Stories from Monday, August 24, 2020

SIKESTON — A Sikeston bank closed for the day following a gas leak early Monday. Just before 8 a.m. Monday, officers with Sikeston Department of Public Safety responded to Montgomery Bank, 1 Montgomery Plaza, in Sikeston in reference to a carbon monoxide alarm, according to Capt. Austin Henley, fire division commander for Sikeston DPS...

SIKESTON — For the first time in 10 years, the annual wine festival in Historic Downtown Sikeston will not take place this fall. The Historic Downtown Sikeston Board of Directors announced the annual event — and its largest fundraiser scheduled for Sept. 12 was canceled via a letter posted early Monday to Historic Downtown Sikeston’s official Facebook page...

CHICAGO, Ill. — Larry Johnson, 66, died June 25, 2020, at his home in Chicago. Born Jan. 25, 1954, in Sikeston, Missouri, son of the late Malissa Richards and Henry Johnson, he attended Lincoln Elementary for two years in Jefferson City, Missouri. He attended True Christian Pentecostal Witness Church in Sikeston and moved to Chicago after college and became a member of Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church. ...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. — Stephen Ray “Steve” Murray, 66, died Aug. 18, 2020, at his home in East Prairie. Born May 31, 1954, at Cairo, Illinois, son of the late Hank Murray and Betty Sue Whitaker Murray, he had lived had lived in East Prairie the past several years. He had worked in law enforcement and was a U.S. Navy veteran and later a U.S. Army veteran. ...

SIKESTON — William Scott Pepper, 53, died Aug. 22, 2020, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Nov. 20, 1966, in Detroit, Michigan, son of the late Alice Galvan Pepper and Bobby Dan Pepper, he was self-employed contractor. Survivors include: three sons; Robert Lee (Nikki) Harper of Jackson, Missouri, Matthew Vincent of New Madrid, Missouri, Jacob Pepper of Portageville, Missouri; one daughter, Alison (Kenneth) Spain of Fort Eustis, Virginia; one brother, Mark Pepper of Gideon, Missouri; sisters; Kimberly Simmons, Regina Hinklin and Denise Johnson of Portageville and Valarie Bunch of Hayti, Missouri; and three grandchildren.. ...