Stories from Thursday, November 17, 2011

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Department of Public Safety is responding to a fatal accident on Highway E. The accident was reported at about 12:25 p.m. More information will be provided as it becomes available.

NEW MADRID -- Three people were injured after their vehicle overturned early today in New Madrid County. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol, at 12:30 a.m. on County Road 727, five miles north of New Madrid, the accident occurred as northbound motorist Cassandra Garner, 47, of New Madrid ran off the road, struck a culvert and overturned...

SIKESTON -- Before Sikeston High School senior Dustin Chaney graduates this spring, he will have early childhood education college course credits in place and the training necessary to become a certified preschool teaching assistant. Chaney, who plans to pursue a teaching degree, said he owes it all to the two-year preschool teaching program offered through the Sikeston Career and Technology Center...

EAST PRAIRIE -The Dorena-Hickman Ferry has halted operation for the next six weeks. But when it returns around the first of the new year, it should be better than ever. The ferry closed at the end of its business day Wednesday to allow the boat to be sent to a shipyard in St. Louis where new engines will be installed...

PORTAGEVILLE - A report of a bomb at a Portageville company proved to be false. At 2 :14 a.m. the Portageville Police Department received a 911 call reporting a bomb was planted on the roof of Plastene Supply Company, 101 Meatte Ave. Employees were taken to the Portageville Community Center while officers searched the building...

EAST PRAIRIE -- L.C. Woods, 82, died Nov. 17, 2011, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete with Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie.

DEXTER -- Kim Darlene Morgan, 54, died Nov. 16, 2011, at her mother's home in Dexter. Born March 27, 1957, in Poplar Bluff, daughter of Robert Dodd and Dixie White Watkins, she had lived in the Dexter area most of her life and was of the Baptist belief...

DEXTER -- Cora Mae Hagy-Magarian, 49, died Nov. 15, 2011, at her home. Born Oct. 5, 1962, in Flora, Ill., to the late John Wilson and Beatrice Scott Hagy, she had lived in Dexter most of her life. She attended The Pentecostal Full Gospel Fellowship Church in Dudley and had worked as a certified nursing assistant at the Crowley Ridge Nursing Home...

DEXTER -- Larry Gene Matthews, 80, died Nov. 17, 2011, at the Golden Living Center in Dexter. Born June 18, 1931, in Sikeston, to the late Jack and Elsie Matthews, he was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Dexter. He was a retired salesman of the American Tobacco Co. and worked as the zoning inspector for the City of Dexter for several years after his retirement...

OSAGE BEACH -- Barbara M. Miller, 79, formerly of Commerce, died Nov. 15, 2011, at Lake Regional Health System in Osage Beach. Arrangements are incomplete with Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Benton.

SIKESTON -- Thomas McWhirter, 73, died Nov. 16, 2011, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Arrangements are incomplete with Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston.

SIKESTON -- Wilbur D. Forgey, 78, died Nov. 15, 2011, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Feb. 18, 1933, in Pleasant Hill, Ill., son of the late Milo and Wilma Galloway Forgey. Wilbur had worked for Delta Ford-New Holland in Charleston as parts manager before retiring. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served during the Korean War...

PUXICO -- Floyd L. Hodge, 92, died Nov. 16, 2011, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Born Nov. 26, 1918, in Fisk, to the late Thomas and Ethel Miller Hodge, he was a lifelong resident of the Puxico area, a member of the Egypt Community Church and a veteran of the U.S. Navy serving during World War II...

GREELEY, Colo. (uncbears.com) -- Northern Colorado head coach B.J. Hill, after adding six scholarship players in his first recruiting class last season, added just one this year in dynamic guard Greg Tucker from Charleston High School in Charleston, Mo...

sports@standard-democrat.com SIKESTON -- With plenty of new faces to go along with an already solid core, this year's Sikeston wrestling team will enter the upcoming season looking to build on a successful 2010 campaign that saw five Bulldogs qualify for the Class 3 state tournament...

sports@standard-democrat.com SIKESTON -- The 2011 Southeast Missouri All-Region football teams were announced on Wednesday by a panel of area sportswriters. After an 8-3 season, the Sikeston Bulldogs were given six players on the first team and three on the second within the Class 4-5 category...

SIKESTON - Sikeston Department of Public Safety will join efforts with statewide law enforcement Friday for an aggressive "Click It or Ticket" mobilization to get more motorists to buckle up. "Local motorists should be prepared for stepped up Click It or Ticket enforcement," said Lt. Jim McMillen with Sikeston DPS...

leonnah@standard-democrat.com BENTON -- A personal book collection comprised of works spanning over 100 years will be available through a library fundraiser this weekend in Scott County. Bernice Kern, librarian at Riverside Regional Library in Benton, said a patron passed away this year and left part of a rare book collection -- which includes over 1,000 titles -- to the library...

EAST PRAIRIE -The Dorena-Hickman Ferry has halted operation for the next six weeks. But when it returns around the first of the new year, it should be better than ever. The ferry closed at the end of its business day Wednesday to allow the boat to be sent to a shipyard in St. Louis where new engines will be installed...

SIKESTON -- A Wednesday morning fire destroyed a Sikeston home. Sikeston Department of Public Safety received a call at 9:22 a.m. Wednesday of a fire at the residence located at 410 Prosperity St., according to Lt. Bill Mygatt. Firefighters had the blaze under control by 9:35 a.m. and completely extinguished shortly before 10 a.m...

By Scott Welton scottw@standard-democrat.com CHARLESTON -- The Mississippi County Commission doesn't support a drainage district's efforts to get control of some flood gates but agrees a pumping station there should be a higher priority for the Corps...