Stories from Sunday, April 22, 2012

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (SMNS) -- Two men, including one from Poplar Bluff, Mo., recently pleaded guilty in federal court to passing counterfeit currency at several Southeast Missouri businesses. Darius A. Lankford, 29, of Huntsville, Ala., pleaded guilty to four counts of passing counterfeit currency and Terry D. ...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor First in an interim capacity and now as the new chief juvenile officer for the 36th Judicial Circuit, Shonda Hill has had what is described as an immediate impact, bringing fresh ideas and improving the public perception of the juvenile office...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor Three delegates and three alternates pledged to support Mitt Romney on the first ballot during the National Republican Convention were elected Saturday during the Republican Congressional District 8 Convention in Poplar Bluff...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor Having a strong background in child abuse and neglect cases is a bonus for Melissa Dowd as she takes over as the 36th Judicial Circuit's chief deputy juvenile officer. In her new capacity, Dowd, who was sworn in last week by Butler County Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett and replaces Shonda Hill, primarily will be assigned abuse and neglect cases in Butler County and oversee those cases through the juvenile court process...

Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center proudly announces a Topping Out celebration for the new, $173 million hospital to be located at the hospital construction site on the corner of Oak Grove Road and Shelby Lane in Poplar Bluff, Mo. The celebration is scheduled at 11 a.m. May 9...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor First in an interim capacity and now as the new chief juvenile officer for the 36th Judicial Circuit, Shonda Hill has had what is described as an immediate impact, bringing fresh ideas and improving the public perception of the juvenile office...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor Three delegates and three alternates pledged to support Mitt Romney on the first ballot during the National Republican Convention were elected Saturday during the Republican Congressional District 8 Convention in Poplar Bluff...

Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center proudly announces a Topping Out celebration for the new, $173 million hospital to be located at the hospital construction site on the corner of Oak Grove Road and Shelby Lane in Poplar Bluff, Mo. The celebration is scheduled at 11 a.m. May 9...

Voter: talking to board OK "Reading Coaches' Pay Still Debated," in Wednesday, April 11 paper, Mr. Thornton tells that concerns are supposed routed through the president's office at the college instead of directly talking to board members. What are these people looking for? If I, as a person who voted for them, can't talk to them about concerns of the college, why are they there? Why should everything have to go through the president? What kind of policy is that?...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- In the summer of 1787, just 94 years after the Salem witch trials, as paragons of the Enlightenment such as James Madison, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin deliberated in the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, a mob pelted and otherwise tormented to death a woman accused of being a witch. ...

By SHARON RANDALL Scripps Howard News Service He calls her his "Big Woman." I wish you could see her. She is big, yes, but curvy in all the right places, taller and wider than I am, which is pretty darn tall and wide. But I will give her this: She wears it well...

Jerry and Dianna Stratton of Broseley, Mo., will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception from 2-4 p.m., Saturday, April 28, 2012, at the Elk General Baptist Church. The couple was married in Broseley home of the late Rev. Oden Coats who performed the ceremony. ...

Students at Sacred Heart Catholic School earning places on the honor roll are: A Honor Roll 1st Grade: Roddy Baz, Kathryne Bryne, Olivia Carda-Smith, Grace Daves, Nicholas Deken, Liam Elliott, Drew Gilmore, Billy Gribbins, Madison Hockersmith, Breanna Kanell, Simran Khanuja, Sydney Kramer, Davis McGath, Sha're Phelps, Madelyn Redmond, Ashley Rivera, River Rowland, Andrew Rubi, Jaron Shi...

Laura Stroder DEXTER, Mo. -- Laura Dianne Stroder, 44, of Dexter, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, at her residence. She was born May 16, 1967, in Bloomfield, Mo. She was an employee with Southeast Missouri Area Agency on Aging in Cape Girardeau, Mo. and a resident of Dexter...

Tabita Hoppers PUXICO, Mo. -- Tabita Hoppers of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, at her residence. Funeral arrangements are pending with Morgan Sifford Funeral Home in Puxico.

Helen Zuck DEXTER, Mo. -- Helen Beatress Zuck, 82, of Dexter, Mo., died Friday, April 20, 2012, in Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mrs. Zuck was born on July 4, 1929, in Parma, Mo. She had grown up in Parma and had lived the past 20 years in Dexter, Mo. She was employed by Kneibert Clinic as a janitor. She was a member of the Faith Fellowship Bible Way Church in Dexter...

William Eli Pogue Jr. PUXICO, Mo. -- William Eli Pogue Jr., 77, of Puxico, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, at his daughter's home in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The son of the late William Eli Pogue Sr. and Wilma Sweat Pogue, he was born in Osceola, Ark., on June 24, 1934...

