Stories from Wednesday, February 8, 2012

sports@standard-democrat.com NEW MADRID -- It's been a season of ups and downs for the New Madrid County Central Eagles. Tuesday night was an 'up.' The Eagles knocked off the visiting Kennett Indians 57-45 in a game most probably didn't peg NMCC to finish on top...

sports@standard-democrat.com DEXTER -- The Dexter Bearcats clinched the SCAA regular season title with a perfect 7-0 record after defeating Bell City 94-45 on Tuesday night. Dexter led 26-4 after one quarter and had the game well in hand at halftime with a 54-17 lead. The win was Dexter's 10th in-a-row, which included a SCAA Tournament championship as well...

EAST PRAIRIE - Due to an electrical issue, the Dorena-Hickman Ferry will have to delay the start of service on until about 9 a.m. today. Captain Ed Floyd and his crew thought they had worked out some minor issues during a shakedown cruise today. However, on the last run this evening a problem developed with a solenoid on the barge ramp controller...

SIKESTON - Beginning at noon today, Ruth Street at the railroad crossing will be closed to traffic due to rail and pad replacement. The work, performed by Burlington Railroad, will take approximately 24 hours. Beginning at 7 a.m. Thursday, the West North Street railroad crossing will be closed for rail and pad replacement. This work is also expected to take about 24 hours to complete...

SIKESTON -- Pallbearers for funeral services conducted Tuesday at Ponder Funeral Home for Ruth W. Triplett, 88, who died on Feb. 3, 2012, were: Steven Triplett, Michael Triplett, Richard Triplett, Jim Bob Daugherty, Greg Bailey and Daniel Dew.

FULTON -- Ruby L. Taylor, 74, died Feb. 6, 2012, at her home. Born Jan. 15, 1938, in Sikeston, she was the daughter of the late Frank and Margaret Ross. Survivors include: two daughters and a son-in-law, Darlene and Jim Ring of Sikeston and Donna Kauffman of Prescott, Ariz.; one brother, Charlie Ross of Malden; four sisters, Carolyn Holyfield of Bell City, Jewell Tankersley of Campbell, Margaret Jenkins of Sikeston and Linda McClain of Malden; and five grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren...

VALLEY PARK -- Brenda Sue Chandler, 59, formerly of Charleston, died Jan. 31, 2012, in St. Louis. Born June 1, 1952, in Sikeston, to the late Jim Chandler and Hazel Thurman Bouler, she was a graduate of Charleston High School and attended Three Rivers Community College. She was a member and pianist at Elm Street Baptist Church of Charleston and had worked at State Farm Insurance in Charleston...

ENERGY, Ill. -- Janice Ann Laster Johnson, 57, formerly of Wyatt, Mo., died Feb. 3, 2012, at her home. Born Nov. 7, 1954, in Mississippi County, Mo., she was the daughter of the late Curtis Laster and Yvonne Nolen Laster Fisher. Following her graduation from Charleston High School in 1973, she moved to Southern Illinois where she had been employed as a certified nurse's aide. She was of the Baptist belief...

sports@standard-democrat.com BENTON -- To say the Charleston Bluejays have been riding a hot streak is putting it mildly. Since a 58-50 loss to West Memphis, Ark., on Nov. 26 in the Riverbend Classic, Charleston hasn't tasted defeat, winning their 20th-straight game Tuesday night, blasting Kelly 83-34...

scottw@standard-democrat.com SIKESTON -- Doritos' slingshot grandma may well have honed her marksmanship during her summers in Sikeston. Among the top commercials which aired Sunday during the Super Bowl was "Sling Baby" in which a wheelchair-bound grandmother and an infant team up to retrieve a bag of Doritos from a bully who taunts them with the snack from a tree house...

SIKESTON - An Essex man was arrested after a child reported she was "inappropriately touched" by him. Scott County Prosecutor Paul Boyd charged Danny Keith Foushee, 57, with first degree child molestation (a class B felony) for the December incident...

SIKESTON -- An Illinois man faces a list of charges after being tracked down following a burglary at a Sikeston business. Max B. Boswell, 19, of McNabb, Ill., is charged with second degree burglary, first degree property damage, resisting/interfering with a felony arrest and misdemeanor stealing...

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news@standard-democrat.com BENTON -- Voters in Scott and Mississippi counties were in line with the statewide trend of overwhelmingly selecting incumbent President Barack Obama for the Democrat's candidate and Rick Santorum to face him as the Republican candidate...

I had to review a text of the President's State of the Union address to verify that what I thought I heard, I actually heard. But there it was in black and white. And with those few words, I have at long last found some point of agreement with our President...