Stories from Tuesday, July 14, 2015

By ERIN RAGAN SEMO News Service Most of the Missouri Department of Transportation road and bridge work -- estimated to employ hundreds of people every year in Southeast Missouri through contracts -- will disappear during the next few years as the agency turns to a maintenance-only plan for major routes...

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press Missouri Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder vowed to "return to law and order" in announcing his candidacy for governor Sunday. The announcement occurred at a restaurant in St. Louis, near the border of Ferguson, and not far from businesses that were looted and set on fire in November by people upset after a grand jury didn't indict a white Ferguson policeman for the Aug. ...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) "officially" has ended its contract with testing consortium Smarter Balanced. DESE sent a letter to Smarter Balanced on Wednesday stating Missouri will not continue as a license of materials for the 2015-16 school year...

By MICHELLE MALKIN There's a regular feature in grocery gossip magazines titled "Stars: They're just like us!" Supposedly "candid" photos show actors and starlets taking out the trash, dropping off their kids at school and walking their dogs to emphasize their Everyday Peoplehood...

Improved delivery Dear Speak Out, The last three to four months the paper has been a real bear to try to unfold and read because of the way it was being rolled. I really appreciate the way the DAR is now being rolled and delivered. Thank you for the good job all of you do...

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER WASHINGTON -- We need a pick me up. Amid the vandalizing of Palmyra, the imminent extinction of the northern white rhino, the disarray threatening Europe's most ambitious attempt ever at peaceful unification -- amid plague and pestilence and, by God, in the middle of Shark Week -- where can humanity turn for uplift?...

To the Editor Our forefathers established our country under the guidance of GOD'S 10 Commandments, religious freedoms, and marriage being the joining together a man and woman in a lifelong commitment. Marriage, this joining of a man and woman is GOD's arrangement, not man's. Therefore, those around the world who accept the Bible as GOD's divine word, accept these truths as being self-evident...

Commerce Bank has donated Poplar Bluff Schools more than 50 pieces of office furniture that recently became available as a result of a consolidation. "We truly have a strong commitment to the communities we serve, specifically the education system," said Richard Landers III, the community bank president of Commerce Bank in Poplar Bluff. "We wanted to give something of value and knew this would be timely, with all the construction going on."...

A Broseley man was injured in a towing accident Thursday morning in Qulin. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Joshua D. Vandemark, 34, was treated for moderate injuries at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Troopers reported that Vandermark was injured trying to pull a 1995 Pontiac Grand Am from a ditch at 9:06 a.m. on Highway 53. As he attempted to enter the car while it was being pulled out, the car ran him over...

County firefighters responded at 12:18 p.m. Thursday to a vehicle fire on Route Z one mile south of Rombauer. The Ford F-150 was a total loss. Owner information was not available. _ County firefighters responded to a limb across power lines at 7:16 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of county roads 605 and 607...

Steve W. Conde, 49, of Advance, was arrested on a warrant for harassment. He was booked and released on bond. _____ Timothy J. Meeks, 58, of Bloomfield, was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, He remains in jail.

Douglas A. Coats, 37, of the 200 block of South Broadway, was booked at the Butler County jail Friday on suspicion of second-degree robbery and possession of a controlled substance. _ Brian M. Currie, 21, of the 1100 block of Commerce, was booked at the Butler County jail Friday on a failure to appear warrant for marijuana possession...

Shelia Thompson DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Shelia Faye Thompson, 56, of Fairdealing, died Saturday evening, July 11, 2015, at her residence. The visitation will begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan. The funeral will follow at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in the funeral home chapel with Bro. Jason Jordan officiating...

Richard Butcher Richard Butcher, 60, of Poplar Bluff, died Sunday, July 12, 2015, at University ofMissouri Columbia Hospital. Arrangements are pending and will be announced by Cotrell Funeral Service.

Mary Frances Toombs Mary Frances Toombs, 89, of Poplar Bluff, passed away Sunday, July 12, 2015 at Mark Twain Caring Center. Mrs. Toombs was born Dec. 7, 1925, in Plataka, Ark., to the late John J. and Effie Rose Alexander. She was a member to the Episcopal Church of Holy Cross in Poplar Bluff. She retired from H.W. Gossard Garment Factory in Poplar Bluff and enjoyed sewing, crochet, canning and visiting with family...

Shirley Mae Williams Shirley Mae Williams, 65, of Poplar Bluff, died Friday, July 10, 2015, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Visitation will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Fowler-Sullivan Funeral Home in Poplar Bluff. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home chapel...

Martin Manns Martin Manns, 86, died Friday, July 10, 2015 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. He was born Dec. 9, 1928 in Poplar Bluff to the late John Riley Manns and Olga Mackey Manns. He was a longtime resident of Butler County. He was of the Baptist faith and affiliated with South Poplar Bluff General Baptist Church...

Walter L. McGhee, 42, of the 1100 block of Old Hickory, was arrested at 3 p.m. Friday in the 1400 block of Black River Industrial Park Drive on failure to appear warrants for driving with a revoked license and failure to maintain insurance. He was booked at the Butler County jail...

KENNETT -- In their final tune-up for the season-ending conference championships, the Poplar Bluff Swim Team finished second to host Kennett on Saturday. The Piranhas, who won 19 events, travel Saturday to Cape Girardeau for the Southeast Missouri Swim Conference championships...

By KATIE LAMB SEMO News Service From someone finding a python on a front porch to a man catching an alligator in his front yard, it's been an unusual month for wildlife reports in the Cape Girardeau area. But the discoveries, while rare, aren't unprecedented...