Stories from Wednesday, November 19, 2014

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer The residential electric rates in Poplar Bluff are too low to sustain operations, city manager Heath Kaplan told the Municipal Utilities advisory board Monday afternoon. Kaplan also shared his concerns about the electric department Monday evening, with city council members, during a workshop concerning the 2015 proposed city budget...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer City manager Heath Kaplan believes Poplar Bluff's electric department is losing money. General manager Bill Bach disagreed Monday, at a meeting of the Municipal Utilities advisory board. The Poplar Bluff electric department will see a gain of approximately $236,000 in 2015, according to the original proposed budget submitted by Bach to all members of the advisory board...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Morse Harwell Jiles of Poplar Bluff was accepted as the city liability insurance broker in a 5-1 vote by council members, based on a recommendation by the property and casualty insurance broker committee. Mayor Angela Pearson excused herself from the workshop discussion and vote, citing ongoing litigation with MHJ. A defamation lawsuit filed by MHJ against Pearson is still pending in Shannon County circuit court...

A modern song expresses beautifully the pathetic condition of many people's lives. "Like the woman at the well I was seeking, For things that could not satisfy. And then I heard my Savior speaking, Draw from My well that never shall run dry." This woman (John 4) was intrigued with Jesus' conversation, but she found it difficult to think in terms of "living water" Jesus said He could give if she only asked for it. ...

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER WASHINGTON -- It's not exactly the Ems Dispatch (the diplomatic cable Bismarck doctored to provoke the 1870 Franco-Prussian War). But what the just-resurfaced Gruber Confession lacks in world-historical consequence, it makes up for in world-class cynicism. ...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- Western reflection about human nature and the politics of the human condition began with the sunburst of ancient Greece 2,500 years ago, but lurched into a new phase 70 years ago with the liberation of the Nazi extermination camps. The Holocaust is the dark sun into which humanity should stare, lest troubling lessons be lost through an intellectual shrug about "the unfathomable."...

To the Editor: I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who made 'Scare Away Cancer' - a benefit run for Monica Edmonds -such a huge success. Our 4k and 1 mile Fun Run was held at McLane Park on November 1, 2014. Together our Community raised more than $3,000 for the Event. We had a beautiful day and approximately 100 people in attendance. It was a fun day filled with Hope...

To the Editor: As in the days following our nation's attack by terrorists, our small town of Puxico and the surround community are feeling the effects of death. And again, we wonder is it okay to smile again? We hate it when "life goes on as before" and it's "business as usual."...

By MICHELLE L. VARVIL Two major projects under way in Puxico are the bridge repair on Richardson Avenue between Highway 51 and E.L. Hawks Street and an addition to the Puxico Public Library. "It's been a long time coming," said Mayor Rick McLean of the bridge repair project. "We had a lot of decay underneath the (old) bridge from them iron trestles across it there. The concrete was decaying off of them."...

By JAMIE CRAFT Puxico Junior High School "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We did not pass it on to our children in the blood stream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States when men were free."...

Where's grants? Where is Kaplan's new grant writer (and the assistant grant writer)??? Is there no grant monies available for the IT equipment that we so desperately need that there was no time for the bidding process. What about the body cameras for our police department??? We read of other municipalities obtaining this equipment through grants. ...

By MICHELLE L. VARVIL Area veterans were honored in several ways in Puxico Nov. 11 on Veterans Day. Puxico High School Student Council members hosted the annual Freedom Assembly in the Arnold Ryan Gymnasium for elementary, junior high and high school students as well as members of the community. Area veterans were invited as special guests...

By CHARLOTTE ADAMS Puxico High School At the end of WWII America welcomed home many weary soldiers. While those servicemen were reunited with their families thousands more were left on the battlefield, a monument to the world's fight against tyranny. ...

