Stories from Friday, February 24, 2012

By MELISSA MILLER SEMO News Service CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Postal workers believe only Congress can save their jobs now that the U.S. Postal Service has confirmed it intends to close Cape Girardeau's Richard G. Wilson Processing and Distribution Facility...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor Mid Continent Steel and Wire, Inc. of Poplar Bluff, Mo., will expand production and add 100 jobs, the new owners from Mexico announced Thursday. "We have a short-term objective of increasing the production capacity to 100,000 tons per year," said Raul Guiterrez, one of the three brothers who own DEACERO based in Monterrey, Mexico. "This will be 40 percent more than our present capacity."...

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer The Twin Rivers R-X School Board voted Thursday to annex a portion of the Qulin campus that is not in the city limits. The issue will now be decided by the Qulin city council. The city limits cut through the campus, explained Superintendent Mike Stevenson...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor Black smoke filling the sky Thursday morning led a local officer to finding not only a fire, but a suspected shake-and-bake methamphetamine lab. At about 8:20 a.m., Poplar Bluff Police Detective Corey Mitchell said, he was eastbound on Barron Road near Charlton Lane when he saw black smoke to his north...

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer After paying off six buses in the past two years, Twin Rivers R-X is looking at purchasing three new buses this year. The issue was tabled after lengthy debate over propane and diesel engines. Kurt Lichtenegger presented bids for three propane and three diesel engine buses...

By SHARON RANDALL Scripps Howard News Service Maybe next time I will tell you about the hundreds (or possibly millions; I can't say for sure, because at some point I lost count) of birthday cards that arrived this week addressed to me and "Birthday Boy."...

By CAROLYN SMITH Staff Writer The men at the United Gospel Rescue Mission on Broadway will sleep much warmer thanks to the donation of 23 quilts by Margaret Fowler of Poplar Bluff, Mo., and her niece, Vida McDonald of Strong, Ark. The quilts were customized for the beds at the mission. Each quilt is approximately 63" x 90". Fowler said, "The mission beds are more or less in the style of bunk beds, so I took measurements."...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- In 1960, when Thomas Mallon was in the fourth grade, he wore his Nixon-Lodge button to school and warned classmates that John Kennedy was too inexperienced to be president. Mallon was crushed when Richard Nixon lost, but things worked out well. He is a novelist for whom Nixon eventually provided interesting characters...

"Remembering Our Fallen," a photo exhibit of Missouri's Fallen will be on display March 1- 8 at the Dexter Welcome Center Depot/Museum, 10 West S. Main St., Dexter, Mo. This exhibit includes photos of the 137 Missourians killed in The War on Terror while wearing our country's uniform in a war zone...

Beulah O'Conner Beulah A. O'Conner of Wappapello, Mo., died Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012, at her residence. Funeral arrangements are pending with Watkins & Sons Funeral Service of Puxico, Mo.

Charles Cantrell DEXTER, Mo. -- Charles Cantrell, 55, of Dexter, Mo., died early Friday morning, Feb. 24, 2012, at the Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Funeral arrangements are pending with Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter.

Esther Frazier GREENVILLE, Mo. -- Esther M. Frazier, 83, of Greenville, Mo., died Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, Poplar Bluff, Mo. She was born Oct. 15, 1928, to the late Oscar William Frazier and the late Della (Hughey) Frazier, in Lowndes, Mo. She attended grade school at Lowndes, and high school at Greenville. She graduated in 1946. Shortly after graduation she worked for Hal Bennett in the Greenville Abstract office...

Dorothy Kearbey Dorothy M. Kearbey of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012, at Current River Nursing Home in Doniphan, Mo. Funeral arrangements are pending with Cotrell Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

PUXICO -- As soon as Puxico senior Anthony Strunk jumped off the bench to check into the game Thursday night, the fans at Arnold Ryan Gymnasium erupted. It was the fourth quarter of a 30-point blowout junior varsity game when Strunk walked onto the court to a standing ovation...

Cecila Conners PUXICO, Mo. -- Cecila Conners of Puxico, Mo., died Friday, Feb. 24, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Funeral arrangements are pending with Morgan Sifford Funeral Home in Puxico.

