Stories from Monday, March 22, 2004

DEXTER -- Pearl Hill, 97, died March 19, 2004, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Born July 12, 1906, at Puxico, daughter of the late Peter and Mable Fannie Hargrove Parrish, she was a member of Sadler Chapel Methodist Church at Dexter. On Oct. 21, 1928, at Dexter, she married Ray Hill who preceded her in death on Aug. 23, 1977...

STE. GENEVIEVE - Debra Jane Hammon, 45, formerly of Sikeston, died March 19, 2004, from injuries sustained in an automobile accident near St. Louis. Born May 9, 1958, in Sikeston, daughter of Kenneth and Jane Osburn Campbell of Hardin, Ky., she was a member of Shady Acres Church of Christ and was employed at the Family Inn at Ozora...

SIKESTON - Jerry Lynn Bell, 68, died at 4:25 p.m. March 20, 2004, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Nov. 23, 1935, in Sikeston to the later Carter and Faye R. Chittenden Bell, he was a lifelong resident of the area. A retired steelworker, formerly employed with Noranda Aluminum Co., he served six years with the Missouri National Guard. ...

PORTAGEVILLE - Irene O. Carson, 87, died March 20, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Oct. 21, 1916, in Hayward, she was the daughter of the late Peter Eythel and Bertha Mae Brasher Butler. On Feb. 27, 1935, in Portageville, she married Raymond Carson, who survives of the home...

MOREHOUSE - Johnie H. Eaton, 82, died March 20, 2004, at Clearview Nursing Center in Sikeston. Born Oct. 16, 1921, in Gray Ridge, son of the late Charlie and Dellia Capps Eaton, he was a member of the General Baptist Church in Morehouse, superintendent of the Morehouse water plant for 24 years, a volunteer fireman for Morehouse for over 20 years, and a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge...

SIKESTON -- Wilbur Preston, 78, died March 21, 2004, at the Bertrand Nursing Facility in Bertrand. Arrangements are incomplete at Ponder Funeral Home in Sikeston.

EAST PRAIRIE - Phyllis C. Turner, 73, formerly of Charleston, died at 3:30 a.m. March 22, 2004, at the East Prairie Nursing Center. Born May 4, 1930, in Murphysboro, Ill., daughter of the late L.L. and Norma Lee Dickey Clough, she lived most of her life in Charleston where she was employed by the Brown Shoe Co. as a nurses aide until her retirement in 1975. She attended the First Church of God in East Prairie...

PARMA -- Dallas Mac Bills, 90, died March 18, 2004, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born April 18, 1913, in Hickory Valley, Tenn., son of the late Robert Hullum and Mary Bills, he had lived much of his life in Tennesee and was a member of the Van Buren Baptist Church in Hickory Valley, where he served as a deacon. In 1989, he retired from the Consolidated Highway Department of Somersville, Tenn...

TROY, Ill. - Joe Evans, 58, of Troy, Ill., died March 21, 2004, at the home of his daughter in Olney, Ill. Blanchard Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements which are incomplete.

I have seen Michael Jensen's editorial of March 14. As I know the author personally and know him to be possessed of a sense of humor, I am assuming he intended the editorial to be funny. But still, even if it was intended to be a comedy, we should stay within arm's reach of the facts...

As I reflect back on my 26-year career in the Missouri Army National Guard, I am very proud that I had the privilege of serving with such outstanding and dedicated people. I served in and commanded units that trained side by side with active Army troops. Without exception, these National Guard units performed in an exceptional manner and received high marks from our active Army counterparts...

Liberals claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war. They complain about his prosecution of it. One liberal recently claimed bush was the "worst President in U.S. History." Let's clear up one point: We didn't start the war on terror. Try to remember: It was Sept. 11, 2001. Let's look at the "worst" President and mismanagement claims...

EAST PRAIRIE -- John Garner, public works director in East Prairie, announced Monday morning that the boil water order for East Prairie has been lifted. The boil water order, which had been in effect since Thursday, occurred after the city's water system was shut down in order to lay a new water line from North Lincoln (at Willow Street next to Ferguson Medical) across Highway 105 and around North Lincoln to Pearl Street...

Officers with the Sikeston Department of Public Safety along with paramedics look at an 11-year-old boy that was hit by a car on Front Street at about 9:15 a.m. today. The injuries did not appear serious and no other information was available at press time...

SIKESTON - It's exciting, adrenalin-pumping, satisfying and irritating all at once. But that's what Teresa Kindred says she experiences every day as a dispatcher for the Sikeston Department of Public Safety. Kindred got her start with DPS back in April 1986 when she joined the Sikeston Cadets to assist with the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo...

COLUMBIA -- Bell City's boys basketball team wrapped up its second Class 1 state title in three years with a 74-62 win over St. Elizabeth on Saturday night at the Hearnes Center. Bell City senior star guard Dominitrix Johnson put on the top show of the day, scoring 40 points as he nearly singlehandedly carried the Cubs to victory...

ST. LOUIS - A total of 33 men were accepted at Jefferson Barracks at an induction center for service in the armed forces. Accepted for service in the Navy included: Ruben Clay Taylor, Edwin Henry LaCroiz, Doyne Everett Chartrau, Frank Lowery and John Lewis Wilson. Joining the Army were: Glenn Eli Williams, Charles Davis Matthews III, Charles Winston Hoover Jr., Jim Dozier, Edgar Levi Jones, Orvel Buchanan, Cletus Jacob Goetz, James Rosche LaGrand, Earnest Odley McCoy and Karl Edward Dial...

Every time I call about my newspaper you say to call the post office to see what happened to it. They tell me to call the newspaper. How can a newspaper get lost in the mail when everything else that is loose comes on through and gets put in the mailbox. ...