Stories from Thursday, January 10, 2002

Last season Richland was the Cinderella team of Southeast Missouri. Under the direction of first-year coach Jimmy Lincoln, the Rebels went from 4-19 to 22-9, reaching the 1A quarterfinals. But the clock struck midnight and somebody stole the magic wand...

DONIPHAN - For the last seven years, the Doniphan Dons have produced some of the top basketball teams in Southeast Missouri. Even though the Dons claimed just one district championship in that span in 1998, they were still a dangerous opponent for any team in the area...

JACKSON - The Sikeston freshman basketball team lost 50-35 to Dexter on Wednesday in the Jackson Tournament. Sikeston led 8-5 after one quarter but the Bearcats bounced back to take a 24-20 lead at the half. Dexter extended the lead to 41-26 entering the fourth quarter...

SIKESTON - Chronic diabetes is the No. 1 cause of blindness and the No. 1 factor leading to a patient being placed on dialysis. It is also the leading reason for non-traumatic leg amputations due to nerve and vascular damage. Committed to meeting the increased demand in the community for diabetes services, Missouri Delta Medical Center will open the Missouri Delta Endocrine and Diabetes Clinic on Feb. 1 at 1118 North Main...

ALTO PASS, Ill. - Linda Gibbs is speaking of her husband of 34 years in the past tense now. "He played that guitar all the time," Gibbs said Wednesday. "He loved old country, the older ones: Ray Price, Vince Gill. He'd sit out in the garage and put in a tape and play along with it. He found it relaxing."...

DELTA - Wanda Blattel of Delta helped pull a man out of a burning van Wednesday in a five-car accident on Highway 25 between Delta and Advance. One woman was killed and three were injured, Highway Patrol Sgt. Dale Moreland said. Nine people were in the five cars. The highway between Delta and Advance was closed for about five hours...

Lura Llewellyn of East Prairie washes her car Wednesday afternoon at Cox Family Car Wash. Area residents were out Wednesday enjoying the above average temperatures.

SIKESTON - Angela and Rodney Bridger have announced the engagement of their daughter, Kelly Kristina, to James Marion Johnson, son of Boyce and Susan Johnson of Sikeston. The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Doris Abernathy of Sikeston and the late Avery Abernathy and Chris and Kenneth Bridger of Sikeston...

As a voting citizen of the United States, a voter who is a waiter, teacher, construction laborer or a factory worker (and the list could go on and on), I found it appalling that Congress keeps giving themselves automatic raises. How long are we, the voters of America, going to keep our voices from being heard? I could have used a $5,000 raise myself. Congress can only do what we, the people, let them do. Let's stand up for ourselves and demand no more raises without a vote by the people...

ORAN - Good news for the family of Paul Miskell. Arrangements had been made to hold a Sunday memorial service when word came from the U.S. War Department that he was still living. SIKESTON - The temperature dropped to five degrees below zero, tying the official all-time low set in 1944...

SIKESTON - Glenna W. Cline, 57, died Jan. 9, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born Feb. 27, 1944, in Portageville, daughter of the late Charles William and Tennie Tate Houchins, she attended the First Church of the Nazarene for many years. On May 28, 1960, she married Harold Vernon Cline who survives of the home...

NEW MADRID - Willie Lee Roberts, 80, died Jan. 8, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Feb. 2, 1921, near Jaywye in New Madrid County, son of the late Bill and Dema Wells Roberts, he was a carpenter in the New Madrid area and U.S. Army veteran of World War II...

LILBOURN - Catherine Campbell, 90, died Jan. 9, 2002, at her home. Born April 4, 1911, in Dyersburg, Tenn., daughter of the late James Radna Hamlin Jr. and Rosa Lee Hopkins, she was a member of the First Baptist Church in Lilbourn. She was first married Andrew L. Puckett who preceded her in death in 1949...

ELSBERRY - Ralph Phillips, 72, died Jan. 8, 2002, at the Florida Hospital Heartland in Sebring, Fla. Born July 7, 1929, in East Prairie, Mo., son of the late William Lottie and Ida Mae Black Phillips, he was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War. He owned and operated Phillips Electric in Elsberry for many years before his retirement. A member of American Legion Post 226 in Elsberry, he was also a member of New Hope Baptist Church near Elsberry...

CAIRO, Ill. - Madhuben Patel, 62, died Jan. 9, 2002, at the Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Center in New Madrid, Mo. Born Nov. 4, 1939, in India, she was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Somabhai Patel. Her husband, Mohan M. Patel, survives of Cairo...

OXFORD, Miss. - Doris Lester, 78, formerly of Portageville, Mo., died Jan. 9, 2002, at the Hermitage Garden in Oxford. Arrangements are incomplete at DeLisle Funeral Home in Portageville.

PORTAGEVILLE - Pearline Robinson, 80, died Jan. 9, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at DeLisle Funeral Home.

SCOTT CITY - Wilma Lee Middleton, 55, died Jan. 8, 2002, in Miner. Born Oct. 21, 1946, in Dexter, daughter of Willene Kimbrel Clark of Dexter and the late J.L. Simpson Jr., she attended Bloomfield High School and was a former hairdresser in Bloomfield and Dexter. She was a member of Father's Arms Fellowship in Scott City...

CHARLESTON - The Rev. Paul Faris, 75, died at noon Jan. 9, 2002, at his home. Born Oct. 31, 1926, in Franklin, Ark., son of the late H.B. and Winnie J. Tadlock Faris, he was ordained into the ministry in 1954. He lived in Charleston since 1962, where he served as pastor of Trinity Pentecostal Church for 35 years...

Dave Thomas must have been a nice guy. The founder of Wendy's Restaurant chain died this week at age 69. His 800 humorous television commercials for the hamburger chain made him a household name and face for many years. In many ways, his passing was like losing an old friend...