Stories from Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Jonesboro kept a comfortable, but not dominant, lead over Liberty Tech for most of the championship game of the 26th annual Poplar Bluff Showdown before separating itself at the very end Saturday night at Peters Gym. From four minutes into the game to when there was only two minutes left in the game, Jonesboro (11-2) never lead by more than 13 or less than six. ...

By ERIN RAGAN SEMO News Service Constituents. Conscience. Caucus. U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, considers all three -- in that order -- when deciding how to vote on a bill in Congress, she said. Critics, most notably former opponents in races for the 8th District, say the congresswoman's voting record shows she is "not conservative enough." Emerson has been called "rank and file" when it comes to bill sponsorship, and many times 'moderate' among House members from both parties...

SEMO News Service Lloyd Smith, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party and former chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, announced Friday he will seek to be nominated as a candidate for the 8th Congressional District. In an email to members of the Republican congressional committee, who will choose a nominee for the seat to run in a special election, Smith said he hopes to talk with committee members about his vision for serving in Congress and wants to answer questions they may have about his background, family, faith, philosophy of government and political experience.. ...

By MIKE McCOY SEMO News Service BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Stoddard County Treasurer/Collector Carla Knowles Moore told the Stoddard County Commission she would not sign checks written by Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver to provide Christmas bonuses of $1,000 for each of his employees...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN In the fortnight since Chuck Hagel's name was floated for secretary of defense, we have witnessed Washington at its worst. Who is Chuck Hagel? Born in North Platte, Neb., he was a squad leader in Vietnam, twice wounded, who came home to work in Ronald Reagan's 1980 campaign, was twice elected U.S. senator, and is chairman of the Atlantic Council and co-chair of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board...