Stories from Sunday, February 26, 2012

ANNISTON -- An East Prairie man is facing arson charges for a fire in Anniston. Mississippi County Sheriff's Deputy Mike Borders and Chief Deputy Charlie Marcum responded Thursday to a hotline call to the Missouri Department of Family Services regarding a home in Anniston, according to Sheriff Keith Moore...

DEXTER -- Ruth Wood, 86, died Feb. 24, 2012, at the Cypress Point Skilled Nursing Center in Dexter Arrangements are incomplete at the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter.

DEXTER -- Charles Leamon Cantrell, 56, died Feb. 24, 2012, at the Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born Jan. 14, 1956, in Conran, to the late Howard Leamon Cantrell and Nora Gribble Cantrell Powell, he was a veteran of the United States Marines...

WAPPAPELLO -- Beulah Alma Andrews Davis O'Conner, 85, died Feb. 23, 2012, at her home. Born Nov. 24, 1926, in Wolf Lake, Ill., to the late Aden Robert and Hester Hodge Andrews, she lived most of her life in Dexter and Wappapello. She was a member of the Egypt Community Church in Puxico and a former member of the Eastern Star. She was a welder on naval ships during World War II in Rhode Island and worked in food services in Southeast Missouri as a manager, restauranteur, cook and waitress...

SIKESTON -- Phillip Terry Evans, age 70, died Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012, at his home in Sikeston. He was born Dec. 20, 1941, in Parma, the son of Woodrow "Woody" Evans of Sikeston and the late Sue Greene Evans. He was a retired veteran of the U.S. Army, having served during the Vietnam War. He was a successful businessman in Sikeston, having owned and operated Shear Perfection Hair Salon where he worked as a professional hairstylist for more than 20 years and was also a licensed real estate agent...

SIKESTON -- Geraldine Vaughn, 69, died Feb. 23, 2012, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born May 12, 1942, in Paris, Ark., daughter of the late Hugh and Suda Demasters Fowler, she worked for Southeast Missouri State University for 35 years before retiring...

FLORISSANT -- Mary Lou Latham, 75, died Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012, at Christian Northwest Hospital in Florissant. Born Jan. 27, 1937, in the Hooe community, daughter of the late Bernie E. and Elsie Viola Crader Bollinger, she worked as a secretary for the Hazelwood School District for over 30 years before retiring...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Elizabeth Marie Baker, 89, died at 12:10 a.m. Feb. 24, 2012, at the East Prairie Nursing Center. Born Jan. 1, 1923, in New Madrid County near East Prairie to the late Clarence A. and Lena Marten Baker, she was a 1941 graduate of East Prairie High School. ...

How do you grow a community? That's a legitimate and timely question facing Sikeston. Granted, we're not alone in our quest for an expanded population. But every community focuses their actions on their own personal set of wants and needs. Sikeston is no exception...