Stories from Wednesday, November 14, 2012

In the afterglow of last week's election - better known as deep depression - I've tried to learn some lessons. Here's what I think I learned. We can all look at the same set of numbers and have starkly different "take aways." It's easy enough to see the obvious racial divide in the election results. And it's equally easy to see the different political preferences in dozens of demographic breakdowns, i.e., age, religion, gender, etc...

SIKESTON -- Cheryl Ann Tinsley, 52, died Nov. 10, 2012, at her home. Born Aug. 22, 1960, in Sikeston to the late William S. "Sonny" and Barbara Ann Hazel Dock, she was a lifelong resident of Sikeston and had been employed at Todd Uniform and later at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She attended the Illinois Avenue General Baptist Church...

HOMESTOWN -- Samuel Morris Sims, 79, died Nov. 6, 2012, at his home. Born Aug. 5, 1933, in Pemiscot County, to the late Cleveland and Queen Elizabeth Wheeler Sims, he had retired as police chief of Homestown. He was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War...

CHARLESTON -- Katherine Davis Sutherland Nelson, 89, died Nov. 13, 2012, at the Arkansas Methodist Hospital in Paragould, Ark. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m.Thursday at the McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston. Services will be at 10 a.m., Friday at the United Methodist Church in Charleston...

O'FALLON -- Greta Burch, formerly of Morehouse, died peacefully Nov. 5, 2012, in O'Fallon, of complications from respiratory disease. She is survived by her husband, Tom; four children and grandchildren; and her brother, Keith Cambron of Georgetown, Texas...

NEW MADRID -- Lorie Lynn Darter, 29, died Nov. 11, 2012, at her home. Born Oct. 24, 1983, in St. Louis, she was the daughter of James and Malinda Darter. Survivors include: her brothers and sisters, Collin and Chalis Beachum of St. Louis, Nicholas and Whitney Darter of Malden, Joshua and Angel Darter and Brittany Darter, Mollie Darter of New Madrid, Jimmy Darter, Kenny Darter, Michael Darter, Breanna Darter, Sara Darter and Kathy Darter of the home and Teresia and the Rev. ...

SIKESTON -- Johnnie L. Mills, 88, died Nov. 13, 2012, at Miner Nursing Center. Arrangements are incomplete with Ponder Funeral Home.

NEW MADRID -- The Riverbend Classic Shootout signals the beginning of high school basketball for southeast Missouri, which some treat as a national holiday. The day after Thanksgiving will provided relief from Black Friday as well as fans of roundball a chance to see how their favorite team stacks up against out-of-state competition...

SIKESTON -- Coming off their best regular season finish in school history, the Sikeston soccer team was well represented on this year's All-SEMO Conference team as eight total Bulldogs made the cut. "It was great to win our conference for the first time and with it comes a lot of recognition," Sikeston head coach Doyle Noe said. "I'm glad we were able to get a lot of our guys on there. They definitely deserve it."...

SIKESTON - Along with the beauty of fall foliage comes the task of dealing with a seemingly never-ending supply of fallen leaves. While some residents opt to mulch or compost their leaves, the majority of Sikeston's residents will take advantage of the City's Leaf Collection Program which begins Nov. 19...

BENTON -- Scott County officials should know Thursday whether they will be able to hook the county's new building into its main phone system or not. Dennis Ziegenhorn, county commissioner, said during Tuesday's regular meeting that four vendors will present proposals Thursday for putting a conduit in under South Winchester, which is the name for Highway 61 within Benton's city limits...

SIKESTON -- Individuals interested in running for election to the Sikeston R-6 School Board can begin filing for candidacy next month. Filing in the R-6 district for the April 2 school board election begins at 8 a.m. Dec. 11 and ends at 5 p.m. Jan. 15 at the office of board secretary Bryan E. Nickell, 219 S. Kingshighway in Sikeston, board members noted during Tuesday's regular monthly meeting...

Preparations are under way for the Sikeston Public Library's teen Twilight Party for grades 6-12. The party, scheduled from 10 a.m. until noon Saturday, is in conjunction with Friday's release of the fourth movie, "Breaking Dawn Part II." Justin Jones, technical services clerk and young adult services, and Jaclyn Elsey, circulation clerk, fill prize bags for the party. ...