Anna Price ELLSINORE, Mo. -- Anna Lee Price, 79, of Gosnell, Ark., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, in Gosnell, Ark. Mrs. Price was born May 3, 1932, in Ellsinore, Mo. Her teaching career began at Brushy Creek, before she married and moved to Wyoming. ...

Wilma Craft DEXTER, Mo. -- Wilma Jean Craft, 75, of Dexter, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Mrs. Craft was born on Aug. 26, 1936 in Crump, Mo. She had worked at the International Hat Factory and was a homemaker. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Essex...

Abe Selby MALDEN, Mo. -- Wyman Lincoln (Abe) Selby, 84, of Malden, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, at Golden Living Center in Malden. Mr. Selby was born Feb. 12, 1928, in Kennett, Mo., the son of Wyman Macky Selby and Alice Louise Waddell Selby. He was a member of the First Southern Baptist Church in Malden. He spent most of his working years selling Case/I.H. farm equipment...

Donald Beck ELLINGTON, Mo. -- Donald Leo Beck, 78, of Ellington, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, in Westwood Hills Healthcare in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mr. Beck was born July 12, 1933, in Ellington. He was a member of Redford Baptist Church and had served two four-year terms as Reynolds County Treasurer...

Lawanda Sanders MALDEN, Mo. -- Lawanda L. Sanders, 77, of Malden, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Mrs. Sanders was born May 25, 1934, in Bragg City, Mo. She was a member of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness in Malden. She had worked as a real estate broker...

Ruby Yeats MALDEN, Mo. -- Ruby Jane Yeats, 84, of Risco, Mo., died Wednesday, April 18, 2012, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Mrs. Yeats was born March 18, 1928, in Dawson, Ga. She was a member of Pleasantview General Baptist Church in Risco...

Robert Dean DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Robert "Bob" J. Dean, 86, of Doniphan, Mo., died Friday April 20, 2012, at Current River Nursing Center in Doniphan. Mr. Dean was born Jan. 9, 1926, in Wheelwright, Ky. He was an owner/operator of Dean's T.V. where he did sales and repair. Mr. Dean enjoyed fishing, gardening, and political debates. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served aboard the U.S.S. YMS 134 during World War II...

Jerry Briney NEELYVILLE, Mo. ­-- Jerry R. Briney, 69, of Harviell, Mo., died Friday, April 20, 2012, at Westwood Hills Healthcare Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mr. Briney was born March 14, 1943, at Pocahontas, Ark. He was a member of Calvary Community Church in Poplar Bluff. He had lived in Butler County for about 30 years and in the Mo-Ark and Corning, Ark., area...

Eva Lea Schlief DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Eva Lea Schlief, 86, of Doniphan, Mo., died Friday, April 20, 2012, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Schlief, daughter of Otto and Matilda (Rennicke) Ruegger, was born Sept. 12, 1925, in Waldenburg, Ark. ...

Viola Brooks FISK, Mo. -- Viola Brooks, 80, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at The Cedargate in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Brooks was born Nov. 7, 1931, in Malden, Mo. She had lived around Poplar Bluff most of her life. She was a homemaker and enjoyed making floral arrangements and flower gardening...

Carl Rosenquist CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Carl E. "Dusty" Rosenquist, 63, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died unexpectedly, Thursday, April 19, 2012 at his home. He was born Dec. 2, 1948, in Cape Girardeau, Mo., to Robert C. and Laverne C. Welter Rosenquist. He and Susan Hoxworth Smith were married Aug. 5, 1995, at Scott City, Mo...

The Missouri Department of Transportation will celebrate National Work Zone Awareness Week from April 23-27. To celebrate this week, the Southeast District has planned interactive activities to emphasize the importance of work zone safety. "In 2011, 701 people were injured in Missouri work zones, compared to 1,036 in 2010," said District Engineer Mark Shelton. ...

Anna Price -- Gosnell, Ark. Helen Zuck -- Dexter, Mo. William Pogue -- Puxico, Mo. Abe Selby -- Malden, Mo. Ruby Yeats -- Risco, Mo. Wilma Craft -- Dexter, Mo. Lawanda Sanders -- Malden, Mo. Donald Beck -- Ellington, Mo. Viola Brooks -- Poplar Bluff, Mo...

Thelma Burns PUXICO, Mo. -- Thelma B. Burns of Puxico, Mo., died Friday at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Monday at Puxico General Baptist Church. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the church with the Rev. Kenneth Lambert officiating. Burial will be in Morgan Memorial Park in Advance...

Ryan Nippe and the Twin Rivers Royals wiggled out of jams for much of the game Friday, but Poplar Bluff's Jeff Rowland didn't let them off the hook in the seventh inning. Rowland slapped a 2-run, game-winning single to rally the Mules past the Royals 4-3 at Strenfel Memorial Field...

