Stories from Wednesday, June 8, 2011

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Just one week after winning the Missouri Class 3 state championship in the high jump, Sikeston's Betsy Borgsmiller put together another impressive performance. Competing in the Great Southwest Classic Track and Field Classic on Saturday, Borgsmiller jumped 5 feet, 6 inches, finishing second in the all-star field that featured 17 of the top high jumpers in the southwest...

Sikeston Area Youth Baseball and Softball continued on Tuesday night at the Sikeston Sports Complex. Above: Quentin Anthony of the Jim Wilson Rookie League team tries to tag Kaden White of the Sikeston Elks Lodge team as shortstop Tyler Gilmer backs up the play. ...

SIKESTON -- With one swing of the bat Tuesday, Sikeston Post 114's Luke Keefer did two things. For starters, he drove in the game-winning run against visiting Mayfield Post 26. Secondly, he erased two, lopsided opening season losses to Paducah, Ky., from Monday that had Post 114 feeling blue...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Opening their season against the Missouri Bulls on Tuesday the Charleston Fighting Squirrels lost both games of a double header 9-6 and 10-2. Both Seth Childers and Danny McKinney had a pair of hits for the Squirrels in the first contest as Charleston scored four run in the final three inning, but were unable to keep up with the Bulls offense...

BENTON -- Facebook users will soon have more to like about Scott County. During their regular meeting Tuesday, County Commissioners gave the green light to Amber Scudder, county emergency management director, to establish a "Scott County, Missouri" Facebook page...

BENTON -- Scott County will take advantage of a program to fight bugs. County Commissioners discussed during their regular meeting Tuesday a program by the Missouri Foundation for Health offering insecticide applicators and chemicals to communities in areas recently affected by flooding...

SIKESTON -- Passersby gawk. They love her color, her body, her shine, and they always have one burning question: who is she? As it turns out, "she" is a one-of-a-kind 1934 Hupmobile owned by Butch and Donna Downs of Colona, Ill. The Princess Diana -- the name given by the couple -- is one of 1,006 Hupmobiles made in 1934 and the only of its kind still in existence, according to the couple who made a recent stop in Sikeston, which is Mrs. Downs' hometown...

MEMPHIS -- Maj. Gen. Merdith W. B. (Bo) Temple, acting chief of Engineers for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will tour the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway and other areas in the region impacted this year's flooding on Thursday. Temple is also expected to hold a press conference before returning to Corps of Engineers Headquarters in Washington, D.C...

SIKESTON - The deadline for seeking federal assistance to fund recovery from May's flooding is exactly one month away. At disaster recovery centers scattered throughout the area, the public can meet with officials from Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration. A center opened at 103 S. Kingshighway in Sikeston just last week and like all the centers is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Dorothy L. Jones, 75, died Monday, June 6, 2011, at Life Care Centers of Cape Girardeau. For the complete obituary and more stories from the Standard Democrat, click here to log on to the electronic edition...

SIKESTON - Pallbearers at services Tuesday at the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church for Madleen Abbo, who died June 5, 2011, were: R.J. Tellow, Omar Tellow, Jim Henson and Christopher Snider.

ST. LOUIS -- -Franklin Smith Edmiston, 74, formerly of Sikeston, died June 5, 201, at his home. For the complete obituary and more stories from the Standard Democrat, click here to log on to the electronic edition...

DEXTER -- Lucille Hopkins, 87, died June 8, 2011. For the complete obituary and more stories from the Standard Democrat, click here to log on to the electronic edition.

EAST PRAIRIE -- James Woodrow "Woody" Parson, 72, died June 5, 2011, from injuries sustained in an accident on I-55 in Perry County. For the complete obituary and more stories from the Standard Democrat, click here to log on to the electronic edition...

CHARLESTON -- Betty Sue Russell Humphreys, 74, died June 6, 2011, at her home in Charleston. For the complete obituary and more stories from the Standard Democrat, click here to log on to the electronic edition.

EAST PRAIRIE -- Joan Ann Scott Parson, 68, died June 5, 2011, at the Barnes Hospital in St. Louis from injuries sustained in an accident on I-55 in Perry County. For the complete obituary and more stories from the Standard Democrat, click here to log on to the electronic edition...

DEXTER -- Anna Mae Carey, 93, died June 7, 2011, at the Crowley Ridge Care Center in Dexter. For the complete obituary and more stories from the Standard Democrat, click here to log on to the electronic edition.

SIKESTON -- Marvin Joseph Mercer, 62, died June 4, 2011 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. For the complete obituary and more stories from the Standard Democrat, click here to log on to the electronic edition...

FLORALA, Ala. -- Victor Joe Davis, 51, died June 4, 2011 in Florala. For the complete obituary and more stories from the Standard Democrat, click here to log on to the electronic edition.

They're called "flash mobs" or "unruly crowds." Let's just call them what they are - thugs! Roving gangs of young thugs have made headlines lately with random attacks and general chaos as the summer season gets under way. Fights in fast food restaurants are a daily staple of YouTube videos as these summer slugs take their special brand of "fun" to the streets...