Stories from Thursday, August 20, 2015

Like with any fall sports program, you wonder what will the team look like after loosing a handful of talented seniors. This is a common concept that many coaches have to look in building up the new season's team. Last year, the Portageville Bulldogs lost a lot of strength on the field, not only physically, but in leadership positions...

Students in the Portageville Public School District went back to classrooms last Thursday. Greeting students this year were five new teachers -- four at the High School, and one at the Elementary School. The district also has a new Business Manager...

McCrate Avenue in Portageville is partially closed due to construction work. Please be careful as construction crews are busy digging and burying large drainage pipes. The work is on the north side of McCrate Ave. from County Road 355 to Hwy. 162. The total length is 5100 sq. ft. This will help alleviate flooding issues in the northeastern part of town. The Steve Pliemann Company of Oak Ridge, Mo are doing the work. -Scott Seal photo...

Jude in his epistle writes in verse 24, "Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy." Because of some birth defects, a little girl's body was different from those of her friends. ...

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.

Though they lost some of their more familiar faces to graduation Sikeston head coach Gabe Dement is excited by the eager, young talent the Bulldogs have fighting to earn positions.

POPLAR BLUFF -- The identity and motives of an alleged gun-toting man in black that caused a Poplar Bluff High School lockdown Tuesday remain unknown. Police say surveillance footage failed to produce clear images of the individual. The campus was placed in lockdown at 8:08 a.m. Tuesday after a teacher saw a man walking near campus at the intersection of Westwood and Harper streets with what appeared to be a rifle...

PERRYVILLE -- Nancy Voelker, president of the Perry County School Board in Perryville, Missouri, released a statement Wednesday, saying board member Mark Gremaud's recent derogatory comment toward a female board member was "unprovoked." "The discussion was not about teachers, students, farmers or any other conjecture you may see on social media," she said in the statement. "We were discussing board procedures and board behaviors."...

JEFFERSON CITY (SMNS) -- Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced Wednesday farmers in more than 100 counties that suffered losses from natural disasters this summer now are eligible for assistance. Farmers in 105 counties, including Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry, who sustained losses from severe storms, tornadoes, strong winds and flooding between mid-May and late July are eligible for low-interest loans and other federal assistance, according to a news release from the governor's office...

The Municipal Court Building is one of several buildings in Downtown Sikeston which will receive tuck pointing and a new coat of paint. "We are going to see a nice face-lift in this part of downtown," said Linda Lowes, director of governmental services for the city of Sikeston. ...

Emergency personnel from the Sikeston Department of Public Safety and South Scott County Ambulance District work to extricate a driver from a truck Wednesday afternoon. The landed on its top in a yard just off of North Kingshighway, near Greenbrier just after 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. No further information was available on the extent of the injuries or the cause of the accident. (David Jenkins, Staff)...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Lawanda Douglas, 88, died Aug. 19, 2015, in the East Prairie Nursing Center. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

KELSO -- Curtis H. Jackson, 95, died Aug. 19, 2015, at Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

ANNISTON -- Pamela May Henderson, 48, died at 4 p.m. Aug. 17, 2015, in the Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

ROSWELL, N.M. -- Adolphus Lee Prince 63, died July 29, 2015, in an automobile accident. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

scottw@standard-democrat.com EAST PRAIRIE -- Surviving the suicide of a loved one isn't easy. Survivors of Loved Ones to Suicide, Inc., of Missouri Bootheel hope to make it easier. "It's just a peer-based support group," said Charlie Keene of East Prairie, the group's facilitator. "There are no mental health professionals -- it is just 'friend-to-friend.' This type of grief is a terrible journey and it's worse to have to go through it alone."...

SIKESTON -- Preliminary results for the 2015 Missouri Assessment Program exams were released early this week, and the majority of local school districts fell below state averages. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education officials cautioned comparing this year's scores to last year's. ...

I'm calling about President Obama. I heard he wanted to be king over the United States and at least run another term. Well, the way it looks, we are prejudiced and blacks aren't. They don't want to be called blacks. We don't want to be called whites, we are caucasians. ...