Stories from Wednesday, March 7, 2007

"Why don't you turn off the idiot box and go outside and play." My grandmother said this to me when I was young and I never fully appreciated her calling the television an "idiot box" until recently. But my grandmother was right, television is an "idiot box." I have never believed that more than I do today. ...

DEXTER -- Faithful Charity Strickland, 80, formerly of St. Louis and Dallas, died March 5, 2007, at the Golden Living Center in Bloomfield. Born Feb. 22, 1927, in Manila, Ark., to the late Loyed and Elsie Louviny Emiline Brooks Hornbuckle, she had worked as a waitress and fry cook and was a member of the Pentecostal Church...

SIKESTON - Betty J. Perrin, 76, died March 5, 2007, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born March 10, 1930, in Hayti, to the late James Parker and Blanche Hughlett Bracy, she was a member of First Baptist Church in Sikeston. She had worked at Brown Shoe Company and had been a teacher's aide at Sikeston Kindergarten and sixth grade...

SIKESTON - Pallbearers for funeral services held Tuesday at Ponder Funeral Home for Edna Louise Warren, 78, who died March 4, 2007, were: Marty Rogers, Joe Beard, Rocky Chappell, Wayne Jolly, Joel Hamlin and Charles Wilson.

SIKESTON - Louis Lesley Condict Jr., 59, died March 5, 2007, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Born June 11, 1947, in St. Louis, to Ruth Imogene Myres Condict of Athens, Texas, and the late Louis Condict, he was a veteran of the U.S. Navy having served in the Vietnam War. He attended the Church of God at Lilbourn and worked for Crop Production Services...

SIKESTON - William Charles "Big Bull" Scott Jr., 67, died March 1, 2007, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Nov. 14, 1939 in Tiptonville, Tenn., to the late William Charles and Rosie Scott, in 1972 he moved to Sikeston where he was a member of Green Memorial Church of God in Christ...

SIKESTON - Evelyn N. Andrews, 61, died at 5:34 p.m. March 6, 2007, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Nunnelee Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements which are incomplete.

SIKESTON - Elizabeth Bill Curtis, 84, died at 7:50 p.m. March 6, 2007, at the Clearview Nursing Center. Nunnelee Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements which are incomplete.

CATRON - Christine Elizabeth Clark Wilson, 82, died March 6, 2007, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born Aug. 30, 1924, in Pocahontas, Ark., to the late Everett Lee and Mary Inez Hopkins Clark, she had lived all her life in the Catron area and was a member of the Pleasant View General Baptist Church in Risco...

SCOTT CITY - Robert Michael Fann, 32, died March 5, 2007, at his home. Born April 13, 1974, at Chaffee, the son of Bruce and Paula Kay McGuire White of Perryville, he was a welder for CSX in Sikeston and of the Catholic belief. In addition to his parents, survivors include: one son, Zachary Fann of Scott City; one brother, B.J. White of Lewisburg, Tenn.; one sister, Jennifer Sanders of Paoli, Ind.; and maternal grandmother, Wilma McGuire of Chaffee...

ST. LOUIS - Charles F. Ward, 78, formerly of Sikeston, died March 6, 2007, at DePaul Hospital in St. Louis. Born Oct. 7, 1928, in Huntington, W.Va., to the late Charles and Opal Ward, he was a member of the Sikeston VFW. He married Lucille Pack, who preceded him in death...

EAST PRAIRIE - Jerry Johnson, 60, died at 10:23 a.m. March 6, 2007, in the East Prairie Nursing Center. Arrangements are incomplete with Shelby Funeral Home of East Prairie.

EAST PRAIRIE - Lindel Morris, 72, died March 5, 2007, in Gulfport, Miss. Arrangements are incomplete with Shelby Funeral Home of East Prairie.

CHARLESTON -- Darrell Casey, 51, died at 3 p.m. March 6, 2007, at his home in Charleston. Arrangements are incomplete at Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie.

MALDEN - Grace Elizabeth Powell, 85, formerly of Sikeston, died March 5, 2007, at Golden Living Center in Malden. Born Aug. 30, 1921, in Marked Tree, Ark., to the late James Andrew and Molly Warren Parker, she was a member of Rebeka Lodge. In 1940, she married Ernest Powell, who preceded her in death August 1976...

DEXTER -- Granville "Cate" Gregory, 62, died March 6, 2007, at his home in Dexter. Born Dec. 10, 1944, in Parma, son of Grady and Eva Jane Bell Gregory of Dexter, he became a patrolmen with the Dexter Police Department on Jan. 20, 1982, and retired as detective on Sept. ...

POPLAR BLUFF -- For three quarters, it appeared the Scott County Central Braves didn't belong on the floor with Bell City in Tuesday night's Class 1 sectional game at Poplar Bluff's Peters Gymnasium. That is, until the fourth quarter as the Braves turned up the intensity, crept back into the game, only to have a half-court prayer miss its mark in a 65-63 loss to No. 3 state-ranked Bell City...

POPLAR BLUFF - The Scott County Central Bravettes basketball team upset the Delta Lady Bobcats in a Class 1 sectional battle on Tuesday night at Peters Gymnasium in Poplar Bluff, 44-40. Delta (26-1) came into the contest ranked No. 1 in Class 1 and were undefeated for the season. In addition, the Bravettes dropped the first three games of the year to the Lady Bobcats. The fourth time was a charm for Scott Central...

I suspect history will someday record the Homeland Security Department as one of the biggest boondoggles in American history. This federal agency was created just five short years ago and today boasts nearly 100,000 employees (at darned good wages) and regularly forks over billions of taxpayer money. It's quite easy to question much of their spending...

NEW MADRID - Two men are in custody on drug charges following a routine traffic stop by the Missouri Highway Patrol. Troy Humes and Bryant A. Smith, 38, of Gary, Ind., were arrested for possession of controlled substance with intent to distribute by the Highway Patrol...

SIKESTON -- Larry Floyd of Sikeston said he's looking forward to competing in the annual Redneck BBQ next month. "I've been participating in the Redneck BBQ for the last five years, and it's been a real good deal for our community," Floyd said...

BENTON -- Beavers are keeping Scott County drainage officials busy. Jamie Burger, presiding Scott County commissioner, discussed drainage problems caused by the industrious rodents during the regular County Commission meeting Tuesday. Burger said the county has installed pipes and culverts under county roads in an effort to improve drainage but landowners met with commissioners to discuss another factor affecting drainage: "We have an ongoing problem with beaver dams in ditches."...

MALDEN - The cotton house of the Lake County Gin in Malden was damaged by fire Friday afternoon. Repair estimates are as high as $2,500. SIKESTON - The list of 18 applicants for the postmastership of Sikeston shrank to three today. The Civil Service announced that Ewart Taylor, Herman Poe and Donald Pasaka are eligible for the position. One of them may be nominated by President Lyndon Johnson. The U.S. Senate must approve the nomination...

This is in response to your sports section. I would just like to know are there any 2A Districts going on in this area? You sure in the heck don't report them. You're right about the school lunches, but you have to stop and think. They have to consider all those people that come in from other countries, that should not be here. ...