Stories from Wednesday, February 14, 2018

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- A Steele, Mo., man pled guilty to charges stemming from robbing a Caruthersville, Mo., convenience store in 2016. The United States Attorney's Office announced Wednesday that Ryan Sandson, age 40, pled guilty to one felony count of interference with commerce by robbery, one felony count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and one felony count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon...

ST. LOUIS, Mo.  Lillian Marie Travelstead Thompson, 84, formerly of Portageville, died Feb. 13, 2018, at Portageville Nursing Center.

SIKESTON  Steven W. Reams, 60, formerly of Chaffee, died Feb. 4, 2018, at Green Meadows Retirement Home.

SIKESTON  Peggy Jo Whitledge Beck died Feb. 12, 2018, at her home in Sikeston.

GRANITE CITY, Ill.   William Edward "Ed" Cantrell Jr., 61, died Feb. 10, 2018, at Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City.

GUN BARREL, Texas  W.A. "Dub" Williams Jr., 74, of Gun Barrel, Texas, passed away Monday, Feb.12, 2018.

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. Evelyn Irene Mansbridge Jones, 94, formerly of Puxico, died Feb. 13, 2018, at Oakdale Assisted Living in Poplar Bluff.

MORLEY, Mo. Lloyd McMullin, 77, died Feb. 14, 2018, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

 Way back what seems like a million years ago, I was a senior in high school. Fast forward in time and I was a senior in college. Fast forward again and I was blessed with a son. He became a junior which made me a senior once again. Many years and countless calendar pages later, I reach a magical age where I became a senior citizen. You see where this is going. But now a growing number of my age peers are rebelling against the term "senior citizen" as patronizing, demeaning, discriminatory and hurtful. I discovered this age-related movement by reading a letter to the editor of a Kansas City newspaper. An Overland Park resident penned a letter outlining her objections to the "senior citizen" label. And she's not alone.

Missouri University of Science and Technology announced the names of students who made the honor list for the Fall 2017 semester.

Amber Linn Dukes and Michaela Colleen Glaus were named Sikeston High School Students of the Month for January. 

The Operation Hope Mentor Program from Sikeston Career and Technology met with their mentor students from the Sikeston Fifth and Sixth Center. The Health Education and Community Awareness team led a self-esteem lesson to help students learn how  to improve their self-esteem and see their self-worth. Students had to compliment other peers and enjoyed the activity after they practiced.  Each student made a cloud full of compliments about themselves on rays of colorful strips. This project is to encourage each student to remember the beautiful things their mentor sees in them. It was also to remember to spread positive comments instead of negative about themselves and their peers. 

Richland R-1 School's yearbook staff recently received seven awards in the 2017 Yearbook Excellence Contest from Quill & Scroll.

College of the Ozarks has recognized students for earning a high level of academic distinction during the fall 2017 semester with inclusion on the Dean's List.