Stories from Wednesday, December 31, 2014

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor City Manager Heath Kaplan answered several questions before the 2015 budget was approved 6-0 during a special Poplar Bluff City Council meeting Monday night. "We will not be laying off any employees," Kaplan emphasized when asked about reductions for the Police Department budget...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor Ward 4 Councilman Johnny Brannum's resignation was accepted during a special Poplar Bluff City Council meeting Monday night. He was elected to a three-year term in April 2012 and did not plan to seek re-election due to moving outside the city. Brannum also served as an at-large council member from 1999 to 2002...

The Ozark National Scenic Riverways celebrated its 50th anniversary with a program at Van Buren. The City of Poplar Bluff hired Heath Kaplan as its new city manager and a day earlier the community was saddened by the death of Butler County Collector Brenda Fox. Those were a few of the highlights during the third quarter of 2014...

PAT PRATT Staff Writer Butler County's first baby of 2015 may remain a mystery as Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center and other U.S. hospitals are choosing to not release details on births, following a request by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children...

By LOGAN YOUNG SEMO News Service CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. --After much anticipation, The Bar, one of Cape Girardeau's best-known ties to the hit film "Gone Girl," finally held its grand opening Friday. The Bar originally was set to open in October to coincide with the film's release, but that was pushed back because of needed renovations in the building, said Laura Jones, marketing director for Old Town Cape Dining LLC...

The biggest news of the second quarter was the abrupt resignation of Three Rivers College president Devin Stephenson. West Payne was named interim president and later in the year was given the job. Also, Paul Hogg, who served at collector of Butler County for 36 years, died at the age of 94...

Dorothy Rigby Beloved sister, mother and grandmother, Dorothy Eloise Rigby, 89, of Poplar Bluff passed away Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014 in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Rigby was born March 12, 1925 in Logtown, Miss. She was of the Baptist faith and had retired as a clothing store manager. ...

Eugene "Gene" Colyott PIEDMONT, Mo.--Eugene "Gene" Colyott, 79, of Annapolis, died Sunday, Dec. 28 at the Iron County Medical Center in Pilot Knob. Visitation will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Piedmont. Masonic and funeral services will follow at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home chapel...

Get ready for one of the largest farm trade shows in the region, Ag Expo 2015! It is scheduled for Jan. 30 - 31 at the Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Booths are still available to purchase. This is the 29th year of Ag Expo, which is sponsored by Butler County University of Missouri Extension Council and the Ag Club of Three Rivers College, said Phyllis Flanigan of University of Missouri Extension. ...

BLOOMFIELD -- For a couple minutes at the end, it looked like No. 7 Bloomfield had a little bit more of that upset magic in them. Two nights after beating the No. 2 seed in the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament quarterfinals, the Wildcats faced a 14-point deficit with 2:47 to play and their top offensive player, Noah Vandiver, fouled out against third-seeded Kennett...

Harold Williams, Jr. DEXTER, Mo.-- Harold Williams, Jr., 60, of Dexter, died Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, at his residence. Visitation will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Dexter. The funeral services will follow at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Watkins & Sons Chapel in Dexter with the Rev. Justin Williams of Marble Hill, Mo., officiating...

BLOOMFIELD -- Bernie vs. Hayti is quickly becoming a tradition within a tradition, if only to watch Caleb Ellenburg's theatrics. A year ago, the then Bernie junior sank a jumper from the free-throw line in the final second to beat Hayti by a point in the semifinals...

Larry Brown DONIPHAN, Mo.-- Larry Brown, 66, of Doniphan died Monday, Dec. 22, 2014, at Christian Northeast Hospital in St. Louis. A graveside service took place Tuesday morning at the Brakebill Cemetery in Middlebrook, Ark. with Kelly Cisco officiating...

By NOREEN HYSLOP SEMO News Service Stoddard County seems to have a Secret Santa of its own this holiday season, and residents throughout the area are about to be the beneficiaries. The late Churn Williams was a well known figure in Stoddard County, especially recognized in the late 1970s and 1980s for his work to establish a safe haven for children who, for various reasons, authorities found it necessary to remove from their homes. ...

Poplar Bluff had given up just two free throws over the first half of the final quarter Monday night and senior Joseph Eyler didn't even notice. "I didn't even realize that," Eyler said of the Mules' 10-2 run to start the fourth quarter. "We're getting so zoned in -- what we're doing, listening to coach -- we don't really know what's going on."...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers offers a meaningful way to dispose of trees and provide fish and wildlife habitat at the same time. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Wappapello Lake will be accepting Christmas trees from Dec. 26 through Jan. 20 at Chaonia Landing and Redman Creek boat ramps. ...

