Stories from Monday, October 20, 2003

SIKESTON -- Sikeston Department of Public Safety officers found a local resident dead in his home Friday night after calls from neighbors. DPS officers responded to 226 Bowman just before 8 p.m. Friday after neighbors reported foul odors coming from the residence. Upon arrival, officers found the body of Joe Hockett, 65. Hockett had been dead for some time, authorities said...

NEW MADRID - The investigation into the death of a Marston woman is continuing. New Madrid County Sheriff Terry Stevens said today that the autopsy report into the death of Rhonda Dunn was inconclusive. However, Stephens said, his department is still awaiting some lab reports, which may help determine the cause of death...

NEW MADRID - It isn't enough to just raise a crop. Today's farmers are looking for new ways to market what they produce and in turn increase the profitability of their harvest. It is that marketing concept which brought together 27 vegetable and fruit farmers from Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri. Several years ago, the group formed a cooperative to market their produce to urban grocers...

SCOTT CITY - John "Buddy" Bethel, 63, died Oct. 17, 2003, in Scott City. He was born Sept. 25, 1940, in Wardell to the late John Sydney Bethel and Pearl Muse Bethel. On March 31, 1987, in Nappanee, Ind., he married Phyllis Gale Finney, who survives of Scott City...

COLUMBIA, Tenn. -- Vera Ballard, 88, formerly of Fisk, Mo., died Oct. 18, 2003, at the Maury Regional Hospital in Columbia. Born Sept. 17, 1915, in Dyersburg, daughter of the late Nathan and Lilly Forrest Burchard, she had moved to Fisk in the early 1960s and to Columbia in March 2002. She was a member of the Liberty Full Gospel Church in Poplar Bluff, Mo...

RIVERDALE, Utah - Charles "Marty" Ivester, 56, died Oct. 12, 2003, at the Dolly Varden Mine in Nevada. Born Sept. 25, 1947, at Poplar Bluff, Mo., son of Connie Ivester of Jackson, Mo., and the late Jewell Ivester, he was a mechanical engineer for ATK Thiokol Propulsion. A veteran of the U.S. Army, he served in Vietnam and was awarded the Silver Star...

KENNETT - Nona F. Woods, 86, formerly of East Prairie, died Oct. 19, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Born June 23, 1917, in Greenbriar, Ark., daughter of the late Jesse and Rhena Mae Tullos Henderson, she had lived in Mississippi County most of her life moving to Kennett 11 years ago to live with her daughter. She was affiliated with the Methodist church...

SIKESTON - Elsie N. Wyatt, 86, died at 10:15 a.m. Oct. 18, 2003, at the St. Mary's Health Center in Jefferson City. Born Feb. 13, 1917, in Scott County to the late Walter and Ethel Duke Nelson, she was a homemaker and a member of the First Church of the Nazarene in Sikeston...

SIKESTON - Everett "Candyman" Gentry Jr., 77, died Oct. 20, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Blanchard Funeral Chapel.

SIKESTON - T.J. LaPlant, 73, died Oct. 20, 2003, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Ponder Funeral Home.

Our enemies are among us. Those who cheat and steal; those who treat their fellow man with disdain and hatefulness; those who spread lies and untruths; those who put down our President because he is not of their party. We can fix this. Start with yourself and work outward...

SIKESTON - I.K. Williams of Walherton, Ind., transacted business in Sikeston Monday until Wednesday. Mr. Williams formerly lived in Sikeston and owned a dwelling on Vernon, which he has disposed of recently. --- SIKESTON - Rex Theatre today and tomorrow:: "Mysterious Doctor" with John Loder...