Stories from Wednesday, October 11, 2017

The Poplar Bluff R-1 Long Range Planning Committee will present a plan for the future home of the Early Childhood Center to the Board of Education on Oct. 19. At Tuesday's meeting, the committee decided connecting the building to the Kindergarten Center made the most sense for the district, thus eliminating the second option, which was to place the new construction on O'Neal Elementary School's property...

As Halloween approaches, the nights come earlier and last longer. With the longer nights comes the search for all things spooky and scary. The Haunted Grotto will satisfy that search. The Aad Enterprise's Haunted Grotto will kick off its fourth year of frightening the area. And what better day to do it than Friday the 13th...

By STEPHEN MOORE There's a famous Woody Allen joke: "Those who can't do teach, and those who can't teach teach gym." Well, here's a modernized version of that old saw: Those who can't do write, and those who can't write write about sports. One of the most amazing revelations about the shameful and unpatriotic antics of NFL players who are taking the knee (or even lying on the ground stretching) during the national anthem has been the near-universal approval by sports journalists. ...

To the Editor, Many people do not believe that I am ninety years old, and do not have any health problems that I have to take medicine for. Someone asked how do you do that? One thing I always do is look on the bright side of life. Even when my husband died, I said, well I do not have to watch him any more smoking his pipe. ...

By MIKE JENSEN Publisher Sikeston Standard Democrat It's always the same. The omnipresent issue of gun control once again reared its ugly head following the Las Vegas massacre. Democrats like Hillary Clinton rushed to the microphones faster than a First Responder to push gun control legislation based on emotions and weak on facts...

By PATRICK BUCHANAN To attend the Indianapolis Colts game where the number of the legendary Peyton Manning was to be retired, Vice President Mike Pence, a former governor of Indiana, flew back from Las Vegas. With him in the stadium was wife Karen. In honor of Manning, she wore a No. 18 jersey as "The Star Spangled Banner" began...

Emma Taylor Roach, 19, of Piedmont, has been awarded a $500 study grant by the Buel Johnson Endowed Scholarship Fund to help underwrite her nursing studies at Three Rivers College. The fund is administered by the Three Rivers Community College Foundation...

Every morning, Dr. Cathy Hicks and her three dogs pile in the truck and drive to work. But for the first time in three decades, the morning route no longer ends on Hwy. 53. After 30 years at "the old place," Hicks Animal Hospital recently moved to a brand new, state-of-the-art facility off PP Hwy., leaving the old, brown building with the wood paneling behind...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Carolyn J. Butler, 73, of Jackson, Mo., formerly of Piedmont, died Monday, Oct. 9, 2017 at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Piedmont Church of the Nazarene. Funeral services will follow at 11 a.m. at the church with Pastor Gary Rhodes officiating. Graveside service and burial will be at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Greenlawn Cemetery in Mt. View, Mo...

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- Jeanette Wheeler Hyde, 93, of Campbell, Mo., died Monday at the General Baptist Nursing Home in Campbell. Visitation will be from noon - 1 p.m. Thursday at Landess Funeral Home in Campbell with the funeral following in the funeral home chapel with Rev. William Hill officiating. Burial will be in the Woodlawn Landess Addition in Campbell, Landess Funeral Home in Campbell is in charge of arrangements...

Jordan Diane Fuchs, 18, of Mill Spring, has been awarded a $1,000 Marianna Wolpers Memorial Scholarship for the 2017-18 academic year at Three Rivers College. The scholarship is administered by the Three Rivers Community College Foundation. Fuchs is a 2017 graduate of Clearwater High School in Piedmont, where she was Valedictorian of her graduating class, with a 4.0 grade point average. ...

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) -- The flames that raced across California wine country left little more than smoldering ashes and eye-stinging smoke in their wake. House after house is gone, with only brick chimneys and charred laundry machines to mark sites that were once family homes...

Miracle R. Washington, 7 weeks old, of Sikeston, Mo., passed away Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017 at St. Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was born in Sikeston Aug. 17, 2017 to parents Darius Washington and Holley Hawes. Miracle is survived by four brothers, Izaiah Jones, Arnez Hawes, Xavior Washington, all of Sikeston, and Braylin Stovall of Charleston, Mo.; one sister, Majesty Washington of Sikeston; grandparents Alayaha Ray of Cape Girardeau, Victor and Sonya Hawes of Poplar Bluff, Tawanda Bell and Andrew Bell of Cape Girardeau.. ...

SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Worried California vintners surveyed the damage to their vineyards and wineries Tuesday as wildfires sweep through counties whose famous names have become synonymous with fine food and drink. At the Gundlach Bundschu in Sonoma County, workers were not sure the grapes above the winery survived a second night of fires that have destroyed at least two wineries and damaged more...

WILLIAMSVILLE, Mo. -- Neva Jane Mrozek, 96, of Ellsinore, Mo., died Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017 at Riverways Manor Nursing Home in Van Buren, Mo. Visitation will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017 at the McSpadden Funeral Home in Ellsinore, Mo. with the funeral service following at 2 p.m. in the funeral home chapel. Memorials may be made to Grandin Chapter 519, Order of Eastern Stars, Rt. 2 Box 2226 Ellsinore, MO. 63937...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Amberlea Jarrell, 36, of Bloomfield died at her home in Bloomfield Monday, Oct. 9, 2017. She had lived in Dexter and Bloomfield all of her life. Visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017 at the Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield. ...

WILLIAMSVILLE, Mo. -- Rudy Charles Fuchs, 81, of Williamsville died Friday, Oct. 6, 2017 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Rudy, son of the late Rudy G and Erna (Jaeger) Fuchs was born Oct. 29, 1935 in St. Louis, Mo. On April 8, 1961, he married Diane (Duckett) Fuchs at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Poplar Bluff...

Senior Night didn't last long for the Poplar Bluff soccer team. The Mules trailed after five minutes, gave up four goals over the final 14 minutes of the first half before Farmington closed out a 10-0 win with the final two goals within 31 seconds in the 55th minute...

READING, Pa. (AP) -- A backup quarterback for Division III Albright College in Pennsylvania has been cut for kneeling during the national anthem. Sophomore Gyree Durante took a knee before Saturday's game. He says he was "taught you fight for what you believe in and you don't bow to anyone."...