Stories from Friday, May 8, 2015

Well, my rampant abroad-ness has been continued yet another week, and so brings another action-packed adventure from just outside the Heartland, kind of. I spent the last three days on the "big water", which of course is Kentucky Lake. Stretching 184 miles and covering 160,000 acres, Kentucky Lake is the largest manmade lake in the Eastern United States. The Tennessee River runs through the lake and is controlled at the 1-mile-long Kentucky Dam...

As summer travel season quickly approaches, millions of Americans soon will be on the roads and highways of our great nation. While many of these families will diligently plan for their trips with step by step instructions, others will not be as prepared. ...

A devout cowboy lost his favorite Bible while he was mending fences out on the range. Three weeks later a cow walked up carrying the Bible in its mouth! The cowboy couldn't believe his eyes. He took the book out of the cow's mouth, raised his eyes heavenward, and exclaimed, "It's a miracle!" "Not really," said the cow. "Your name was written inside the cover."...

"A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered...." In Luke 2, the well-known passage introducing the nativity story, the title accorded to the Roman emperor is Caesar Augustus. Had this census been mandated earlier under the monarchy of Julius Caesar, the Scripture would read: "A decree went out from Julius Caesar...." Had Octavian followed the model of Julius, he would have called himself Octavianus Caesar, and then the text would read: "A decree went out from Octavianus Caesar...." But we note Octavius' explicit change of his personal name to the title Caesar Augustus. ...

Jefferson City, Mo. -- Legislation promoting CPR training for Missouri high school students as part of a health or physical education class is moving forward with broad bi-partisan support. House Bill 457 (HB 457), sponsored by Rep. Ron Hicks, recently passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 148-4 and will be heard in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, April 29. ...

COLUMBIA, MO -- Last Thursday, April 30, the President's interagency Broadband Opportunity Council (BOC) announced it is seeking public comment on how federal agencies can promote broadband deployment, adoption, and competition. The Council, which is made up of 25 federal agencies and co-chaired by the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce, was established by a March 23 Presidential Memorandum. ...

NEW MADRID - Retired Army Col. Richard Sherman observed there couldn't be a more appropriate time for the public to view The Traveling Wall, a replica of the Vietnam Memorial. This year, Sherman pointed out, is the 50th anniversary of the start of the Vietnam War and the 40th anniversary of the end of the war...

The 2014-15 All-Standard Democrat basketball team was chosen by the Standard Democrat sports department and from the following schools: Chaffee, Charleston, Dexter, East Prairie, Kelly, New Madrid County Central, Oran, Portageville, Richland, Risco, Scott County Central, Sikeston...

Transitioning from reserve to starter is never an easy process. Melanie McKuin not only handled this process with ease, but showed skills that earned her the highest honor in the SEMO Conference.

His numbers didn't increase and his stats had little to do with why Jimerson rose to new heights. The only thing that differed was Jimerson's approach to the game.

sports@standard-democrat.com HARRISBURG, Ill. -- Torrie Helms scored four goals and added an assist during Sikeston's 8-1 road win over Harrisburg, Ill., Thursday. Kayla Curry scored two goals, Claudea Kuykendall added one goal and one assist, Mackenzie Yant and Grace Hamra each had two assists and Sydney Henson chipped in an assist...

BENTON -- The parking lot and jail lobby at the Scott County Sheriff's Department in Benton is now doubling as a "safe zone" to area citizens for Craigslist or other website transactions. "Since the parking lot is monitored 24/7, I hope this will cut down on fraud, robberies and other crimes committed through the use of these websites," Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said...

WICKLIFFE, Ky. -- The Wickliffe-Cairo Bridge closed for 90 minutes Thursday morning after being struck by a barge. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, about 10:05 a.m. Thursday, the Motor Vessel Arthur E. Snyder was pushing five empty barges when a gust of wind pushed the tow into a pier on the US 51/US 60/US 62 Ohio River Bridge between Wickliffe and Cairo, Ill...

sports@standard-democrat.com CHARLESTON -- Combining for nine runs in the first two innings, Scott County Central rolled to an 11-4 win over Charleston on Friday. The Braves scored five runs in the top of the first inning and four in the second to go ahead 9-0. Charleston answered with two runs in the bottom of the second, but never recovered...

STEELE, Mo. -- The widow of a Southeast Missouri businessman killed in a collision with a train in 2012 was awarded $20 million in court this week. After deliberating for just over two hours, a jury returned a wrongful-death verdict Tuesday in favor of Sherry Spence against Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. Spence is the wife of the late Scott Spence, a well-known businessman in the area who owned lumber mills in Steele and Portageville, Missouri...

Family, friends and faculty came out to support and honor the members of the 2015 Future Farmers of America (FFA) at Portageville High School on Wednesday, April 29. Ethan Cooper, FFA President, started things off by welcoming their guests then handed the podium over to Landon DeLisle, FFA Chaplain, to give the invocation before dinner...

ST. LOUIS- Most people wouldn't buy a car without looking at the miles-per-gallon rating and environmental advocates think it's just as important to know the energy performance of Missouri's largest buildings. 
The push is on to promote benchmarking across the state. ...

FARMINGTON, MO- Seifried & Brew LLC, a community bank risk management firm, named First State Community Bank in its 2014 Top 15th Percentile of Community Banks. To gain entry into this distinguished ranking, the Bank demonstrated exemplary performance of balancing risk and reward based on the Bank's S&B Total Risk/Return Composite Ranking. ...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. TORIES LOOK TO BE WINNERS IN BRITISH ELECTION The Conservative Party surges to a surprisingly commanding lead in Britain's parliamentary election, meaning Prime Minister David Cameron is poised to remain at 10 Downing Street...

SIKESTON -- Residents are encouraged to leave canned goods and boxed food items for their letter carriers to pick up Saturday during the nation's largest single-day food drive. As part of the nationwide Stamp Out Hunger event, area residents can collect nonperishable food items and leave them in a sturdy bag near their mailboxes on Saturday. A letter carrier will collect the donations that will then be distributed by SEMO Food bank to the local food pantries...

Derrick Pullen speaks at the National Day of Prayer Breakfast on Thursday at the Family Life Center of the First United Methodist Church in Sikeston. The event was sponsored by the Sikeston Kiwanis Club and also featured several area pastors offering prayers and scripture readings...

BENTON - A Sikeston man was arrested after he was found with drugs and drug paraphernalia. Robert J. Haynes, 22, is charged with felony of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. According to Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter, on Thursday a deputy responded to an apartment on State Highway BB in an attempt to locate a subject with an active warrant. ...

CHAFFEE -- Shirley Ann Tomlinson, 76, died May 7, 2015, at her home. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

CHARLESTON -- Somer Dawn Nunnally, 21, died May 3, 2015, in Charleston. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

SIKESTON -- Tony Allen Burns, 30, died May 4, 2015, at his home. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

MOREHOUSE -- Wanda L. Newton, 88, formerly of Morehouse, died May 6, 2015, at the Bertrand Nursing Center. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

NEW MADRID -- Rosemary Williams, 71, died May 7, 2015, at her home. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

DETROIT -- Lizzie "Bea" Branch, 68, formerly of Wyatt, Mo., died May 2, 2015, at Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

DEXTER -- Eva McKinley, 89, died May 6, 2015, at General Baptist Nursing Home in Campbell. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

I am an older woman and I used to work at the shoe factory in Sikeston. We got paid by the piece, by how many pieces of product we put out per hour. Wouldn't it be great if that's the way all businesses would do now? They could pay according to how many customers they helped, how many calls they took, how many greetings and smiles given to each that came in the door. ...