Stories from Wednesday, August 13, 2014

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- A Winona, Mo., man was sentenced to more than a year in federal prison Monday afternoon for making threatening telephone calls to the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center. Markel Abbey, 57, was sentenced to 13 months on two felony counts of threat by interstate communication by U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Sorrell...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor VAN BUREN, Mo. -- A recount of the ballots cast for the top two Republican candidates for Carter County treasurer was ordered Monday by Judge David Evans. Velvet Ricker won the Republican nomination by only two votes, 485-483, over Emily Sellinger in the Aug. 5 primary election...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor Should a dental office be allowed on the edge of a residential neighborhood? Members of the Poplar Bluff Planning and Zoning Commission will vote on Aug. 25 to recommend approval or denial of Dr. Jared Beaird's request to rezone a house at 1920 Northwood Drive from RS-2 residential to O-1 office professional...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor A judge will decide later this month whether the boyfriend of an Arkansas woman should stand trial for her strangulation death at a downtown Poplar Bluff, Mo., apartment building. Accompanied by his attorney, Ted Liszewski with the Public Defender's Office, Jeremy Allen Winkle appeared before Associate Circuit Judge John Bloodworth for a preliminary hearing on the Class A felony of first-degree murder...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor An autopsy will be performed later today on the badly decomposed body found Monday afternoon in a wooded area behind the Poplar Bluff Junior High School. At 3:35 p.m., a school maintenance worker, who was "outside smoking a cigarette, enjoying the afternoon, walked up on the body in a wooded area between the junior high and (U.S. Forest Service)," explained Poplar Bluff Deputy Chief Jeff Rolland...

Lillie McCollumn ELLSINORE, Mo. -- Lillie Mildred (Carter) McCollumn, 78, of Ellsinore, died Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. A visitation will be held at noon at McSpadden Funeral Home at Ellsinore. Funeral services will start at 2 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will follow in the Whites Mill Cemetery...

Frances Verdier Frances I. Noles-Verdier, 95, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away peacefully on Aug. 7, 2014, at the Monticello House in Jackson, Mo. Mrs. Verdier was born in Dogwood, Mo., to the late Newton and Alice Heath Melton on Feb. 11, 1919, the youngest of eight children. She was preceded in death by her husband of 15 years, Billy D. Verdier of Rockford, Ill...

Pansy Ezell MALDEN, Mo. -- Pansy Laverne Ezell, 79, of Malden, died Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Funeral services will begin at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Bradshaw Chapel in Malden. Burial will be in Bethany Cemetery in Campbell, Mo...

Dorothy Massey Dorothy Marie Massey, 92, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014, at Cedargate Care Center in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Massey was born Nov. 16, 1921, in Poplar Bluff to the late Adolph and Hilda Wagner Thies. She was a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Poplar Bluff, and over the years she had worked at Brown Shoe Company and Merva Shoe Company, as well as Motorola and GTE in Chicago, Ill. ...

If city loses, will council resign? I am curious to know if the City loses it's case against Mr. Bagby, and has to pay the contract. Will the council members that voted for his termination resign. Begging, taxes It's Saturday morning. So far I've seen three bits on TV about stuff and buses because people with kids can't afford paper and pencils. And I've seen two spots on television encouraging increases in taxes...

Wendy Jessop ELLSINORE, Mo. -- Wendy Sue Jessop, 61, of Grandin, Mo., died Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, at her home. A memorial service will be held from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at McSpadden Funeral Home in Ellsinore.

Julie Scott Julie E. Scott, 54, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014, at her residence. Funeral services will be announced by Cotrell Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff.

Anti-semitism is still alive It's bad enough that nearly all of the media here in America is condemning Israel's retaliation against rocket attacks by Hamas. Everyone has been seeing the headlines "Israel Killed 10 Today" on an attack the United States found disgusting on a U. ...

Audra Hutchison CAMPBELL, Mo. -- Audra Hutchison, 92, of Campbell, formerly of Malden, Mo., passed away Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014, at Piggott Community Hospital in Piggott, Ark. Mrs. Hutchison, daughter of Dee and Ethel Hubbard Crawford, was born on July 28, 1922, in Swifton, Ark...

Carolyn Eldridge DEXTER, Mo. -- Carolyn Seabaugh Eldridge, 64, of Dexter, Mo., died Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation will be from 12:30-2:30 p.m. Thursday at Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter. Funeral services will follow at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Burial will follow in the Essex Cemetery...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN It has been a summer of remembrance. The centennial of the Great War that began with the Guns of August 1914. The 75th anniversary of the Danzig crisis that led to Hitler's invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. The 70th anniversary of D-Day...

BY WALTER E. WILLIAMS Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera accused Matt Drudge's website of "the worst kind of jingoistic rhetoric ever" for carrying news stories about the dangers of illegal immigration. He said Drudge "is doing his best to stir up a civil war. ...

Pry, Gambill The Pry-Gambill family reunion will be held Saturday, Aug. 16, at the Broseley Nutrition Center. Doors open at 10 a.m. and a carry-in luncheon will begin at noon. All family and friends are welcome. For more information, call Dorothy Collard at 573-785-8659, or Debbie Welch at 901-383-3837...