Stories from Monday, September 30, 2013

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Stoddard County authorities attempting to serve an arrest warrant Thursday took five to jail, including three who subsequently were charged with possessing suspected methamphetamine. Joseph R. ...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer It could have taken Sam Gullett four semesters to earn the math credits he will have by the time the fall semester closes at Three Rivers College, a delay the 29-year-old says would have been frustrating. The transitional program making this possible for Gullett is one of several services now housed at the renovated Lambert C. Drury Academic Resource Commons, where educators were asked to help design classrooms to best fit the needs of their program...

Editor's note: This is the first of several stories in an ongoing series about the Affordable Care Act. By AMITY DOWNING SEMO News Service On Tuesday, the first major domino will drop in the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," yet in Missouri few details are known about what the uninsured will have to pay for their insurance or even what insurance companies will be offering their services...

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer Once upon a time, homeschooling had developed a poor reputation for lazy parents and unsocial children. Today's homeschoolers are setting the record straight. Locally, more than 100 families in Poplar Bluff, Mo., and the surrounding communities form the House of S.E.M.O., a loose association providing support and resources. Current member Mary Pietrofere said the group's roots go back more than 20 years, to pioneers like Bill Clanahan and Donna Enochs...

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer Lockdown procedures are not always sufficient in an intruder/shooter situation, according to ALICE program director Nick Feyerchak, so next month staff at Neelyville R-IV schools will undergo new training. ALICE stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate, the actions necessary to safely remove students from a dangerous situation. ...

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer Once upon a time, homeschooling had developed a poor reputation for lazy parents and unsocial children. Today's homeschoolers are setting the record straight. Locally, more than 100 families in Poplar Bluff, Mo., and the surrounding communities form the House of S.E.M.O., a loose association providing support and resources. Current member Mary Pietrofere said the group's roots go back more than 20 years, to pioneers like Bill Clanahan and Donna Enochs...

Andrea Lea Turner and Jacob Harding Knight, both of Neelyville, Mo. announce their engagement. The bride-to-be is the daughter of James and Julie Sullivan of Poplar Bluff, Mo., and Kelly and Jennifer Turner of Harviell, Mo. Parents of the bridegroom-to-be are Odus Knight and Paula Knight, both of Neelyville...

Monday, Twin Towers will host the 18th Annual Health Fair from 9 a.m. until noon. Admission is free and the fair is open to anyone who is 50 years old or older. Be sure to register at the door for prizes, which includes many gift certificates ranging from $10 to $50, as well as coupons, free haircut, etc. The drawing will be a noon, but you need not be present to win...

Lydia Tarr, program director for Eastern Europe and the Americas for MLJ Adoptions, Inc., in Indianapolis was recently awarded the Angels in Adoption Award. The Angels in Adoption Program honors individuals, couples and organizations that have made extraordinary contributions on behalf of children in need of families...

The Oak Grove Homemakers Club met Wednesday, Sept. 18, at the home of Betty Ketcherside. The dining room table was exquisitely decorated in fall colors. Ketcherside treated members to a pizza luncheon and gave each member a cute moving solar scarecrow. In attendance were eight members with one visitor, Ann Osborn...

By SHARON RANDALL There are some things you can do, and some things you can't. Maybe you know that. I hope you do. It's one of life's lessons that I keep trying to learn. I've had a lot of good teachers in my time, but no one has taught me more than my three children. I was in my 20s when they were born, yet I often felt I was growing up with them...

We live in a vicious world. It took about one hour before the Russians started gloating about the Washington Navy Yard massacre. Alexei Pushkov, chairman of a foreign affairs committee in the Russian parliament, tweeted: "A new shootout at Navy headquarters in Washington -- a lone gunman. ... Nobody's even surprised anymore. A clear confirmation of American exceptionalism."...

WASHINGTON -- Because Ben Bernanke's public persona is as mild as milk, the transformation in American governance in which he has participated is imperfectly understood and hence insufficiently deplored. The change is dramatized by two recent developments...

