Stories from Wednesday, June 14, 2006

KAPOW! BANG! BOOM! Batwoman has fought her way out of the closet and is now ready to return to the comics. That's right, Batwoman is back, but with a twist. She is now a lesbian. DC Comics announced recently that in July Batwoman will return as a lesbian in "52" a limited series that began in May. ...

SIKESTON -- Martin Andrew White, 33, died June 10, 2006, at the Hillside Nursing Home in St. Louis. Born April 3, 1973, in Chaffee, son of Larry Ray White Sr. and Angela Hamilton White of Sikeston, he was a member of New Hope Ministries in Sikeston...

WAPPAPELLO -- Barton E. Umphenour, 78, died at 3:30 p.m. June 10, 2006, at his home. Born Dec. 4, 1927, in Danville, Ill., son of the late Carl and Martha Rehberg Umphenour, he retired as an industrial mechanic for Crown Cork and Seal in St. Louis. A member of VFW Post 3416, he served with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Merchant Marines during World War II...

BENTON -- The Scott City Veterans of Foreign Wars post has raised the bar for donations toward the renovation and update of Scott County's war memorial. During their regular meeting Tuesday, Scott County commissioners said they received a $200 donation earlier Tuesday from the VFW post in Scott City...

MINER -- Mayor Betty Barnes said it is time to put the past behind and consider bringing back some of the experienced firefighters who resigned with a former fire chief. During the regular Miner Board of Aldermen meeting Monday, Susan Cooksey voiced complaints about the Miner Fire Department's response to the fire across a private lane from her home on Highway AA east of Interstate 55 Thursday...

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Senior American Legion Post 114 baseball team let a three-run lead slip away on Tuesday night as Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons rallied for a 7-5 victory in 10 innings at VFW Stadium. Sikeston (3-2, 0-2 in district play) held a 4-1 lead, but Ford & Sons steadily chipped away and eventually took the lead in the top of the ninth when Chris Brotherton was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded...

SIKESTON -- Things are changing for sport taekwondo in the United States. DeRay Ivie, chief instructor at the Taekwondo Advantage martial art school in Sikeston, got a first-hand look at some of those changes by participating in the USA Taekwondo Developmental Camp and Coaching Seminar held June 5...

Nobody asked me but...I have often thought what the world of sports would be like if I had full control. What if your humble scribe controlled both high school, college and professional sports? I understand that thought scares a lot of my loyal readers. However, here is a little insight into the NAMB sports world.....

SIKESTON -- Race results of Saturday's action at the Sikeston Drag Strip were as follows. The first final of the night, the Junior Dragster Class, featured two of the youngest drivers at the Sikeston Drag Strip. After a large showing the previous week, we only had two of the Junior Dragsters on Saturday night, but they were ready to race like always...

SIKESTON -- The Bootheel BassBusters held their fourth tournament of the year, a two-day event, on June 3-4 on Kentucky Lake out of the Buckhorn ramp. Brandon Fields won the tournament with a total weight of 23 lbs.-6 oz. Jerry Dement was second with 19 lbs.-2 oz. and Leon Miller was third with 17 lbs...

SIKESTON - Real summer weather hit Sikeston during the past few days with the mercury Sunday climbing to the 98-degree mark. VANDUSER - Jan Engram, 20-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Engram of Vanduser, has been chosen as the Junior Chamber of Commerce's Rodeo Queen for the Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo to be held Aug. 11-14...

As a nation, we suffer from hurricane-phobia. Because of the massive destruction of Katrina and Rita last year, not just the Gulf Coast but the entire nation is fixated on the prospects of some massive killer hurricane that will turn Florida into a wasteland and bury Louisiana under 12 feet of water...

For those of you bewildered by my last letter to the editor concerning ILL- Eagle (illegal) immigration, may I submit this analogy circulating on the Internet that nails it most distinctively. We should commit it memory so that we can tell the story by rote ... ...

