Stories from Tuesday, January 25, 2005

SIKESTON - The Scott County Central Bravettes improved to 13-3 on the season by whipping Neelyville 80-17 on Monday. Scott Central led 24-7 after one quarter and blanked Neelyville in the second quarter to lead 38-7 at the half. The Bravettes had four players in double figures led by Brittany Peet's 22 points. Brittany Godwin had 19 points, Janet Penrod had 17 points and Trice Johnson added 10 points...

KENNETT -- For three quarters of play Monday night, the Kennett Lady Indians seemed to be on their way to a victory over the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs. However, the last three minutes of the contest cost them the win and Sikeston (6-10) defeated the Lady Indians 35-30. With the loss, the Lady Indians fell back to the .500 mark with a record of 9-9...

I knew something was wrong. But I just chalked it off as Monday. Then it hit me. Monday, Jan. 24, by some massive scientific calculation, was the most depressing day of the year. So here I sit, the day after the most depressing day, and I have yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - A Texas woman was sentenced to eight years in federal prison in connection with a plot to distribute illegal drugs in Sikeston and the surrounding area. Kathleen M. Atkinson, 38, of Rhome, Texas, was sentenced Monday to 97 months in prison on one felony count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Upon release from prison, Atkinson will be placed on supervised release for four years...

SIKESTON - A stepfather is under investigation for child abuse after authorities reported an 11-year-old girl with bruises to her face. Morris Daniel Falkoff, 32, is to be arraigned today on two counts of first degree child abuse. Bond was set at $15,000 and he was taken to the Scott County Jail...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Mary Berneda LaFentres, 84, formerly of Sikeston, died Jan. 24, 2005, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born July 18, 1920, in Sikeston, she was the daughter of the late Roy and Mary R. Zoph Chaney. On Aug. 6, 1938, in Sikeston, she married Jess LaFentres who preceded her in death on Dec. 11, 1981...

SIKESTON -- Ethel Regina Everett, 71, died Jan. 23, 2005, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Sept. 17, 1933, in Light, Ark., daughter of the late Owen and Rachel Ward Everett, she worked as a telephone operator in St. Louis before retiring...

SIKESTON - In a listless game that again proved the Sikeston High School Bulldogs have sharp superiority over Chaffee's basketball team, coach Lou Bona's charge were victorious by the score of 41-33 Tuesday at the gymnasium. SIKESTON - Jack Conyers, Cub Scout roundtable commissioner for Okeechobee District, received the annual Top Commissioner Award for 1964 from Bill Scarborough, district commissioner, at the monthly Commissioner Staff meeting at the First Christian Church, Sikeston, Thursday evening.. ...

Tyler Dixon and John Fisk paint part of the a set for the Sikeston Little Theatre's upcoming production of "Annie." Members of the theater group are preparing for the musical which opens March 10.

SIKESTON - The second annual banquet for the Sand Burr Strutters Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, scheduled for Friday at Sikeston Eagles Lodge, already has a reputation to live up to. The first banquet, held Jan. 29, 2004, was an award-winning event for the chapter. "We got a plaque from the NWTF for the best new chapter in the four-state region," said Bud Morton, president of the Sand Burr Strutters...

CHARLESTON -- Three Sikeston residents and one Charleston resident are in jail on drug-related charges. According to Mississippi County Sheriff Keith Moore, a drug arrest resulted after deputies Wesley McDermott and Brenda Bickford investigated a strong odor coming from a residence on East Highway 60 in Charleston...

SIKESTON -- Connie K. Floyd of Sikeston and Steve Wolf of Holcomb, Kan., have announced the engagement of their daughter, Shannon Marie Wolf, to Roger Dale Turner, son of Josie Sauceda Turner of Oran and the late Bural Ray Turner. The future bride is employed by Missouri Delta Medical Center and the prospective bridegroom works for O'Reilly's Auto Parts...

SCOTT CITY -- Wilma Jean Crader and Thomas Hafford Jr. have announced their engagement. The future bride is the daughter of Clara McKnight of Scott City and the late Earl McKnight and is employed as a truck driver. Parents of the prospective bridegroom are Tom and Glenda Hafford of Memphis, Tenn., and Tom and Beverly Humphrey of East Prairie. He is employed by Freeman Townsend Concrete...

I called SpeakOut about my paper delivery but it was not printed. Why? I learned that the problem I was experiencing was during a time when a substitute carrier was delivering on the route where I live. I do have a happy ending to this story. The problem was solved, but why was my comment not in SpeakOut?...

DEXTER - Christopher Micheal and Melanie Rochelle Mills are the parents of their second child, first daughter, born at 4:18 p.m. Dec. 29, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Marci Claire Mills weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and was 18 1/2-inches long...