Stories from Friday, March 4, 2016

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Boys and Girls Club of Poplar Bluff is learning about growing and eating healthy foods through a U.S. Department of Education 21st Century grant and funding through the Tower Garden Project. As part of the club's STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) initiative, members in grades 5-9 purchased and are maintaining a new hydroponic tower garden at the Hentz Center...

By EVAN HOLLEY Staff Writer Fisk elementary school has hired a replacement for principal Clinton Salyer, who announced his retirement earlier this school year. The Twin Rivers school board voted in February to hire Leann Mann, who is currently employed as principal at Piggott Elementary School in Piggott, Ark. Mann has held that position for nine years and has worked for the Piggott school district for 29 years altogether...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer From a tiny girl sitting on her father's shoulders in January to a dad flipping through a photo album with his son and daughter in December, Cbabi Bayoc set out to spend a year painting a positive image of African American fathers each day...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man awaiting trial for assaulting another man who was reported missing by family members last summer is now charged with stealing the truck he allegedly used to flee the area when he was wanted for his suspected crimes...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor Tuesday marked 10 years since the Missouri Department of Conservation imposed a 9-inch minimum length limit on crappies taken from Wappapello Lake, and while in the first several years anglers generally responded favorably to the regulation, more and more of them these days say something has to change...

Old timers say to plant Irish potatoes on St. Patrick's Day, March 17. However, according to the University of Missouri Extension's Vegetable Planting Calendar, you can plant anytime between March 10 and 30. Actually Irish potatoes are not native to Ireland and weren't introduced until 1585. ...

Dear Editor: I do not know if many people who read this paper have been to Iran. Really it is such a beautiful country. Hear so little good about the country now. Has things to offer tourist, that no other country has. Their mosques (churches) are such beautiful works of art. Are almost always blue. Made of blue tiles, about the size of a thumb nail. There is pink one, that the tour guide made sure that we had seen that one...

Grandfather vs aunt The Democratic Family Gathering The current Democratic Party and debates remind me of going to a family gathering. One candidate seems to be the grandfatherly type who loved you as a child, still cares about your well-being, gave you straight answers when you asked him some of life's toughest questions, and seems annoyed when he has to deal with stupidity. ...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN The first four Republican contests -- Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada -- produced record turnouts. While the prospect of routing Hillary Clinton and recapturing the White House brought out the true believers, it was Donald Trump's name on the ballot and his calls for economic patriotism, border security, and an end to imperial wars that brought out the throngs...

By CANDICE DAVIS Mo. Dept. of Conservation CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Researchers with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) report the first documented evidence of invasive black carp reproduction in the wild in North America. This means big problems for native river species, according to MDC Resource Scientist Quinton Phelps...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is in the multi-year process of updating Conservation Area Management Plans, and is seeking public input on how the Big Cane Conservation Area and the Clearwater Conservation Area are important to Missourians. The Big Cane and Clearwater CA management plans are open for public review from March 1 to March 31...

Laramy and Jessica Gregory of Poplar Bluff have chosen the name Elijah Wayne Gregory for their six-pound, six-ounce son born at 7:06 a.m., Monday, Feb. 29, 2016, at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Elijah was 19 1/2 inches long. Grandparents are: Larry Gregory and Brenda Thompson of Poplar Bluff and Jimmy and Kathy Marlar of Greenville...

VAN BUREN, Mo. - Ensuring the population stability of a popular wildlife resident is the primary reason behind the upcoming closure of the refuge area at the Missouri Department of Conservation's (MDC) Peck Ranch Conservation Area. Peck Ranch Area's refuge will be closed April 1 to July 1 to minimize stress and human interference during the annual elk calving period...

C. Pearl Medley C. Pearl Medley, 85, of Poplar Bluff passed away Wednesday, March 1, 2016 at Westwood Hills Healthcare Center in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Medley, the daughter of the late Edward and Florence Julius Metcalf, was born April 23, 1930 in Asherville. ...

Bettye Joyce Braun DEXTER, Mo. -- Bettye Joyce Braun, 80, of Dexter, died Wednesday, March 2, 2016 at Cypress Point Skilled Nursing Center in Dexter. Visitation will be from 1-2 p.m., Friday, at the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter. A graveside service will follow Friday at Chalk Bluff Cemetery in Dexter with Rev. Greg McGhee officiating...

