Stories from Wednesday, April 16, 2014

By MICELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor GREENVILLE, Mo. -- A Wayne County jury is expected to begin its deliberations today as to whether the former head coach of the Doniphan varsity basketball team is guilty of sexually assaulting a female student on school property...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor Plans for relocating and expanding the Semo Ready Mix plant were discussed during the Poplar Bluff Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Monday night. The firm, which rents a site along Highway PP east of Township Line Road, has purchased about eight acres at the northwest corner of Cravens Road and the Industrial Park Bypass on the southwest side of Poplar Bluff...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer The most fulfilling part of teaching is to know a student has benefited, according to those honored Monday by the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce. Teachers have one of the most significant impacts in the development process of students, Dr. Devin Stephenson, president of Three Rivers College, said at the 2014 Teacher of the Year ceremony...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor GREENVILLE, Mo. -- Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Ramshur of Piedmont, Mo., announced Monday he plans to withdraw as a Democratic candidate in the Aug. 5 primary election. Ramshur said he will serve out his current term, which ends on Dec. 31...

By BEN CARSON Imagine a situation in which there is an earthquake that destroys a suspension bridge over a deep canyon. A passenger train is speeding toward the location, and those in charge realize there is a potential problem ahead but choose instead to argue about the ambient temperature in the passenger cars, the food service and whether they will reach their final destination on time. ...

By MICHELLE MALKIN I have created a new species designation for the female Democrats who play hypocritical gender politics on behalf of Barack Obama. They're genderhawks. You remember the term "chickenhawk," don't you? During the Bush years, anti-war activists and journalists hurled the ad hominem epithet at anyone who supported military action against our enemies but hadn't personally served...

To the Editor; On Tuesday, April 8, the community of Poplar Bluff voiced their approval through the power of voting for the new school (levy) issue. Two thousand eight hundred plus people felt it necessary to show their support for this much needed issue to pass and for that I say thank you. ...

Missouri University of Science and Technology's Advanced Aero Vehicle Group earned fourth place in the advanced class at the annual Aero Design West Competition, held in March at the Fort Worth Thunderbirds Flying Field in Fort Worth, Texas. Bradley Parks, a sophomore in aerospace engineering from Fisk, Mo., was a member of the team...

Mary Robison GREENVILLE, Mo. -- Mary Barks Robison, 98, of Grassy, Mo., died Saturday, April 12, 2014, at her residence. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Greenville. The funeral service has been changed to noon Friday at the funeral home chapel with burial following at the Pleasant Valley Cemetery near Greenville...

Wanda Black CAMPBELL, Mo. -- Wanda Alene Black, 80, of Bernie, Mo., died Friday, April 11, 2014, at Southeast Health Care in Dexter, Mo. Visitation will be from noon to 2 p.m. Thursday at Landess Funeral Home in Campbell. The funeral service will be follow at 2 p.m. at the funeral home chapel with the Rev. Danny King officiating. Burial will be at Stanfield Cemetery in Clarkton...

James Nonnemaker DONIPHAN, Mo. -- James A.J. Nonnemaker, 90, of Doniphan died Monday, April 14, 2014, at Southeast Health Center of Ripley County in Doniphan. Mr. Nonnemaker (Pappy), son of Robert and Carrie (Delong) Nonnemaker, was born April 18, 1923, in Allentown, Penn. He had been a truck driver and was a veteran of the U. S. Army having served his country during World War II...

Not much has separated Notre Dame and the Poplar Bluff Mules on the golf course so far this spring. On Monday, it was by the smallest of margins as the Mules won the PB Invitational with a 1-stroke tiebreaker at Westwood Hills Country Club. "For us, every shot counts," said Poplar Bluff junior Nick Woolard who shot even-par 71 to earn medalist honors...

Louise Reedy Louise McCallister Reedy of Springfield, Mo., died peacefully at Jordan Creek Nursing Home in Springfield on April 10, 2014, following a long illness brought about by a stroke. She was 94 years old. Louise was born Nov. 29, 1919, in Enola, Ark., and was one of nine children: six boys and three girls. She was the middle girl. She had five older brothers and one younger. All siblings preceded her in death...

WINONA -- Hayley Burnham pitched five scoreless innings for Van Buren as the Lady Dawgs beat Alton 10-0 in five innings in the Big Springs Conference semifinals. Van Buren (6-1) will play Winona, which defeated Couch 16-1, in the championship today...

The Poplar Bluff Regional Transportation Development District will have a board meeting at noon Wednesday in City Hall. Agenda items are a construction contract for Oak Grove Road Phase III and reimbursements to the city for engineering work on Shelby Road Phase II, the new Three Rivers College entrance road and Oak Grove Road Phase III...

James Lawrence MALDEN, Mo. -- James Russell Lawrence, 66, of Malden died Saturday, April 12, 2014, at Twin Rivers in Kennett, Mo. Visitation will be at 6 p.m. today at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden. The funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Burial with military rites will be in Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield, Mo...

Eula Baca BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Eula Faye Baca, 80, of Bloomfield, Mo., died Monday, April 14, 2014, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at the First Baptist Church in Bloomfield with Steve Morrison of Bloomfield officiating...

Poplar Bluff native and current Baltimore Ravens team chaplain Johnny Shelton will be the keynote speaker at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes annual banquet tonight. Shelton grew up in Poplar Bluff, played sports for the Mules and graduated in 1983...