Stories from Friday, April 1, 2016

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Butler County voters will be asked April 5 if the county should begin collecting a tax on purchases made over the Internet with vendors who do not have a physical presence within the state. A "use tax" applies to goods purchased from a different state and "used" in Missouri, Butler County Presiding Commissioner Vince Lampe said. A use tax is never charged at the same time as a sales tax...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Black River Public Radio will offer the community a chance to return to the days of poodle skirts and peace signs through a special event on Saturday to raise funds for the new station. The Retro Prom will take place 7-10 p.m. at the Old Kinyon School, 910 Vine St...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer The city of Poplar Bluff could collect close to 100 tons of unwanted household items and other bulky trash during the annual spring clean up day on April 23. Residents typically fill between 22 and 26 of the 30 yard dumpsters provided by the city for the free event, said city planner Dennis Avery...

By EVAN HOLLEY Staff Writer Several candidates waited until the last minute to announce their candidacy for Butler County office. The campaign for Western District commissioner took an interesting turn when a father and son filed for the same office before the end of Tuesday's deadline. ...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor A local orthopedic surgeon who was found in possession of suspected marijuana in January will not be prosecuted at this time after the state agreed to defer filing charges against him. Stanley Preston Jones, 36, was arrested Jan. 14 while officers with the Poplar Bluff Police Department, SEMO Drug Task Force, Missouri State Highway Patrol and Butler County Sheriff's Department were serving grand jury indictments in the Poplar Bluff, Mo., area...

Spring is finally here! The bad weather is supposed to be behind us. Many home gardeners are getting excited as the weather continues to warm up. I've noticed in my travels around the counties several garden plots already plowed. Start to plan your garden now. ...

By MIKE JENSEN Publisher Sikeston Standard Democrat The issue of gun-related crimes is a hot topic these days. Because of the daily drumbeat of some thug using a gun to commit a crime, the national dialogue has brought the Second Amendment into glaring focus...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN I am "not isolationist, but I am 'America First,'" Donald Trump told The New York times last weekend. "I like the expression." Of NATO, where the U.S. underwrites three-fourths of the cost of defending Europe, Trump calls this arrangement "unfair, economically, to us," and adds, "We will not be ripped off anymore."...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Bad news continues to roll in from north Arkansas amid the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's efforts to find the prevalence rate of chronic wasting disease in the area where the disease initially was detected. Results from last week's tests revealed an additional 18 deer and a single elk with the disease...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor SHANNON COUNTY, Mo. -- It's no secret Missouri has a small population of black bears across its southernmost counties, likely descendants of animals which migrated in from stockings in Arkansas during the 1960s. The questions for officials with the Missouri Department of Conservation are how many there are and if the number of bears is growing or not...

WINONA, Mo. - The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will host Heritage Day April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Twin Pines Conservation Education Center. The annual free event features forest management demonstrations and workshops, pond fishing, archery live music, and a fish fry from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. while supplies last...

By CANDICE DAVIS Mo. Dept. of Conservation JACKSON, Mo. -- Researchers with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) are surprised at how far paddlefish they've tagged traveled as part of a research project. Two of the tagged paddlefish swam more than 500 miles down the Mississippi River to the northern portion of Louisiana before being caught and called in. Researchers hope anglers will continue to look for tags when they catch paddlefish and report them...

There's not much Steven Haley can't tackle. The senior set the Poplar Bluff football team record for tackles in a season this past fall and took fifth place at the MSHSAA Class 3 wrestling championships by beating an opponent he lost to in the opening round...

Nadine McComb Nadine McComb, 63, of Jefferson City, Mo. died Wednesday, Mach 30, 2016. Arrangements are pending with Fowler-Sullivan Funeral Home in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor Missouri's spring turkey hunters, at least in the Eastern Ozarks and Southwest regions of the state, should experience a good hunting season this year, weather permitting. "It should be a good year all across the board," said Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Scientist Jason Isabelle. "We had good reproduction in 2014, and last year, the percentage of jakes was up. We should have pretty good carry-over."...

Football for Doniphan Inc. held its first board meeting last week, signaling a new beginning for a town trying to rejuvenate its football program after a more than 30-year absence. Nine board members met Thursday and again Tuesday, outlining plans to get fundraising for a junior high program and new field and stadium off the ground...

By BEN KLEINE SEMO News Service CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- A band played a diverse array of cover songs at Longshots Bar and Billiards in Cape Girardeau in February 2015. The bar had featured a band every week. Two months later, the bar and its owner were facing a lawsuit in federal court...

By BEN KLEINE SEMO News Service Three Southeast Missouri State University students are accused of being involved in at least one shooting Sunday in Carbondale, Illinois. Travis T. Tyler, 21, of Webster Groves, Missouri, and John F. Ingram, 21, of Hazelwood, Missouri, are charged by the Jackson County, Illinois, state's attorney with felony aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm...

Qulin Middle School officials have announced the third quarter honor and merit roll for the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades. They are: Fifth Grade Honor roll include: Kaydence Bequette, Jasmine Byrd, Jagger Crismon, Emma Head, Tucker Hequembourg, Charly Johnson, Matthew Johnson, Carter Lewis, Hannah Patterson,, Jaden Rodewald, Rachel Rommel, Sarah Tanksley, Alexis Yeley...