Stories from Saturday, August 24, 2013

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Groups are no longer required to obtain a special use permit to hold baptisms in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, officials announced Thursday. The reversal in policy came following inquiries from Missouri U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-Salem, Mo.)...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer The summer's persistent rainfall will make for a late harvest, Butler County farmer Will Spargo explained Thursday to Missouri U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, while the pair examined a field of rice just south of Neelyville, Mo...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer The 21st annual field day at the state's only farmer-owned research farm offered an opportunity to share its accomplishments and educate rice growers about new practices and technology. The event drew more than 200 people Thursday morning to the Missouri Rice Research and Demonstration Farm near Glennonville, Mo...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor Assets owned by Poplar Bluff Internet, Inc. were seized Thursday morning to partially satisfy a $206,787 judgment the city of Poplar Bluff obtained in Butler County Circuit Court. Butler County Sheriff's Department Process Server Jerry Armes executed the judgment while being accompanied by Poplar Bluff Street Department workers with a truck and a trailer...

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer The homeless are all around us, according to members of First Baptist Church's Love2PB group, and reaching out to them should be a top priority. To help meet that goal, Love2PB is hosting a block party from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday in the Black River Coliseum parking lot. Information on employment, housing and addiction recovery will be available, as well as practical items for those in need...

Letha McCarrick MALDEN, Mo. -- Letha Mae Walker McCarrick, 79, of Holly, Mich., died Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013, at her residence. Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday and until the funeral starts at 11 a.m. at the Bradshaw Funeral Home chapel in Malden. Burial will be at the Stanfield Cemetery in Clarkton, Mo...

Dr. Steve Proctor, pastor of Westwood Baptist Church, invites the community to Celebration Sunday on Sept. 1. "Come celebrate with us as we give glory to God for the completion of our building project," Proctor said. "Our special guests that day will include one of America's leading Southern gospel groups, Brian Free and Assurance, as well as one of America's premier evangelists, Dr. Tim Lee."...

The Lively Stone Church Pastor's Aid Committee announces its 2013-2014 King and Queen: Jeffery Price and Karen Henderson. The ceremony consisted of announcing and crowning the king and queen with both receiving certificates and gift cards for their efforts. They were greeted with a royal carpet, royal sashes, a trophy, a crown and a standing ovation by the members of Lively Stone Church...

Policing no parking zones If the police department is so anxious to come to Kroger's an get people parkin' in the "No Parking" zone, Monday through Saturday, they oughta come out on Sunday. They oughta come out Monday through Friday, they'd catch a lot of people parkin' in the "No Parking" zone...

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER WASHINGTON -- Egypt today is a zero-sum game. We'd have preferred there be a democratic alternative. Unfortunately, there is none. The choice is binary: the country will be ruled by the Muslim Brotherhood or by the military. Perhaps the military should have waited three years for the intensely unpopular Mohamed Morsi to be voted out of office. ...

To the Editor: I am writing in response to your editorial in the Aug. 21, 2013, edition of your newspaper. I was a bit surprised to see it, but was even more surprised that you actually signed it yourself. However, an additional "editorial" was not needed in the Aug. 21, 2013, edition as your front-page, top-fold article was a wonderful "editorial" all by itself. The term "professional journalism" and "Daily American Republic" evidently do not co-exist...

By GEORGE F. WILL PRINCETON, N.J. -- Fifty years from now, when Malia and Sasha are grandmothers, their father's presidency might seem most consequential because of a small sum -- $100 million -- for studying something small. "As humans," Barack Obama said when announcing the initiative to study the brain, "we can identify galaxies light-years away ... but we still haven't unlocked the mystery of the three pounds of matter that sits between our ears."...

CHICAGO (AP) -- They're called "super agers" -- men and women who are in their 80s and 90s, but with brains and memories that seem far younger. Researchers are looking at this rare group in the hope that they may find ways to help protect others from memory loss. And they've had some tantalizing findings: Imaging tests have found unusually low amounts of age-related plaques along with more brain mass related to attention and memory in these elite seniors...

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Targeting the soaring cost of higher education, President Barack Obama on Thursday unveiled a broad new government rating system for colleges that would judge schools on their affordability and perhaps be used to allocate federal financial aid...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The latest high-tech disruption in the financial markets ratchets up the pressure on Nasdaq and other electronic exchanges to take steps to avoid future breakdowns and manage them better if they do occur. The three-hour trading outage on the Nasdaq stock exchange Thursday also can be expected to trigger new rounds of regulatory scrutiny on computer-driven trading. Investors' shaky confidence in the markets also took another hit...

Cynthia Kneibert SEDALIA, Mo. -- Cynthia Lynn Kneibert, 73, of 517 South Beacon, Sedalia, died Thursday, Aug, 22, 2013 at her home after a long illness. She was born April 28, 1940, in Providence, R. I., daughter of Glen M. and Doris J. Drew. On Nov. 11, 1958, she was married to F. Douglas Kneibert...

Joyce McGee PUXICO, Mo. -- Joyce McGee, 77, of Greenville, Mo., died Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013, at the Bench Mark Care Center in Greenville. Visitation will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Puxico. Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at the McGee Cemetery in McGee with the Rev. Frank Radford of Marble Hill, Mo. officiating...

Three Ozark Foothills Conference baseball coaches will take over the reigns of programs this fall that have won district titles in the last two seasons. Jeff Null and Terry Luce essentially switched places with Null taking over at Greenville while Luce moves to Naylor. Brand-new coach Mark Blackwell takes over at Twin Rivers...

Elizabeth Hooten MALDEN, Mo. -- Elizabeth Fortner Hooten, 95, of Risco, Mo., died Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013, at her residence. Visitation will be at noon Saturday at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden. The funeral will follow at 2 p.m. at the funeral home chapel. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery in Malden...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The latest high-tech disruption in the financial markets ratchets up the pressure on Nasdaq and other electronic exchanges to take steps to avoid future breakdowns and manage them better if they do occur. The three-hour trading outage on the Nasdaq stock exchange Thursday also can be expected to trigger new rounds of regulatory scrutiny on computer-driven trading. Investors' shaky confidence in the markets also took another hit...