Stories from Tuesday, December 3, 2002

JEFFERSON CITY -- Ed Dixon of Sikeston has announced the engagement of his daughter, Kawajalyn E'Lon Simmons of Jefferson City, to Roderic Orlando Collins of Jefferson City, son of Aleta and Hughe "Billy" Collins of Sikeston. The future bride is the daughter of the late Lois E. Simmons-Dixon...

LILBOURN -- Tricia Lynn Lara and Joseph Alan McClarty exchanged wedding vows in a 6:30 p.m. June 8, 2002, at the First Baptist Church in Lilbourn. The Rev. Gary Henson, pastor, performed the ceremony. A special prayer was recited by Larry McClarty of Tulsa, Okla., the bridegroom's uncle, and the bridegroom's cousin, Megan McClarty of Nashville, Tenn., read the scripture...

Charleston has the Dogwood-Azalea Festival (for the azaleas) and Sikeston has the Cotton Carnival (for the cotton). Well, Morehouse has a lot of pecans and I think Morehouse should begin a pecan festival. If anybody else is interested in this idea, please call SpeakOut...

SIKESTON - Mr. and Mrs. Burley Seagrave, formerly of Route 1 Morley, have moved to Sikeston and are residing on Kathleen. Mr. Seagrave is the owner of the Careful Cab Co. and came to Sikeston to operate the business in the absence of the son who is now employed at the bomber field at Blytheville, Ark...

SIKESTON - Stephanie Michelle Grimes Holland is the mother of her second child, first son, born at 3:41 p.m. Nov. 12, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Jaylen Brent-Royce Holland weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces and was 21 1/2-inches long...

Police departments across the nation face a tough dilemma - to chase a fleeing suspect or to back off a pursuit because of public safety concerns. Either way, there are no winners. For quite some time, police departments have tried to balance the issue of public safety with the need to capture and arrest fleeing suspects. ...

SCOTT CITY - Homer McKinley, 84, died Dec. 2, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City.

PUXICO - Pallbearers at services conducted Monday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home for Helen Hobbs, 82, who died Nov. 30, 2002, were: Sam Phillips, Ron Faries, Bill Faries, Roger Landon, Jim Moore and Bub Yates.

CAVE SPRING, Ga. - Timothy Lynn "Bo" Bates, 41, formerly of Portageville, Mo., died Nov. 30, 2002. Born April 1, 1961, in Waterveliot, Mich., son of Charles and Iona Dowdy Bates Sr., he lived in Portageville for 15 years, where he was a member of the Portageville Jaycees, served on the Portageville Park Board committee, was a member of the Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad and was the Portageville baseball junior and senior league commissioner for many years. ...

SIKESTON - Joyce Joan Ernst, 81, died at 7:25 a.m. Dec. 2, 2002, at the Clearview Nursing Center. Born June 26, 1921, in St. Louis, daughter of the late Felix A. and Zita M. Farrar Schindler, she was a member of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church. She was also a member of the Daughters of Isabella and the Legion of Mary...

CHAFFEE - Veda Boley, 78, died at 10 p.m. Dec. 2, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born March 26, 1924, in Powe, daughter of the late Walter Cleveland and Clara Mae Myers Jackson, she owned and operated Veda's Quick Lunch restaurant in St. Louis before retiring. She was a member of the First Baptist Church and VFW Post 3127 Ladies Auxiliary in Chaffee...

CHAFFEE - Mary Marcella Elledge, 72, died at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 1, 2002, at her home. Born June 2, 1930, in St. Louis, daughter of the late James and Minnie Ditterline Simmons, she had worked as a machine operator for Carr Textiles in Chaffee, had been a clerk for Dollar General in Chaffee and retired as a machine operator from Columbia Sportswear in Chaffee. She was of the Baptist belief...

JACKSON - Elaine L. McBride, 78, died Dec. 2, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born Dec. 23, 1923, in Jackson, daughter of the late Clarence and Agnes Dale Lett Reitzel, she graduated in 1941 from Jackson High School. She worked at Thorngate in Cape Girardeau and Litz Poultry in Jackson before retiring and was a member of the First Baptist Church in Jackson...

ORAN - The 47th Annual Oran Invitational Tournament got underway on Monday at Oran High School. There were no surprises in the first round as all scheduled games went according to seed. Top-seeded Twin Rivers rolled over No. 8 Richland 84-23, No. 2 Bell City raced past seventh-seeded Scott County Central 95-63, and No. 3 Oran held off No. 6 North Pemiscot 72-60...

PORTAGEVILLE -- Sikeston's girls basketball team opened the 2002-2003 season on a high note Monday night, rolling past a scrappy Portageville team, 50-33. "The kids came out and did a good job," said Sikeston coach Lee Brooks. "They played hard and got after it. We don't have our basketball legs yet, but we did a lot of things right."...

SIKESTON -- Sikeston's eighth and ninth grade basketball teams split with Jackson on Monday. The Bulldogs won the eighth grade matchup 40-35, but lost the freshman game 59-51. In the eighth grade game, Joe Lincoln led the charge for the Bulldogs with 16 points, hitting two 3-pointers. Joe Moore contributed eight points and Julian Spencer added six...

BLOOMFIELD - The Stars and Stripes Museum/Library Association, was founded in 1991, in an effort to preserve the history of the United States Armed Forces military newspaper, the Stars and Stripes, at its birthplace. But it's much more than that. The facility also serves as a tribute to those who have risked their lives to fight for their country and in a few days some of Dexter's own will be honored there...

CARUTHERSVILLE - The results of the autopsy verified Pemiscot County Sheriff Tommy Greenwell's conclusion that a Bragg City man was murdered. Greenwell reported the death of Jimmy D. Grills, 52, was ruled a homicide. The victim, who was found in his rural Bragg City home at 2 a.m. Nov. 30, had been stabbed numerous times and bled to death...

Sandra York takes advantage of the warmer temperatures on Monday by raking her yard. The warm weather has now left the area and with snow expected tonight and tomorrow, a winter weather advisory has been issued.

SIKESTON -- Countdown to Christmas break has begun for area high school and college students, but before they can focus on sleeping in and having fun, they must tackle a greater feat -- finals. "Finals can help the students, but if they aren't prepared, it can really hurt them," said Dr. Larry Bohannon, Sikeston Public School's assistant superintendent of secondary education. "Generally the ones it hurts usually haven't been attending anyway," he added...

SIKESTON - In addition to the regular city council meeting, two public hearings were conducted Monday. The first hearing was for the friendly annexation of the Hayward properties along North Main between the Trinity Baptist Church and Tanner Road at the request of the property owners...

Sikeston linebacker Jacob Priday (36) tackles Farmington's Derek Wiles in this Oct. 4 photo. Priday was named first team All-Conference and first team All-Region at the position this year.