Stories from Monday, February 6, 2006

POPLAR BLUFF -- Eric Rinehart scored 25 of his 30 points after halftime as the Dexter Bearcats withstood a late rally by Caruthersville to pick a 69-59 win Saturday, their first SEMO Conference win of the season. Dexter (9-13, 1-6 SEMO) led 57-36 after a Rinehart 3-pointer with 5:54 left in the game, but the Tigers (9-11, 3-4) rallied behind Chris Thomas, who scored 12 of his 15 points in the final period...

BENTON - Emily Engert and Rodney Chidester are the parents of their third child, first daughter, born at 7:02 a.m. Nov. 12, 2005, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Chloe Suzanne Chidester weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and was 20 inches long...

I don't think it's right what our Governor Matt Blunt and Representative Jo Ann Emerson is doing giving money to these schools and tax breaks to the millionaires, when our elderly and poor people can't even afford to go to the doctor now. They sure won't get my vote this next time around. ...

SIKESTON - Charles Butler, Sikeston real estate dealer and civic leader, was elected president of the Sikeston Chamber of Commerce for 1946, at the annual meeting of that organization held Thursday night. BERTRAND - A $125,000 water system was approved officially by the state health department yesterday. The water was turned on Jan. 10 to the first 56 customers connected. A total of 165 customers have signed up. The water has a test of 85 parts per million of hardness and is pure...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Lorene McMinn, 82, died at 2:10 a.m. Feb. 6, 2006, at the East Prairie Nursing Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Shelby Funeral Home.

CAPE GIRARDEAU - John Wiley Rodgers, 81, died Feb. 4, 2006, at his home in Cape Girardeau. Born Sept. 28, 1924, in New Madrid County, son of the late Thurman Leroy and Sue Beatrice Haynes Rodgers, he served his country with honor in the United States Army during World War II from March 1943 to November 1945. ...

DEXTER - Pallbearers for the services conducted Saturday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter for Willie Mae "Billie" Kidd, who died Jan. 31, 2006, were: David Hunsaker, Rick Reynolds, Matt Reynolds, Doug Ray, Howard Wiley and Craig Thorn.

DEXTER -- Robert "Bob" Morgan, 73, died Feb. 5, 2006, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter.

EAST PRAIRIE -- Sandra Ditto, 47, died at 6:40 a.m. Feb. 6, 2006, at the East Prairie Nursing Center. Arrangements are incomplete at McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston.

SIKESTON -- Betty L. Wright, 81, died Feb. 6, 2006, at the Miner Nursing Center in Miner. Arrangements are incomplete with Ponder Funeral Home.

SIKESTON -- Francis Eugene "Gene" Crenshaw, 83, died Feb. 4, 2006, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born May 21, 1922, in Hannibal, son of the late Oscar Benjamin and Effie Williams Crenshaw, he served as a medic in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and the Korean War and was a self-employed real estate broker...

DELTA -- Sue Kinder, 64, died Feb. 5, 2006, at her home after an extended illness with cancer. Born June 3, 1941, in Flat River, daughter of the late Elvis "Red" and Neva Marie Shelton Dunning, she was a 1959 Delta High School graduate and a 1961 graduate of Cape School of Beauty Culture. She worked for a short time at the shoe factory and was a lifelong member of the First Baptist Church in Delta...

LILBOURN - A Lilbourn man received 13 stab wounds when a confrontation escalated into an assault Sunday morning. New Madrid County Sheriff Terry Stevens said officers from his department and the Lilbourn Police Department were called to 123 Jaycee Ave. in Lilbourn at 8:20 a.m. Sunday. At the scene they found Michael Johnson, suffering from wounds from a knife with a four-inch blade...

NEW MADRID - "One of the truly greatest things a person can do is serve the community," said a presenter during New Madrid Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet. Saturday evening, the Chamber took the opportunity to honor four "great" individuals...

Marion Malone, R.N., checks Shanquia Amerson's teeth this morning during the Sikeston R-6 Schools' birth to age 4 screening. The screenings will check vision, teeth, hearing, speech and developmental areas while determining who will attend the 4-year old early childhood program next school year. For an appointment call 471-0653...

WINONA -- Four children died in a nearly head-on collision involving a Sikeston resident late Sunday in Shannon County. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol at 9:40 p.m., five miles west of Winona on Highway 60, an accident occurred as motorist Vahedia R. Harris, 27, of Winona crossed the center line and struck the westbound tractor-...