Randall Blankenship Randall Blankenship, 51, of Poplar Bluff, Mo. died Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 at Mark Twain Caring Center in Poplar Bluff. Arrangements are pending and will be announced by Cotrell Funeral Service.

By MICHELLE L. VARVIL At the October meeting of the Puxico R-8 Board of Education, Dr. Kyle Dare, superintendent, asked the board to consider adopting a facility rental policy. After talking with the district's insurance company and attorneys, Dare went back to the board with more specific information at its regular monthly meeting Nov. 14...

Brandon Stuckenschneider's recruitment for baseball ended early enough to enjoy a big junior season with the Poplar Bluff Mules. Stuckenschneider had already verbally committed to Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and got to enjoy the district title run for the Mules, the first for the Mules since 1977, where he was the winning pitcher in the championship game...

WINFIELD, Kan. -- Marissa Webb (Poplar Bluff HS, Three Rivers) and longtime teammate Dennisha Rice (Poplar Buff HS, Three Rivers) combined for 19 points against Southwestern (Kan.) as William Woods was able to win 83-81 on Friday. Rice came off the bench and hit three 3-pointers. She finished with 11 points and an assist in 14 minutes. Webb started and went 3-for-7 for eight points and 11 rebounds...

Lacinda and Matthew Wood announce the birth of their son, Jonah Terril Wood, born 1:03 p.m. Nov. 6, 2014 at St. Francis Medical Center's Family BirthPlace in Cape Girardeau. He weighed 9 pounds 11 ounces and was 21 3/4 inches long. Grandparents are Ronnie and Teresa Carver of McGee and David and Judy Wood of Wappepello...

Merle Whitener Merle Whitener, 92, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014 at Mark Twain Caring Center in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Whitener was born July 24, 1922 in Annapolis, Mo. Before retiring, she had worked as a nurse's aide at Brandon and Lucy Lee Hospitals. She was an animal lover and spent her entire retirement taking care of stray cats...

John Stenger John Forrest Stenger, 58, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Mr. Stenger was born Dec. 28, 1955 in St. Louis, Mo. to John Francis and Nelva Jean Horton Stenger. He attended Sacred Heart Catholic Church and worked as a welder for Phoenix Fabricators. ...

Gale Miller DEXTER, Mo.-- Gale Miller, 64, of Bloomfield, Mo. departed this life Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014 at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He was born Oct. 24, 1950, in Dexter, to the late Otis Miller and Muriel Ward Miller Mr. Miller was a member of the Second General Baptist Church in Dexter. ...

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...

Lucas Francis Lucas Nathaniel Francis, 24, of Poplar Bluff, Mo. died Monday, Nov. 10, 2014 as the result of injuries sustained in an auto accident. Services were held Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014 at Cotrell Funeral Chapel in Poplar Bluff. Dr. William Vail officiated. Burial followed in Woodlawn Cemetery in Campbell, Mo...

Ruth Slayton DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Ruth Slayton, an 89-year-old resident of Fairdealing, Mo., died Monday, Nov. 17, 2014 at West Vue Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in West Plains, Mo. Mrs. Slayton was born June 4. 1925. Graveside services will be at noon Wednesday at Springhill Cemetery...

Center Stage, Three Rivers College's theater company, will present a production of "The Good Doctor" by renowned American playwright Neil Simon at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Nov. 20-22, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23 in the Tinnin Fine Arts Center. Tickets are $10, or $5 with a valid TRC student ID...

To the Editor: As in the days following our nation's attack by terrorists, our small town of Puxico and the surround community are feeling the effects of death. And again, we wonder is it okay to smile again? We hate it when "life goes on as before" and it's "business as usual."...

By MICHELLE L. VARVIL Dr. Kyle Dare, superintendent at Puxico R-8 Schools informed the board of questions he had received from parents regarding the availability of milk in the school cafeteria during the board's regular monthly meeting Nov. 13. "This question has come up," said Dare. "I've actually had a couple of phone calls from parents that were concerned...