Stories from Tuesday, August 5, 2008

SIKESTON -- Karen Williams, 53, died Aug. 3, 2008, from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident near Piedmont. Born May 22, 1955, in Sikeston, daughter of Elze Lowell and Ann Webb of Sikeston, she had worked for McCord's Cream Castle for 19 years...

FREDERICKTOWN -- The Rev. Marvin Foust, 73, formerly of Doniphan and St. Charles, died Aug. 2, 2008, at ClaRu Deville Nursing Home in Fredericktown. Born March 23, 1935, in Tyler, Ark., he was a General Baptist minister and had formerly pastored churches in Missouri and Illinois. He was a member of Calvary Temple Church in Fredericktown...

EAST PRAIRIE -- William Franklin "Frankie" Powell, 60, formerly of Charleston, died at 7 p.m. Aug. 3, 2008 at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born July 9, 1948, at St. Louis, to the late William Carman "Bill" and Betty Lee Griffin Powell, he had lived his entire life in Mississippi County where he was employed by the Missouri Department of Transportation until his retirement in 1999 and had served in the Missouri National Guard for a number of years...

Dear Editor, Two recent editorials concerning the presidential campaign deserve a response. The first, "Negative Campaigning Isn't good Politics" laments the state of modern day campaign practice. It asks us, "Have we become so jaded and partisan that we allow the negative to prevail over the positive?" At the same time, unfortunately, it answers that question by commenting negatively about the expansion of the Obama campaign here in Missouri. ...

Aug. 5, 1948 SIKESTON - Three people from Sikeston and five others from the surrounding area passed the water safety and instructors course conducted at the municipal swimming pool last week by Earnest Vornbrock, Red Cross Water Safety director from St. Louis. Those who passed from Sikeston were: Alfred A. Bach, Charles Berthe and William F. Sikes...

I was reading in the paper where they got the grant to clean up Sunset. I remember when those houses were built down there in Sunset. They were single-family houses down on the far end of Compress Road. They were real nice houses. The sat empty for years because they had so many rules and regulations you couldn't put anybody in them. ...

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston 13-year-old All-Stars have now been crowned Midwest Plains Regional Champions in four consecutive years. The most recent championship came in front of their local crowd as they took down Minnesota (Minnetonka) by a score of 16-2 on Monday evening...

CHARLESTON -- Four East Prairie residents are charged with stealing for fuel thefts in Mississippi County. The arrests were made following an investigation initiated and supervised by Mississippi County Sheriff Keith Moore and Chief Deputy Charlie Marcum and led by Deputy Marc Tragesser...

Claudia Santos, 6, decorates a picture frame Monday afternoon at the Sikeston Public Library's sumer reading party. Approximately 840 youngsters who participated in the program were invited to attend. During the party, children of all ages went through stations including crafts, face painting, a duck pond and more...

SIKESTON -- With the start of the school year just around the corner, it's not just school supply lists parents need to check. Now is also the time to make sure children are up-to-date on their immunizations -- from those beginning kindergarten to older students about to start college...

SIKESTON -- A Sikeston man who was convicted of second degree murder in 2005 and was serving a 30-year sentence in the Department of Corrections is now free. A Butler County jury acquitted Justin Robinson of Sikeston on charges alleging his connection as an accomplice in the May 24, 2003, shooting death of Trevor Neal, 19. Neal was shot at Dixie and Osage streets in Sikeston's Sunset Addition. The jury trial was July 23 and 24, and held in Butler County due to a change of venue...

Jody Green of Marlow, Okla., takes a calf to the ground in the tie-down roping event at Slack Monday night at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo Grounds. Ron Payne, the 2008 chairman of the Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo, stated they "are selling tickets at a rapid pace, so if you want to assure you get yours, you need to buy them as soon as possible." The weather forecast is also showing a cooling trend for the rodeo which will kick off on Wednesday night...

SIKESTON -- Sikeston may join those cities taking a stand against sagging. City Council members discussed during their regular meeting Monday the possibility of amending city code to further define indecent exposure and public indecency to include sagging pants...