Stories from Tuesday, December 27, 2016

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Leading from wire to wire, the Bernie Mules easily advanced to the consolation semifinals of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Tuesday against Holcomb 87-55. Nate Dillinger led the 10th-seeded Mules with 30 points. Michael Suiter added 14 and Gavin Brown scored 10 for Bernie, who led 40-23 at halftime...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A quick start led the New Madrid County Central Eagles to a first round 63-47 win over Lake County, Tenn., during the 53rd Annual Southern Illinois Healthcare/Carbondale Holiday Tournament Tuesday morning in Carbondale, Ill. Jaurous Haynes and Thailin Marsh each scored 13 points for the Eagles. Haynes shot 6 for 11 from the field and added five rebounds while Marsh went 4 for 5 from the floor...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Puxico junior Levi Woods drained seven 3-pointers and poured in 36 points to lead the Indians to a 67-60 consolation quarterfinal win at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Tuesday. Woods hit five threes in the first half to give the No. 14 Indians a 35-26 advantage at halftime. Woods had 19 points by the break...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The Richland Rebels kept pace for a quarter but couldn't sustain against Twin Rivers during a consolation quarterfinal at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Tuesday. The last-seeded Rebels in the 16-team tournament lost 60-37 to No. 8 Twin Rivers eliminating Richland from tournament play after its second loss...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- With a Bloomfield Christmas Tournament upset already in their pocket, the East Prairie Eagles did their best to add another Tuesday night. The ninth-seeded Eagles turned a 15-point, fourth quarter deficit on its head to pull within one during the final 40 seconds to give top-seeded Hayti a scare...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The Bloomfield Wildcats trailed by two entering the fourth quarter but went on to outscore Malden 12-4 to make their own tournament's championship semifinal. Peyton Bell led all scorers with 22 points to push the fifth-seeded Wildcats past No. 4 Malden 57-51 Tuesday in a Bloomfield Christmas Tournament championship quarterfinal...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The first quarter couldn't have been any better for Portageville or worse for Dexter. The seventh-seeded Bulldogs opened its Bloomfield Christmas Tournament quarterfinal hitting nearly every shot it took while Dexter struggled from the field...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The Van Buren Bulldogs overcame a slow start and eliminated the Gideon Bulldogs in a consolation quarterfinal Tuesday in the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament. Van Buren trailed 10-9 after one quarter but a late run in the second quarter, aided by senior Logan Sanders gave Van Buren a 26-20 halftime lead that they never relinquished...

SIKESTON -- A Sikeston man faces charges after barricading himself in his home late Monday. At 8:54 p.m. Monday, officers with Sikeston Department of Public Safety responded to the 200 block of Dye Street in reference to a report of a barricaded suicidal subject who had possibly shot himself, according to Sgt. Jon Broom, public information officer with Sikeston DPS...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Cape Girardeau Police on Friday arrested a Charleston, Missouri, man who was in possession of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana. The Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Teco Vanshawn Woods, 33, with first-degree drug trafficking, three counts of distribution of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance and unlawful use of a weapon (harboring a weapon in the presence of illegal drugs)...

KENNETT, Mo. -- A 14-year-old boy is recovering from a fall through the skylight over the Kennett Middle School band room, as school and police officials try to piece together what led him and a fellow teenager to the school's roof on Christmas Eve...

NEW MADRID, Mo. (AP) -- At age 96, Cyrus Porter is a devoted Taylor Swift fan. He's traveled from his rural Missouri home to St. Louis and Memphis, Tennessee, to see her in concert. On Monday, in the midst of a thunderstorm, the concert came to the World War II combat veteran, a surprise visit from the singer and her parents...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Steven Ray "Scooby" Sterling, 52, died Dec. 13, 2016, at his home. Born Jan. 5, 1964, in Mississippi County, to the late Clyde Thomas and Lindy Hopper Sterling, he had been employed by Amoco in Charleston. Survivors include: two daughters and sons-in-law, Melissa and Stephen Jones and Nicki and Nelson Jones of East Prairie; seven brothers, Jimmy Sterling, Kenneth Sterling, David Sterling, Danny Sterling and Curtis Sterling of East Prairie, Gary Sterling of Sikeston and Michael Sterling of Dogwood; three sisters, Patty Williamson of East Prairie, Dennie Hudgens of Farmington and Melissa Sterling of the state of Texas; and four grandchildren.. ...

SIKESTON -- Laura Dean Ford, 88, died Dec. 25, 2016, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Jan. 30, 1928, in Crowder, to the late James Olsie and Cora Scarbrough Waltrip, she was a member of Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church in Sikeston and had worked at the Kiddie College in Sikeston for 15 years...

SIKESTON -- Janet Sue Urban, 77, died Dec. 26, 2016, at her home in Sikeston. Born Dec. 11, 1939, in Sikeston, to the late Paul and Edith Milburn Couch, she was a member of Shady Acres Church of Christ. Janet was married to J.F. Cox III, he preceded her in death...

GLEN CARBON, Ill. -- Mary Childress, 98, died Dec. 26, 2016 at Eden Village in Glen Carbon. Born Sept. 23, 1918, in Obion, Tenn., to the late C.H. and Mary Elizabeth Trogden Tomlinson, she was a member of First United Methodist Church at Bertrand, Mo., and the Order of the Eastern Star 137 in Sikeston, Mo...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Evelyn Johnson Upton, 86, died Dec. 24, 2016, at her home in East Prairie. Born Jan. 3, 1930, daughter of the late T.M. and Mary Jones in Mississippi County, she was a lifelong resident of East Prairie. She owned and operated The Beauty Box beauty shop for over 60 years and was a volunteer on the Alumni Association Board and was past president of the Nutrition Center Board. ...

SIKESTON -- Alma Bernida "Toots" Robey, 96, died Dec. 24, 2016 at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born June 18, 1920, near Pauldine, to the late William Martin and Elnora Sidonia (Sheets) Kenser, she was a longtime resident of Sikeston and had been a cook for many years at Sikeston Public Schools...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Bob Abernathy, 81, died Dec. 25, 2016, at his son's home in Dexter. Born Dec. 10, 1935, in Newark, Ark., son of the late Robert Homer and Fern Maude McClain Abernathy, he had lived in Dexter most of his life, where he had owned and operated Abernathy Welding for almost 50 years. He was of the Southern Baptist belief...

MARY ESTHER, Fla. - Donnie Dale Elsperman, 68, passed away on Dec 20, 2016, with his family by his side. Donnie was born in Sikeston, Mo., to the late Bill and Isabel Elsperman. Donnie married Dorothy Bohannon on July 4, 1969, and she survives. Surviving Donnie in addition to his wife Dorothy, are: daughter Windy (Glenn) Jones of Mary Esther; and son, Jason Elsperman of Jackson, Mo., and a niece that he helped raise, Sarah Grace of Mary Esther...