Stories from Sunday, February 22, 2004

NEW MADRID - The Portageville Bulldogs squeaked by a stubborn NMCC squad Friday night 55-54 to notch their 19th win of the season against four losses. The Eagles slip to 8-15 on the season. The two teams have a history of playing very close games over the last three seasons...

COLUMBIA - Heading into Saturday's Class 2 State Championship wrestling finals, the Sikeston Bulldogs stood in 15th place and had two competitors alive for a possible third place finish. Heavyweight Joe Johnson and 160-pound Lance Berry each will be all-state wrestlers regardless of how Saturday's events unfold...

ROCKFORD, Ill. - Elsie V. Love, 85, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., died at 1:05 p.m. Feb. 19, 2004, at the St. Anne Center in Rockford. Born July 2, 1918, at Morehouse, Mo., to the late Thomas and Dimple Jones Sheeter, she was a member of the Morehouse Baptist Church and the Order of the Eastern Star...

DEXTER - Bertha Marie Sedrick, 79, died Feb. 20, 2004, at the Crowley Ridge Care Center in Dexter. Born Oct. 26, 1923, at Dexter, daughter of the late Ernest and Clara McFarlen Jackson, she was a homemaker and a member of the General Baptist Church at St. Louis where she played piano and taught Sunday School...

POPLAR BLUFF - Jeffrey Alan Adams, 28, died Feb. 20, 2004, at his residence in Poplar Bluff. Born Feb. 3, 1976, at St. Charles, to Bobby G. Adams of Bernie and the late Marcena Elaine Walker, he was a machine operator for Mid-Continent Nail Corporation at Poplar Bluff...

BLOOMFIELD - Ola Underwood, 99, died Feb. 20, 2004, at Beverly Healthcare in Bloomfield. Born Jan. 27, 1905, she spent most of her life in the Bloomfield community where she was a housewife and a member of the First General Baptist Church in Bloomfield...

SIKESTON - Iva Pearl Latham, 92, died at 2:10 a.m. Feb. 21, 2004, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born April 22, 1911, in Blodgett, daughter of the late Jack and Elizabeth Harris Welch, she was a member of the Illinois Avenue Baptist Church in Sikeston and worked as a cleaning lady for businesses in Sikeston...

SIKESTON - Lillie Mae Lovelace Sides, 95, died Feb. 20, 2004, at the Clearview Nursing Center in Sikeston. Born July 14, 1908, in Dyer County, Tenn., daughter of the late Albert and Minnie Lovelace, she was descended from early pioneer settlers, with one branch being Baptists who came over from Wales for religious freedom in the 1600s and was of the Baptist belief her whole life. A member of the First Families of Tennessee, she had two ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The Class 4, District 1 Tournament will tip off tomorrow at Notre Dame High School for the second year in a row. And also for the second year in a row, the Sikeston Bulldogs boys team was seeded third in the district. Sikeston (5-17) will open play against No. 6 seeded Ste. Genevieve (5-19) tomorrow night at 6:00. Dexter received the No. 1 seed followed by Fredericktown at No. 2...

SIKESTON - The Sikeston Bulldogs closed out their regular season schedule with a 69-50 loss to Kennett on Friday night at the Field House. The Bulldogs will open district play on Monday against Ste. Genevieve at 6 p.m. Sikeston (5-17, 1-6 SEMO Conference) trailed just 25-23 at the half but the Indians exploded for 29 points in the third quarter to put the game away...

BENTON -- The Bell City Cubs improved their record to 21-4 with a 78-57 win over the Kelly Hawks Friday night. Bell City jumped out to 23-11 lead at the end of the first quarter but the Hawks battled back to cut the Bell City lead to 35-28 at the half...

SIKESTON - The Sikeston Bulldogs, playing without the services of four members of the starting team, went down in defeat to the Poplar Bluff Mules in a game there Tuesday. The score was Poplar Bluff 29, Sikeston 22. 40 years ago Feb. 22, 1964...

Cottonwood Treatment Center in Cape Girardeau, a state funded facility, cares for children ages 6-17 who have behavioral, psychological, sociological disorders. They provide a home-like environment with counseling, alternative schooling, family and individual therapy with a qualified psychiatrist. ...

SIKESTON - When officials with the Kenny Rogers Children's Center talk about their lineup of stars for 24th annual telethon, the names they rattle off won't be making headlines or gathering in awards. These "stars," who will most certainly steal the spotlight at the March 13 and 14 event, are the children served by the center...

CAPE GIRARDEAU (SMNS) - The four suspects in the Jan. 12 armed robbery of the Bank of America branch at 800 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau will appear Friday in federal court for an evidentiary hearing. At the hearing, the defendants can ask the judge to suppress evidence or statements made to investigators. Approximately $10,300 was stolen during the robbery...

The city of St. Louis has long had a reputation as a dangerous community. The murder rate in metropolitan St. Louis in recent years has consistently been among the highest in the nation. In fact, it's been over 40 years since the murders in the city have been under 100 victims. But that changed radically last year when only 69 deaths were reported in the urban community...

SIKESTON -- During the 1960s, basketball was the only sport offered to students at Howardville High School in New Madrid County, Lennies McFerren recalled. The 1966 graduate used his athletic skills to further his education and went on to play basketball at Three Rivers Community College and Southeast Missouri State University...

SIKESTON - While restaurants have longed insisted their patrons wear shirts and shoes, banks are now asking customers to remove certain articles. "No Hats, No Hoods, No Sunglasses" is a program initiated by The Missouri Bankers Association, which includes over 400 banks across Missouri, and the Missouri Credit Union Association with the endorsement of the FBI, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and law enforcement agencies all over Missouri, according to Keith Kirk, public relations and communications officer for the First National Bank.. ...

POPLAR BLUFF -- It took 18 years but Poplar Bluff finally has the SEMO Conference title all to their own. Behind a 19-4 run to start the game and a packed Peters Gym, the Mules beat top-ranked Charleston 100-90 Friday night to close the regular season...

DESOTO - The Central boys basketball team nearly pulled off an upset Friday night, falling 66-56 at De Soto. The Dragons (24-2) are ranked No. 1 among small schools in the Post-Dispatch's top 10 poll. The game went back and forth throughout the second half, with Central building a seven-point lead early in the fourth quarter. De Soto shot 13 free throws late to clinch the win...