Stories from Friday, March 1, 2019

The 32nd annual Women Aware Conference is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff, planning committee members announced Thursday. “We are very excited about the upcoming conference, speakers and breakout sessions being planned for this year,” said conference director Meredith Rines. ...

A Poplar Bluff World War II veteran turns 100 this Sunday. Staff at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center will help Victor Hayes celebrate the milestone today. Hayes was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1944, at the age of 24, and trained in vehicular operations. He received a Purple Heart after suffering injuries when a tank exploded from a land mine...

Westwood Baptist Academy has earned quite the reputation for winning the VFW Voice of Democracy contest. This year was no exception with junior Gabriele dela Llana taking second place in the local competition and first at the state level. She then went on to the state competition where she received sixth place...

DONIPHAN, Mo. — Natalie Paige Grace, 29, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019, in Poplar Bluff. Visitation will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 2 at the Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan. The funeral service will follow at 3 p.m. in the funeral home chapel.

The Poplar Bluff High School Coffee Crew began serving refreshments to teachers on Tuesday, Feb. 12, in an effort to provide students an opportunity to work on pre-vocational skills for their post-graduation transition. Every Tuesday and Thursday during first and fourth hour, the students bring around a cart to faculty members who order coffee, tea or bottled water. ...

Roy C. Nelson, of Hillsboro, Mo., formerly of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019. Services were held Thursday, Feb. 14 at the Heiligtag-Lang-Fendler Funeral Home in Arnold, Mo. Burial was in the Shepherd Hills Cemetery. Online condolences: www.heiligtagfuneralhome.com

Marriage licenses recently recorded at the Butler County Recorder of Deeds Office include: Melina Breann Gonzalez and Zackwrie Scot Parr Jr., both of Poplar Bluff; Tiffanie Jewel Reece and James Matthew Kearbey, both of Poplar Bluff; Katelyn Brianne Cleaveland and Bohdi Cheyenne Griffin, both of Poplar Bluff;...

An opening reception has been postponed to 1-4 p.m. Sunday, March 10 at the Margaret Harwell Art Museum for “Mills of South Missouri, Paintings by Dave Carter.” The March exhibit focuses on oil paintings that capture a by-gone way-of-life that was a key to life in the region until recent history, according to organizers. ...

I was in awe of the moment this week as two Pro-Life bills I had co-sponsored were being debated on the floor of the House of Representatives. As amendments were added making this multi-faceted bill the strongest anti-abortion bill in the United States, testimony and inquiries were being made back and forth and the sense of drama was electric in the Chamber...

During a normal afternoon of classes at Three Rivers College earlier this week, faculty were surprised when receiving an unexpected knock on their door. The “Prize Patrol” stormed classrooms full of students to present oversized checks to faculty from the Endowment Trust to fund four employee grants...

More than a week after being arrested in Clay County, Ark., a Poplar Bluff man now sits in Butler County jail facing felony charges in connection to a fatal hit-and-run crash from early February. Zack Lee Davis, 23, of the 400 block of Arthur Street was charged with the Class E felonies of leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with physical evidence by Butler County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Paul Oesterreicher...

After nearly 29 years of public service with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Jackson Bostic recently made what he described as the tough decision to retire. Bostic is stepping down Friday as the director of the Southeast Regional Office, a position he has held since 2012...

Residents across the Southeast Missouri and Northern Arkansas regions are again in the crosshairs of an approaching winter storm, this one expected to blanket the area with a dusting to 6 inches of snow starting Saturday night, followed by bitter cold temperatures...

Has tax law become so difficult to understand that the people in charge of it don’t even understand it? We ask because the director of agency responsible of collecting Missouri’s tax seems confused. Department of Revenue Director Joel Walters told the House Budget Committee in January that the state noticed a 15-year-old error in its withholding formula when the federal tax changed...

City firefighters responded at 5:49 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, to an alarm at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, 2620 N. Westwood Blvd. It was investigation only. ———— City firefighters responded at 2:17 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, to a report of an unauthorized burn at the 806 Emma St. residence owned and occupied by Mary Carson...

“We’ve been taking care of the trail for 12 years, maybe longer,” said Gary Garner, leader of the River Springs chapter of the Back Country Horsemen of Missouri, just before embarking on an 8-mile horseback ride to clear a portion of the Ozark Trail’s Wappapello section Wednesday morning...

Divorces recently finalized in Butler County Circuit Court include: Jolene L. Houpt v. James R. Houpt Jr.; Raymond D. Fisher Jr. v. Cindy Fisher; Kristin L. Pierce v. Donald S. Pierce; and Julie A. Hudson v. Robert D. Hudson.

Judge Michael Pritchett The following cases were recently acted upon in Circuit Court, Criminal Division: Nicholas J. Beros, no address listed, was sentenced Dec. 11 after earlier admitted to violating his probation on two Class D felonies of second-degree burglary...