Stories from Wednesday, November 8, 2017

A three-month long project to install remote read electric meters throughout the city of Poplar Bluff is underway. Just over 1,300 of the meters have been installed with nearly 8,400 to go, the Municipal Utility Advisory Board was told Monday afternoon...

During the school year many children rely on meals at school as their primary source of food and nutrition. The reality is some students go home on Friday afternoons to empty cupboards and empty bellies for 65 hours until they return to school on Monday morning...

Officials reiterated Monday that no members of the Poplar Bluff City Council have a conflict of interest related to the possible purchase of Northwest Medical Center for a new city hall, police station and city court. The topic was brought up during the public comment period of the council's regular meeting...

Staff of the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff recently learned they retained a four out of five star rating in quality and efficiency over the past year as well as demonstrated measurable improvements in 76 percent of all measures...

To honor the men and women who served and who are serving in the U.S. military, the public is invited to the 2017 Veterans Day Ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday. The event will be held at the Veterans Memorial Wall at Poplar Bluff's Black River Coliseum. Master of Ceremonies John Holland said the start time is a Veterans Day tradition and reflects a significant moment in history...

A preliminary hearing has been postponed until Dec. 4 for a Poplar Bluff city official facing felony weapons charges. Street superintendent Denis Kearbey, 53, has been accused of exhibiting a shotgun in a threatening manner in front of another city employee...

The city of Poplar Bluff has decided to forgo bids for a property and liability insurance broker. City council members will vote Nov. 20 on proposals submitted by three Missouri companies, two from Poplar Bluff and one from St. Louis. Costs will be negotiated as a percentage of the policy after the vote, said city manager Mark Massingham. The city has previously used requests for proposals for this type of service over bids, Massingham said. Other cities do this as well, he told the council...

The crowd cheered as 3-year-old Liam Gregory quickly toddled his way into his father's embrace last night during halftime of the Three Rivers College men's basketball game. Gregory's dad, Laramy, had just finished speaking about how thankful he is for the renewed health of his little boy after a heart transplant on Christmas Day 2015. ...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Sales growth at Papa John's is slowing, and the pizza chain is blaming it on the outcry surrounding NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. The company, which is a sponsor and advertiser of the NFL, said customers have a negative view of the chain's association with the NFL. The company also cut its earnings growth expectations for the year and Papa John's stock fell about 10 percent Wednesday...

What began as a family affair in 1998 is keeping with the tradition as family joining the business has brought a name change to one Neelyville based funeral home. "After I bought out my cousin's part when he went a different avenue, we were still family owned, so the decision to change the name from Fowler Sullivan Memorial Chapel came," Fowler & Sons Funeral Home owner Donnie Fowler said...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Bud Shell Ford of Dexter was the apparent low bidder for the purchase of two new vehicles for the Stoddard County Sheriff's office. The Stoddard County Development Corporation opened sealed bids for the vehicles, safety equipment and lettering Oct. 30 prior to the County Commission meeting...

I believe it is fitting and proper that we as a people set aside a day designated as Thanksgiving Day. It causes us to pause from our overly busy lives to reflect upon the blessings we receive that makes life good and desirable, recognizing it has its source in God. ...

FISK, Mo. -- Larward Lee Clark, 85, of Dexter, died Monday, Nov. 6, 2017 at Cypress Point Skilled Nursing, in Dexter. There will be a graveside memorial service at 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 at at Vale Cemetery at Fisk. Online condolences: www.whitesandersfuneralhome.com...

PUXICO, Mo. -- Bob Wallace, 82, of Puxico, son of the late Robert Lee and Sweetie M. Miller Wallace, was born on Jan. 9, 1935, in Fisk, Mo. and passed away at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff Friday Nov. 3, 2017. He had lived in St. Louis and worked as an electrical engineer before returning to Puxico. He was a veteran of the U. S. Navy, a member of the Church of Christ and enjoyed woodworking, hunting and fishing...

FISK, Mo. -- Verene Hill Barnett, 92, of Poplar Bluff, formerly of Broseley, died Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017 at her residence. Visitation will begin at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017 at White-Sanders Funeral Home in Fisk. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m., Thursday, in the funeral home chapel Rev. Jim Sanders officiating. Burial will be in Brown Chapel Cemetery at Broseley...

From Staff Reports Sewers, emergency management training and approving firefighters kept the Puxico Board of Aldermen busy Thursday, Oct. 26. The meeting was moved from Oct. 19 in order to have a quorum. Attending were Mayor Rick McLean, Bill Hemby, GS Kilbreth and Gary Wilfong. Gary Burns was absent...

Mingo Job Corps Center, 4253 State Highway T, Puxico, Mo., will present its annual "Salute to Veterans" at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8. Guest speaker will be veteran, Cory Hass. "This is a special time for us each year to pay tribute to those who have served and to those who continue to serve," Carolyn Marshall, Social Services Assistant Supervisor...

A public meeting to discuss the Wappapello Lake water control plan, 2017 operations and dam safety is scheduled for at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14, at the Wappapello Lake Bill Emerson Memorial Visitor Center. Presentations will be given on the water control plan, 2017 operations and dam safety by members of the St. Louis District, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers staff...

