Stories from Tuesday, July 10, 2012

SIKESTON -- Cheston D. Pierce, 86, died July 9, 2012, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at the Nunnelee Funeral Home in Sikeston.

NEW MADRID -- Former New Madrid County Sheriff George Walter Lee Ivy passed away peacefully on July 8, 2012, surrounded by family and friends at the Golden Living Center in New Madrid at the age of 82 years. He was born May 10, 1930, in Pocahontas, Ark., to the late Richelieu and Florence Shaver Ivy...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Sandra Annette "Sandy" Owens, 45, died at 9 a.m. July 9, 2012, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Aug. 23, 1966, to the late Arlon F. Fisher and Bessie Imogene Russom Jones, she lived most of her life in East Prairie...

CHAFFEE -- Helen Bernice Evans, 93, died July 8, 2012, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Sept. 3, 1918, in Chaffee, to the late Philip L. and Mary Welter Halter, she was a member of the Christian Mission Church in Benton. On Dec. 5, 1936, she married Paul L. Evans Sr. who preceded her in death on Dec. 14, 1969...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Virginia Vinyard Bailey passed away on July 8, 2012, at Chateau Girardeau. Born Nov. 16, 1916, in Cape Girardeau to Benjamin and Lura Gee Vinyard, she spent most of her life in Portageville. She is survived by her husband, Judge John R. Bailey, retired; three daughters, Barbara Bailey Bradford of St. Louis, Marcia Bailey Planchon of Memphis, Tenn., and Rebecca Bailey Betz of Cape Girardeau; and seven grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren...

sports@standard-democrat.com CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Scott County Junior Legion Post 369 baseball team took care of the Cape Freshmen Legion 7-2 and 8-3 Monday during a doubleheader in Cape Girardeau. In the first game, Scott County scored all seven of their runs in the top of the sixth inning breaking a scoreless tie in the process...

scottw@standard-democrat.com SIKESTON -- Scott County Relay for Life has a group with a proven track record working to make next year's event a little smoother. The idea is to build an asphalt walking track on the north side of the YMCA of Southeast Missouri's building where the annual event was held for the past three years...

scottw@standard-democrat.com SIKESTON -- The city of Sikeston has hired a St. Louis lawyer to investigate the possible mishandling of important correspondence regarding FEMA's new flood plain maps. The decision to hire the attorney was made during a closed meeting of the City Council July 2. According to the state's open meeting law, the Council is permitted to meet in a session not open to the public to discuss certain legal matters...

leonnah@standard-democrat.com SIKESTON -- Two Scott County libraries have received state grants to better assist patrons with their e-reader devices through a hands-on experience. The Sikeston Public Library received an e-reader Exploration Grant in the amount of $1,871 while the Chaffee Public Library received the same type of grant for $1,480...

sports@standard-democrat.com CHARLESTON -- With their season on the line for the second straight day, the Charleston Fighting Squirrels sent Trevor Bennett to the mound as they tried to survive another day in the Senior Babe Ruth Missouri State Tournament...

Greg Birk (right) handing his green State 4-H Council jacket to his daughter, Rachel Birk. Rachel Birk of Charleston has returned from Columbia, where she was elected to the State 4-H Council as a Southeast Missouri Representative. On May 30-June 1, over 300 Missouri teens atttend the Missouri State 4-H Congress...