Stories from Saturday, February 25, 2017

By TYLER GRAEF SEMO News Service CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- SoutheastHEALTH and the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis announced a collaboration Thursday that SoutheastHEALTH president and CEO Ken Bateman said will improve health-care options for residents of Southeast Missouri...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Three Rivers College and Southeast Missouri State University have launched a new partnership to make the transition from community college to the university setting easier for students. Officials from both learning institutions met Thursday at the Poplar Bluff TRC campus to sign a memorandum of understanding launching the new transfer mentor program. The program assigns mentors to community college students to advise them on transfer procedures and other issues...

By CHELSAE CORDIA Staff Writer BROSELEY, Mo. - Parking lot improvements were a topic of discussion at Thursday's Twin Rivers R-X Board of Education meeting. Board members decided to separate various parking lot updates from the larger district-wide improvement project, which is being managed by CTS Group...

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- A former Poplar Bluff, Mo., businessman appeared in a Pemiscot County court earlier this week on charges stemming from a hit-and-run accident that left a local teenager dead. Accompanied by his attorney, Sam Spain, Benjamin Ressel appeared before Circuit Judge Fred Copeland, who ordered he appear at 1 p.m. March 21 for a hearing in his case...

Eddie Bourbon -- Poplar Bluff, Mo. Maria Fitzgerald - Poplar Bluff, Mo. Elsie W. Dodd - Benton, Ark. Roger Dale Bollinger - Silva, Mo. Ovey Haynes -- Malden, Mo.

By MIKE JENSEN Publisher Sikeston Standard Democrat Sen. John McCain has become the face of the internal GOP opposition to many of the programs and policy proposals by newly-elected President Donald Trump. But McCain's push back should come as no surprise. The Arizona senator has never embraced Trump starting early in the campaign...

By STEPHEN MOORE Last summer, at the first meeting of the Trump Leadership Council -- an advisory group consisting of top CEOs from major companies -- Donald Trump asked business leaders what their biggest problems were. I expected the answer to be America's anti-growth tax system. ...

Brandi Mayrene Briscoe and Jonathan William Civili of Poplar Bluff have chosen the names for their twin boys, Tipton Matthew Civili and Braxton Sonny Civili, born at 10:20 a.m., Friday, Feb. 3, 2017 at Saint Francis Medical Center's Family BirthPlace in Cape Girardeau. Tipton weighed 4-pounds, 8-ounces and was 18 inches long; Braxton weighed 3-pounds, 11-ounces, and was 17 inches long...

PIEDMONT --The Dons couldn't keep pace with Saxony Lutheran's high-scoring offense Thursday night in the MSHSAA Class 3 District 2 championship game. Doniphan knocked down 14 shots from behind the 3-point line but the Crusaders sank 11 as six players reach double figures in a 96-66 win at Clearwater High School...

VAN BUREN -- It took until the very last buzzer for the top-ranked team to shake off the Ellington Whippets. Up by three at halftime, Thayer opened the second half with a 14-5 run, led by as many as 14 with 8 minutes to go and still had to hold on to eliminate the defending MSHSAA Class 2 District 3 champion Whippets 49-45 Thursday night...

MALDEN -- The Malden Green Wave kept things close most of the way but was unable to put together the fourth quarter it needed to claim its first district title in girls basketball since 1985. The No. 2 seeded Kennett Indians ended the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 final on a 17-5 run to beat top-seeded Malden 50-35 Thursday...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. --A second-quarter lull tripped up the Poplar Bluff girls basketball team Thursday night in the regular-season finale. The Mules were outscored 24-7 in the second as Notre Dame won 71-61 in a SEMO Conference game. "We had a rough second quarter where everything went against (us) and got down by quite a bit," Mules coach John David Pattillo said. "But we kept fighting, especially in the second half. We didn't quit."...

VAN BUREN -- Their once double-digit lead was cut to a single point to start the fourth quarter then turned into a deficit with 39 seconds left, but the Neelyville Lady Tigers didn't falter. Jentri Worley knocked a ball free, J'Kayla Fowler stopped it from going out of bounds and tossed it up to a senior who kept her high school career and a streak alive...

STEELE, Mo. -- With 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Campbell's Riley Peters drove the lane, put up a shot, and was called for charging. The Camels were down by more than 30 points to Hayti in the district title game, the clock was running, the game was essentially decided. It wasn't the way the senior wanted to go out...

STEELE, Mo. -- Thursday culminated eight years of work since the girls basketball program was brought back at Puxico. The Lady Indians played JV only those first three seasons. In their first season of playing varsity, in 2012-13, the Lady Indians won four games...

The Lady Raiders had to work for two days to finally get their field ready for their home opener. There was so much to do, they didn't have time to get nervous. Three Rivers College won its home opener 7-5 before losing the nightcap 6-2 against Dyersburg State on Thursday in a game that was originally scheduled for Tuesday...

Mackie "Eddie" Bourbon DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Mackie Eugene "Eddie" Bourbon, 62, of Poplar Bluff, died Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, at his residence. Visitation will be held from 5 - 8 p.m., Friday at the Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan. The funeral service will take place at 1 p.m., Saturday, in the funeral home chapel with Brother Tim Tipton officiating. Burial will be in the Good Hope Cemetery...

Maria Fitzgerald Maria Fitzgerald, 93, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017 at Westwood Hills Healthcare Center in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Fitzgerald, the daughter of the late Cipriano and Mary Selise Lopez, was born Sept. 30, 1923 in Fossil, Wyoming. She was of the Catholic faith and was a homemaker. Mrs. Fitzgerald loved spending time with her family, cooking and taking care of them...

Ronald W. "Sonny" Eads PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Ronald W. "Sonny" Eads, 76, of Piedmont, died Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m., Friday, at the Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Piedmont. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday at the funeral home chapel...

Ovey Lee Haynes MALDEN, Mo. - Ovey Lee Haynes, 95, of Malden died Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, at the Gideon Care Center in Gideon. Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at the United Pentecostal Church in Malden. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. ...

Roger Dale Bollinger PIEDMONT, Mo. - Roger Dale Bollinger, 70, of Silva, Mo., died Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 at his residence. Visitation will be held from 10-11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 27, 2017, at New Liberty Jacktown General Baptist Church. Funeral services will begin at 11 a.m. also at the church. Ruegg Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.s...