Stories from Wednesday, September 26, 2018

The Bloomfield Board of Education met Sept. 10 for its regular meeting. High school student body president Tyrah Hartle spoke to the board about the upcoming school carnival. The school carnival will take place on Oct. 18, during the parent/teacher conference times. Many clubs/organizations are helping with the carnival. More information will be available later in the month...

The Bernie Board of Education met in regular session Sept. 10. Program evaluations on professional development, and curriculum and instruction were reviewed and approved. The board also approved the Extra-Curricular Handbook for the 2018/19 school year, and adding Stephanie Geohagan to the substitute employee list...

"There is so much history in our area of the state," observed Stars and Stripes Museum curator Laura Meyer, "particularly in the fact that the first edition of The Stars and Stripes military newspaper was printed here in Bloomfield in 1861. Liberty Days is our attempt to, not only showcase the museum, but to make history come alive in exciting and different ways."...

The Cherokee Ridge Girl Scouts camp in Southeast Missouri will close permanently Dec. 16 and the property will be sold. The board of directors of the Missouri Heartland Girl Scouts council made that decision Friday. Cherokee Ridge has been a popular destination for area Girl Scouts since it opened in 1966...

Even at this late hour, President Donald Trump can save the Republican Congress in November -- if they want to be saved. To understand how, we need to rewind back to this time last year. That's when Trump made one of the few policy mistakes of his young presidency by failing to veto the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill. ...

Stoddard County Commissioners appointed a new member to the Senate Bill 40 Board Monday morning, following the resignation of Larry McGonigal during the board's July meeting. Rev. Dale Holman was appointed to the board by a roll call vote of the commissioners. Holman, along with Daniel Robinson and Lacy Bennett were up for consideration...

Thursday is shaping up to be the Trump presidency's "Gunfight at O.K. Corral." That day, the fates of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and much else, may be decided. The New York Times report that Rosenstein, sarcastically or seriously in May 2017, talked of wearing a wire into the Oval Office to entrap the president, suggests that his survival into the new year is improbable...

An alarm is sounding in this country like never before in our history. The alarm is an alert to a sea change of social, political, and economic upheaval that is just over the horizon. All is not lost. But all is in danger. We remain a nation of laws and of rules. But increasingly, we are seeing that both the laws and the rules don't apply equally...

Staff Reports Fall has arrived and so has the time for harvesting crops. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reminds drivers to expect heavier farm machinery traffic -- especially on rural highways. Please obey all traffic laws and remain vigilant. Most importantly, everyone is encouraged to share the road. Farmers and motorists alike should be safe, courteous drivers...

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Cody Hunter Morgeson, of Neelyville participated in The American Legion Boys State of Missouri on June 16-23 on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. Morgeson was selected based on his leadership, citizenship, academics and character during his junior year at Neelyville High School...

Staff Reports Members of the Wappapello Lake Area Association will need additional volunteers to go through Christmas lights and other items for the annual Festival of Lights Auto Tour, the group reported this month. WLAA met Sept. 11, with 15 people attending...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Saint Francis Healthcare System Foundation and the Saint Francis Auxiliary awarded health care scholarships to 23 area students in August for $2,000. One student received an executive scholarship for pursing a master's degree in health care administration and received a $5,000 stipend annually for two years for a total of $10,000. The newest executive scholarship is named in honor of former Saint Francis president and CEO, Steven C. Bjelich...

City meetings Aldermen The Dexter Board of Aldermen will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at the Municipal Building. Items on the agenda include reports by the city auditor, committees, departments, the mayor, city administrator and others. Airport board The Dexter Municipal Airport Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at the airport...

Aldermen The Dexter Board of Aldermen will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at the Municipal Building. Items on the agenda include reports by the city auditor, committees, departments, the mayor, city administrator and others. Airport board The Dexter Municipal Airport Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at the airport...

The King birth announcement in the Sunday, Sept. 23 edition featured incorrect information. Following is the corrected version. The DAR apologizes for the error. Easton Cade King Hillary Danielle King and Jeffrey Cade King of Poplar Bluff, Mo., are they parents of a son born July 29, 2018, at the Family Birthplace, St. Francis Healthcare System, Cape Girardeau, Mo. They selected the named Easton Cade King and he weighed 3 pounds 15 ounces and was 16.14 inches long...

