Stories from Wednesday, August 22, 2012

MARSTON -- Contract negotiations are continuing between Noranda Aluminum plant officials and members of the United Steelworkers of America. According to officials, contract negotiations began in July. The existing contract agreement will end Aug. 31...

If you thought Joe Biden's "put them back in chains" comment was stupid, it pales by comparison to Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" comment this weekend. With one stupid slip of the tongue, Akin may have well assured that the Democrats will remain in the Senate majority...

All my life I have seen girls, and some guys too, freak out at the first sign of a spider. What I failed to learn from their pathetic screaming and flailing of arms is this one thing: spiders are evil. It took a more direct approach from the eight-legged death carriers for me to understand their true level of evil. And it was this evil that has led me into war...

NEW MADRID -- Dorothy Ann Guest Branch, 58, died Aug. 18, 2012, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Oct. 3, 1953, in Chatfield, Ark., to the late Otis and Rosie Guest, she attended school in Hughes, Ark., before moving to West Memphis, Ark. She later moved to New Madrid where she was employed with Plasteen Company and later worked for Larry and Heidi Williams. She was a member of Zion Rock Baptist Church in Portageville...

SIKESTON -- Kristi Lynn Forrest Ryan, age 50, passed away Tuesday Aug. 21, 2012, with family at her side after a courageous fight against breast cancer. Born March 27, 1962, in Sikeston, to the late Paul William and Frances Ellen Jett Forrest, she graduated in 1981 from the Missouri School for the Blind and from Southeast Missouri State University in 1990 with a degree in early childhood development. ...

SIKESTON -- Jerry Dean Andrews Jr., 20, died Aug. 17, 2012. Born Feb. 27, 1992, in St. Louis, to Gladys Wilford Andrews of St. Louis and the late Jerry Dean Andrews Sr., he attended Sikeston High School and was of the Pentecostal belief. In addition to his mother he is survived by two brothers, James Andrews Jr. and Dana Johnson Jr. of St. Louis...

FRUITLAND - Hubert "Junior" Woods, 77, died Aug. 21, 2012, at his home in Fruitland. Born Dec. 14, 1934, to the late Royce and Pauline Ward Woods at East Prairie, he was a member of Cape County Cowboy Church and formerly a member of First Baptist Church, in East Prairie. He was employed with the Department of Social Services for 23 years in Mississippi, Reynolds, New Madrid and Scott counties...

EAST PRAIRIE - Brenda Bernice Baker, 57, died at 1 p.m. Aug. 21, 2012, at her home in East Prairie. Born Dec. 15, 1954, in East Prairie to Frankie Bernice Davenport Bisher of East Prairie and the late Earl Julian Sprinkles, she was a retired school cook having worked at the Bowling Green, Fla., Elementary for 12 years. She was a member of the New Beginnings Church in East Prairie...

MORLEY -- Graveside services for Buddy Frank Smith, 83, who died July 14, 2012, at St. John's Hospital in Tulsa, Okla., will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Old Morley Cemetery. The Rev. Dennis Lowe, pastor of Unity Baptist Church, will officiate...

BERTRAND - Alfred D. Sharp, 74, died Aug. 21, 2012, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Feb. 20, 1938, in Dorena, to the late Monroe and Louise Coleman Sharp, he was employed as a farmer and custodian/bus driver for the Charleston Public Schools before retiring. He was a member of First Praise in Cairo, Ill., where he served as a deacon...

PUXICO -- A Puxico woman was killed in a one-vehicle accident on Tuesday afternoon. According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, Maryann Cookson, 53, was driving northbound on Highway 51, five miles north of Puxico at 12:40 p.m. when she overcorrected and her vehicle travelled off of the right side of the roadway, overturning several times...

SIKESTON -- While many high school students spent this past summer enjoying some downtime, Sikeston senior Kirk Hoggatt spent his on the golf course fine tuning his game. All that hard work paid off for Hoggatt earlier this month when he won the Southern Illinois Golf Association Player of Year award in the 16-to-18 year-old division...

The Bootheel BassBusters held their sixth tournament of the year, a night and dawn tournament, on July 28 and 29 on Kentucky Lake out of the Fenton ramp. Mike Estes won the tournament with a total weight of 24 lbs. 7 oz. and also caught the tournament Big Bass of 5 lbs. 5 oz. Mitch Allen was second with 17 lbs. 11 oz. and Greg Gooch was third with 15 lbs. 5 oz...

Here are the preseason football rankings for Missouri teams, as compiled by a 13-member panel of sportswriters and broadcasters: Others receiving votes: Fort Zumwalt West 7. Hazelwood Central 4. Others receiving votes: St. Joseph Central 4. Fort Zumwalt South 2...

SIKESTON -- On top of two-a-days, walkthroughs and their overall practice routine, they added paintball, dodgeball and a few lock-ins. Keeping in football shape and learning a playbook are always necessities when it comes to starting a new season. But for the Sikeston Bulldogs, preparing themselves for more of a team-driven mentality was first on their list of 2012 off-season workouts...

MINER -- The city of Miner will see only a slight increase in health insurance premiums beginning in August by accepting a higher deductible. Options for health insurance were presented by Brian Self of Self Insurance, the city's agent, during the Miner Board of Alderman's regular monthly meeting Tuesday...

SIKESTON - Eighth District Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's annual farm tour took her to some unusual stops this year - an alpaca farm, a deer farm near Poplar Bluff, a field full of peanuts in Ripley County and then at her last stop in New Madrid County where there wasn't a field at all. Emerson closed out her tour Tuesday afternoon at Hamra's Hydroponics farm - where lettuce and tomatoes are grown in irrigated bags and trays...

SIKESTON --Missouri Delta Medical Center was recently highlighted in the popular Consumer Reports Magazine for its solid quality and safety scores. The August Consumer Reports magazine featured hospital ratings based on six categories: infections, readmissions, communication, CT scanning, complications and mortality. ...