Keith Robertson Keith Robertson, 29, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013. He was born Aug. 27, 1984 in Poplar Bluff. He was a heavy equipment operator for Robertson Contractors. He enjoyed fishing, hunting, being with his family, loved to work and was a loving provider for his wife and children. He was a member of the Palace of Praise in Poplar Bluff...

Charles Mell PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Charles Leon Mell, 71, of Patterson, Mo., died Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. Monday at Ruegg Funeral Home in Piedmont, Mo. Funeral Services will follow at 2 p.m. Monday. Burial will be in Patterson Cemetery...

Sam Badgley ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Sam L. Badgley, 69, of St. Peters, Mo., died Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013 at his residence. Badgley was born Oct. 5, 1943. He married Wilma Brandt on June 28, 1964. She survives. Badgley was the beloved husband of Wilma (Brandt) Badgley; loving father of Karen (Mike) Finnegan and Scott Badgley; proud PaPa of Sam, Molly, Kate and Sarah; loving son of the late Fred and Lelia Badgley; dear brother of Joyce Whitesell, Gale Esparcia, Shirley Rahe, Linda Howard and the late Richard, Jerry, Dale and Billy Badgley, Darlene Stout and Judith Badgley; dear brother-in-law, favorite uncle, cousin and friend to many.. ...

Opal Miller MALDEN, Mo. -- Opal Louise Miller, 93, of Kennett, Mo., died Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013, at Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center in Kennett. Opal was born Jan. 26, 1920, in Oxford, Ark., to William Torrey Morrison and Martha Elizabeth Stroud Morrison...

Kellie Blanton PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Kellie Sue Blanton, 50, of Viburnum, Mo., died Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013, at her home. There will be a memorial service at 10 a.m. today at the Church of Christ. Online condolences: www.rueggfuneralhome.com.

George Smith MALDEN, Mo. -- George Russell Smith, 78, of Wappapello, Mo., died Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, at his daughter's residence in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Visitation and the funeral service were Saturday at the Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden, Mo. Burial was in Little Brushy Cemetery at Wappapello...

Letha Hays Letha Montgomery Hays, 83, co-founder of Hays Music in Poplar Bluff, Mo., died peacefully at her home Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, with her family by her side after a yearlong illness. Letha was born Dec. 26, 1929, to Coker and Hazel Montgomery in Patterson, Mo. She was a graduate of Poplar Bluff High School and lived in Poplar Bluff the rest of her life...

EAST PRAIRIE -- It was just one of those good news, bad news type of weeks for the Malden Green Wave. The good news was they handled with relative ease the East Prairie Eagles for a 44-7 SEMO South victory Friday night. The bad news is it cost them a pair of starters in the secondary, which could be a big deal for upcoming games...

JEFFERSON CITY -- The Poplar Bluff soccer team didn't come away with any wins Friday or Saturday at the Capital City Classic. But they did come away with a good feeling after finishing strong. The Mules (1-9-1) lost to Troy Buchanan Friday night 4-1 and then lost to state-ranked Jefferson City 4-2 on Saturday before they tied Smith-Cotton, 2-2, to end the weekend...

Poplar Bluff matched Portageville out for out until the seventh inning, then it all came undone. The Lady Mules' Maci Coleman allowed just two hits through six scoreless innings Saturday at Bacon Park and retired the leadoff hitter in the seventh on a routine ground ball to second base...

Chris Word and the Sikeston Bulldogs slipped away from Poplar Bluff in the second half Friday night. Word shed tackles on a pair of touchdown runs and plowed into the end zone for a 2-point conversion late in Sikeston's 22-21 win over the Mules at Morrow Stadium...

Louie Milner DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Louie James "Bill" Milner, 87, of Doniphan, Mo., passed away Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, at the Southeast Health Center of Ripley County in Doniphan. Mr. Milner, son of the late Madison "Matt" James Milner and Mary Ann (Clark) Milner, was born March 3, 1926 in Doniphan...

KENNETT -- The Dexter Bearcats team converted on fourth down twice in the first quarter and intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter on its way to a 27-15 road victory against the Kennett Indians on Friday night in a SEMO Central game. The Bearcats (1-3, 1-1 SEMO) jumped out to a 20-0 lead after scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter and another at the 5:36 mark of the second period...