Stories from Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Twelve candidates are vying for the six two-year terms on the University Of Missouri Extension Council of Butler County, said County Program Director Phyllis Flanigan. Voting by the public begins today and continues through Jan. 25. Council members are volunteers responsible for maintaining the University of Missouri Extension Center at 222 North Broadway and for planning programs with the professional and paraprofessional staff in Butler County. ...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Two Poplar Bluff High School students danced their way to the top spot at Dancing with the PB Stars held Saturday at the Rodgers Theatre. Taylor Capps and Alex Lewis, both seniors, were named champions of the fourth annual fundraiser for Sacred Heart Catholic School, which raised $12,000 through audience voting...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor While much of Southeast Missouri escaped the predicted snowfall, everyone is enduring the brutal cold as the temperature dropped to 5 with a wind child of -12 at 7 a.m. Monday at the Poplar Bluff Municipal Airport...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor The low bid of $1,343,800 from Robertson Contractors for the new entrance drive into Three Rivers College from Shelby Road was approved by the Poplar Bluff City Council Monday night. With a curbed landscaped median, the new entrance will be 1,800 feet long and 43 feet wide. Workers from the Poplar Bluff firm will also construct a 60-foot bridge over a branch of Pike Creek...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor The resignation of Loyd Matthews, a 12-year councilman who has been fighting melanoma cancer, was accepted by the Poplar Bluff City Council Monday night. Matthews asked Mayor Ed DeGaris to stop at his house Monday to pick up the resignation letter...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer With blasts of negative 12-14 wind chills this morning, Puxico School District cancelled classes today for the cold, not icy roads, Superintendent Kyle Dare said. Dare is hopeful school can resume Wednesday, but still expects bad weather make-up days to push the calendar past Memorial Day...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor An agreement with the Poplar Bluff R-1 School District concerning the construction of a loop road around the Oak Grove Elementary School was approved by the Poplar Bluff City Council Monday night. The loop road is being constructed in conjunction with the Phase III project to improve Oak Grove Road from in front of the school to Township Line Road...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor A second lawsuit, seeking damages for alleged defamatory statements, has been filed against Poplar Bluff Ward 1 Councilwoman Angela Pearson. Heartland Group Insurance Agency Inc., doing business as the Morse Harwell Jiles Insurance Agency in Poplar Bluff, filed the lawsuit in Butler County Circuit Court Friday...

Big business vs. unions I read the article in the Thursday edition of the DAR about right to work legislation that some of our congressmen have stated they intend to bring to the floor in 2014. I'd like to thank the paper for an honest job of reporting the facts about who is behind this push. ...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- It was naughty of Winston Churchill to say, if he really did, that "the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." Nevertheless, many voters' paucity of information about politics and government, although arguably rational, raises awkward questions about concepts central to democratic theory, including consent, representation, public opinion, electoral mandates and officials' accountability...

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER WASHINGTON -- First order of business for the returning Congress: The No Bailout for Insurance Companies Act of 2014. Make it one line long: "Sections 1341 and 1342 of the Affordable Care Act are hereby repealed." End of bill. End of bailout. End of story...

Linda Nimmo MALDEN, Mo. -- Linda Sue Nimmo, 60, of Clarkton, Mo., died Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, at Gideon Care Center. Visitation will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home chapel with burial following in Stanfield Cemetery in Clarkton...

Burl Ellsworth MALDEN, Mo. -- Burl Alfred Ellsworth, 86, of Gideon, Mo., died Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014, at Gideon Care Center. Visitation will be at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at Stanfield General Baptist Church in Gideon with the funeral service following at 2 p.m. at the church. Burial will be at Stanfield Cemetery in Clarkton, Mo. Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden is in charge of arrangements...

Clifford Nelson Clifford Lee Nelson, 73, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Mr. Nelson was born March 30, 1940, in Parma, Mo. He was a retired iron steel worker who had served in the United States Army. He enjoyed playing bingo, fishing, hunting and being with his grandchildren...

Alison Rainbolt and David Rogers, both of Poplar Bluff, Mo., have chosen the name Kylie Marie Rogers for their 6-pound, 9-ounce daughter born at 7:17 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Kylie was 19 inches long. Grandparents are Cindy and Henry Rainbolt Jr., Kim Love and Steven Rogers, all of Poplar Bluff. Great-grandparents are Virginia and Cletis Hampton of Piggott, Ark., and Henry and Sandra Rainbolt of Bonne Terre, Mo...

Paul Clark SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Paul (Buddy) Richard Clark transferred to the Church eternal from the MO Veteran's Home in Mt. Vernon on Jan. 2 at the age of 86. For the last 63 of those years, Buddy has been married to Myra Rutledge Clark who grieves his passing. Three children blessed Bthe marriage and are still living: Karen Davis of Richmond, Va., Gloria Roling of Springfield and Richard Clark of St. Louis, Mo. Ten grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren have bestowed additional blessings...

The Farm and Small Business Estate Planning Workshop series will be held on Jan. 14, 21, 28, and Feb. 4. The sessions will begin at 6 p.m. and run until 9 p.m. on the Three Rivers Campus in the E.K. Porter Distance Learning Center. These sessions will be held via Interactive TV and the site will have a local facilitator. ...

