Stories from Saturday, October 24, 2015

New Madrid, MO --Associated Electric Cooperative recently hosted its Employee and Family Day at New Madrid Power Plant. More than 300 employees, family members and vendors attended the annual event. Family day gives employees the opportunity to spotlight their work, family and workplace safety, the cooperative business model and the plant's impact on the surrounding communities...

It has happened again. Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) caused another spill in Colorado. This time, it was gray water spilled into a creek while working to clean up the Standard Mine. The EPA did not immediately notify the community or affected elected officials...

sports@standard-democrat.com PORTAGEVILLE -- Just three weeks ago East Prairie stepped into Portageville's field only to be handed a 40-20 loss that gave the Bulldogs home field advantage for their meeting in the opening round of the Class 2, District 1 Tournament...

SIKESTON -- Sikeston's football season is still alive. But just barely. The Bulldogs squandered a huge lead, fell behind in the fourth quarter, and eventually rallied to defeat seventh-seeded DeSoto 35-34 in the opening round of Class 4, District 1 play at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium on Friday night...

SIKESTON -- Sikeston High School is gearing up for College Application Week, and at the helm of it all is college adviser Taylar Merriweather. Merriweather, who graduated in May from University of Missouri-St. Louis where she earned a degree in business administration, was hired through the Missouri College Advising Corps. MCAC is a college-access advising program established in 2007 by the University of Missouri-Columbia...

SIKESTON -- A Sikeston massage therapist and her students are looking to give back to the community this week. The American Massage Therapy Association's 19th annual National Massage Therapy Awareness Week, which runs through Saturday, is an opportunity to promote the health benefits of massage...

CARUTHERSVILLE -- The Caruthersville Tigers cruised into the Class 2, District 1 semifinals with a 66-20 win over visiting Kelly on Friday night. Caruthersville (6-4) scored the first 40 points of the game, including 34 points in the first quarter, to put the game away early. The Tigers led 60-6 at halftime...

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Howard Q. Hilliard, 85, died at 9:15 p.m. on Oct. 22, 2015, at Cedarhurst Memory Care in Edwardsville. For the complete obituary, see the Sunday edition of the Standard Democrat.

VANDUSER -- Evelyn Marie Hill, 74, died Oct. 23, 2015, at the home of her daughter in Patton. For the complete obituary see the Sunday edition of the Standard Democrat.

MINER -- Rebecca Davis, 42, died Oct. 23, 2015, at her home in Miner. For the complete obituary, see the Sunday edition of the Standard Democrat.

ADVANCE -- Michelle Probst, 59, died Oct. 22, 2015, at her home in Advance. For the complete obituary, see the Sunday edition of the Standard Democrat.

PORTAGEVILLE - Loren Barham, 89, died Oct. 23, 2015, at Golden Living Center in New Madrid. For this obituary and more, see the Sunday edition of the Standard Democrat.

A new study out of a British think tank predicts that our lifespan may well increase to a 1,000 years in the not-too-distant future. The group provides a whole host of evidence that technology and medical advancements could expand the average lifespan of humankind to as much as 1,000 years and that perhaps - just perhaps - a child born today could live to that ripe old age...

I'm happy for you since you work at the age of 72. How you feel about people that can come back on you cause there are children are born with birth defects. I've seen children with no parents, they don't draw Social Security. The only reason Social Security is going broke is because of all of our Congress, all of our government. You should know when you go out to vote, if you have any sense at all, who spends our money...