By LUCAS BOND Mo. Dept. of Conservation JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Missouri's annual spring paddlefish snagging season is a popular pastime for thousands of anglers. The state's major paddlefish snagging waters include Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake, and Table Rock Lake with the season running March 15 through April 30. The season for the Mississippi River is March 15 through May 15 with a fall season of Sept. 15 through Dec. 15...

Jimmy D. Livingston, Sr. PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Jimmy D. Livingston, Sr., 76, of Piedmont, died Tuesday, March 1, 2016, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m., Friday, at the Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Piedmont. ...

Corine A. Stokes FAIRVIEW, HEIGHTS, Ill. -- Corine A. Stokes, 77, of Eloy, Ariz., died Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016. She was born Aug. 10, 1937 to Arlie and Leavy Adams of Harviell, Mo. Survived by children: Michael Lovette (Teresa), Larry Lovette (Carol), Denise Tweddell (Jim), Paula Williams (Mike), Jim Stokes (Stepson), and Bob Stokes (Sue) (Stepson); sister: Lorene Gilkeson; 15 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren...

Norma Thompson Ritter Norma G. Ritter, nee Thompson, 76, of Caseyville, Ill. died Tues., March 1, 2016. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday at the Kassly Funeral Home in Collinsville, Ill. Memorial will be at 6 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. She will be cremated. Herbert A. Kassly Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be made at: kasslyfuneral.com...

COLUMBIA, Mo. - If your farm has been in your family since Dec. 31, 1916, you can apply to have it recognized as a Missouri Century Farm. To qualify, farms must meet the following guidelines. The same family must have owned the farm for 100 consecutive years. ...

Whole Kids Outreach, located on Highway 21 five miles south of Ellington, is sponsoring its annual Easter Egg Hunt and Spring Festival from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Saturday, March 19. Registration begins at 10 a.m. Come and join the fun. There will be games, prizes, cake walk, pony rides, and a free lunch. ...

Evelyn M. Harris McDaniel Evelyn M. Harris McDaniel went home to live with her Savior Saturday, Feb. 26, 2016. She was living with her son, Jerry, and his wife, Becky, in Shreveport, La. Evelyn was born Aug. 3, 1922 to Elmer H. and Rettie Myrtle (Houston) Williams. She grew up in and around the Jonesboro, Ark. area. She was the last surviving of eight siblings...

Peggy Elizabeth Woodard NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Peggy Elizabeth Woodard, 89, of Poplar Bluff, passed away on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016. Mrs. Woodard was born Feb. 16, 1927 in Saint Louis. She worked as a homemaker and attended Naylor Methodist Church where she had served as secretary-treasurer. ...

The Neelyville Lady Tigers literally defended their spot in the state playoffs Wednesday night. Neelyville forced 27 turnovers, held Scott County Central to 37 percent shooting and controlled the contest from start to finish for a 76-42 victory in a MSHSAA Class 2 playoff at the Bess Activity Center...

DEXTER -- Years from now, perhaps the class reunion in 2036, the Twin Rivers girls basketball seniors will likely remember beating Saxony Lutheran on a shot with four seconds left in December and not what happened Wednesday night. With time, the Lady Royals will forget losing the rematch 62-32 in the MSHSAA Class 3 playoff at the Bearcat Event Center or that they sank just 4 of 21 shots in the first half to fall behind...

Alex Gibbs wasn't even supposed to have the ball in his hands in the final seconds of the MSHSAA Class 2 playoff Wednesday night. "Crazy. I never imagined it," said Gibbs who sank a game-winning, 15-foot jumper near the baseline to give Bloomfield a 54-52 win...

From Staff Reports A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man was killed in a one-vehicle crash, which occurred at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in Butler County, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Killed in the crash was Gary L. Stage, 23. Highway patrol officials say Melanie L. Hobbs, 23, was operating a 2000 Dodge Ram westbound on Route M, two miles west of U.S. 67, when the vehicle ran off the right side of the road, struck an embankment and overturned, ejecting Stage...

HILLSBORO, Mo. -- The Whippets started playing well in early January. They rallied around their only starting senior Shaun Chilton. They wanted to send him out on a high note. Ellington went 13-1 to finish the regular season, then won the program's first district championship in 25 years but his career ended Wednesday night with a 57-52 loss to Clopton in the MSHSAA Class 2 playoffs...