A 24-year-old Poplar Bluff, Mo., man was killed Saturday night when his scooter overturned while he was driving south of town. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Michael B. Payne was operating a 2013 VIP scooter northbound on Highway 142, one mile south of Poplar Bluff, at about 10:45 p.m. when his scooter overturned...

America's veterans make tremendous sacrifices to defend our liberties and freedoms. Recently, I had the honor of cosponsoring HR 565, the American Fighter Aces Congressional Gold Medal Act to recognize America's Fighter Aces. This legislation ensures that Fighter Aces, 51 of whom are from Missouri, will forever be distinguished for their valuable contribution to our War efforts in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam...

By TOM UHLENBROCK Missouri State Parks Temperatures nearing 40 were melting the weekend snow as Charles and Cindy Maledy unloaded their fishing gear near Missouri's premier Ozark stream on a sunny Sunday afternoon. "You get cabin fever, and a day like this is perfect for getting out," said Charles Maledy. "We normally fish regularly seven to 15 times a winter."...

Giveth and taketh away Yes. I'm calling in about the Social Security increase. I'm an old man, 69 years old, and I draw social security. Well, they had me to take food stamps --$24, they used to be $40 and they keep cuttin' it down every time there's a cost-of-living raise, but this time we got a 1.9 per cent raise. ...

First Midwest Bank has recently closed on the purchase of a 3.5 acre tract of land at the northwest corner of PP Highway and Shelby Road. The bank's future plans are to construct their new, primary bank facility at this location while converting the existing location to a branch...

Louise Waggoner DEXTER, Mo. -- Louise Waggoner, 87, of Dexter died Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014, at Cypress Point Skilled Nursing Center at Dexter. Visitation will begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Rainey-Mathis Funeral Chapel, followed by the funeral at 3 p.m. with the Rev. Kenneth Biggs officiating. Burial will be in the Bloomfield Cemetery...

Aaron Miller, vice president of operations and chief operating officer for The Doe Run Company (Doe Run), has been appointed chairman of the International Lead Association (ILA), the only global industry association focused on the safe production, use and recycling of lead. Miller, a native of Ellsinore, Mo., has previously served on ILA's Executive Committee...

Rev. Jimmy Walker NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Rev. Jimmy D. Walker, 78, of Jacksonville, Ill., died Wednesday morning, Jan. 1, 2014, at Passavant Area Hospital in Jacksonville. A funeral service will be held Wednesday at Harvest Temple United Pentecostal Church in Jacksonville. Visitation will be held from 1-3 p.m. Thursday at Fowler-Sullivan Memorial Chapel in Neelyville with a graveside service following at Naylor Memorial Cemetery...

By AMITY SHEDD SEMO News Service CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- More than a year after Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau broke ground on its $127 million expansion and renovation project, it remains on schedule for completion in the summer of 2016, hospital officials say...

Inita Phillips Inita Phillips, 76, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. The arrangements are pending and will be announced by Cotrell Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff.

Mary Owens MALDEN, Mo. -- Mary B. Owens, 74, of Malden died Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation was to begin at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Landess Funeral Home in Malden, followed by the funeral at 3 p.m. with the Rev. Mark Thrasher and the Rev. James Hamlett officiating. Burial was in the Memorial Park Cemetery at Malden...

Billy Woodall Sr. MALDEN, Mo. -- Billy Howard Woodall Sr., 70, of Wardell, Mo., died Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014, in Wardell. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at Landess Funeral Home in Malden. The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home chapel with the Rev. Jack Allen officiating. Burial will be in Stanfield Cemetery in Clarkton, Mo...

Kevin Light Kevin Ray Light, 29, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Friday, Dec. 27, 2013, at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Kevin was born Dec. 1, 1984, in Poplar Bluff. He is survived by his mother, Alene Porter; grandmother, Patricia Horton; sister, Tricia Nicole Ellis; brother, Bryan Allen Light; three nephews, Dekota Pfaff, Kaydin Light and Izaac Ryan Ellis; one uncle, Danny Tipton; and two aunts, Karen Scott and Vicki Hayes...

Mary Campbell Mary C. Campbell, 81, of Poplar Bluff, passed away Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014, at Mark Twain Care Center. Mrs. Campbell was born Oct. 2, 1932, in Lyon County, Ky., to Thomas Floyd and Reba Lovell Cornell. On Sept. 9, 1975, she married Ralph Campbell in Greenville, Mo...

Anna Willeford Fisk, Mo. -- Anna Willeford, 85, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. She was born Sept. 15, 1928. She had worked at Brenda's Alterations. On April 22, 1948, she married Ernie Willeford. He preceded her in death on Oct. 15, 2008...

Heritage Title Company was recently selected to receive the Distinguished Agent Award for 2012 by the Missouri Agency Team of First American Title Insurance Company. The award was based on consistency and timeliness in remitting and paying for title policies, a claims to revenue ratio of zero and no unresolved audit findings...