Stories from Monday, September 29, 2014

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor Butler County Division II Associate Circuit Judge John Bloodworth will be unopposed on the Nov. 4 general election ballot. No Republican candidate was nominated during the Butler County Republican Central Committee meeting at 5 p.m. Saturday due to not having a quorum to conduct business...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer About a dozen free children's activities will line Main Street in front of the Margaret Harwell Art Museum on Saturday as it hosts the 21st Annual Art on the Run Festival. This fun, family event is designed to promote the arts in Poplar Bluff and the surrounding area, particularly among youth, according to festival chairperson Joyce Whitworth...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Poplar Bluff senior Briana Woodard dreams of making a difference in children's lives, something she thinks will be possible with a degree in occupational therapy. Woodard knows college is expensive, which is why she has worked hard to maintain her grades and attendance since freshman year. She also volunteers about three hours a day to tutor younger students...

By CAROLYN SMITH Staff Writer Jim Stoll has been battling Parkinson's disease for five years. According to the Mayo Clinic, "Parkinson's disease is a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects your movement. It develops gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. But while a tremor may be the most well-known sign of Parkinson's disease, the disorder also commonly causes stiffness or slowing of movement...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer The best nose in Butler County may belong to Sonya, a 3-year-old Australian Shepherd mix with a grim, but she has an important job among emergency personnel. Sonya is trained to sniff out human remains when a person is lost, both in cases of recent disappearances and decades old cold cases...

It's not brain surgery Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a local newspaper that did a little investigative reporting? The immediate event that I am referring to is the purchase of Home Oil Co. by the MFA Oil Co. There's no other Poplar Bluff based company going on. ...

The Poplar Bluff Master Gardeners have completed another successful year of volunteer service to adults and youth in the area. This group of volunteers represents the counties of Butler, Carter, Ripley, Stoddard, and Wayne. The group works together on several community projects throughout the year...

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of two articles by former Daily American Republic reporter Sarabeth Waller. By SARABETH WALLER Special to the DAR On July 25, I headed back to Tallinn via train and bus again. My stopover in Lithuania was much shorter this time, while I had four hours between buses in Riga, Latvia. ...

To the Editor, The Poplar Bluff Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution extends our appreciation to everyone in the community who helped make Constitution Day, September 17, a success. The reverberations of the church bells ringing across Poplar Bluff which marked our heritage of liberty was very inspiring and uplifting. ...

Gladys Pruitt Gladys Marie Pruitt, 89, of Springfield, Mo., passed away Sept. 26, 2014, at Cox Health in Springfield. Mrs. Pruitt was born Sept. 12, 1925, in Parma, Mo., to Edward Bloomer and Opal Richardson Tuttleton. She was a homemaker and enjoyed doing puzzles, books, and computer games...

Mathilda Watkins NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Mathilda M. Watkins, 70, of Oxly, Mo., died Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, at her residence. The funeral was at 11 a.m. Saturday at Fowler-Sullivan Memorial Chapel in Neelyville. Burial was in the Antioch Cemetery at Oxly...

Judith Raczkowski Judith A. Raczkowski, 70, of Poplar Bluff passed away Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, at Westwood Hills Care Center. Ms. Raczkowski was born Aug. 7, 1944, at home in Jefferson County, Mo., to the late John Taylor and Flora Brown Swafford...

The new entrance into Three Rivers College from Shelby Road is now open to traffic, according to Billy Cobb, an engineer with Smith & Co. Robertson Contractors of Poplar Bluff, Mo., submitted the low bid of $1,343,800 for the project and began construction in March...

James Street will be closed, beginning Monday, Sept. 29, due to its relocation as part of the Oak Grove Road construction project. Dominic Thompson, an engineer with Smith & Co., said the only access to Super 8 will be off Westwood Boulevard at the entrance to McDonald's...

Vickie McCann Vickie McCann, 60, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014 at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Mrs. McCann was born Nov. 22, 1953, in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was a member of Temple Baptist Church in Poplar Bluff and was an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer for several years. ...

Walter and Trisha Rommel of Broseley, Mo., have chosen the name Adalyn Kate Rommel for their 9-pound, 9-ounce daughter born at 3:58 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Adalyn was 22 inches long. Grandparents are Jimmie and Emma Lou Scott of Fisk, Mo., Lawrence and Tanya Scott of Broseley, Mo., Wendell and Frankie Rommel of Poplar Bluff, Mo., Brad and Debbie Stone of Malden, Mo...

Jordanna Rae Walk and Justin William Vaughn of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., have chosen the name Jamison Vaughn Walk for their 8-pound, 3-ounce son born at 2:42 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014 at Saint Francis Medical Center's Family BirthPlace in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Jamison was 20 inches long...

SIKESTON -- A blocked extra-point kick with 93 seconds to play ended Poplar Bluff's long frustration against the Sikeston Bulldogs. A year after losing by a point, the Mules returned the favor with a 14-13 thriller Friday night. Tristen Francisco surprised everybody -- even his coaches and teammates -- with a fake punt and later made a juggling catch for his second touchdown to put the Mules ahead with 5:22 left in the fourth quarter...

HAYTI -- September was very much a memorable month for the Malden Green Wave football team. But there's a lot more to accomplish come October. To close out the month Friday night against Hayti, the Green Wave had three interceptions returned for touchdowns in the first half and rolled to a 68-6 SEMO South win...

DEXTER -- What hairs Dexter fans haven't pulled out in the past three weeks have surely turned gray from stress. Two weeks after beating Sikeston on a wild hook-and-ladder pass in the final minute, Dexter survived Kennett and former coach Aaron Pixley 35-34 on homecoming night Friday after a wild fourth quarter...

The Greenville Bears pitched brilliantly for three games as the staff allowed no runs on just four hits and struck out 36 batters in 18 innings to win the championship of the Seymour Tournament. On Friday, Trey McDaniel pitched a shutout in a 3-0 win over Crane. The Bears then beat Seymour 11-0 in six innings as Devon Duncan tossed a no-hitter...

The Poplar Bluff volleyball team won the silver bracket the Quad State Tournament in Paducah, Ky. on Saturday. The Mules won four matches after splitting two on Friday in pool play. They beat Owensboro 19-25, 25-22, 18-16 to start the day and ended it with another three-game win against Henderson County, 16-25, 25-19, 16-14...