Stories from Friday, September 5, 2014

The Margaret Harwell Art Museum invites the public to attend a free opening reception Saturday for Farmington, Mo., artist Derek Gollaher. The event will be held from 6-8 p.m. at the museum. Gollaher renders portraits and his environment in oil paint, employing the style of contemporary realism, according to a press release...

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- On Wednesday, Aug. 20, the Missouri Department of Transportation closed the Highway 53 bridge in Campbell, Mo., as a safety measure for travelers. Following a routine bridge inspection, it was found the nearly 80-year-old structure had shifted since the last inspection in 2012. Since that time, additional inspections resulted in MoDOT's decision to keep the structure closed until the bridge can be replaced...

Joseph Davis Joseph Albert "Abbie" Davis, 87, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014 at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Arrangements are pending and will be announced by Cotrell Funeral Service.

Bud Anderson DONIPHAN, Mo.--Laurel (Bud) W. Anderson, 89, of Doniphan, departed this life Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014, at his residence in rural Doniphan. Mr. Anderson, son of the late Hans and Edna (Brockman) Anderson, was born April 27, 1925, in Fairmont, Minn. He had been a welder. Mr. Anderson was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army and had been stationed in Japan with the Occupational Forces...

Jerry Robinson Jerry Kenneth Robinson, 73, of Corning, Ark., died Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. The arrangements are pending and will be announced by Cotrell Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff.

Virgie Webb Virgie Webb, 81, formerly of Gatewood, Mo., died Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2014, in California. Visitation will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Edwards Funeral Home with funeral service following at 1 p.m. in the funeral home chapel. Burial will be in the Mt. Olive Cemetery...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- To take the measure of this uncommonly interesting public man, begin with two related facts about him. Paul Ryan has at least 67 cousins in his Wisconsin hometown of Janesville, where there are six Ryan households within eight blocks of his home. And in his new book, "The Way Forward: Renewing the American Idea," he says something few politicians say, which is why so many are neither trusted nor respected. Ryan says he was wrong...

By MONA CHAREN The unsinkable Charles B. Rangel appeared on C-SPAN over the weekend. Why unsinkable? Well, the House of Representatives censured the New York Democrat in 2010 by a vote of 333 to 79 (when the body was still majority Democrat) for violating 11 ethics rules and "bringing discredit to the House." The New York Times called it a "staggering fall" for the senior Democrat. But fall-schmall, he's since been re-elected and will retire at his leisure...

The Butler County Genealogical Society met Thursday, Aug. 28 at the First United Methodist Church. President June Allen presided at the monthly business meeting. The secretary and treasurer reports were approved. Allen presented the 21 members and guests with a list of genealogy terms helpful in researching older documents. She also discussed the best procedures to use in searching surnames on the Missouri Death Certificate database...

Many home gardeners are in the process of harvesting their fall peanut crop. This is a popular home garden crop which can be stored safely throughout the year. Did you know that peanuts are not actually nuts? They actually belong to the pea and bean family. ...

The Poplar Bluff Municipal Library is celebrating National Library Card Month in September by having a Back to School Open House 2-4 p.m. Saturday. Library cards are free for all who reside in Butler, Carter, Dunklin, Ripley, Stoddard and Wayne counties...

The Poplar Bluff Municipal Library announces the following computer classes: Meet Windows 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16 and 1-3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30. Internet 101, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23. Email 101, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30...

Dylan Fitzwater PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Dylan Fitzwater, 24, of Piedmont, Mo., died Monday, Sept. 1, 2014 in Reynolds County, Mo. Visitation was Wednesday at Ruegg Funeral Home in Piedmont. The funeral service was at 11 a.m. today, Thursday, at the funeral home chapel. Burial will follow in Masonic Cemetery in Piedmont...

By MICHAEL JENSEN Publisher Sikeston Standard Democrat I spent far too much of my weekend catching up on the events surrounding the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson. It literally took an earthquake to shake the national media away from Ferguson for just a brief moment...

Jerry Richard PUXICO, Mo.--Jerry Wiley Richard, 69, Wappapello, Mo., the son of the late John W. and Eva Duren Richard, was born on Sept. 17, 1944, in Puxico and passed away at his residence in Wappapello on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014. Mr. Richard had been a lifelong resident of the Puxico and Wappapello area. He graduated from Puxico High School in 1962. He was a livestock and hay farmer and loved to hunt and fish. He was a member of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church near Puxico...

FREDERICKTOWN -- The Poplar Bluff Mules soccer team was two minutes away from taking Fredericktown to overtime Wednesday evening. Instead, the Blackcats drew a penalty in the box and converted to steal a 3-2 win. With the game knotted at 2-2, a Blackcats forward and Mules senior goalkeeper Jose Reyes converged on a loose ball in the box. After a collison, the Blackcats were awarded the free kick...

Coming off a close road win against a nearby rival, the Poplar Bluff and Farmington football teams open SEMO North Conference play against each other Friday night at Morrow Stadium. The Knights snapped a nine-game losing streak last week with a 20-13 win over North County while the Mules broke a fourth-quarter tie before beating Dexter 30-20...

NAYLOR -- The Mules played error-free ball Wednesday. It didn't just make all the difference, it made for the exact amount of difference. Naylor committed five errors, three of them during the fifth inning when Poplar Bluff scored its first six runs en route to a 9-4 win...