Stories from Friday, August 17, 2012

DEXTER -- After over a decade away from the game Carmen Morgan will be taking over the Dexter Lady Bearcats volleyball program this season, providing the Lady Bearcats with a proven pedigree and a wealth of experience. When she retired from coaching in 2001, Morgan left the game having guiding Clearwater to the most successful run in it's school history. Morgan started with the school in 1984 and helmed the Lady Tigers to four state championships...

SIKESTON -- They were one win away from 20 last season. The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs are primed and ready to obtain that feat this year. "Falling one win shy away from that 20 was really disheartening to the girls. They're really hoping to get that this year," Sikeston volleyball coach Steve Beydler said...

BENTON -- Noble Milam, 73, died Aug. 15, 2012, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born Nov. 18, 1938, in Stokes, Ark., to the late Robert Hugh and Mavis Irene Mayfield Milam Sr., he was a carpenter and a member of the Morley Baptist Church in Morley...

BERTRAND -- Sue Dickerson, 76, died Aug. 16, 2012, at her home. Born Feb. 27, 1936, in McCracken County, Ky., to the late J.R. Peyton and Rebecca Peyton Johnson, she had lived since 1986 in Bertrand where she was a former member of the First Baptist Church. She was a current member of the New Beginnings Fellowship in Charleston...

EAST PRAIRIE -- John Lewis Ditto, 58, died at 5:10 a.m. Aug. 16, 2012, in the Close to Home, Inc. Care Center in Matthews. Born Aug. 6, 1954, in Whiting, to the late Paul Julius and Ruth Viola Bolden Ditto, he lived in East Prairie most of his life where was a retired stockman in the grocery industry. He was a member of the Gospel Assembly Church in East Prairie...

TALLAPOOSA -- Fred Copeland, 63, died Aug. 17, 2012, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete with Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Laura Chambers Rhame, 92, formerly of Cape Girardeau, Mo., died Aug. 14, 2012, at the Parkway Health Center in Little Rock. Born July 23, 1920, in Bricksboro, N.J., to the late Anthony and Ada Chambers, she was a member of Calvary Nazarene Church and also loved Parkway Place Baptist Church where her grandson, Greg Kelley, is on the pastoral staff...

Sikeston Department of Public Safety Director Drew Juden demonstrates how one of their cameras work in the dispatch room during a tour of the new DPS Headquarters for the Sikeston Vision Executive Academy. The Academy is part of the Vision for Tomorrow Strategic Plan Commission and is made up of a cross-section of present and emerging leaders in business, education, not-for-profit and public services...

CHARLESTON -- The county's new health department administrator has hit the ground running. Rachelle Johnson, administrator of the Mississippi County Health Department, and Jerry Lathum, emergency response planner for area health departments, met with Mississippi County Commissioners during their regular meeting Thursday...