The Three Rivers pitching staff worked out of jams in key spots Saturday against Maple Woods. Logan Morris kept the tying run from scoring in the top of the sixth inning of the first game as the Raiders held on for a 8-6 win. Skylar Cobb then out of a bases-loaded jam for the save in a 6-3 win in the nightcap at Roger Pattillo Field...

The Three Rivers Lady Raiders' offense was rolling Saturday afternoon. The Lady Raiders had 20 hits on the day as they beat Maple Woods 7-1 and 9-3 at Rains Field. "It is pretty special, they just keep stepping up and getting hits at the right times," Three Rivers coach Jack Childress said. "We are playing pretty good defensively...

DONIPHAN -- The Doniphan Dons picked up a big Ozark Foothills Conference upset Friday afternoon as the edged out Neelyville, 2-1. Doniphan (8-6) got a strong start out of David Baca who pitched the complete-game and struck out 10 while allowing three hits...

FARMINGTON -- The Poplar Bluff golf team geared up for the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 tournament with some extra practice Saturday after finishing third at the Mehlville Invitational. Instead of heading straight home, Mules coach Billy Pyland said the players wanted to head straight to the driving range...

POTOSI -- Poplar Bluff's record-setting 400-meter relay won in cold and wet conditions Friday night at the Potosi Trojan Relays. Soley Webb, Rachael Simon, Daisha Rice and Saudia Hudgies won the race in 51.31 seconds, finishing just 0.71 of a second off their record time...

Voter: talking to board OK "Reading Coaches' Pay Still Debated," in Wednesday, April 11 paper, Mr. Thornton tells that concerns are supposed routed through the president's office at the college instead of directly talking to board members. What are these people looking for? If I, as a person who voted for them, can't talk to them about concerns of the college, why are they there? Why should everything have to go through the president? What kind of policy is that?...

Jerry and Dianna Stratton of Broseley, Mo., will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception from 2-4 p.m., Saturday, April 28, 2012, at the Elk General Baptist Church. The couple was married in Broseley home of the late Rev. Oden Coats who performed the ceremony. ...

Jerry Briney NEELYVILLE, Mo. ­-- Jerry R. Briney, 69, of Harviell, Mo., died Friday, April 20, 2012, at Westwood Hills Healthcare Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mr. Briney was born March 14, 1943, at Pocahontas, Ark. He was a member of Calvary Community Church in Poplar Bluff. He had lived in Butler County for about 30 years and in the Mo-Ark and Corning, Ark., area...

By SHARON RANDALL Scripps Howard News Service He calls her his "Big Woman." I wish you could see her. She is big, yes, but curvy in all the right places, taller and wider than I am, which is pretty darn tall and wide. But I will give her this: She wears it well...

Tabita Hoppers PUXICO, Mo. -- Tabita Hoppers of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, at her residence. Funeral arrangements are pending with Morgan Sifford Funeral Home in Puxico.

Students at Sacred Heart Catholic School earning places on the honor roll are: A Honor Roll 1st Grade: Roddy Baz, Kathryne Bryne, Olivia Carda-Smith, Grace Daves, Nicholas Deken, Liam Elliott, Drew Gilmore, Billy Gribbins, Madison Hockersmith, Breanna Kanell, Simran Khanuja, Sydney Kramer, Davis McGath, Sha're Phelps, Madelyn Redmond, Ashley Rivera, River Rowland, Andrew Rubi, Jaron Shi...

Laura Stroder DEXTER, Mo. -- Laura Dianne Stroder, 44, of Dexter, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, at her residence. She was born May 16, 1967, in Bloomfield, Mo. She was an employee with Southeast Missouri Area Agency on Aging in Cape Girardeau, Mo. and a resident of Dexter...

William Eli Pogue Jr. PUXICO, Mo. -- William Eli Pogue Jr., 77, of Puxico, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, at his daughter's home in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The son of the late William Eli Pogue Sr. and Wilma Sweat Pogue, he was born in Osceola, Ark., on June 24, 1934...

Helen Zuck DEXTER, Mo. -- Helen Beatress Zuck, 82, of Dexter, Mo., died Friday, April 20, 2012, in Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mrs. Zuck was born on July 4, 1929, in Parma, Mo. She had grown up in Parma and had lived the past 20 years in Dexter, Mo. She was employed by Kneibert Clinic as a janitor. She was a member of the Faith Fellowship Bible Way Church in Dexter...

