Stories from Monday, October 11, 2004

PORTAGEVILLE - Darrell Brown, 51, died Oct. 11, 2004, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at DeLisle Funeral Home.

SIKESTON - Mrs. Marie Dickerman Weaks, beloved mother of Trudye Weaks Blackard of Jacksonville, Fla., and Gary P. Weaks and his wife, Carole, of Atlanta, Ga., passed away Oct. 9, 2004. Mrs. Weaks graduated from Matthews High School and attended business college in St. Louis...

SIKESTON - Lorene Crider, 90, died at 4:10 a.m. Oct. 9, 2004, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born Feb. 12, 1914, in Tomlin, Ark., daughter of the late Bud and Mattie Poore McGarity, she worked for Lambert's Cafe for 32 years and was of the Pentecostal belief...

SIKESTON - Edna B. Woodward, 91, formerly of Sikeston, died Oct. 10, 2004, at the Presbyterian Manor Nursing Home in Farmington. Arrangements are incomplete at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel.

SAPULPA, Okla. - Robert Carrow, 71, formerly of Morley, Mo., died Oct. 10, 2004, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston, Mo.

SIKESTON - Betty L. Noble Croxford, 72, died Oct. 10, 2004, at her home. Born May 2, 1932, in Grafton, Ill., daughter of the late Russell and Verna Highfill Noble, she lived in Dow, Ill., for more than 50 years before moving to Sikeston. She had operated a beauty shop in her home for many years and was later an associate for the J.C. Penney Outlet Store before retiring...

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. - Aura Harper, 95, formerly of Matthews, Mo., died at noon Oct. 7, 2004, at the Heritage Square Nursing Center in Blytheville. Born Sept. 4, 1909, in Matthews, daughter of the late James and Pearl Hunott Hill, she was a licensed practical nurse...

DEXTER - Pallbearers at graveside services conduced Sunday at the Hagy Cemetery for Marjorie M. Black, 74, who died Oct. 8, 2004, were: Richard Terry Sugg, Ron Thomason, Richard Vaughn, Mark Bunch, Jesse Bunch and Brad Griffen.

SIKESTON - A Western Auto Store will open in the former City Drug Store vacancy about Nov. 1, under the management of L.F. "Bob" Tyrone, who was associated with the Southern Stores in Sikeston until he left them Tuesday to make preparations for opening the new store...

Senior citizens everywhere (not only in Missouri), please listen. This maniac we have as president is going to ruin our Social Security. Please do not vote for this man. Let's get him out of office. Look at the things he should have done for three years and now he's starting to do them. What kind of deal is that? We cannot tolerate this kind of leadership. Please, let's get him out...

Approximately 100 people took part in Saturday's Kenny Rogers Children's Center 31st Annual Charity Walk. Participants raised $14,000 for the center which provides therapy for children from throughout the region. This year's theme was "Helping children help themselves - one step at a time."...

SIKESTON - E-R-R-r-r-r. E-R-R-r-r-r. POP! Chuga-chuga-chuga. The little red Farmall Cub's engine comes to life and the tractor heads for the field. But instead of a job of plowing, this specially modified machine is off to the soccer fields. Perched in the driver's seat, Mitchell Shaw steers and operates a sprayer mechanism marking the field's borders, goal lines, etc. Some 45 minutes later the field is done, eight more to go...

PERRYVILLE -- Kelly's district dynasty continued with a convincing 4-1 win over Valley Park on Saturday. The Lady Hawks (21-6) captured their third straight Class 2 district title and their 18th in 19 seasons, the string interrupted only by a loss to Notre Dame of Cape Girardeau in 2001...

We who are going to vote in the November presidential election have a decision to make that will affect the whole world. This time we must get the facts. Voting records cannot lie. They are open to the public. Sen. John Kerry voted to keep partial-birth abortion legal and to provide foreign aid to promote abortion...

Sometimes things aren't as they appear. Such is the case with the Democratic candidate for governor Claire McCaskill, and that's perfectly fine with her. When one digs down below the surface of McCaskill's well-spoken, cosmopolitan image, what one discovers are positions on a number of critical moral and ethical issues that are unpalatable to most Missouri voters...

On behalf of the Sikeston Country Club Open Tennis Tournament, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to this year's sponsors: Sabona of London, Mitchell Insurance, Alliance Bank, Noranda Aluminum, Health Facilities Rehab, First National Bank, Ed Nunnelee Memorial Tennis Tournament, First Midwest Bank, Joe Recker State Farm Insurance, Kon-Tech Industries, Squiggles & Giggles, Century 21 Real Estate, First Security Bank, Burns and Taylor Law Offices, Greg Comer State Farm Insurance, First State Bank, Chemisphere Corporation, Pepsi-Cola, Tank Tech Inc., Super D, Randy's Rx, Medicine Shoppe, Medicap Pharmacy, Medical Arts Pharmacy, Bizzell's Nursery Company, Under Armour, Ryan's Family Steakhouse, Lambert's Cafe, Subway, Jeremiah's, Rodchester's Deli, Applebee's and Dominos Pizza.. ...

CHARLESTON -- A fire destroyed a well-known Mississippi County restaurant and part of its store over the weekend. Employees of Wally's Chew Chew Restaurant, owned by Wallace Reeves and part of Reeves Boomland located off Exit 10 of Interstate 57 in Charleston, alerted the Charleston Department of Public Safety when they smelled smoke while working around 9:45 p.m. Saturday...