Year one of the two-year district realignment was forgettable for area girls basketball teams that are MSHSAA Class 3 or smaller last year. Not counting Naylor's automatic title in Class 1 which shot them directly into the sectional round, last year's teams were shutout in district play with only Neelyville playing in a championship game where they lost to rival Couch...

Eddie and Dawn McNeer of Brandon, Miss., have chosen the name Henry Lloyd McNeer for their 7-pound, 1-ounce son born at 10:50 p.m., on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012 at Woman's Hospital at River Oaks in Flowood, Miss. Henry was 18 1/2 inches in length. Grandparents are Gary and Ellen Cates of Poplar Bluff, Mo., and Marie McNeer of Carrollton, Miss., and the late Harold Lloyd McNeer...

If you are looking for one of the best districts in the state next week, look no farther than MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 at Bloomfield High School. Individually, the top-5 seeds could easily win a district if in another bracket and it's expected the winner from here could go to the Show-Me Showdown just like Charleston did last year and took third place...

PUXICO -- Jacob Plunkett scored 21 points including four 3-pointers as Puxico held off Twin Rivers on Thursday in Senior Night, 74-65. Nathan Martin had 17 points and Matt Camden finished with 12 in the win. Michael Snider had 23 points for Twin Rivers (8-16) while Wes McCollum had 15 in the loss. Puxico led by three after two quarters before coming out hard in the third quarter and making five 3-pointers as they went on to win by nine...

The Scleroderma/Lupus Group will meet at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 1, at Perkins' Restaurant. This month's speaker will be Mindy Matthews, RPT., who will talk about physical therapy and yoga as methods for managing stress. Refreshments will be served. Please note this is a new location for the meeting...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A week after being apprehended for allegedly escaping from the Stoddard County Jail, a Puxico, Mo., area man pleaded guilty to those actions. Jason Stroup was to appear Thursday before Associate Circuit Judge Joe Satterfield for arraignment on the Class D felony of escape from custody...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor CORNING, Ark. -- Filing for county offices in Clay County began Thursday. Ronnie Cole of Piggott, a former sheriff, filed as a Democratic candidate for sheriff in the May 22 primary election in Clay County, Ark...

James Hardesty CAMPBELL, Mo. -- James R. Hardesty, 81, of Campbell, Mo., died Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Mr. Hardesty was born on Feb. 4, 1931 in Marston, Mo., to the late Erman H. and Bess Belt Hardesty...

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt was discouraged after what transpired Thursday night in Alabama. The Redhawks suffered through a 10-minute scoreless drought that spanned both halves. Southeast also lacked the physical and mental toughness Nutt seeks. Host Jacksonville State rolled to a 69-59 victory...

By CAROLYN SMITH Staff Writer The men at the United Gospel Rescue Mission on Broadway will sleep much warmer thanks to the donation of 23 quilts by Margaret Fowler of Poplar Bluff, Mo., and her niece, Vida McDonald of Strong, Ark. The quilts were customized for the beds at the mission. Each quilt is approximately 63" x 90". Fowler said, "The mission beds are more or less in the style of bunk beds, so I took measurements."...

Dorothy Kearbey Dorothy M. Kearbey of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012, at Current River Nursing Home in Doniphan, Mo. Funeral arrangements are pending with Cotrell Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Eddie and Dawn McNeer of Brandon, Miss., have chosen the name Henry Lloyd McNeer for their 7-pound, 1-ounce son born at 10:50 p.m., on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012 at Woman's Hospital at River Oaks in Flowood, Miss. Henry was 18 1/2 inches in length. Grandparents are Gary and Ellen Cates of Poplar Bluff, Mo., and Marie McNeer of Carrollton, Miss., and the late Harold Lloyd McNeer...

If you are looking for one of the best districts in the state next week, look no farther than MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 at Bloomfield High School. Individually, the top-5 seeds could easily win a district if in another bracket and it's expected the winner from here could go to the Show-Me Showdown just like Charleston did last year and took third place...