Stories from Tuesday, March 5, 2013

CARUTHERSVILLE - A truck driver was arrested after officers discovered 200 pounds of marijuana hidden in his vehicle. Esad Bekric, 40, of Clarkton, Ga., is charged with second degree trafficking in drugs. He is scheduled to appear in court at 10 a.m. Thursday to be arraigned on the charge...

SIKESTON -- Kamryn Jamarr Johnson, 6-week-old son of Mustafa Omarr Johnson and Amanda Marie Humphries, died March 3, 2013, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born Jan. 14, 2013, in Sikeston. In addition to his parents he is survived by: two brothers, Mustafa O. ...

BERNIE -- Carolyn Lorene Murphy, 72, died March 4, 2013, at Cypress Point Skilled Nursing in Dexter. Born May 9, 1941, in Clarkton, to the late Albert Andrew Moore and Thelma Belle Haggard Moore, she was the owner/operator of Otasco in Bernie. On July 6, 1961, in Dexter, she married Calvin Noel "Butch" Murphy, and he preceded her in death on March 11, 2012...

SIKESTON -- Carmen V. Sanders, age 49, died March 3, 2013, at the Sikeston Convalescent Center in Sikeston. Born Nov. 28, 1963, in Sikeston, daughter of the late Ira and Mildred (Hooper) Shuffit, she was a member of First United Methodist Church and a registered pharmacist for Sterling Healthcare...

SIKESTON -- George Wesley Lewis, 56, died March 4, 2013, at his home in rural Sikeston. Arrangements are incomplete with Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston.

SIKESTON -- Polly Mouser, 84, died March 4, 2013, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete with Ponder Funeral Home in Sikeston.

EAST PRAIRIE -- Ruth J. Morehead, 69, died March 3, 2013, at the Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born Oct. 24, 1943, in Mississippi County, to Hallie Aleen Foster Kimbrel who survives of East Prairie and the late Finley George Cummins, she had lived a number of years in O'Fallon where she was employed at the Fort Zumwalt School District until her retirement. She returned to Mississippi County in 2007 moving first to Charleston and then to East Prairie...

SIKESTON -- William Sorsby Vandivort, 89, died March 3, 2013, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Sept. 13, 1923, in Cape Girardeau, to the late Leon and Naomi Davis Vandivort, he was a retired self-employed businessman. He was a lifetime member of Ducks Unlimited and a member of the First United Methodist Church in Sikeston...

Sikeston senior Drew Harper gets ready to deliver a pitch Monday during the Sikeston Bulldogs baseball team's first practice scrimmage of the season at VFW Memorial Stadium. Sikeston's first game will be March 16.

sports@standard-democrat.com DEXTER -- Their district title may have come with a lot more drama than they'd have liked, but for the third straight year the Dexter Lady Bearcats are back in sectionals. They'll face the North County Lady Raiders, winners of Class 4, District 2, Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. at MIneral Area College in Park Hills...

sports@standard-democrat.com PARK HILLS -- Since their loss to New Madrid County Central, the Sikeston Bulldogs have turned on a different switch. They rolled through the remainder of the regular season following the defeat and turned, what could have been, two closely contested district games into one-sided affairs...

scottw@standard-democrat.com SIKESTON -- St. Patrick's Day will come early this year to Downtown Sikeston. Historic Downtown Sikeston's second annual St. Patrick's Day Celebration will be from noon until 4 p.m. March 16 around the gazebo at Malone Park, located on the corner of Scott and Center streets, in Downtown Sikeston...

SIKESTON -- Scott County participants may be preparing for their Relay For Life next month, but other counties are just beginning to plan their Relays. "We're just now getting started with the Relays in New Madrid and Mississippi counties," said Brittney Essary, community manager of development for American Cancer Society. "We haven't had our team captain kickoffs yet."...

leonnah@standard-democrat.com SIKESTON -- Several Relay For Life teams in Scott County are gearing up to host fundraisers in the coming weeks. Shannon Clay, publicity chair for Scott County's Relay, encouraged others to makes plans now to attend one -- or multiple -- fundraisers that benefit the American Cancer Society...