Stories from Wednesday, January 30, 2008

ESSEX -- Christine Combs, 71, died Jan. 25, 2008 at St. John's Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. Born Sept. 20, 1936, in Aromeral, Ark., to the late Excheck and Grace Hester Childress, she had lived her entire life in Southeast Missouri, including 65 years in Essex. She was a member of the Powerhouse Church of God in Christ for 20 years...

MATTHEWS -- Tina Lynn Myers, 40, died at 4:15 a.m. Jan. 27, 2008, at Sells Rest Home. Born May 12, 1967, in St. Louis, she was the daughter of the late Gerald and Anna May Slater Hatcher. She married David Lynn Myers who survives of the home. Other survivors include: three daughters, Angela Haynes and Crystal Hatcher of Sikeston and Amanda Epp of Noblesville, Ind...

SIKESTON - Harbert Earl Western, 61, died at 1:45 a.m. Jan. 29, 2008, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born Nov. 14, 1946, in Cairo, Ill., to Ruth Shaw Western of Sikeston and the late Harbert Raymond Western, he was of the Baptist belief. He served in the U.S. Army and was a truck driver for Ryder Truck Lines...

SIKESTON -- Inell F. Cobb, 81, died at Jan. 23, 2008, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born June 28, 1926, in Tyronza, Ark., daughter of the late Henry Finnie and Christine Watson, she had lived all of her adult life in Missouri. She was a member of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Grayridge, where she served on the Mother's Board...

VEBLEN, S.D. -- A.B. Boley Jr., 37, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., died Jan. 18, 2008, at Coteau des Prairies Hospital in Sisseton. Born Aug. 29, 1970, in Chaffee, Mo., he was the son of Lois Hess Boley of Sikeston and the late A.B. Boley. In addition to his mother, survivors include: four sons, Jeremy Boley, Gregory Boley, Quinton Boley and Christopher Boley; four brothers, Randy Boley and Mark Boley of Carbondale, Ill., Terry Boley of Murphysboro, Ill., and Kenny Hess of Bell City, Mo.; four sisters, Carolyn Boley of Carbondale, Daisy Bolt of Sikeston, Treasa Boley of Perryville, Mo., and Letita Miller of Vanduser, Mo.; and his stepfather, James Bowen of Sikeston.. ...

SIKESTON -- Robert L. Lewis Sr., 61, died at Jan. 27, 2008, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born Aug. 31, 1946, in Lexington, Miss., he was the son of the late Walter and Florida Favor Lewis. On Sept. 19, 1981, he married Brenda Westmorland, who survives...

FESTUS -- Harold Wayne Ward, 60, died Jan. 26, 2008, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Crystal City. Born June 29, 1947, at Matthews, to the late Benjamin F. and Alice E. Dunning Ward, he was a member of the Agape Faith Church in Valles Mine. Survivors include: two sons, Stephen Ward of New Madrid and Paul Ward of the state of North Dakota; two brothers, Donald Ward of Sun City, Ariz., and Chester Ward of Swartz Creek, Mich.; six sisters, Patsy Austin, Verna Jewel Roach and Linda Ward of Festus, Carolyn "Susie" Bass of Paragould, Ark., Judy Stark of Greers Ferry, Ark., and Effie Nelson of Swartz Creek; and four grandchildren.. ...

SCOTT CITY - Bernard Daniel, 76, died Jan. 29, 2008, at his residence. Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City is in charge of arrangements, which are incomplete.

DEXTER - Fern Abernathy, 90, died Jan. 26, 2008, at the Golden Living Center at Dexter. Born Feb. 6, 1917, at Newark, Ark., to the late Bentley McClain and Ethel Rollins McClain, she was a member of the First Baptist Church in Dexter and a former employee of the Elder Manufacturing Company in Dexter...

DEXTER -- Pamela Weber Turlington, 66, formerly of Kennett, died Jan. 28, 2008, at the St. Francis Medical Center at Cape Girardeau. Born Jan. 17, 1942, at Dexter to the late Capt. Edmund Weber and Mae Weber Lynch, she was a member of the First Baptist Church in Dexter. A former first grade teacher in the Kennett Public School District for 33 years, she was a member of Beta Sigma Phi sorority...

SIKESTON -- Velma Louise Waldman, 82, died at 1:45 a.m. Jan. 29, 2008, at the Miner Nursing Center. Born June 15, 1925, in Portageville, to the late Coy and Della Mae Wilkerson Chappell, she was a housewife and a member of the Smith Avenue Church of God...

