Stories from Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. OBAMA TO PUSH NUCLEAR CUTS A senior administration official says Obama will propose reduce the U.S. and Russian stockpiles by up to one-third at a speech in Berlin...

Now that the IRS has publicly acknowledged that the scrutiny of Tea Party and other conservative groups was not an act of "rogue" agents in an Ohio office, we're starting to realize that elections do indeed have consequences. In all honesty, it should come as no surprise that we learn of the intense attention paid to those who oppose the drift of our expanding government...

SIKESTON -- After two years of serving as an assistant, Eric Voorhees will now have his own program to run at Sikeston High School. Voorhees was selected to take over the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs softball team after the departure of former head coach Tiffany Morgan following last season...

ORAN -- After wrapping up a stellar sophomore campaign at Jefferson College this past spring former Oran standout Amanda Williams has decided to continue her softball career this fall at Missouri Baptist University. Williams earned a scholarship to the four-year university thanks to impressive numbers both on the field and in the classroom at Jefferson College, who compete in Region XVI of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Former Southeast Missouri pitcher Shae Simmons will participate in the South Atlantic League All-Star Game in Lakewood, N.J. on Tuesday night. A native of Scott City, Simmons has been excelling since being drafted in the 22nd round by the Atlanta Braves a year ago...

Future Sikeston Bulldog basketball hopefuls take notes from Sikeston assistant coach Chris Sarakas Tuesday during the YMCA Bulldog Basketball Camp at the YMCA in Sikeston. The program is designed for boys ages 8-14 and is run by Sikeston head basketball coach Gregg Holifield, his staff and members of the Sikeston basketball team. The camp will continue until the end of the week. For more photos from the camp, see our web gallery at www.standard-democrat.com...

WEST PADUCAH, Ky. - Sherrie Anne Gregory West, 70, formerly of East Prairie, Mo., died June 16, 2013, at her home in West Paducah. For the complete article and more stories from the Standard Democrat, log on to the electronic edition.


CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Jonathan Andrew Wagner, age 40, of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, June 11, 2013, in Cape Girardeau. For the complete article and more stories from the Standard Democrat, log on to the electronic edition.


SIKESTON -- William Thomas Merick, 55, died June 18, 2013, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. For the complete article and more stories from the Standard Democrat, log on to the electronic edition.


SIKESTON -- Connie Sue Plunk, 63, died June 18, 2013, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. For the complete article and more stories from the Standard Democrat, log on to the electronic edition.


NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Floyd Thomas, 91, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., died June 13, 2013, in Nashville. For the complete article and more stories from the Standard Democrat, log on to the electronic edition.


EAST PRAIRIE - Shirley Payne, 75, died June 18, 2013, at the St. Francis Medical Center. For the complete article and more stories from the Standard Democrat, log on to the electronic edition.


EAST PRAIRIE - Thomas Lavell Ware, 42, died June 12, 2013, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. For the complete article and more stories from the Standard Democrat, log on to the electronic edition.


BERTRAND -- Margaret Lankheit, 68, died June 17, 2013, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. For the complete article and more stories from the Standard Democrat, log on to the electronic edition.


SIKESTON - Roosevelt Carolina, 76, formerly of Hempstead, N.Y., died June 13, 2013, at his home in Sikeston. For the complete article and more stories from the Standard Democrat, log on to the electronic edition.


BENTON -- Scott County will again welcome a couple of hundred county officials. Tara Mason, recorder of deeds, said Tuesday that Scott County has been confirmed as the location for the Recorders' Association of Missouri's annual conference in April 2015...

BENTON -- Time is running out to drop off tires at the Scott County Highway Department. Or to pick a few up. "Tires are coming in pretty good up here but next Saturday, June 29, is the roundup when they will pick them up," Dennis Ziegenhorn, county commissioner, said during the regular County Commission meeting Tuesday...

SIKESTON -- A Malden man died in a one-car accident Monday afternoon. At approximately 12:15 p.m., a vehicle driven by Larry McCarthy, 70, of Malden, was traveling west on Interstate 60/57. As the vehicle began to take the exit ramp to Interstate 55, McCarthy lost control in the rainy conditions and slid across the ramp, crashing through the railing before coming to a stop in the US Highway 60 westbound lanes...

SIKESTON - Ann Thompson, Sikeston Public Library' s children's librarian, wants kids to do a little gardening this summer, try their hands at an archeological dig, search for hidden pirate's treasure and maybe even travel back to the time of dinosaurs. But what she wants most is for youngsters and teens to "Dig into Reading."...