MEMPHIS -- The Lady Raiders took the lead one last time, then couldn't find the bottom of the net. Three Rivers missed its last seven shots in the final three minutes and lost to Southwest Tennessee 69-63 Monday. The Lady Raiders (4-9) were down by three with just more than three minutes to go when the sisters Perry got back-to-back steals...

BLOOMFIELD -- Despite Cortez Dobbins sitting out the first half due to unknown reasons, the No. 2 Malden Green Wave hung with No. 7 Dexter in the first half Monday night. Dobbins entered the game for the first time a couple minutes into the third quarter and the Green Wave outscored the Bearcats by 11 points in the second half to secure a spot in the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament fifth place game with a 56-43 win...

By MICHELLE L. VARVIL Both incumbent school board members filed their declarations of candidacy Dec. 16 at the Central Administration Building on the campus of Puxico R-8 Schools. John Davis was first elected to the Puxico R-8 Board of Education in April 1993 and has served ever since. He is currently the vice president of the board...

By MIKE MCCOY SEMO News Service Two farming operations in Stoddard County are plaintiffs in class-action lawsuits filed recently by three law firms on behalf of U.S. corn farmers in Missouri and 19 other states who maintain they have suffered economic losses from genetically modified corn marketed by Switzerland-based Syngenta...

By MICHELLE L. VARVIL Members of the Puxico Community Corporation are considering submitting a loan and grant application for a new fire station for the Puxico Volunteer Fire Department. Mayor Rick McLean, who is president of the Puxico Community Corporation, met with Stephanie Adams, area technician with the United States Department of Agriculture-Rural Development office in Dexter, to discuss the possibility of obtaining a loan and grant for the purchase of land, the cost of construction for a new fire station and a new fire truck.. ...

DYERSBURG, Tenn. -- Poplar Bluff couldn't hang on to a fourth-quarter lead Monday after the Lady Mules overcame a double-digit halftime deficit. Lausanne Collegiate of Memphis surged past Poplar Bluff 62-56 as Princess Stark scored 10 of her 20 points in the final quarter...

By MICHELLE L. VARVIL Former mayor Doyle Mitchell has dropped out of the race for the Ward I Alderman seat on the April 7 ballot. Mitchell had filed a declaration of candidacy Dec. 17, the same day incumbent Ward I Alderman G.S. Kilbreth did. According to Puxico City Clerk Alice Patrick, Mitchell has since requested his declaration of candidacy be withdrawn...

Newspaper is out of control I'm sick and tired of the whining about the new city manager. Tonight it was that out of town consultants give kickbacks? Really? The reason we got an out of towner city manager is because of all the kickbacks that were being handed to local companies...

58th Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament First Round (1) Hayti 80, (16) Richland 47 (2) Malden 91, (15) Van Buren 37 (3) Kennett 64, (14) Doniphan 48 (4) Bernie 76, (13) East Prairie 67 (5) T. Rivers 64, (12) Holcomb 31 (6) Dexter 62, (11) Portageville 47...

By MICHELLE MALKIN "Jahi McMath is ALIVE." The very first column I filed in 2014 exposed the plight of a beautiful young girl, the same age as my daughter, whom medical experts declared "brain dead" after a routine tonsillectomy gone wrong. Are you ready for the rest of the story?...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama has made a geopolitical irrelevancy suddenly relevant to American presidential politics. For decades, Cuba has been instructive as a museum of two stark failures: socialism and the U.S. embargo. Now, Cuba has become useful as a clarifier of different Republican flavors of foreign-policy thinking...

Poplar Bluff High School administration announced the students of the month for December. Joseph Pickard and Ariel Judd were chosen as the 9th grade students of the month. Pickard is the son of John and Beverly Patterson. He is involved in band and JROTC. He enjoys music and likes to build things. After high school he plans to go to Three Rivers College. After college he plans to join the Marines for 20 years, and later open his own construction business...

Northside was open Thurs., Fri. In the Wednesday edition of the Daily American Republic it stated that the Northside Nutrition Center would be closed on Thursday and Friday for the Christmas holliday. The center was opened Friday at the regular time...

Provance receives scholarship COLUMBIA, Mo. - Darby Provance, Poplar Bluff, will receive the William Bryan Myers II Memorial Scholarship, granted by School of Social Work in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at the University of Missouri, for the 2015 spring semester...

Belmon U. deans list The following students achieved the Dean's List at Belmont University for the Fall 2014 semester. Eligibility is based on a minimum course load of 12 hours and a quality grade point average of 3.5 with no grade below a C. Making the list from Poplar Bluff are Ashley Lovette, Tanner Puckett, Megan Richardson, and Abigail Simpson...

Jennifer Hood, administrative assistant for Three Rivers College's Career Education and Workforce Development Department, has been named vice president of the Missouri Association for Customized Training (MACT). Hood, who was elected as secretary of MACT in 2013, was promoted as part of the regular cycle of officer appointments for the organization...

