Stories from Monday, December 12, 2016

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer The 14th annual Missouri State Junior Beta Convention held Thursday and Friday at the Black River Coliseum set a new attendance record with an estimated 3,100 students participating in the event. National Beta Club is a non-profit educational youth organization striving to promote high academic achievement, character, leadership and service to others. ...

By CHELSAE CORDIA Staff Writer KENNETT, Mo. - Twenty-seven drug-related arrests were made just after 8 a.m. Friday in northern Dunklin County as a result of a two-year undercover investigation conducted by the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force, with assistance from the Dunklin County Sheriff's Office, The Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the Malden and Campbell police departments...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Taxpayers will save more than $23,000 a year when District 36 public defenders move to a new office in 2017. A new lease starts Jan. 1 on a 5,500 square-foot property at 948 Lester St., according to a contract on file at the Butler County clerk's office...

By CHELSAE CORDIA Staff Writer With November's election still within sight of the rearview mirror, it's time to begin looking ahead to April. Poplar Bluff, Neelyville and Twin Rivers each have three board of education positions up for grabs in the upcoming election...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Filing opens Tuesday for three seats on the Poplar Bluff City Council. The terms of at large council member David Johnson and Ward 5 representative Peter Tinsley are expiring. A second at large position, vacated this month by Jerrica Fox, is also up for election...

From Staff Reports The Palace of Praise's annual Sounds of Christmas will be presented twice Sunday, Dec. 18 and nightly Monday, Dec. 19, Tuesday, Dec. 20, and Wednesday, Dec. 21. This year the all new program will feature a 1940s farm family down on their luck, said Terrie Faughn, assistant director and church clerk. The play will include dancing, singing and Santa Claus, snow and the story of the nativity at the end...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN The wailing and keening over the choice of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the EPA appears to be a lead indicator of a coming revolution far beyond Reagan's. "Trump Taps Climate Skeptic For Top Environmental Post," said The Wall Street Journal. "Climate Change Denial," bawled a disbelieving New York Times, which urged the Senate to put Pruitt in a "dust bin."...

By MONA CHAREN Something is killing us -- beyond the fact that life itself is a terminal condition. This week brought news that the U.S. mortality rate overall has risen slightly since 2014. "It's a definite milestone in the wrong direction, and the concern a lot of us have is that it reflects largely the approximately three-decade-long epidemic of obesity," Stephen Sidney, a California research scientist, told The Wall Street Journal. ...

Random thoughts regarding our City Council [MAIL] Peter Tinsley and Dave Johnson were avid supporters of former City Manager Heath Kaplan. Now that he is banned for life by the municipals watchdog for ethics violations and conflicts of interest, should we hold our breath to hear any apologies from Peter and Dave for the damage they allowed him to implement? We might suffocate...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- After watching Poplar Bluff's shooting struggles the previous night, Charleston coach Danny Farmer said he wanted to make the Mules take outside shots. Poplar Bluff had a similar defensive approach in the third place game of the SEMO Conference Tournament...

By CAROLYN SMITH Staff Writer One of Poplar Bluff's most treasured Christmas traditions is the Annual Community Christmas dinner served by the First United Methodist Church, 500 N. Main St., Poplar Bluff. This year members of the First United Methodist Church and volunteers will serve roast turkey and all the trimmings beginning at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 14...

Jesse and Flo Deardorff will mark their 70th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016, with a quiet celebration at home. The couple was wed in Piggott, Ark. in 1946 and have lived in the community of Aid their entire married life. The Deardorffs have one son, Gary and daughter-in-law, Donna, two granddaughters, Jill Deardorff and Katy Tarbutton, and three great-grandchildren...

Callie Lee Allen PIEDMONT, Mo. - Callie Lee Allen, 87, of Piedmont, Mo., died Friday, Dec. 9, 2016 at Table Rock Nursing Home. Visitation will be held from 5 - 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12, 2016 at Ruegg Funeral Home in Piedmont. Funeral services will be held at United Pentecostal Church in Piedmont at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016. Burial will be at Duncan Cemetery...

