Stories from Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Monday's abnormally warm temperatures brought many local residents outdoors.

sports@standard-democrat.com SIKESTON -- The Sikeston freshmen boys basketball team improved to 4-1 on the season with a 56-22 win over Jackson on Monday at Sikeston Junior High School. Sikeston raced out to a 19-0 lead and were never threatened. "We bounced back from a tough loss like good teams should," Sikeston coach Chris Sarakas said. "Everyone got to play a lot and I'm very pleased with the effort. We had a good practice and it was nice to see that it carried over into tonight's game."...

sports@standard-democrat.com SIKESTON -- It didn't take top-seeded Oran long to show eighth-seeded Delta why they're the odds-on favorites to win this year's Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament. Building a 27-point lead by the break, the Lady Eagles soared to a 69-16 opening round win Monday night that sets up a semifinal matchup between them and the fifth-seeded Kelly Lady Hawks...

sports@standard-democrat.com SIKESTON -- The 171 mile trek north to O'Fallon during Christmas break paid big dividends for the Lady Bulldogs back home at the Sikeston Field House. Playing their first game since finishing what they were seeded, sixth, at the St. Dominic Imos Pizza Christmas Tournament on Dec. 28, Sikeston used that experience as a stepping stone into the new year as they handed New Madrid County Central a 61-50 loss on Monday...

DEXTER -- Reaching the 1,000 point scoring milestone in a high school basketball career is quite a feat. Two players reaching the mark on the same team in the same game is something longtime coach Chad Allen had never witnessed until Monday when Dexter senior guard Hannah Noe scored the 1,000th point of her high school career if the first half and Dexter senior guard Alison Jarrell did the same in the second half...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. LOTS OF SECURITY AS EGYPTIANS VOTE ON CONSTITUTION Some 160,000 soldiers and 200,000 policemen are guarding Cairo polling stations in the post-Morsi vote...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Velma Marie Dick, 93, died at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 13, 2014, at her home. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

PORTAGEVILLE - Charles Edward Partee, 60, died Jan. 12, 2014, at his home. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

KYLE, TEXAS -- Billy Joe Payne, 74, formerly of Morehouse, Mo., died Jan. 11, 2014, in Kyle. For the complete Standard Democrat obituary log in to our electronic edition.

I would like to speak to some employers about when they give Christmas or end-of-year bonuses in that unless you have a financial reason and inform your employees in advance that you will have to make cuts to the bonus that you gave the previous year or years. ...

When one looks for examples of beneficial insects there are the pollinators, scavengers, and the predators and parasites. Honey bees are at the top of the list of beneficial insects because of the pollination services and honey that is produced. The lowly dung beetle is a very important part of a thriving ecology that most people take for granted. ...

When I attended our Agriculture and Natural Resource Conference a few weeks ago at the MU campus, I saw several of the attendees holding a book. I finally acquired about why they had the book. I was told that Peter Scharf, our state soil fertility specialist, was giving them away. ...

During our Fall Conference of the University of Missouri Extension last week, I had an opportunity to visit with one of my former campus mentors. When I joined extension in August of 1990, our campus leader for soil fertility extension was Dr. Daryl Bucholtz .He was well liked by the entire extension faculty and we were disappointed when he left in 1992 to accept a position with Kansas State University. ...