Stories from Monday, January 14, 2008

Priggel PORTAGEVILLE - Lynda and Neil Priggel are the parents of their fifth child, third daughter, born at 3:12 p..m. Nov. 19, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Julianna Rose Priggel weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces, and was 20 inches long...

Hats off to all of you for your recent commitment to our community blood drive at the First United Methodist Church. Once again you rolled up your sleeves and responded to the need! We are hosting our annual KFVS TV blood drive from Thursday Jan. 17th -...

CHARLESTON -- An East Prairie woman sustained fatal injuries after being ejected from the vehicle she was driving Saturday in Mississippi County. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident occurred at 11:50 p.m. on Route C, four miles south of Charleston, as eastbound motorist Lora A. Duke, 43, of East Prairie ran her vehicle off the road and overturned, ejecting her from the vehicle...

SIKESTON -- A belly landing on the runway of the Sikeston Municipal Airport around 10:30 a.m. Friday resulted in the airport being closed for about five hours, but no one was injured. According to information supplied from the Sikeston Department of Public Safety as well as airport personnel, the wheels failed to come down as a 1960 single-...

We live in Cairo, Ill. and play Bingo at the K.C. Hall. We don't understand why they don't give us heat. We come all the way from Illinois to play at the K.C. Hall and they will not give us heat. It was later asked about $40 worth of heat and we still weren't given heat...

60 years ago -- Jan. 14, 1948 SIKESTON - Little Miss Dixie Dawson, 2-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harold "Pete" Dawson of New Madrid, has been selected as the child of the month for December - the fifth child to be chosen in the contest by Dysart-...

WATER VALLEY, Miss. -- Freda Mae Leech Farmer, 71, formerly of East Prairie, Mo., died at 8:15 a.m. Jan. 13, 2008, at the Methodist Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Born March 19, 1936, in East Prairie, to the late Dave and Agnes O'Connor Leech, she had lived the past 12 years in Water Valley where she was a member of the Sylva Rena Baptist Church...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - James W. "Jim" Abernathy, 87, formerly of Sikeston, died Jan. 13, 2008, at the Missouri Veteran's Home in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete with Ford and Sons Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

EAST PRAIRIE - Lora Ann Duke, 43, died Jan. 12, 2008, as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Born Sept. 7, 1964, in East Prairie, to Larry Gene and Mary Louise Hedges Duke, she lived in Mississippi County all of her life, where she was involved in farming and was a part-time dispatcher for the Mississippi County Sheriff's office. She was of the Pentecostal belief...

CHAFFEE - Melvin F. Goetz, 83, died at 6:48 a.m. Jan. 13, 2008, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born Sept. 20, 1924, at New Hamburg, to the late August Gregory and Agatha Marie Bucher Goetz, he was a self-employed farmer and had worked in receiving at Superior Electric in Cape Girardeau. He was a member of St. Lawrence Catholic Church and St. Joseph Sodality in New Hamburg...

SIKESTON - Draygan Riley Gene Smith, infant son of Brittany Nicole Worley and Johnnie David Smith of Sikeston, died at 7:18 p.m., Jan. 11, 2008, at Doctors Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. In addition to his parents, survivors include: paternal grandparents, Sandra and Johnnie Smith Sr. of Sikeston; maternal grandparents, Joyce Stephenson and Paul Hale of Sikeston; and several aunts, uncles and cousins...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Lillie Ruth Taylor, 97, formerly of Sikeston, died Jan. 13, 2008, at Fountainbleau Lodge in Cape Girardeau. Born Aug. 31, 1910, in Warm Springs, Ark., to the late Thomas Foster and Paulena Whittenburg King, she had been a homemaker and a foster grandparent at Kenny Rogers Children's Center. She was a member of Shady Acres Church of Christ...

CHARLESTON - Tommy Lee Franklin, 78, died at the home of his daughter and son-in-law, Cynthia and Gary Wylde, in Charleston, on Jan. 10, 2008. He was born June 12, 1929, at Birds Point, to the late Harry Arthur and Gertrude Riggs Franklin. He was also preceded in death by his brothers, Johnny Dee Franklin and James Robert Franklin; and sister Betty Lee Franklin Davis...

NEW MADRID -- A full-year of revenue from the half-cent sales tax approved by New Madrid County voters in 2006 made balancing the budget in 2007 much easier for county officials. New Madrid County Clerk Clement Cravens said closing the books on the past year showed the county remained in the black and even increased its surplus funds...

A Sikeston Department of Public Safety firefighter investigates for flames at a home at 106 Dorothy St. Saturday morning (top photo). DPS responded to the fire at 9:47 a.m. and it was extinguished by 10:51 a.m. The fire started in the laundry room due to an electrical short in the wall by a water heater...

SIKESTON -- Clutch free throw shooting late in the game allowed the Delta Lady Bobcats to hang on and defend their Scott-Mississippi Conference Championship Saturday. Taylor Smith sank four free throws down the stretch, to make sure the No. 1 seed Bobcats took home the conference title against the No. 2 seed Kelly Lady Hawks, 38-35...