Gleeda Mae Pugh KENNETT, Mo. -- Gleeda Mae Pugh, 85, daughter of the late Loran Lee Presson and Pauline (Winn) Presson, was born Sept. 28, 1931 in Bakerville, Mo. and died Friday, Dec. 9, 2016. Gleeda married Walter Pugh on June 17, 1957 in Desoto County, Miss., who preceded her in death Feb. 16, 2006...

ELLSINORE -- As high school basketball rivalries in Southeast Missouri go, it doesn't get much more heated than the one between East Carter and Van Buren. But for a few brief moments Friday night, the coaches and players of both teams set aside a cross-county rivalry and united in the name of something much more important than sports...

ELLSINORE -- For at least another year, the west side of Carter County will smell a little fishy. And the Bulldogs don't mind one bit. In the annual Yellow Sucker game against its county rival, Van Buren continued a streak of dominance, beating East Carter 62-41 Friday night to reel in the coveted Fish Trophy in front of a packed house...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- For 10 years the Sikeston Bulldogs have dominated the SEMO Conference Tournament. But in all that time, Sikeston had never played against Jackson in the championship game of the tournament. The top-seeded Bulldogs made up for lost time with a dominating 69-35 win over third-seeded Jackson in front of a large, rambunctious crowd at the Sikeston Field House on Friday night...

DEXTER -- Dexter trotted into the halftime locker. Lewisburg walked. The Lady Bearcats scored the first 14 points and controlled play from start to finish against Lewisburg (Miss.) to win 55-30 in the SEMO Border Challenge on Saturday at the Bearcat Event Center...

BROSELEY -- Hayden Thomas scored a game-high 26 points as Twin Rivers flew away with a 79-68 win over Arcadia Valley Friday night. Thomas made 11 field goals, including one from beyond the arc, while Jamie Robards knocked down 18 of his 20 points from 3-point range...

DEXTER -- Earle needed one more shot against the Lady Tigers. Earle (Ark.) missed a 3 at the buzzer to force overtime and Neelyville won 50-47 in the SEMO Border Challenge on Saturday in Dexter. Both teams went 2-1 in the inaugural event. Neelyville (3-1) took its first lead early in the second quarter and held it until Earle tied the game with 90 seconds to go...

DEXTER -- For the second time in three games, the Lady Mules struggled most in the third quarter. After scoring four points in the third against Earle (Ark.) on Thursday, Poplar Bluff had six in the third Saturday against Ingomar (Miss.) and eventually lost 51-44 in the SEMO Border Challenge...

Claude H. Gore, Jr. WAPPAPELLO, Mo. - Claude H. Gore, Jr., 77, of Wappapello, Mo., passed away Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016 at Landmark Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Claude, the son of the late Claud H. Gore, Sr. and Juanita M. Maltbie Gore, was born July 27, 1939 in Rector, Ark. ...

Arthur Lowell Ritchey II DONIPHAN, Mo. - Arthur Lowell "James" Ritchey II, 41, of Doniphan, Mo., died Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016, at his residence. The funeral service will be held graveside at 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12, 2016 at Grandin City Cemetery. Edwards Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements...

Dorothy Imogene Smith Dorothy Imogene Smith, 94, of Suttons Bay, Mich., formerly of Royal Oak, Mich., Lakeland, Fla. and Poplar Bluff, passed away Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Born in Como, Mo., she was the daughter of the late Charles E. and Martha (Hyten) Powell. She graduated from Neelyville High School...

Wilma Van Matre PUXICO, Mo. -- Wilma Van Matre, 83, of Oakville, formerly of Wappapello, Mo., died Friday, Dec. 9, at Bethesda South Gate. Visitation will be at 6 p.m. Sunday at Morgan Sifford Funeral Home in Puxico. The funeral will be at 11:30 a.m. Monday in the Morgan Sifford Funeral Home chapel. Burial will be in the Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield, Mo...