Stories from Thursday, September 25, 2014

BERTRAND -- A Sikeston woman and seven children were injured in a two-vehicle accident involving a school bus Wednesday morning in Mississippi County. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident occurred at 7 a.m. on Highway 62 in Bertrand when the eastbound Charleston R-1 school bus operated by James L. Stone, 52, of East Prairie was coming to a stop to pick up students and was struck in the rear by the eastbound vehicle driven by Ashton N. Fisher, 18, of Sikeston...

After splitting with New Madrid County Central last thursday night at the Gideon Tournament, the Portageville Lady Bulldogs were able to achieve their goal, which was to win their Pool. Portageville won the first set, 25-15 and lost the second, 22-25...

he 2014 Bass Pro Shops Big Cat Quest National Championship Tournament is coming to New Madrid on October 4 and 5, bringing with it nearly 100 teams from across the country, including fishing legend Bill Dance. The New Madrid Chamber of Commerce will host the forth annual Fall Festival in conjunction with the tournament on Saturday, October 4. ...

If you have not heard the news, you are in Bulldog Territory. This week marks the annual fall homecoming for Portageville High School. One of the highlights of the week will be the coronation of the Football Homecoming King and Queen. It will take place on Vic Reaves Athletic Field beginning at 6 PM. ...

Monday morning the St. Eustachius School welcomed over 250 students and their grandparents for breakfast at the St. Eustachius Parish Center. Donuts, coffee and breakfast casserole was served as the students introduced their nanas and paw paws to teachers and classmates. Each student also had the opportunity to pose for a Fall picture with their grandparents. -Lesley Rone photo...

"You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your traditions!" (Mark 7:9) The Pharisees must have been bewildered as they listened to Jesus so easily condemn their traditions. "What's wrong with tradition?" Much of them are built upon the law; a law this wandering rabbi professes to believe in. ...

Galatians 5:16-18 reminds us of the control the Spirit is to have in our lives and the struggle we all face with the old sinful nature. But it also reveals the victory we should experience on a daily basis. Paul writes in Galatians 5:18, "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." Here the Spirit is regarded as a guide to whom the believer is expected to submit. ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. --University of Missouri Extension offers farmers help and options to store and dry 2014's bumper corn crop. MU Extension's website lists guides and customized spreadsheets to help producers make decisions about storage options, said Joe Zulovich, extension agricultural engineering specialist. Ag specialists in extension offices across the state have undergone training recently to help farmers decide how and when to store, dry and transport grain...

An alternative to haunted houses, this year's production, 'Treasured,' begins Oct. 1

sports@standard-democrat.com DEXTER -- The Sikeston tennis team lost 8-1 to Dexter Wednesday on the road. Allenna Landers gave the Lady Bulldogs their lone victory with an 8-3 win over Kalee Howard. "We learned today that we are still improving as a team," Sikeston tennis coach Russ Dial said. "Last time our match against Dexter had a larger deficit. We won many more games this time around. Dexter has a good team so we know we're still improving our play going into districts."...

sports@standard-democrat.com SIKESTON -- Sikeston's past few games have been forgettable in the mind of Maggie Shepherd. So, that's what she did. Shepherd forgot about Sikeston's last three losses and led the Lady Bulldogs to a 16-6 win in five innings over Fredericktown Wednesday...

Our prep football glance gives vital information for our local teams entering their weekly matchups. Learn your team's opponent, go-to players and the series history between the two throughout the season.

sports@standard-democrat.com SIKESTON -- Sikeston football coach Kent Gibbs found out a lot about his team last Friday. He found out that his team has some guts. He found out that his team has some heart. And he found out that his team still wants to win...

SIKESTON -- Lynn Feeler will once again take her spot at the stove, carefully stirring up the chili for the Lions Club Chili Day. Ask Feeler what makes the Lions Club chili so good and she laughs, saying: "It is good, but I can't tell you. It's a secret."...

Members of the Portageville FFA Chapter competed in various events at the SEMO District Fair in Cape Girardeau September 6 through 13. Many students submitted field crops in the Open and FFA judging divisions and came home with several ribbons. Maura Kellams was at the top with first place blue ribbons in the FFA division for corn, soybeans, cotton, grain sorghum and sunflowers. She also placed first in the Open division with her cotton plants...

VAN BUREN- A night of gigging with family turned tragic Saturday for a Van Buren family when its boat capsized on Current River, leaving one family member dead. At about 10:30 p.m., Darrel R. Culpepper, 57, of Van Buren was operating a johnboat in the area of the Pinoak Campground, north of Van Buren, when his boat capsized after floating backwards into a log, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report...

Southbound Interstate 55 in Cape Girardeau County, at mile marker 96 under the Route K overpass, will be reduced to one lane as contractor crews make pavement repairs. A Missouri Department of Transportation news release says the work will take place from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily Oct. 10 through 12...

BERTRAND, MO- A man was killed when his vehicle was involved in a head-on collision Sunday morning. Charles G. Allen, 69, of Cairo, Illinois, was killed in an accident at 8:25 a.m. on Highway 60/62 at County Road 205, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol report...

CHARLESTON -- Two Charleston men are in custody following a drug distribution investigation by the Mississippi County Sheriff's Department. Demitiours Andre Moore, 40, and Myron Lamont Andrews, 18, are each charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, a class B felony punishable upon conviction by not less than five years and up to 15 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections...

NEW MADRID -- Ryan Eddy will be sworn in Oct. 2 as the New Madrid County R-1 School Board's newest member. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Board Offices at New Madrid County Central High School. Eddy was selected to replace Jason Redden, who resigned in August. He was one of four candidates interviewed by the School Board for the position, which he will fill until April, when voters will elect someone to serve the final year of the three-year term...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Dr. Ray Barber, former pastor of the First General Baptist Church of East Prairie and current Oakland City University president, will deliver the First General Baptist Church of East Prairie's Sunday morning message. Barber and his wife, Beth, have not been back to the church where he started in almost 40 years. Everyone is invited to visit and celebrate his return...

ST. MARYS, Ohio -- Martha Christine "Chris" Simmons, 97, formerly of Princeton, W. Va., died Sept. 23, 2014, at Otterbein St. Marys Retirement Community. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

BERTRAND -- Mac R. McClanahan, 93, died Sept. 23, 2014. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

GILBERT, Ariz. -- Anna Mae Gentry O'Neal, 98, formerly of Charleston, Mo., died Sept. 23, 2014, in Gilbert. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

SIKESTON -- Donald Ray Hastings, 82, of Sikeston, died Sept. 24, 2014, at the Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

The United States as a country needs to work toward a comprehensive code that no brutality toward any creature of any kind will be tolerated and so that could make a pretty broad sweep. It would include corporate abuse of unnecessary firing of people and moving their jobs, it can include corporate abuse of animals in factory farms, it can include brutality and destruction of the environment and when you get down individuals, of course the front line of attack will be animal abuse, child abuse and any other form that takes. ...