SIKESTON -- Martin W. Glastetter, 70, died Jan. 23, 2008, at the Hunter Acres Caring Center. Born Oct. 13, 1937, in Missouri, he was the son of the late Joseph Lawrence and Coena C. Glastetter. He had four sisters: Marie Fiorino, Barbara Willig, Coena Sulin and Ann Kirkwood...

SIKESTON - The Cotton Club, a widely known night club located on Highway 61 South, was destroyed by fire early Sunday morning. The night club had been operated the past several months by Harold Presson and Tom McClellan of Charleston and the building was owned by Paul Jones...

SIKESTON - Severe winds whipped through Southeast Missouri Tuesday afternoon leaving a trail of damage and debris. However, forecasters are predicting more bad weather may be on the way. Several accidents were reported on Interstate 55 related to the storm...

Scott County Clerk Rita Milam, chief election officer for the county, looks over the county's voting machines with Ron McCormick, left, and Dennis Ziegenhorn, associate county commissioners, in preparation for the presidential preference primary election Tuesday...

BENTON -- Scott County officials will soon receive additional National Incident Management System training. During their regular meeting Tuesday, commissioners discussed with Joel Evans, county emergency management director, what will be included in the 20 hours of NIMS training scheduled for Feb. 20-22...

SIKESTON -- Education and business leaders from around the area gathered Tuesday night to discuss workforce needs in the Bootheel area, and what sort of long-lasting programs are needed to help accelerate the economy. About 30 people were present at the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development Initiative meeting. ...

Absolute Madness. Charleston victorious over NMCC, Notre Dame, then loses to NMCC and Jackson. Sikeston loses to Jackson, wins over Notre Dame, twice, victorious over Charleston, and another loss to Jackson. So, Jackson beats Sikeston, Charleston beats Jackson, and Sikeston beats Charleston. Who's on top?...

KELLY -- The Kelly Hawks had a match-up against a fellow Scott-Mississippi Conference team Tuesday night, as the Scott County Central Braves blew into the town and took care of the Hawks, 83-51. "It wasn't our best game tonight," Kelly head coach Nate Wills said. "I don't think we have regressed any. I just think that it was just one of those nights were we didn't bring our best game and we didn't bring the intensity we needed to bring against a top-notch opponent."...

POPLAR BLUFF -- The New Madrid County Central Eagles earned a key conference victory 59-52 over Poplar Bluff on the road Tuesday. Poplar Bluff led 28-23 at the half but the Eagles outscored the Mules 22-11 in the third quarter to gain control. Kony Ealy led NMCC in scoring with 19 while Josh Minner chipped in 14. Poplar Bluff was led by Chris Kilgore's 13...

PUXICO -- Investigators believe a fire that destroyed a large storage building at Holloway Distributing Monday after- noon was accidental. State, federal and local fire investigators were at Holloway Distributing in Puxico this morn- ing. They believe Monday's fire began after employees stacked combustible paper products too close to a light fixture...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - A Charleston man was sentenced in federal court to more than 16 years in prison for his role in distributing drugs. Danny Ray Hart, 46, was sentenced to 195 months on one felony count of aiding and abetting the distribution of five grams or more of cocaine base and a felony count of possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of cocaine base...

CHARLESTON -- The balance of power never swayed towards the Jackson Indians Tuesday evening, as they strolled into Charleston expecting a major victory, but instead were handed a 15 point loss, 63-48, at the hands of the Bluejays. Jackson, one of the hottest teams in recent weeks, took it's second loss of the season from Charleston, as the Bluejays' last contest with the Indians was a victory in the finals of the SEMO Conference Tournament, 63-56. ...

After reading the headlines of the vet and the dentist being arrested for the drug dealing, I'm just hoping and wondering if the judges will issue the maximum sentences to the elite like they did the pre-teen that should have gotten juvenile and ended up being tried as an adult. I think these people should be given the maximum...

At long last, the spotlight is finally starting to shine on the warped policy of "earmarks" - those hidden little Congressional secrets that keep incumbent politicians popular at home while spending billions of your tax dollars without public input or discussion. President Bush - albeit too little and far too late - finally addressed the issue of earmarks during his State of the Union address this week. He pledged to veto the pork and rein in reckless spending...

For years I have thought my college education was virtually useless. I never understood the point of taking science and math classes when your field has nothing to do with those subjects. On Saturday, I learned the reason. It is called trivia night. Groups of six-to-eight people form teams and answer 10 questions in 10 categories with the team answering the most correctly winning...