Stories from Saturday, December 19, 2015

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer A dinner table conversation Thursday night between Poplar Bluff City Council members and the public offered an opportunity for residents to share concerns, without the restrictions of a time limit or meeting agenda. Although no actual meal was served during the Ward 5 meeting at Northside Nutrition Center, options and solutions were discussed for a wide array of city problems, including trash service, police patrols and landlord-tenant responsibilities...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Pyramid Roofing of Sikeston was hired by the Neelyville School Board Thursday night to re-roof the high school gym as soon as possible. The project is estimated to cost $106,485, according to Superintendent Brad Hagood...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Poplar Bluff public schools will review using group discipline as a punishment following a fifth-grader's address to board of education members at the regular monthly meeting on Thursday. Sidonia White formed a petition and collected 19 student signatures in opposition to the practice, which she says hinders learning by punishing good students for the bad behavior of a few...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Poplar Bluff R-I Board of Education members voted Thursday to hire Scott Dill, current superintendent of Houston, Mo. R-I schools, as the new superintendent of Poplar Bluff public schools effective May 2016. "There is no question that our search was successful," said board president John Scott. ...

By MARGARET SHACKLEFORD As part of the partnership with the Vietnam War Commemoration for the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War, the Poplar Bluff Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution announceS Jerry Creach as a "Hero of the Month" for December...

Oak Grove School has named their Students of the Month for December". First grader Braden Crites, son of Bryan and Elizabeth Crites, was nominated by his teacher, Sheila Henderson because "Braden is a steady and committed student day in and day out. ...

Judy Davis PIEDMONT, Mo. - Judy Davis, 92, of Piedmont, died Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015, at Clark's Mountain Nursing Center in Piedmont. Visitation will be at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 19 at the Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Piedmont. The funeral will follow at 2 p.m. at the funeral home chapel and burial will be in the Masonic Cemetery. Online condolences may be made at www.morrisonworleychapel.com...

By MICHELLE MALKIN Gaping holes in the K1 fiance visa interview process. Reckless bans on scrutinizing visa applicants' social media posts. Ignored alarms over marriage fraud. New details keep seeping out about all the "red flags" Obama's immigration officials missed in the case of the San Bernardino jihadists...

Johnny Bagwell FISK, Mo. - Johnny Wayne Bagwell Jr., age 43, of Marengo, IA, formerly of Poplar Bluff, died Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015 at Amana, IA. Funeral arrangements are pending with White-Sanders Funeral Home in Fisk. Condolences: www.whitesandersfuneralhome.com...

Velma Reeser GREENVILLE, Mo. - Velma D. Reeser, 92, of Greenville, died Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015 at the Greenville Nursing and Rehab Center in Greenville. Arrangements are pending with the Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Greenville.

Dorothy Jett DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Dorothy Jean Jett, 80, of Doniphan died Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. A memorial will take place from 5 - 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015, at the Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan...

In a few days families will gather together to celebrate the birth of Christ. With the ones we care about most, we will share our love and exchange gifts as a way of reminding one another of how much we care and how deeply blessed we truly are. I hope you and your family will have a Merry Christmas filled with love and warmth. ...

Bernardo Ilion Bernardo Ilion, 62, of Poplar Bluff, passed away Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015 at his residence. The arrangements are pending and will be announced by Cotrell Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff.

Willie C. Walker NEELYVILLE, Mo.--Willie C. Walker, 81, of Naylor, passed away Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015 at his residence. He was born March 17, 1934 at Naylor, to the late Earl Walker and Vanna Huson Walker. He was married Evon Davis June 18, 1955 at St. Charles. She survives...

Twin Rivers senior Hannah Baxter smiled one day back in the fall. There wasn't anything odd or extraordinary about the face or the moment. She smiles all the time. But as sometimes happens with friends you've known for far too long, some of her Lady Royal teammates found her squinty-eyed grin funny. So they started imitating her, a flattering joke about a close friend...

PARAGOULD, Ark. -- Not much changed for the Poplar Bluff girls basketball team since it last played across town five short days ago. It took Poplar Bluff a good eight minutes to finally feel a rhythm, and by that time it was too late. A second-quarter surge from Greene County Tech coupled with 15 points off 22 Poplar Bluff turnovers led to a 72-51 loss for the Mules on Thursday night...

By DAR STAFF GREENVILLE -- Shelby Moon and Jentri Worley each scored 14 points and two other players were in double figures as Neelyville rolled to 63-37 victory Thursday night. Christina Russom added 13 points and Maggie Eaker chipped in 10 as the Lady Tigers (7-1) held the Lady Bears (4-4) to single digits in three of four quarters...

By PAT PRATT The Twin Rivers R-X Board of Education met briefly Thursday with a light agenda preceding the Christmas break, focusing mostly on needed infrastructure repairs. Board members received assessments on district-wide repairs that could exceed $1 million according to St. Louis based general contractors Control Technology and Solutions (CTS)...

Mildred Fann Mildred Lucille Fann, 94, of Poplar Bluff, passed away Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015 at Oakdale Care Center in Poplar Bluff. The arrangements are pending and will be announced by Cotrell Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff.

O'Neal Elementary School has chosen the December Students of the Month. First grader Ramiz Mirza, son of Navid and Amber Mirza, was selected by his teacher, Cheryl Berry. Ramiz likes to play games, and enjoys bowling. His favorite school subject is special class. When he growns up Ramiz wants to be a scientist...