Stories from Friday, April 21, 2017

Grade Junior Position Forward Height 6-3 Best Game Feb. 3, 2017, Sikeston won 102-66 over Poplar Bluff: It was supposed to be a battle for the SEMO Conference crown, but Thatch and Co. made it a blowout. Thatch finished two points shy of his career-high with 39 points, 16 rebounds and six assists in one epic performance in Poplar Bluff. He shot 13 for 21 from the floor and drained a career-high five threes...

Grade: Sophomore Position: Guard Height: 5-5 Best Game: Feb. 20, 2017, Dexter won 63-52 over Jackson: This was a night Mosby caught fire. She ripped Jackson on the road for 36 points -- one shy of her career-high -- behind a perfect 8 for 8 display from 3-point range. Her eight threes set a new school record for 3-pointers in a game...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- The Portageville softball team took advantage of 10 errors by New Madrid County Central during a 10-0 win in six innings Thursday in New Madrid, Mo. Savannah Lovins held NMCC to one hit on a complete game effort striking out seven on 55 pitches...

SIKESTON -- Willard Fincher, 83, died April 21, 2017, at his home in Sikeston. Born Dec. 7, 1933, in Ridgely, Tenn., son of the late Minnie Cupp Fincher and Van Fincher, he was a veteran of the United States Air Force. On Oct. 26, 1957, in Hernando, Miss., he married Lois V. Johnson, who survives of the home...

ESSEX, Mo. -- Jackie Alberson, 80, died April 21, 2017, at the Chaffee Nursing Center. Born July 11, 1936, in Pocahontas, Ark., daughter of the late Jack and Ida Mae Goodman Eaton, she had lived in Essex all of her life. She had worked as a seamstress at the Paramount Hat Factory and was a member of the Harvest Assembly of God Church in Essex...

SIKESTON - Alberta Lee Johnson Pittman, 73, died April 21, 2017, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Arrangements are incomplete at McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Alberta Jane Groff, 68, died April 19, 2017, at her home in St. Louis. Visitation will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Oran, where services will be at 11 a.m. Friday. Burial will be at Forest Hills Memorial Gardens in Morley...

SIKESTON - Rosalinda Perez Scott, 66, died April 20, 2017, at the Miner Nursing Center. Arrangements are incomplete with Blanchard Funeral Chapel.

SIKESTON - Willard Fincher, 83, died April 21, 2017, at his home near Sikeston. Arrangements are incomplete with DeLisle Funeral Home of Portageville.

DEXTER, Mo. -- Kenneth Jarrell, 91, died April 19, 2017, at his home near Dexter. Born May 24, 1925, in Bloomfield, son of the late Elijah Monroe and Bessie Bell Hopkins Jarrell, he had lived in the Dexter area all of his life. He had owned and operated the K. M. Jarrell Heating, Air and Electrical in Dexter until his retirement in 2005. He was a member of the American Legion and the Elks Lodge...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Stephen Wayne "Steve" Lawson, 60, formerly of Sikeston and Cape Girardeau, died Wednesday, April 19, 2017, at the Chaffee Nursing Center. He was born Aug. 11, 1956, in Sikeston, to the late Charles M. and Wanda Marie (Edwards) Lawson. A resident of this area most of his life, he was of the Baptist faith and had been employed as a extruder operator at Essex Wire and later at Southeast Missouri Hospital as an administrative assistant...

HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE, Ark. - Vera Dee Boyd Gage, 93, formerly of Charleston, Mo., died April 20, 2017. The daughter of the late Amanda and Alfred Boyd, she lived most of her life in Charleston, where she worked at several local stores, including the Young's Gift Shop and was the manager of the local Kentucky Fried Chicken, retiring at the age of 85...

FESTUS, Mo. (AP) -- The owner of a suburban St. Louis nursing home where 60 residents had to be rescued after food ran out and trash piled up has pleaded guilty to federal charges for stealing $667,000 from Medicaid and spending it on strippers, gambling and other things...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. - A military medical mission is still prescribed for the Bootheel, just a little bit later. Operation Healthy Delta will now be conducted Sept. 11-24 in Charleston, Caruthersville and surrounding communities. Joel Evans, president and CEO of the Delta Area Economic Opportunity Corporation, explained the reason for the change is the uncertainty in what the federal budget will look like beyond April 28...

SIKESTON -- April is National Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Month, and the YMCA of Southeast Missouri is designating a week this month to raise awareness and understanding locally. From April 24-28, the Y will host Five Days of Action for Child Abuse Prevention, a series of events and activities designed to inform the community about how to recognize, prevent and report child sexual abuse. ...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- Interest in agriculture at New Madrid County R-1 is growing. Now, thanks to generous donors and a new partnership with Lincoln University, the program can continue to flourish. Brenda Robinson, regional coordinator at Lincoln University Extension, said Dr. ...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Embattled Mississippi County Sheriff Cory Hutcheson was arraigned Thursday in Charleston. Hutcheson, appearing before Cape Girardeau County Associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp with his attorney N. Scott Rosenblum, entered pleas of not guilty to 18 charges that include second degree assault, first degree robbery, making a false declaration, forgery, tampering with computer data and misconduct by notary...