Stories from Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Darren Martin, a city of Sikeston Public Works employee, paints the crosswalks at Crow Street and Ables Road on Monday. The city is in the process of painting the cross walks around the schools.

SIKESTON -- As agriculture has evolved, the risks associated with it have, too. That's why safety on ATVs and tractors, especially for children, is being stress during Nation Farm Safety and Health Week, which began Sunday and will end on Saturday...

PASCOLA - Matt and Erin Greer are the parents of their third child, second son, born at 9:18 a.m. Aug. 9, 2007, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Trace Canyon Greer weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and was 18 inches long. Maternal grandparents are Faron and Kim Fowler...

Pray tell me why we have to endure more O.J. Simpson? The disgraced murderer (regardless of the outcome of a circus trial) has managed to keep himself in the news once again with an armed robbery in Las Vegas. I couldn't care less about the details of the alleged crime. I just want O.J. to quietly fade into the woodwork...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Sikeston Junior Varsity football team fell 13-12 to Cape Central on the road Monday afternoon. Sikeston scored on their first play from scrimmage when Dwayne Harris galloped 75 yards for the score. The two-point conversion failed giving the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead...

SIKESTON -- As a fire raged just to the east of the Sikeston Sports Complex, the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs softball team came out with fire in their eyes, hoping to upset a highly-touted Jackson nine. However, when the smoke settled Jackson came away with the 3-1 win...

SIKESTON -- Riding high on the momentum from a win in their final match at the Perryville Tournament this past weekend, the Sikeston volleyball team returned home to take on the Bloomfield Lady Wildcats Monday night. The momentum continued for the Lady Bulldogs as they put down a young, yet very scrappy Bloomfield squad in straight sets 25-12, 25-13...

PORTAGEVILLE -- An interactive workshop to encourage parents to read and tell stories with their children will be presented during two sessions this fall in Portageville. "Read from the Start" will be from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12 and Nov. 19 at Missouri Bootheel Regional Consortium's office in Portageville...

Sikeston Department of Public Safety firefighters respond to a fire off Airport Road on Monday afternoon. DPS received a call at 3:08 p.m. of a shed on fire in the back of Thompson Culvert at 140 Airport Road. The fire reportedly started in the vat where culverts are dipped. No further information was available as of press time...

BENTON -- A drug operation near Sikeston R-6 schools was shut down over the weekend after an investigation by the Scott County Sheriff's Department. According to Sheriff Rick Walter, a large quantity of marijuana and paraphernalia was seized Sunday during a drug surveillance operation of a house on Ables Road in Sikeston. The residence was located within 1,000 feet of a school...

RISCO -- The Risco Tigers played host to the Holcomb Hornets Monday afternoon on the baseball diamond, falling by a score of 14-2, in five innings due to the ten-run mercy rule. "We just got outplayed today," Risco head coach Brandon Blankenship said. "We're young, and this fall league is a good preparation for the spring season."...

COLUMBIA -- The Missouri State High School Association announced many awards in its August 2007 edition of the Journal, which was recently released to media outlets. The Sportsmanship Award recipients were listed and included, from the Standard Democrat coverage area:...

SIKESTON - Mr. and Mrs. Oscar James of Sikeston are parents of a baby girl born yesterday. --- BERTRAND - Mr. and Mrs. Ira Cranick of Bertrand are parents of a baby boy. SIKESTON - Jake C. Patterson, 22, a member of the auxiliary police seven months, was appointed as a patrolman...

To my knowledge, slavery days are over. Working for free is not what's happening anymore. Unfortunately, we have a government funded job placement program located in our hometown, Sikeston, Mo. that doesn't want to pay you for working. I have worked in this program for six weeks being promised weekly my check would arrive. ...

DEXTER - Virgil Lee Gilkey, 73, died Sept. 16, 2007, at the Cypress Point Nursing Center in Dexter. Born April 23, 1934, in Danville, Ark., to the late Joseph Virgil and Bessie Freeman Gilkey, he had lived in Dexter for the past 30 years. He was a retired insurance agent and attended the Baptist Church...

IMPERIAL - Ruthie Arnold Peek, 56, died Sept. 16, 2007, at her home. Born Oct. 21, 1950, at New Madrid, to the late Evelyn Hayes and Fred Arnold, she had been employed at Lemay Plastic Factory. On March 15, 1967, in Marston, she married Charles Peek who survives of the home...

DEXTER - Charley Pyle, 81, died Sept. 17, 2007, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Arrangements are incomplete with Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home of Dexter.

DEXTER -- Pallbearers for services held Monday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Chapel in Dexter for Aubrey Ray Gant, 75, who died Sept. 14, 2007, were: Josh Link, Lance Banken, Adam Kingree, Daniel Kingree, Dustin Hicks and Larry Hindman.

SIKESTON - Wendul G. Hagler, 70, died Sept. 16, 2007, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Born Sept. 16, 1937, in Erin, Tenn., to Ethel Hankins Hagler of Erin and the late Grover Hagler, he was a U.S. Army veteran and was stationed in Germany. In 1960, he moved to Scott County where he was employed with Bob Nowell, Ferrell Excavation and later as a foreman with Hedrick Concrete...