Stories from Thursday, April 12, 2012

SEMO NEWS SERVICE BENTON, Mo. -- A former Malden, Mo., tanning salon owner was sentenced this week on charges that he secretly taped women at his salon. According to Dunklin County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen P. Sokoloff, Joseph Layland Jr., 37, entered guilty pleas on Monday in Scott County Circuit Court before Judge David Dolan on two counts of possession of child pornography and one count of felony invasion of privacy. ...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer The opening phase of planned improvements of Oak Grove Road may not be as profitable for Poplar Bluff R-I School District as officials originally hoped. The district believed when the project began they could make as much as $600,000 from dirt on property near the 5th & 6th Grade Center, which could be sold for fill during construction of the interchange at Bypass 67 and Oak Grove road...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor The Eight Points Redevelopment Plan and Project were presented to the Poplar Bluff Tax Increment Financing Commission Wednesday night. A public hearing was scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 30, in City Hall. "We are very excited to be in Poplar Bluff," said Jeffrey Otto of THF Realty, which is a partner with K2 Developers in creating the 92-acre Eight Points Commercial Development bordered by Bypass 67, Westwood Boulevard and Oak Grove Road...

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer Local law enforcement officials are considering non-lethal means to apprehend suspects, diffuse dangerous situations and control unruly crowds. Brian Luetschwager of AMTEC Less Lethal Systems recently met with Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs, Poplar Bluff Deputy Police Chief Jeff Rolland and other officers from the police department, Three Rivers College public safety department and state fire marshal's office. ...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor NAYLOR, Mo. -- Two Naylor school board candidates, who tied in the April 3 election, have nearly seven more weeks to campaign before a winner is determined. There will be a runoff election on Tuesday, May 29, according to Sherry Burns, superintendent of the Naylor School District...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer The opening phase of planned improvements of Oak Grove Road may not be as profitable for Poplar Bluff R-I School District as officials originally hoped. The district believed when the project began they could make as much as $600,000 from dirt on property near the 5th & 6th Grade Center, which could be sold for fill during construction of the interchange at Bypass 67 and Oak Grove road...

From Staff Reports Get out your walking shoes, gather friends and family together and plan to attend the inaugural United Cancer Assistance Network walk Saturday, May 19, to show support for UCAN, and to honor the forever inspiring Sarah White. There are no sponsorship levels. There is no fee to walk...

By BARBARA ANN HORTON News Editor When Mike Horner found a lump in his neck shaving one morning in June 2011, he thought it was caused by a sinus infection, but decided to have it examined. Finding the lump, which was cancer, was a life changing experience for him...

Skin Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Skin cancer is the most common of all cancer types. More than 3.5 million skin cancers are diagnosed each year in the United States. That's more than all other cancers combined. The number of skin cancer cases has been going up over the past few decades...

Area gardeners are getting busy and it's time to plant early spring vegetables. I always enjoy fresh green beans; they are easy to grow and provide a good source of nutrition. You will want to plant your bean crop anytime between April 5 and May 10...

Doyle White DEXTER, Mo. -- Doyle Ernest White, 56, of Gideon, Mo., died Monday, April 9, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Mr. White was born on Jan. 20, 1956, in Gideon, Mo. He had lived in the Gideon and Malden areas all his life. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Gideon Baptist Church...

Terry Strickland DEXTER, Mo. -- Terry Glen Strickland, 59, of Puxico, Mo., died Saturday, April 7, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mr. Strickland was born Nov. 16, 1952, in Dexter, Mo. He had worked as a plumber with his father and also was a truck driver. He had lived in Southeast Missouri most of his life, living in Gideon, Mo., Clarkton, Mo., and had lived in Puxico, Mo., for the past four years...

By CAROLYN SMITH Staff Writer Late spring 2011, life was looking good for 20-year-old Josh Copeland of Poplar Bluff, Mo. He had a new job at Ashley Furniture Home Store, which he liked even though it was a more physical position. When his mother, Terri Warbington Finertie, and his stepfather, Stewart Finertie, also of Poplar Bluff, commented on his weight loss, Josh blamed it on the job just as he dismissed his chronic fatigue. ...

