Stories from Friday, May 17, 2019

Does anyone in town know where you can buy root beer popsicles?

SIKESTON — Mary Edith Gardner, 83, died May 16, 2019, at her home in Sikeston.  Born Sept. 8, 1935, in Marion County, Ala., to the late William Clarence Sanders and Lelar Franks Sanders, she was a homemaker, she was a member of the Smith Avenue Church of God in Sikeston and a member of the VFW Auxiliary Post 3174 in Sikeston...

State Rep. Holly Rehder blasted the actions of a few “conservative” senators for preventing creation of a statewide prescription drug monitoring program as the legislative session headed for a close this week. In a letter emailed Wednesday night to House and Senate lawmakers, a frustrated Rehder wrote, “We shouldn’t stand idly by and let the actions of a few destroy the future for so many.”...

Soybean farmers in Southeast Missouri have one eye on their waterlogged fields and the other eye on trade talks -- or lack of them -- between the United States and China. And they can do nothing about either situation. Soybeans are Missouri’s No. 1 cash crop, supporting thousands of agriculture-related jobs and contributing billions of dollars to the state’s economy annually...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - Dr. Sam Duncan listens closely as the student explains what they are learning about welding. Another student flips down his mask, lights a blow torch then demonstrates the new skills as Duncan watches. As superintendent of the R-1 School District, Duncan not only oversees the district’s three elementary schools, the middle school and the high school but also the District’s Technical Skills Center, where the welding was under way. ...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - The success of career education programs is growing. According to the Missouri Department of Education, 95 percent of career education program graduates were employed, continuing their education or serving in the military in 2017. Currently, the New Madrid County R-1 School District is working with industry to expand the course options available through its Technical Skills Center with the introduction of its pathways to electrician program. ...

Members of the Sikeston Public Schools Foundation’s Board of Directors viewed on Wednesday the construction progress of Sikeston R-6 School District’s Wing Elementary. Substantial completion of the project is slated for June followed by the completion of the punch list. Superintendent Tom Williams said furniture is expected to be moved in mid-July with a grand opening for the public scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 1. The first day of school for student attendance is Aug. 13...

SIKESTON — A relatively new concept within healthcare, Community Health Workers (CHWs) are making a bit impact on patient health and wellbeing. According to the National Association of Community Health Workers: “A community health worker is a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community served. ...

SIKESTON – The Southeast Missouri Food Bank has announced the addition of two staff members who will be involved in development, communications and service delivery. Lisa Church joins the SEMO Food Bank as chief advancement officer, a position that became open when former Chief Advancement Officer Joey Keys was named Chief Executive Officer earlier this year. ...

SIKESTON — Ron Eifert, director of the Sikeston Public Library, recently returned from a trip to Philadelphia, PA, where he presented at the Evergreen International Conference. Eifert, along with Kate Coleman from Jefferson County Library and Blake Graham-Henderson from MOBIUS, presented “Scrubaloging: Formatting and Fixing MARC Records.” The presentation outlined the processes that the Missouri Evergreen consortium employed to improve the browsing experience for the library patron, and to simplify the workflow for catalogers within the consortium.. ...

Mike Marshall, president and CEO, Sikeston Regional Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development, spoke at the most recent Greater Delta Region Conference of the Delta Grassroots Caucus April 25 and 26. Marshall presented current information on future Interstate 57, Sikeston’s new certified industrial site and federal opportunity zones. ...