Abe Selby MALDEN, Mo. -- Wyman Lincoln (Abe) Selby, 84, of Malden, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, at Golden Living Center in Malden. Mr. Selby was born Feb. 12, 1928, in Kennett, Mo., the son of Wyman Macky Selby and Alice Louise Waddell Selby. He was a member of the First Southern Baptist Church in Malden. He spent most of his working years selling Case/I.H. farm equipment...

Anna Price ELLSINORE, Mo. -- Anna Lee Price, 79, of Gosnell, Ark., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, in Gosnell, Ark. Mrs. Price was born May 3, 1932, in Ellsinore, Mo. Her teaching career began at Brushy Creek, before she married and moved to Wyoming. ...

Ruby Yeats MALDEN, Mo. -- Ruby Jane Yeats, 84, of Risco, Mo., died Wednesday, April 18, 2012, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Mrs. Yeats was born March 18, 1928, in Dawson, Ga. She was a member of Pleasantview General Baptist Church in Risco...

Wilma Craft DEXTER, Mo. -- Wilma Jean Craft, 75, of Dexter, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Mrs. Craft was born on Aug. 26, 1936 in Crump, Mo. She had worked at the International Hat Factory and was a homemaker. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Essex...

Donald Beck ELLINGTON, Mo. -- Donald Leo Beck, 78, of Ellington, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, in Westwood Hills Healthcare in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mr. Beck was born July 12, 1933, in Ellington. He was a member of Redford Baptist Church and had served two four-year terms as Reynolds County Treasurer...

Viola Brooks FISK, Mo. -- Viola Brooks, 80, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at The Cedargate in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Brooks was born Nov. 7, 1931, in Malden, Mo. She had lived around Poplar Bluff most of her life. She was a homemaker and enjoyed making floral arrangements and flower gardening...

Lawanda Sanders MALDEN, Mo. -- Lawanda L. Sanders, 77, of Malden, Mo., died Thursday, April 19, 2012, in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Mrs. Sanders was born May 25, 1934, in Bragg City, Mo. She was a member of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness in Malden. She had worked as a real estate broker...

Anna Price -- Gosnell, Ark. Helen Zuck -- Dexter, Mo. William Pogue -- Puxico, Mo. Abe Selby -- Malden, Mo. Ruby Yeats -- Risco, Mo. Wilma Craft -- Dexter, Mo. Lawanda Sanders -- Malden, Mo. Donald Beck -- Ellington, Mo. Viola Brooks -- Poplar Bluff, Mo...

Carl Rosenquist CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Carl E. "Dusty" Rosenquist, 63, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died unexpectedly, Thursday, April 19, 2012 at his home. He was born Dec. 2, 1948, in Cape Girardeau, Mo., to Robert C. and Laverne C. Welter Rosenquist. He and Susan Hoxworth Smith were married Aug. 5, 1995, at Scott City, Mo...

Eva Lea Schlief DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Eva Lea Schlief, 86, of Doniphan, Mo., died Friday, April 20, 2012, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Schlief, daughter of Otto and Matilda (Rennicke) Ruegger, was born Sept. 12, 1925, in Waldenburg, Ark. ...

The Three Rivers Lady Raiders' offense was rolling Saturday afternoon. The Lady Raiders had 20 hits on the day as they beat Maple Woods 7-1 and 9-3 at Rains Field. "It is pretty special, they just keep stepping up and getting hits at the right times," Three Rivers coach Jack Childress said. "We are playing pretty good defensively...

Ryan Nippe and the Twin Rivers Royals wiggled out of jams for much of the game Friday, but Poplar Bluff's Jeff Rowland didn't let them off the hook in the seventh inning. Rowland slapped a 2-run, game-winning single to rally the Mules past the Royals 4-3 at Strenfel Memorial Field...

DONIPHAN -- The Doniphan Dons picked up a big Ozark Foothills Conference upset Friday afternoon as the edged out Neelyville, 2-1. Doniphan (8-6) got a strong start out of David Baca who pitched the complete-game and struck out 10 while allowing three hits...

Voter: talking to board OK "Reading Coaches' Pay Still Debated," in Wednesday, April 11 paper, Mr. Thornton tells that concerns are supposed routed through the president's office at the college instead of directly talking to board members. What are these people looking for? If I, as a person who voted for them, can't talk to them about concerns of the college, why are they there? Why should everything have to go through the president? What kind of policy is that?...

Robert Dean DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Robert "Bob" J. Dean, 86, of Doniphan, Mo., died Friday April 20, 2012, at Current River Nursing Center in Doniphan. Mr. Dean was born Jan. 9, 1926, in Wheelwright, Ky. He was an owner/operator of Dean's T.V. where he did sales and repair. Mr. Dean enjoyed fishing, gardening, and political debates. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served aboard the U.S.S. YMS 134 during World War II...