Three Rivers sophomore Tarius Johnson has joined an elite group. Johnson, who led the Raiders by averaging 20.2 points per game this season, was recently named to the NJCAA All-American third team. Johnson is just the 24th player in Raider history to be named an All-American and the first since Marquise Carter in 2010...

From Staff Reports Cancer touches everyone's life. While many have not battled the disease themselves, someone in their lives has fought the fight. Some have confronted the disease and survived, while others have struggled and lost, but their labor was just as valiant...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Join a park naturalist on April 21 for a five-mile hike into the Mudlick Natural Area at Sam A. Baker State Park near Patterson, Mo. Sponsored by Missouri State Parks, the free hike will begin at 9 a.m. and last until around 2 p.m. The public is invited to attend...

By CAROLYN SMITH Staff Writer Being diagnosed with cancer is scary. Just ask Jamie Rhodes Douglas of Poplar Bluff, Mo. Seven years ago, Jamie was diagnosed with cancer. She had been suspicious of a mole on her upper left chest for a year before she actually saw a dermatologist. "I don't know how long it had actually been there or at what point it started changing," she said...

Senior athletes in basketball and volleyball will have their final farewell Saturday during the BA All-Star Extravaganza at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter. The annual all-star gathering features seniors in both sports who were nominated and voted for by their coaches and will feature not only all-star games but a volleyball skills competition as well as a boys and girls 3-point shootout and slam dunk contest to close out the action...

Spring turkey season, the long-awaited event, is almost here. When the season opens Monday, lots of hunters will be in the woods trying for that elusive gobbler. Hunters have three weeks to bag two gobblers or bearded hens and the prospects look good for the season...

By MIC PLUNKETT Mo. Dept. of Conservation You might just be missing the boat on who to ask to go hunting or fishing with you on your next adventure. More years ago than I care to remember, I attended a waterfowl enforcement training school. One of the guest speakers was Dr. ...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN The night of his victories in Maryland, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, Mitt Romney laid out the ground upon which he will stand to fight his fall battle with Barack Obama. Obama, said Mitt, seeks "a government-centered society."...

Sheehy Trailer Park promises Speakout: I was glad to see Mr. Sappington's letter in the paper regarding Sheehy Mobile Park. He is totally right. We have no idea what to do, what options we have, etc. I've had chances to rent, sell, move or whatever. But I am staying here because we were told the new trailer park would be much nicer than this one...

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER "I'm confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress." -- Barack Obama, on the constitutional challenge to his health care law, April 2...

Myra Tharp DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Myra Tharp, 91, of Doniphan, Mo., died Wednesday, April 11, 2012, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Funeral arrangements are pending with Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan, Mo.

William Bennett GREENVILLE, Mo. -- William Bennett, 65, of Doniphan, Mo., died Tuesday, April 10, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Visitation will begin at 1 p.m. Friday followed by the funeral at 2 p.m. at Ruegg Funeral Home in Greenville, Mo. Burial will be in Rowland-Woods Cemetery in Patterson, Mo...

Julia Ferrara Dexter, Mo. -- Julia Ferrara, 90, of Dexter, Mo., died Sunday, April 8, 2012, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Mrs. Ferrara was born on Oct. 2, 1921, in Powe, Mo. She was a seamstress at Elder Manufacturing and a member of the Dexter Church of God...

Don Hall PUXICO, Mo. -- Don Hall of Puxico, Mo., died Thursday, April 12, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Funeral arrangements are pending with Morgan Sifford Funeral Home in Puxico.

