Stories from Tuesday, March 6, 2018

A new city planner for Poplar Bluff will bring grant writing experience and a history of community involvement to the position, city manager Mark Massingham announced Monday. Matt Winters will start work March 22, leaving his longtime job as associate director of Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Two Bloomfield Middle School students were placed in custody early Monday morning by Bloomfield authorities after the city's Public Safety Department received a phone call Sunday evening concerning threats of violence toward the school...

Meeting rooms at the Black River Coliseum could be upgraded to serve as city council and city court chambers for about $2,400, but some officials are concerned the move would conflict with operations at the event center and pool. The matter was discussed Monday during the city manager's report at the end of the regular city council meeting...

Poplar Bluff City Manager Mark Massingham made a commitment Monday to begin meeting weekly with code enforcement as part of an effort to clean up the city. Massingham also challenged citizens to become involved with the effort and particularly the April 28 Buff up the Bluff event...

MALDEN, Mo. - Ruby Pearline Gettings Ligons, 82, of Malden, died Saturday, March 3, 2018 at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation will be at 6 p.m., Monday, March 5 at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden. The funeral will be at 10 a.m., Tuesday, March 6 at Bradshaw Chapel in Malden with Rev. Earnest Puckett and Rev. Gerald Berger officiating. Burial will be in Stanfield Cemetery in Clarkton, Mo. www.bradshawfh.com...

The date of sentencing for Jeremy S. Sykes was incorrectly reported in Sunday's edition of the Daily American Republic as Feb. 9. Sykes, who was convicted Saturday by a Wayne County jury of two Class C felonies of second-degree assault in connection with a drunk-driving crash in June 2015, will be sentenced at 11 a.m. April 9...

By MARC A. THIESSEN WASHINGTON -- A few weeks before the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar (Tex.) invited a special guest to attend the State of the Union address: Stephen Willeford, the hero who just months earlier had stopped a mass shooter at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Tex...

By WALTER E. WILLIAMS A recent article in The Guardian dons the foreboding title "Robots will destroy our jobs -- and we're not ready for it." The article claims, "For every job created by robotic automation, several more will be eliminated entirely. ...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- Overturning mistaken decisions is an occasional duty of the Supreme Court, whose noblest achievement was the protracted, piecemeal repudiation, with Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and subsequent decisions, of its 1896 ruling that segregated "separate but equal" public facilities were constitutional. This Monday, the court will hear oral arguments that probably will presage another overdue correction...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas Democrats turned out in force ahead of the first-in-the-nation primary Tuesday in what could be an early hint of a midterm election backlash against President Donald Trump, but their party remains a longshot to make much of a dent in Republican political dominance of the state...

CENTRALIA, Ill. -- Maxine Hillis, 94, of Centralia, Ill., passed away Saturday, March 3, 2018 at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital in Centralia. She was born Hattie Maxine Billiter on Jan. 28, 1924, in Litchfield, Ill., to Harry and Ethel (Frey) Billiter. She was the youngest of 4 children...

While the Poplar Bluff Mules were practicing during their 2003 MSHSAA Show-Me Showdown appearance, a pint-sized Adrian Webb would dribble a basketball around. Now 15 years later it's Webb chasing a ring. "It made me want to make sure I got there at some point in my high school career," said Webb, now a senior who vaguely remembers those days hanging out with the team when his dad was an assistant coach...

Guy Micheal Conner, Sr., 66, of Poplar Bluff, died Monday, March 5, 2018. Arrangements are pending with Moore Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff. Online Condolences: www.moorefuneralservice.com

CLARKTON, Mo. -- Robert Dale Brewer, 52, of Campbell, Mo., died Friday, March 2, 2018, at Missouri Delta Hospital in Sikeston, Mo. A graveside service will begin at 2 p.m., Wednesday, March 7, 2018, at Stanfield Cemetery in Clarkton with Bro. Darren Baker officiating. Online condolences at www.bardshawfh.com...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Lois Ruth Womack, 78, of Piedmont, died Sunday, March 4, 2018, at her residence. Visitation will be held at 5 p.m., Wednesday, March 7, 2018, at Ruegg Funeral Home in Piedmont. Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 8, 2018, at the Piedmont chapel. Burial will be at Masonic Cemetery in Piedmont. Online condolences can be made at www.rueggfuneralhomes.com...

Tince Moore, 74, of Poplar Bluff, died Feb. 21, 2018, at Cedargate Nursing Home. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 7, 2018 at Holiday Cemetery in Williamsville, Mo. Elder Robert Duckett will officiate. Online condolences: www.fitchhillisfh.com...

The Raiders left 25 men on base. Three Rivers was swept by Jefferson 7-3 in the opener and 12-4 in the nightcap Sunday as Jefferson also swept the four-game series. Three Rivers stranded nine in the opener, including four in scoring position. Things worsened in the nightcap with 16 left on base. The Raiders left the bases loaded four times...

JONESBORO, Ark. -- The Lady Raiders continued their perfect start to the season. Three Rivers swept its third straight team in beating the Arkansas State club team 10-2 in the opener and 8-2 in the nightcap Sunday. "They won the club team national championship last year. They beat us 3 of 4 last year, so we were fortunate to go down and get two wins," Three Rivers coach Jeff Null said. "I wouldn't say we played our best, but we didn't play bad either. Just a solid day."...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Verl L. Sherrill, 91, of Annapolis, Mo., died Sunday, March 4, 2018, at Iron County Medical Center in Pilot Knob, Mo. Visitation will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at Ruegg Funeral Home in Piedmont. Services will be at 2 p.m. ...

NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Janice Diane Parker, 50, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Saturday, March 3, 2018, in the St. Francis Medical Center of Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was born Dec. 31, 1967 in Okinawa, Japan, to Frank and Faye Welch. She is survived by her parents, as well as two children, Amanda Long of Columbia, Mo., and Ryan Parker of Poplar Bluff, Mo.; one brother, Jim Kennedy of Orlando, Fla.; as well as three grandchildren, Ethan Welch and Haleigh and Liam Long...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Gerald Claude Dawson, 78, of Webster Groves, Mo., died Friday, March 2, 2018, at his residence. Graveside services will be held 1 p.m., Wednesday, March 7, 2018, at Duncan Cemetery near Piedmont. Online condolences can be made at www.rueggfuneralhomes.com...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Kaylie Lynn VanTroba, 26, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, March 4, 2018, at her home. She was born Dec. 2, 1991 in Cape Girardeau to Bill and Tammie (Engelmann) VanTroba. Kaylie was a 2010 graduate of Jackson High School. She was a home care worker for SADI prior to a motor vehicle accident sustained in 2012. She was a member of Hobbs Chapel. Kaylie was a lover of animals. She was a country girl; she loved four-wheeling, hunting, and the outdoors...