PRICEVILLE, Ala. - Lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan Roger D. Kearbey passed away peacefully on September 24, 2018, enveloped by the love of his family and friends and in the middle of a late season charge by the team he loved. He was 76. Born in Poplar Bluff, Missouri on August 4, 1942, Roger is survived by his beloved wife Barbara Sittason of Decatur, Alabama, his adoring children and grandchildren, Jeff and Tara Kearbey and their kids Taylor and Matthew of Memphis, Tennessee, and Robert and Amy Kearbey and their kids Owen, Graham and Russell of Bethesda, Maryland. ...

Staff Reports Aspen Contracting announced the winners of its Covers for Others program designed to provide free roofs to deserving individuals and families across the country. Tiffany Hampton of Poplar Bluff will soon have a new roof over her head, complete with the color of her choice, courtesy of Aspen Contracting and local sponsors...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Mancie Earl Henson, 84, of Patterson, Mo., died Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. Visitation will be held from 4:30 - 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, at Ruegg Funeral Home, Piedmont. Services will follow at 7 p.m., also at the chapel. Cremation will follow services...

DEXTER -- The Dexter Bearcats put Monday night's loss to Advance behind them. The Bearcats built a big lead in the first set and held off Leopold in the second for a 25-11, 25-22 victory Tuesday night at the Bearcat Event Center. Advance beat the Bearcats 25-21, 25-17 to snap their five-match winning streak and deliver Dexter its first SCAA loss...

A federal judge in St. Louis imposed fines and damages Tuesday totaling $5.49 million against Cape Girardeau neurosurgeon Sonjay Fonn and his fiancée, Deborah Seeger, over a kickback scheme. A federal jury in November 2017 convicted Fonn and Seeger of submitting false and fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims...

FISK -- Twin Rivers varsity volleyball earned its first victory of the season in three sets (15-25, 25-19, 25-17) Tuesday against Richland. Kristen Withrow shouldered the bulk of the load offensively with seven kills, and she put up five blocks in a solid defensive performance for the Royals (1-15-2)...

MALDEN, Mo. - Timothy 'Tim' House, 48, of Malden, died Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Visitation will be at 6 p.m., Friday, Sept. 28 at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden. The funeral will be at 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 29 at Bradshaw Chapel - Malden. Burial will be in Mt. Gilead Cemetery in Clarkton, Mo...

FISK, Mo.-- Sherlene Trout, 77, of Broseley, Mo., died Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018 at her daughter's residence at Fisk, Mo. Mrs. Trout was born March 3, 1941 in the Webb community, daughter of the late Elbert Davis and Lassie Dement. She was a homemaker. She attended the former Full Gospel Church at Broseley...

By MARYBETH NIEDERKORN Southeast Missourian CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Carlos Vargas-Aburto, Southeast Missouri State University president, has apologized for a Sept. 15 incident where he accepted a drink from a beer bong at a tailgate party ahead of Southeast's football game at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - Elizabeth Quay of St. James, the daughter of the late Stephen Udel and Helen Madden, was born in Illinois on December 25, 1948, and passed away at the St. Louis University Medical Center in St. Louis on September 22, 2018, at the age of 69 years, 8 months and 28 days...

DEXTER -- Members of the Senate Bill 40 board that oversees programs for the developmentally disabled in Stoddard County voted Tuesday to make approximately $60,000 in payments to an existing sheltered workshop, while stripping money for other new programs from their 2019 budget...

DEXTER -- Auditors called into question Tuesday for a second time a decision by a Stoddard County board to spend $2.57 million on building construction that was not put out for bid. The matter was raised as Senate Bill 40 board members received audits for the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years. The matter was previously questioned by state auditors during a review of Stoddard County financials...

The community will have the opportunity to experience all the Poplar Bluff Museum has to offer this Thursday evening at Night at the Museum. "We want to test the waters with Night at the Poplar Bluff Museum," Board Member Chris Smith said. "If it goes over well, we hope this could be monthly or quarterly."...