Mary Goddard KIRKWOOD, Mo. -- Mary Lou Greer Goddard of St. Louis, Mo, died Wednesday, April 11, 2012. She was married to Forrest Goddard. He survives Also surviving are her children, Duane Goddard, Donna Meyers, Patrick Goddard, Daniel Goddard, Susan Cardwell, Joan Spencer, Christopher Goddard, Gregory Goddard, Jeffery Goddard and Thomas Goddard; 31 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; a sisters, Lillian and Margaret; her brother, John; aunt, cousin and friend to many...

Maressa Christian FISK, Mo. -- Maressa Louise Christian, 51, of Nesbit, Miss., died Wednesday, April 11, 2012, at Baptist Memorial Hospital Desoto at Southaven, Miss. Mrs. Christian was born June 23, 1960, in Coloma, Mich., She had lived in Mississippi for several years and had formerly lived at Wappapello, Mo. She was a homemaker and enjoyed spending time outdoors, hiking, beachcombing and exterior designing...

Birdie Hodge Birdie Lorene Hodge, 84, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Tuesday, April 10, 2012, at Mark Twain Caring Center in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Hodge was born June 29, 1927, in Neelyville, Mo. She was of the General Baptist faith, and had retired from the Dietary Department at Lucy Lee Hospital. Mrs. Hodge enjoyed spending time with her family, sewing, fishing, gardening, making flower arrangements and crafts...

By JIM LOW Mo. Dept. of Conservation PUXICO, Mo. -- A particularly successful night of bowfishing left one Southeast Missouri man with a state record and another thinking about what might have been. Ben Fraley and David Warren, both of Sikeston, Mo., were bowfishing together at Duck Creek Conservation Area in Bollinger County March 23 when Fraley hauled in a 10-pound bowfin, a primitive type of fish. Soon afterward, Warren shot an 11-pound, 4-ounce bowfin...

Editor's Note: Robert Ladd is a former resident of Poplar Bluff, who lives in a Kansas City suburb. He wrote a trilogy in response to a question his daughter asked, "What kind of God allows people to suffer?" The first book is entitled THE CONFESSION. The second book THE JOURNEY and the third book THE PROMISE will be available this year...

Mary Goddard KIRKWOOD, Mo. -- Mary Lou Greer Goddard of St. Louis, Mo, died Wednesday, April 11, 2012. She was married to Forrest Goddard. He survives Also surviving are her children, Duane Goddard, Donna Meyers, Patrick Goddard, Daniel Goddard, Susan Cardwell, Joan Spencer, Christopher Goddard, Gregory Goddard, Jeffery Goddard and Thomas Goddard; 31 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; a sisters, Lillian and Margaret; her brother, John; aunt, cousin and friend to many...

With the 2012 Butler County Relay for Life only a few weeks away, it's time to get together with friends, form a team and sign up for this annual event. This year, the Butler County Relay for Life will be held from 6 p.m. - 6 a.m., Friday and Saturday, June 8 - 9, at Ray Clinton Park. ...

Terry Strickland DEXTER, Mo. -- Terry Glen Strickland, 59, of Puxico, Mo., died Saturday, April 7, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mr. Strickland was born Nov. 16, 1952, in Dexter, Mo. He had worked as a plumber with his father and also was a truck driver. He had lived in Southeast Missouri most of his life, living in Gideon, Mo., Clarkton, Mo., and had lived in Puxico, Mo., for the past four years...

Skin Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Skin cancer is the most common of all cancer types. More than 3.5 million skin cancers are diagnosed each year in the United States. That's more than all other cancers combined. The number of skin cancer cases has been going up over the past few decades...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor Rob Callahan's faith in God is helping him deal with the discovery of cancer and his treatment process during the past year. "Early last spring, people were asking me if I was feeling okay. They said my color didn't look right and thought I was losing weight," Callahan said. "I felt good, but then I started having pain."...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN The night of his victories in Maryland, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, Mitt Romney laid out the ground upon which he will stand to fight his fall battle with Barack Obama. Obama, said Mitt, seeks "a government-centered society."...

Spring turkey season, the long-awaited event, is almost here. When the season opens Monday, lots of hunters will be in the woods trying for that elusive gobbler. Hunters have three weeks to bag two gobblers or bearded hens and the prospects look good for the season...

