Looking back 4/23

60 years ago

SIKESTON - The first home grown strawberries of the year were reported as being picked Tuesday afternoon from the garden of Police Judge F.R. Smith on North Kingshighway.

40 years ago

MATTHEWS - A federal grant of $32,197 has been allocated to the R-5 school district for a reading program for slow learners and related services. The grant came through the state department of education under Title I of the federal elementary and secondary education act.

JEFFERSON CITY - Thomas C. Gillstrap, state collector of revenue, announced today that Scott County sales and use tax collections, $279,379.15 for the quarter ending March 31, exceeded that of any other county in the Bootheel during that period.

20 years ago

April 23, 1986

SIKESTON - A study of the Sikeston Department of Public Safety concludes that the department is "neither fragile nor unstable, and can certainly be relied upon by the community on a daily basis to provide effective and capable public safety services within reasonable response times." The results of the Organizational Management and Staffing Study of the DPS were released recently.

10 years ago

SIKESTON - Despite wet weather, the Sikeston Invitational Golf Tournament brought 13 area high school teams to town. Poplar Bluff won the tournament, with Sikeston placing fifth Monday. Poplar Bluff's Colby Robertson took home medalist honors. He finished the Sikeston course four under par, shooting a 67. Ben Alcorn led the Bulldog's linksters with an 80. He was followed by Brent Pearson, who shot an 82. Cory Fitzgerald and Clay Lape each had scores of 83 for Sikeston. Sikeston coach Gary Silverthorn was glad to get the match in. "The rain held off just enough for us to get the match in, and the boys are improving. This was just what we needed with districts just around the corner," said Silverthorn.