"It was an amazing day," Missouri Angel's Pageant organizer Teresa Bradshaw said of the event. "Everyone enjoyed it and kept thanking us for everything we did. They all want to come back next year." The Missouri Angel's Pageant was held Oct. 21 at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center on the Three Rivers College campus in Poplar Bluff. An Angel's Pageant is for individuals of all ages with any type of special need...

Maggie Thorn appears to have figured out the secrets of this life: Keep it simple. The 23-year-old lives on a farm outside Puxico, Mo., her house fronted by a county road and surrounded in every direction by fields of soybeans. The exception is behind her tin-roofed back porch where sits a large garden, one she loves to tend. ...

"It was an amazing day," Missouri Angel's Pageant organizer Teresa Bradshaw said of the event. "Everyone enjoyed it and kept thanking us for everything we did. They all want to come back next year." The Missouri Angel's Pageant was held Oct. 21 at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center on the Three Rivers College campus in Poplar Bluff. An Angel's Pageant is for individuals of all ages with any type of special need...

Maggie Thorn appears to have figured out the secrets of this life: Keep it simple. The 23-year-old lives on a farm outside Puxico, Mo., her house fronted by a county road and surrounded in every direction by fields of soybeans. The exception is behind her tin-roofed back porch where sits a large garden, one she loves to tend. ...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Puxico man is in the Stoddard County Jail after initially eluding authorities Oct. 2 near his hometown. His arraignment was continued until 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 9 Robert LeRoy Clark, 32, was recently apprehended and faces charges of resisting attest and probation violation. ...

By WALTER E. WILLIAMS One of the most challenging and important jobs for an economics professor is to teach students how little we know and can possibly know. My longtime friend and colleague Dr. Thomas Sowell says, "It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance." Nobel laureate Friedrich August von Hayek admonished, "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design." The fact that we have gross ignorance about how the world operates is ignored by the know-it-all elites who seek to control our lives. ...

MALDEN, Mo. -- Terry Baun Dockins. 66, of Gideon, Mo. died Monday, Nov. 6, 2017, in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation will be at noon Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden. A funeral service will follow at 1 p.m. at the chapel with Mr. Roger Graham and Mr. Kevin Lawrence officiating. Burial will be at Memorial Park Cemetery in Malden...

Olen G. Myers, 85, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017 at his residence. Arrangements are pending with Cotrell Funeral Service of Poplar Bluff.

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Della Mae Dietz-West, 84, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Visitation will begin at noon Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, at the Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan. The funeral service will follow at 1 p.m. in the funeral home chapel and burial will be in the Poplar Bluff City Cemetery...

VAN BUREN, Mo. -- Margaret Jo Pinkston, 74, of Ellsinore, Mo. died Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, at her residence, with her husband by her side. Arrangements will be made at a later date. Online condolences: www.mcspaddenfh.com

CAMPBELL, Mo. - William Earl Kyle, Sr., 56 of Campbell died Monday, Nov. 6, 2017 at the St. Bernard Medical Center in Jonesboro, Ark. Graveside services will be at 10 a.m., Friday, Nov. 10, at Woodlawn-Landess Addition Cemetery in Campbell with Bro. George Needham officiating. Burial will follow...

Ray Walls, 95, of Doniphan, Mo., died Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017, at the Current River Nursing Center in Doniphan. Visitation will begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017, at the Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan. The funeral service will follow at 2 p.m. in the funeral home chapel. Burial will be in the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in Godfrey, Ill...

I don't understand the wisdom of suspending Mr. Kearbey with pay until all law enforcement reports are in and his case is adjudicated. City policy clearly states employees can be suspended without pay pending legal outcomes. How the city can justify this expense with the severe financial position they claim to be in is beyond me...

William "Bill" Nathan Wright, 84, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Bill, the son of the late Rev. Thomas Morton and Rose (Vitavec) Wright, was born March 6, 1933 in Muskegon, Mich. He proudly served his country in the U.S. ...

Ray Walls -- Doniphan, Mo. Della Mae Dietz-West - Poplar Bluff, Mo. Terry Baun Dockins -- Gideon, Mo. Olen G. Myers -- Poplar Bluff, Mo. William "Bill" Nathan Wright -- Poplar Bluff, Mo. William Earl Kyle, Sr. -- Campbell, Mo.

After a disappointing home loss to John A. Logan (Ill.) College on Tuesday, Three Rivers men's basketball coach Gene Bess opened the door on future playing time. "The guys who work the hardest are going to end up with the most playing time in the future," said Bess after losing 84-69...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Apollo 12 astronaut Richard "Dick" F. Gordon Jr., one of a dozen men who flew around the moon but didn't land there, has died, NASA said. He was 88. Gordon was a test pilot when he was chosen for NASA's third group of astronauts in 1963. He flew on Gemini 11 in 1966, walking in space twice. In 1969, Gordon circled the moon in the Apollo 12 command module Yankee Clipper while crewmates Alan Bean and Charles Conrad landed and walked on the lunar surface...