Stories from Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Dry, breezy weather conditions increase the risk of fires quickly spreading

PUXICO, Mo. -- Two area men were injured in an early morning wreck Monday, three miles west of Puxico on Rt. T. According to the Highway Patrol, Danny L. Baker, 36, of Puxico, was westbound on Rt. T at 3:30 a.m. when he ran off the roadway and struck an embankment while trying to avoid hitting an animal in the roadway...

A June 16 motorcycle Poker Run, sponsored by friends of the late Rick Blankenship and Jim Morin, involved 37 bikes and over 50 riders. A check presented to the local Nutrition O.A.K.S. Center for $817 represents money raised Saturday. Additional pledged money will be forthcoming. All of the proceeds will go toward the center's Meals on Wheels program. Presenting the money are David Bruce, at left, and Kathy Cato, at right, with the center's administrative director, Dena Rawson, at center...

Donald H. Adams, son of the late Joe and Edna (Hope) Adams, formerly of Barnhart Mo., was born Aug. 3, 1929, in Detroit, Mich., and died June 17, 2012, at the Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Festus, Mo., at the age of 83. On Aug. 7, 1954, he was married to Norma (Garner) Adams in Hernando, Miss. Mrs. Adams survives...

Reva Medlin, daughter of the late Ralph Beaird and Cassie Onedia Murphy Beaird, was born on Feb. 8, 1929, in Bernie and died in the Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau on June 16, 2012, at the age of 83. Mrs. Medlin was a former line worker for the Rexall Factory. She was later employed by Dr. Bess in Malden from 1995-2011 as a secretary, and she was a resident of Bernie...

Carol Ann Crowe, daughter of the late Cecil and Mildred E. Patterson Crowe, was born in Idalia, Mo., on Oct. 1, 1940, and died at the St. John's Mercy Villa Nursing Center in Springfield, Mo., on June 15, 2012, at the age of 71. She had lived in the Dexter, Mo., area most of her life and had resided for the past few years in Springfield, Mo...

There may be numerous golfers in the 144-man field at the 105th Missouri Amateur that just completed their first year of college eligibility. The odds are pretty good that Lee Wilson of Perryville, Mo., will be the only 37-year-old among that group when the six-day tournament begins today at Dalhousie Golf Club...

Football takes center stage this week as the Dexter coaching staff conducts a week-long football camp which opened Monday. The Bearcats will wrap up three days of practice Tuesday and Wednesday before moving the action to Sikeston for contact play Thursday and Friday. ...

PEMISCOT COUNTY, Mo. -- A 56-year-old Steele, Mo., man was injured Friday following an explosion at the Natural Biodiesel Plant. According to the Pemiscot County Sheriff's Office, at about 8:15 a.m., the Hayti, Mo., Fire Department was dispatched to the Natural Biodiesel Plant on Highway J in rural Pemiscot County after a 911 caller said that there had been an explosion and one person was injured. ...

Jerry Seabaugh of Dexter died early Monday morning at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo., at the age of 64. Seabaugh was a faithful member of the local American Legion Post 59, where he served in the original Honor Guard Unit until ill health forced his retirement from the unit, but not from the organization...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The Stoddard County Board of Commissioners opened four bids for construction of a new bridge on County Road 420 over Drainage Ditch 12 at its regular meeting Monday. The commission took no action on awarding the contract. Smith and Company Engineering, the firm that designed the bridge, will look over the bids and present a detailed report on the bids to the commission at its June 25 meeting...

Patrolman Ron Seyer is one of two new additions to the Dexter Police Department. Styer, a native of Jackson, is a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University's Law Enforcement Academy, and his position on the local force is his first assignment in law enforcement. Styer and his wife, Heather (Lambert) of Dexter, have a nine-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Gov. Jay Nixon has been inundated with nearly 5,000 online messages, emails and letters as he mulls what to do with a politically thorny bill injecting Missouri into the national debate over insurance coverage for contraception...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (SMNS) - The trial for a Jackson man charged with felony stealing for allegedly swindling $500,000 from a Sikeston, Mo.-based company will begin today, said Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle. Jason Mitchell was allegedly involved in a kickback scheme that led to the transfer of more than $500,000 to a fraudulent bank account from 2007 to 2010...

JEFFERSON CITY -- Christopher J. Miller, of Doniphan, is the new prosecuting attorney for Ripley County. The position became vacant after the resignation of the former prosecuting attorney, Monte C. Phillips. Miller, a Democrat, operates a law practice in Doniphan and previously served as the Ripley County prosecuting attorney from 1983 to 1990, from 1999 to 2002, and from 2007 to 2010. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Local residents will have a chance to imagine they are standing on the banks of the Mississippi in the 1800s when two traditional paddle-wheelers dock in Cape Girardeau this summer and fall. "The boats docking are really reminiscent of a bygone era, and locals love to go down and see them dock," said Chuck Martin, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau...

A crowd watches a pageant on the stage at Mae Hall Park in Essex Saturday during the Bloomin' June Festival. The shade in front of the stage provided some relief from the heat for those attending, while the pavilion in the background provided seating for those enjoying the refreshments served by several civic groups...

ADVANCE, Mo. -- On the afternoon of June 6, 2012, a young man from Advance sat with his parents, brother and girlfriend staring at a television and the computer. Moving into the final day of the 2012 MLB Draft, Trenton Moses was beginning to get concerned that he might not make the cut...

Jerry Lee Seabaugh of Dexter, Mo., son of the late Truman Dayton Seabaugh and Wilma IVD Crites Seabaugh, was born on Oct. 8, 1947, in Scopus, Mo. He died on June 18, 2012, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo., at the age of 64. Jerry was a member of the Friendship Baptist Church of Dexter, Mo., an active member of the Kenady-Hanks American Legion Post 59 (served as the Comman-der from 2007-2009), and retired from the United States Army National Guard - Master Sergeant (E8). ...

Charles Edward Powers, Sr., son of the late Virgil Powers and Minnie Wiggs Powers, was born April 29, 1940, in Augusta, Ark., and died June 16, 2012 in Wappapello, Mo., at the age of 72. Charles was a retired Missouri State Highway Trooper in Troop E. He later worked for Holloway Distributors in Puxico, Mo. He was a 32nd degree Mason, Shriner, and a member of the Wappapello Eagles. He graduated from Steele High School Class of 1961...