From Staff Reports Cancer touches everyone's life. While many have not battled the disease themselves, someone in their lives has fought the fight. Some have confronted the disease and survived, while others have struggled and lost, but their labor was just as valiant...

By CAROLYN SMITH Staff Writer Late spring 2011, life was looking good for 20-year-old Josh Copeland of Poplar Bluff, Mo. He had a new job at Ashley Furniture Home Store, which he liked even though it was a more physical position. When his mother, Terri Warbington Finertie, and his stepfather, Stewart Finertie, also of Poplar Bluff, commented on his weight loss, Josh blamed it on the job just as he dismissed his chronic fatigue. ...

Senior athletes in basketball and volleyball will have their final farewell Saturday during the BA All-Star Extravaganza at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter. The annual all-star gathering features seniors in both sports who were nominated and voted for by their coaches and will feature not only all-star games but a volleyball skills competition as well as a boys and girls 3-point shootout and slam dunk contest to close out the action...

By CANDICE DAVIS Mo. Dept. of Conservation CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- The Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center will hold a night fishing event for children May 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. This "Nature Center at Night" event will feature lessons on the basics of fishing...

Sheehy Trailer Park promises Speakout: I was glad to see Mr. Sappington's letter in the paper regarding Sheehy Mobile Park. He is totally right. We have no idea what to do, what options we have, etc. I've had chances to rent, sell, move or whatever. But I am staying here because we were told the new trailer park would be much nicer than this one...

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER "I'm confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress." -- Barack Obama, on the constitutional challenge to his health care law, April 2...

Myra Tharp DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Myra Tharp, 91, of Doniphan, Mo., died Wednesday, April 11, 2012, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Funeral arrangements are pending with Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan, Mo.

Birdie Hodge Birdie Lorene Hodge, 84, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Tuesday, April 10, 2012, at Mark Twain Caring Center in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Hodge was born June 29, 1927, in Neelyville, Mo. She was of the General Baptist faith, and had retired from the Dietary Department at Lucy Lee Hospital. Mrs. Hodge enjoyed spending time with her family, sewing, fishing, gardening, making flower arrangements and crafts...

William Bennett GREENVILLE, Mo. -- William Bennett, 65, of Doniphan, Mo., died Tuesday, April 10, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Visitation will begin at 1 p.m. Friday followed by the funeral at 2 p.m. at Ruegg Funeral Home in Greenville, Mo. Burial will be in Rowland-Woods Cemetery in Patterson, Mo...

By MIC PLUNKETT Mo. Dept. of Conservation You might just be missing the boat on who to ask to go hunting or fishing with you on your next adventure. More years ago than I care to remember, I attended a waterfowl enforcement training school. One of the guest speakers was Dr. ...

Don Hall PUXICO, Mo. -- Don Hall of Puxico, Mo., died Thursday, April 12, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Funeral arrangements are pending with Morgan Sifford Funeral Home in Puxico.

Terry Strickland DEXTER, Mo. -- Terry Glen Strickland, 59, of Puxico, Mo., died Saturday, April 7, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mr. Strickland was born Nov. 16, 1952, in Dexter, Mo. He had worked as a plumber with his father and also was a truck driver. He had lived in Southeast Missouri most of his life, living in Gideon, Mo., Clarkton, Mo., and had lived in Puxico, Mo., for the past four years...

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER "I'm confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress." -- Barack Obama, on the constitutional challenge to his health care law, April 2...

Maressa Christian FISK, Mo. -- Maressa Louise Christian, 51, of Nesbit, Miss., died Wednesday, April 11, 2012, at Baptist Memorial Hospital Desoto at Southaven, Miss. Mrs. Christian was born June 23, 1960, in Coloma, Mich., She had lived in Mississippi for several years and had formerly lived at Wappapello, Mo. She was a homemaker and enjoyed spending time outdoors, hiking, beachcombing and exterior designing...