Stories from Thursday, July 10, 2003

I would like to respond to the view Barry Horton put in the paper on June 30. He stated that irresponsible people dropped litters of animals at his home because they were too cowardly to "knock them in the head." Why do you consider this a "humane" way to rid one of unwanted animals? I do agree, however, that the persons doing this are irresponsible. Spaying and neutering is the answer to this problem and we encourage anyone with pets to do just that...

ADVANCE -- Mr. and Mrs. John F. Johnson Jr. have announced the engagement of their daughter, Amanda Jill, to Jeramey Shane Roberts, son of Jimmy and Donna Groves of Morehouse. The future bride graduated with a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. She is a nurse at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON -- Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Heisler have announced the engagement of their daughter, Maggie Diane, to Michael Buckley, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Buckley of Huntsville, Ala. The future bride graduated in 1991 from Sikeston High School. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau and a master's degree in social work from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Heisler is director of social services for Missouri Delta Medical Center...

Scott Smith, FasGas employee, waits on a customer buying a Powerball ticket. The jackpot of over $250 million attracted lots of players locally and in 23 other states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The two winning tickets were sold in Missouri and Pennsylvania...

WASHINGTON - A subcommittee has included more than $5 million for the St. Johns New Madrid Floodway Flood Control Project in Mississippi County. The Subcommittee studying the Fiscal year 2004 Energy and Water Appropriations Act approved $5,500,000 in funding for the project which would provide flood control for East Prairie and neighboring communities and pay for additional flood control easements...

BLOOMFIELD - Some historians credit the allied victory in World War II to the incredible production power of the United States. The Smithsonian's traveling exhibit "Produce for Victory: World War II Posters of the Home Front" presents a look at the national production effort and how the war affected life in the United States through the propaganda posters produced in that time on everything from war bonds and rationing to national security and preserving the American way of life...

Mr. Holden does not understand the people of Missouri. The state's revenues are down due to a slow economy. The Legislature's position is that if the state does not have enough money to fund all the current programs, the state should cut out non-essential programs to maintain a balanced budget. ...

DEXTER - Thelma Nea, 85, died July 9, 2003, at Cypress Point Health Care in Dexter. Born Dec. 31, 1917, in Dudley, daughter of the late Gifford and Susie Schnelle Long, she worked for Elder Manufacturing Co. in Dexter for 35 years before retiring. On Oct. 1, 1938, at Piggott, Ark., she married Farrell Nea who preceded her in death on Dec. 4, 1999...

SCOTT CITY - Deborah Lea Garrett, 50, died July 8, 2003, at the Chaffee Nursing Center. Born May 15, 1953, in Biddeford, Maine, she was the daughter of Alfred Chasse of Biddeford and the late Margaret Skelton. On May 8, 1984, in Biddeford, she married Leo Roland Garrett who survives of the home...

DEXTER - Pallbearers at services conducted Wednesday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home for Elenora Reinbott, 81, who died July 7, 2003, were: Allen Dugan, Chuck Reinbott, Stanley McCullough, Bobby Reinbott, Rick Crowell and Joey Reinbott.

ADVANCE -- Clara M. Pittman, 91, died July 9, 2003, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born March 7, 1912, in Arab, daughter of the late Joseph and May Bell Douglas Fish, she retired from Bond Nursing Center in Marble Hill and was a member of the Zalma General Baptist Church...

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. - Marshall Franklin Patterson, 68, died July 7, 2003, at his home. Born Nov. 13, 1935, near Charleston, Mo., son of the late Clarence and Emma Patterson, he was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. He owned a Shell service station for many years before retiring...

TALLAPOOSA -- Lucretia Ann Smith, 60, died July 8, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born April 25, 1943, in Kennett, daughter of the late George Andrew and Lillie Harmon Woollums, she was a member of the First Southern Baptist Church in Tallapoosa...

SIKESTON - George L. Hale Jr. returned to Sikeston Thursday from the East, where he had been serving with the border patrol of the Bureau of Immigration. --- SIKESTON - John Thomas Griffin of Sikeston Route One received word Friday morning that his son, John Sullivan Griffin, is being held as a prisoner of war of the Japanese government in the Philippine Islands...