Stories from Wednesday, October 18, 2017

The email was clearly fake. "I just got an email from some guy in Morocco," recalled Cody Heuer. "I thought, 'This isn't real. This doesn't make any sense.'" The sender had sent him pieces of a script. A script for a horror film. Heuer was to read over the lines and send back an audition tape. So that's what he did...

Cape Girardeau has experienced a dramatic increase in homicides in the past six years, most of it tied to illegal drugs, police chief Wes Blair said Monday. From 2012 through 2016, the community experienced 19 homicides, which include murder and manslaughter, according to crime statistics presented to the City Council. For the previous five years ending in 2011, the city recorded seven homicides, records show...

While searching online for pageants for her oldest daughter to enter, Teresa Bradshaw came across an Angels pageant in Arkansas. "I decided no matter when or where, we are taking her," Bradshaw said of the Angels pageant for her youngest daughter, Meredith, who has downs syndrome...

Stanley Estes, retired manager of Ozark Border Electric Cooperative, Poplar Bluff, was honored with the A.C. Burrows Award by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives (AMEC) at that organization's annual meeting Oct. 5 in Branson. The purpose of the award is to recognize directors and employees of electric cooperatives for outstanding service to their cooperative, community and service areas. ...

Family practice physician J. Chad White, D.O., has joined Dexter Medical Center. Dexter Medical Center is part of a network of clinics operated by Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. He will be joining the staff of current medical providers, which includes Diorca Aquino, MD, Kelly Fields-Wilburn, NP-C, Regina Lewis, FNP-BC, Amy Shell, FNP-BC and Tonya McClain, CPNP-PC...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN With his declaration Friday that the Iran nuclear deal is not in the national interest, President Donald Trump may have put us on the road to war with Iran. Indeed, it is easier to see the collisions that are coming than to see how we get off this road before the shooting starts...

"It's not really work, it's fun," Somewhere In Time Antiques & More owner Travis Thomas said of his job. "I love it!" Twenty years ago, Thomas began selling items at flea markets and antique stores and has worked his way to the top by now owning his own store...

By PETER MEHLMAN Los Angeles Times via Tribune News Service You go from dreary Parsons Boulevard in Queens to Hollywood movie mogul but can't feel your life. What do you do? You have such pretty people begging for a taste of your dreams but feel nothing. ...

By STEPHEN MOORE It now appears that Donald Trump's intention regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement is to mend it, not end it. That's good news, because the trade deal has been a stunning economic success for Canada, Mexico and the United States. Freer trade has meant steady increases in the volume of trade, greater competitiveness and lower prices...

Over 400 students from 14 area schools received a behind the scenes look at local manufacturers and the many opportunities offered within the companies during Manufacturing Day. "I think it is extremely important for students to see what great opportunities the manufacturing sector has to offer," Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce President Steve Halter said. "If we want our local manufacturers to succeed we must get them a pipeline of qualified individuals."...

The Poplar Bluff Rotary Club will have its Casino Night and Mouse Race beginning at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Kinyon School, 910 Vine St. Snack and bottle service will be provided plus $500/person casino chips. Tickets ware $25 a person or $40 a couple. Race sponsors pay $300 and may name their race and receive six tickets. Table sponsors pay $100 and name their table and receive two tickets...

Industry professionals encouraged Poplar Bluff and Twin Rivers sophomores to begin thinking about their futures during the 15th annual Career Fair held recently at Three Rivers College. Students learned about opportunities available to them through the Technical Career Center, as well as dual credit options at the community college. ...

It's that time again! Time for the Ninth Annual "Howling at the Moon" fund raiser for the Animal Welfare Alliance (AWA). And this year's gala features a new attraction. A Parker Centerfire XXTreme crossbow worth $749.95 retail will be raffled off at $10 per chance. "We're only printing 200 crossbow raffle tickets. So there's a one-in-200 chance for some lucky hunter who buys even a single raffle ticket," said AWA President Nancy Abernathy...

FAYETTE, Mo -- Two area Central Methodist Univeristy students were among the 300 to recently receive endowment scholarships. They are Bryson Burns of Poplar Bluff, with the Robert E. and Bunny Pieper Long Hall of Sponsors Scholarship; Shelby Henson of Piedmont, with the Dean E. P. Puckett Hall of Sponsors Scholarship and the Kennett First United Methodist Church Scholarship...

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- Anthony Hibbing, 24, of Piggott, Ark., died Monday, Oct. 16, 2017, in an auto accident in Corning, Ark. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at Landess Funeral Home in Campbell, Mo., followed by the funeral at 8 p.m. in Landress Funeral Chapel. Landess Funeral Home in Campbell is in charge of arrangements...

PUXICO --Attempting to win a fourth straight MSHSAA Class 2 District 2 title felt like just another regular season road trip for the Bloomfield volleyball team. "Something felt weird today," Bloomfield senior Kaley Roper said. "Like it don't feel like the district championship. We don't know, it just did not feel like it."...

KENNETT, Mo. -- This group of Bearcat seniors have been looking forward to this day for years. Now it's here, and it'll be awhile before those smiles leave their faces. Pushed at times, Dexter stayed in control of the match from start to finish and beat Perryville 25-16, 25-21 on Tuesday to repeat as MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 champions...

MALDEN, Mo. -- Carter Grace Johnson, 2 1/2 months, of Holcomb, died Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, at Barnes-Jewish Children's Hospital, St. Louis, Mo. Visitation will be at 6 p.m., Wednesday, at Bradshaw Funeral Home, Inc. in Malden. Funeral service will be at 10 a.m., Thursday, at Bradshaw Chapel in Malden with Pastor Cory Godsey and Pastor Raymond Carter officiating...

BERNIE, Mo. -- This is the Advance volleyball team satisfying its hunger. And on Tuesday night, Bernie was on the menu. The top-seeded Hornets got off to a fast start, snuffed out any Mules comeback hopes and swept the second-seeded hosts 25-19 and 25-14 in the MSHSAA Class 1 District 2 final to claim a second consecutive district championship...

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Calvin C. Carter, 90, of Doniphan died Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, at the residence of his son, Kevin, in Bakersfield, Mo. Visitation will be held from 5 - 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017, at the Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan. The funeral service will follow at noon Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 with Pastor Gary Case officiating. Burial will be in the Redenbo Cemetery near Corning, Arkansas...

A local man remains in a Cape Girardeau, Mo., hospital today after he was struck by an SUV while he crossing Highway WW, south of the railroad overpass. At about 11:25 a.m. Tuesday, Daniel Lynn Spradling, 66, of the 100 block of Magpie Lane was operating a 2006 Buick Rendezvous southbound on Highway WW, according to Poplar Bluff Police Patrolman Austin Lemonds' report...