I am addressing the letter about the traffic on Malone in front of AgMart in Miner on up through Sikeston. If the city cops in Miner would spend a little more time watching the area out around AgMart, maybe they could address some of the issues. Instead they watch I-55 and try to catch somebody going 5 or 6 miles over the speed limit. ...

SIKESTON -- The new math and science building is taking shape on the campus of Sikeston Senior High School with construction moving right along schedule. "Things are rolling on here," Sikeston R-6 Superintendent Steve Borgsmiller said. "It's looking like a building right now."...

BENTON - A final draft for a E-911 addressing ordinance should be ready for the June 27 Scott County County Commission meeting, according to Joe Burton, E-911 administrator, "We'll shoot for the 27th to make the ordinance official and go into effect July 1," Burger said...

MINER - Miner Board of Aldermen members accepted an agreement with those building a new Comfort Inn behind Burger King by which the business agrees to pay any costs the city may incur by digging through a parking lot which will be laid over a city easement for water and sewer access...

Shawn Blunt of Montgomery Bank tries to beat out a play at first base, as Chase Wheatley (left) and Camden Sapp (middle) of the Jaycees try to make the defensive play in Rookie League action.

CHARLESTON -- Robert Lee Riggens, 53, died at 12:14 p.m. June 11, 2006, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Jan. 7, 1953, in Wyatt, son of Dorothy Sinks Riggens of Charleston and the late Charlie Riggens, he was of the Baptist belief and a veteran of the United States Army, having served during the Vietnam war...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Sereda M. Lindsay, 67, died at 3:45 p.m. June 12, 2006 at The Carie Arbours in Savoy. Born July 2, 1938, in Cape Girardeau, Mo., daughter of the late Eldon "Jake" and Sletta Mosley Hunt, she was a member of Salem Baptist Church and had worked in the Central Food Store at the University of Illinois for 27 years...

BONNOTS MILL -- Aaron Glen Carnahan, 85, died June 11, 2006, at St. Mary Hospital in Jefferson City. Born May 29, 1921, in Portageville, he was the son of the late Aaron L. and Nell Maloney Carnahan. On June 5, 1953, in Caruthersville, he married Lucille Bennett, who survives of the home...

ORAN - Leon William Diebold, 93, died at 6:50 p.m. June 12, 2006 at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born June 15, 1912, in New Hamburg, son of the late Charley and Theresa Leible Diebold, he owned and operated Leon Diebold Insurance Agency in Oran for 34 years . He was a member of the Guardian Angel Catholic Church, St. Joseph Sodality and a veteran of the United States Army having served during World War II...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - Virginia Maxine Harrell, 75, formerly of Grayridge, Mo. died June 10, 2006, at Wilson Hospital in Johnson City. Born Nov. 1, 1930, in Detroit, Mich., daughter of the late Guy and Hazel Lasater Julian, she had lived many years in Grayridge before moving to Binghamton...

BELL CITY -- Harvey E. Kelso, 94, died June 12, 2006, at Crowley Ridge Care Center in Dexter. Born Sept. 8, 1911, at Arab, son of the late Elijah and Laura Adcock, he attended the Methodist Church and was a retired farmer. On April 1, 1935, at Bloomfield, he married Mary Ruth Proffer, who survives...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Lonnie Paul Byassee, 73, died at 9:28 a.m. June 13, 2006, in the Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born Jan. 17, 1933, in Dorena, son of the late Guy and Lucy Doss Byassee, he lived all his life in Mississippi County. He was a retired truck driver and veteran of the Korean War...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Elmer O'neil Jackson, 64, died June 13, 2006, at the Sikeston Health Care Center. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie.

CHARLESTON - Leonard Wiley, 57, died June 6, 2006, at the Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born Aug. 28, 1948, in Diehlstadt, to the late Willie Lee and Juanita Miller Wiley Sr., he had been employed as a farmer, mechanic and factory worker and was a veteran of the United States Navy...