Stories from Thursday, October 28, 2004

SIKESTON -- Helping others on the job is pretty much a given for Donald Holman. Over the past 20 years, the U.S. Postal Service letter carrier has assisted people on his mail routes, but on a much smaller scale, such as spotting a fire and reporting it, he said...

Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Scene Reconstructionist Don Windham and Scott Rawson use a laser pointer to find a bullet's trajectory Wednesday. Officers with the Patrol and the SEMO Crime Lab were examining the Sikeston Department of Public Safety vehicle that was involved in a shooting Tuesday night. ...

SIKESTON - A guest speaker at today's Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce meeting is announcing some great news regarding the former Fleming warehouse on the west side of Sikeston. "We took over the Fleming building," confirmed Dan Mickelson, authorized representative for JNS Holdings of Creve Coeur. "We closed on it at the end of September."...

Lost in the shuffle of news involving politics and sports, the Sikeston Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority is quietly undertaking the task of removing eyesore properties from Sikeston. Following action this week, LCRA hopes to see as many as 18 derelict properties come down in the next couple of weeks. Many more will follow...

SIKESTON - Heading into the 2004 football season, Poplar Bluff was considered far and away the team to beat. Area pollsters voted the Mules the consensus No. 1 team in the area following a season in which they went 8-1 and returned most of their top talent...

Area Football Standings SEMO Conference Northern Division Southern Division Central Division _ Thursday night's game Friday night's games _ Top Performers of the Week RUSHING 23 carries, 12.3 avg., 4 TDs. ---------------------------------------- 18 carries, 9.4 avg., 2 TDs...

SIKESTON -- Helene Coreen Johnson of Chandler, Ariz., was guest of honor at her 80th birthday celebration hosted by her daughters Oct. 9 at the Tanner Street Church of God Stafford Center. Daughter of the late Roy and Hallie Johnson, Mrs. Johnson was the wife of the late Richard T. ...

I have been following the $6 million project at Ste. Genevieve and I think it will be very important to that area as well as the surrounding area for probably 125 miles. This will mean lots of jobs. It's too good an opportunity to pass up. You environmentalists need to get off your high-horse and be reasonable for that company. ...

SIKESTON - The Rev. J.T. Self of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Sikeston, will preach a farewell sermon Sunday before leaving for Luxora, Ark., where he will reside. Self is a retired Methodist minister. WASHINGTON - President Johnson proclaimed today a 30-day period of mourning for former President Herbert Hoover. ...

PARMA - Pallbearers at services conducted Wednesday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home for J.D. Bratcher, 71, who died Oct. 24, 2004, were: Dennie Bratcher, David Keown, Gary Watkins Jr., Mike Sherritze, Mike Mitchner, James Spoon, Junior Barton and Wayne Barton...

BENTON - Mary J. Spalding, 100, died at 11:10 p.m. Oct. 25, 2004, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Born Nov. 22, 1903, in Kelso, daughter of the late John and Louise Logel Enderle, she was a 4-H leader and involved in senior citizens. She attended St. Denis Catholic Church in Benton and was a school bus driver for the Kelso C-7 and Benton/Kelly School districts...

DEXTER - Edith Carter, 94, died Oct. 26, 2004, at the Crowley Ridge Care Center. Born Jan. 17, 1910, at Ellsinore, daughter of the late Robert Freeman and Sarah Rhoda "Pink" Boyer Cates, she worked in the housekeeping department for Deaconess Hospital in St. Louis for many years. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Bernie, where she was a Sunday school teacher...

BRANSON - John Griffin, 67, formerly of Charleston, died at 9:20 a.m. Oct. 27, 2004, at his home. Born Sept. 21, 1937, in Charleston, son of the late Leland Britton and Willie Mae "Bill" Baker Griffin, he lived in Branson for many years and was a self-employed building contractor...

EAST PRAIRIE - Slick Conyers, 81, died at 3:05 a.m. Oct. 27, 2004, at the East Prairie Nursing Center. Born July 15, 1923, in Sugartree, son of the late Fred and Bertha Bisher Conyers, he lived in Mississippi County most of his life and was of the Baptist belief. A U.S. Air Force veteran of World War II, he retired from Noranda Aluminum, where he was a maintenance mechanic...