic threat and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to Stoddard County Sheriff's Department...

Nike announced last week they are introducing a new shoe designed specifically for American Indians. The world's mega-shoemaker says the new shoes will help promote physical fitness among a population that is plagued by high obesity rates. On the surface and since Nike acknowledges that any profits will go toward improving health for the Indian tribes, I commend Nike in acknowledging that there are indeed differences between cultures and ethnic groups...

DEXTER -- James "Sonny" Hatchel, 64, died Oct. 8, 2007, at the Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Born Nov. 23, 1942, at Charter Oak, son of the late Orval and Mable Hatchel Hudgens, he was a retired truck driver for the Southeast Co-Op, a veteran of the U.S. Army serving in Vietnam and a member of the Morley VFW...

MARSTON - Anna Mae Forrester, 92, died Oct. 8, 2007, at Portageville Nursing Center. Visitation is after 6 p.m. today at DeLisle Funeral Home in Portageville where services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Burial will follow in the Elbridge Cemetery in Elbridge, Tenn...

ABILENE, Texas - Nelda D. Benson, 56, died Oct. 8, 2007, at a medical center in Abilene. Born June 14, 1951, in Sikeston, Mo., she was the daughter of the late Genevieve Huls and Matthew Beamon Lewis. She moved from Sikeston to Abilene 21 years ago and was self-employed as an independent insurance agent, having previously worked for Cellular One. She was a member of Wyndrock Missionary Baptist Church...

PORTAGEVILLE - Henry "Shake" Burns, 79, formerly of Chicago, died Oct. 5, 2007, at Portageville. Born June 2, 1928, in Dardanelle, Ark., son of the late Zennie Brown and A.C. Burns, he was a Mason, member of Eastern Star and a deacon of the Missionary Baptist Church...

DECATUR, Ga. -- Ricky Joe Jordan, 52, formerly of Dexter, Mo., died Oct. 6, 2007, at the Winn Army Hospital in Ft. Stewart. Born May 17, 1955, at Poplar Bluff, Mo., son of Bennie Joe and Doris Sells Jordan of Dexter, he was a fabric panel installer for Brambier Construction...

CHARLESTON - Blanche Chandler, 81, died at 3:22 a.m. Oct. 9, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete with Shelby Funeral Home of East Prairie.

HOWARDVILLE - Tom Jennings Sr., 100, died Oct. 9, 2007, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete with DeLisle Funeral Home of Portageville.

ELLSINORE - Thelma I. Crabtree, 87, died Oct. 6, 2007, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Born March 16, 1920, at Bernie, to the late Everett and Minnie Kelly Boone, she moved to St. Louis with her husband in 1961. In 1972, she moved to Dexter and then to Ellsinore. She was a member of the Southwest Church of the Nazarene in Dexter and a retired seamstress from Elder Manufacturing...

DEXTER - Ruth B. Evans, 90, died Oct. 8, 2007, at Cypress Point Health Care in Dexter Born Sept. 14, 1917, in Essex, daughter of the late James and Dora Doris Peck, she lived in Essex her entire life. She was a retired self-employed beautician and a member of the Olive Branch General Baptist Church near Essex...

SIKESTON - Roy E. Collins, 71, died Oct. 8, 2007, at his home in Sikeston. Born July 29, 1936, in Carney, Okla., son of the late Edgar Alvin and Goldie Elnora Sadler Collins, he was a member of Blodgett Baptist Church. He had worked as a welder for Holland Hitch in Holland, Mich., before retiring...