Stories from Saturday, November 15, 2014

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Butler County will not issue gay marriage licenses in the wake of a federal ruling overturning Missouri's gay marriage ban. A 2004 voter-passed amendment to the Missouri Constitution barring the marriage of same-sex couples was recently overturned by a St. Louis Circuit Judge and days later by a federal judge, but 112 of 114 county recorders in Missouri are declining to issue the license...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Poplar Bluff city offices will be closed from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday for a mandatory meeting of city employees regarding health insurance benefits. This will not affect emergency services, as on-duty policemen and firemen will perform their regular duties, according to city officials. Utility services will also not be affected...

Virgil Hillis FISK, Mo.--Virgil Hillis, 87, of Poplar Bluff, Mo, died Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014, at Westwood Hills Health & Rehab at Poplar Bluff. Funeral arrangements are pending with White-Sanders Funeral Home at Fisk. Condolences: www.whitesandersfuneralhome.com...

By MONA CHAREN Americans of most political persuasions tend to view the United Nations as corrupt and morally inverted. An organization supposedly dedicated to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights regularly overlooks abuses by the world's worst actors (Cuba, North Korea, China, just to name three) while expending vast quantities of outrage at the efforts of one tiny democracy, Israel, to defend itself...

No bikes on sidewalks? Kids in housing sure do listen when they say no bikes on sidewalk. You see 2 or 3 everyday on sidewalks. Why runs in the streets? Since the city has spent millions of dollars offering you places to run at the coliseum, McLane Park and the Shelby Road running track and the school system allows you to run at the football stadium. ...

We have all heard it said many times that America is a land of immigrants, some voluntary and some involuntary, but immigrants nevertheless. We have plenty of space in our country, but insufficient resources to support everyone who wants to come here. ...

Jerome (Jerry) Brown PIEDMONT, Mo.--Jerome (Jerry) Brown, 74, of Patterson, Mo. died Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014 at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. Monday at the Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Piedmont with a prayer service at 7:30 p.m. Funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Piedmont...

Mary Richardson PUXICO, Mo.-- Mary M. Richardson, 89, of Puxico, formerly of St. John, Mo., died Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. Louis, Mo. She was born March 20, 1925, in Puxico. She was a member of Brown General Baptist Church, she was a homemaker, and she enjoyed reading the Bible, going to church, and playing dominoes...

"Bah! Humbug!" a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale "A Christmas Carol," will come to the Tinnin Fine Arts Center and local schools as part of the Patrons of the Arts 2014-15 season. The show for the public will be performed at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center at 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 per person for all ages at the Tinnin Center, while the shows hosted by schools are provided to students at no charge...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor A Poplar Bluff native, who was enlisting in the U.S. Army on the morning the World Trade Center was destroyed by terrorists, has written a book about his two deployments as a combat helicopter pilot in Iraq. Robert Mills of Lumberton, Texas, will sign his book, "Blackdeath 23," from 3-5 p.m. Saturday at Hastings...

Jessie C. Armstrong MALDEN, Mo.--Jessie C. Armstrong, 100, of Malden, died Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014 at Golden Living Center in Malden. Visitation will be form 10-11 a.m. Saturday at the Landess Funeral Chapel in Malden. Funeral services will follow at 11 a.m. at the Landess Funeral chapel with Rev. Robert Crockett officiating...

Clyde Womack VAN BUREN, Mo.-- Clyde Donald Womack, 80 of DeSoto, Mo., formerly of Van Buren, died Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014 at his residence. Visitation will be at noon Saturday at the McSpadden Funeral Home in Van Buren. The funeral will follow at 2 p.m., Bro. Mark Olds will officiate. Burial will be in the Gresham Cemetery...