Melba Dean Todd CAMPBELL, Mo.-- Melba Dean Todd, 80, passed away on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2014, at her residence in Gibson, Mo. Mrs. Todd, daughter of John & Wilma Tippitt Gipson, was born on November 29, 1934 in Walnut Ridge, Ark. On May 28, 1955, in Campbell, she was united in marriage to Paul Dean Todd. He preceded her in death on March 5, 2006...

Eagle named to Graceland U. Ashley Eagle has been named to the Graceland University honors list for the 2014 fall semester. The honor roll lists for Graceland University's 2014 fall term have been announced, and Ashley Eagle of Qulin, has been named to the honors list for the 2014 fall semester...

Archie L. Dennis, 47, of Essex, was a arrested on suspicion of third-degree domestic assault. He was booked at the Stoddard County Jail. Justin L. Roberts, 28, no address given, was arrested on suspicion of domestic assault. He was booked at the Stoddard County Jail...

William W. Hailey, 57, of Poplar Bluff, was arrested 4:15 p.m. Friday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and possession of a controlled substance. He was placed on a 24-hour hold at the Butler County jail. _ Rodney E. Leonard, 44, of Poplar Bluff, was arrested at 2:47 p.m. Friday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, no insurance, driving while revoked and failing to register a motor vehicle. He was placed on a 12-hour hold at the Butler County jail...

Another year has passed---where did it go? Into God's eternity with time's ebb and flow. I had made resolutions with quite good intent, But before I could keep them the year up and went. I promised myself should I remain on earth's sod, I would give more of myself to the worship of God...

The Puxico High School Beta club will be hosting a trivia night at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16 in the school cafeteria. The cost to participate is $10 per team member, and teams may consist of up to eight people. The three highest scoring teams will receive cash prizes...

London isn't in Butler Co, I'm sure Pearson and The Three Stooges couldn't find London on a map--let me help you --it's not in Butler County! Why would Kaplan appoint a committee to review the architect/engineering firms to report on the feasibility of redoing the city hall or building a new one (we already know the answer to that one anyway!). ...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- In 1968, a singularly traumatic year -- assassinations, urban riots, 16,899 Americans killed in Vietnam -- Vice President Hubert Humphrey, the ebullient Minnesotan, said his presidential campaign was about "the politics of joy." This was considered infelicitous...

By MONA CHAREN Democrats have done very well politically by convincing voters that they are, in a very broad sense, on the side of the little guy. "Republicans," they say, "take care of the rich, but we Democrats are the party that brought you Social Security, Medicare, Head Start, the Civil Rights Act, free school lunches, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and Obamacare. ...

Michael Crites Michael Douglas Crites, 54, of Puxico, passed away Friday, Dec. 19, 2014, at his home. He was born Aug. 16, 1960, in Poplar Bluff, Mo., the son of Jerry T. and Marjorie Ward Crites. Michael was an over the road truck driver. He had received numerous safe driving awards. He loved to fish and ride his Harley Davidson motorcycle with his son, Allen. He believed in the Baptist faith...

Harold Williams, Jr. DEXTER, Mo.-- Harold Williams, Jr., 60, of Dexter, died Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, at his residence. Visitation will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Dexter. The funeral services will follow at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Watkins & Sons Chapel in Dexter with the Rev. Justin Williams of Marble Hill, Mo., officiating...

Fred Pierce Jr. Fred L. Pierce Jr., 56, of Puxico died Monday, Dec. 22, 2014 at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Visitation was held Dec. 27 at the Morgan-Sifford Funeral Home in Puxico. The funeral service was held at 1 p.m. Dec. 27, 2014 in funeral home chapel. Rev. Ray Placher officiated...

Ida Mae Howell Ida Mae Howell, 84, of Liberty, Texas, died Monday, Dec. 22, 2014, in Houston, Texas. She was born Sept. 25, 1930, in Buffalo, to parents, Lane Beckham and Carrie Opal Warren. She lived in Liberty, Texas and was an homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Amos Howell; two sons, Larry Howell, and Danny Howell; a grandson, William Thomas Downs II.; three brothers, Gene Beckham, Howard Beckham, Ray Beckham; two half-brothers, Big Carl Beckham, Joe Beckham; one sister, Maxine Sliter.. ...

Donna House DONIPHAN, Mo.--Donna Kay House, 63, of Annapolis, died Monday, Dec. 22, 2014, at her residence . Visitation will begin at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan. The funeral service will follow at noon in the funeral home chapel and burial will be in the Antioch Cemetery in Oxly...

Janet McGee-Davis Janet McGee-Davis, 46, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, at her residence. Janet was born Nov. 18, 1968 in Poplar Bluff. She was a bartender. She enjoyed spending time with her nieces and nephews, and children in general...