Stories from Thursday, February 5, 2015

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor The coolest year in Poplar Bluff during the past 44 years was 2014. Last year's average temperature at the Poplar Bluff Municipal Airport was 56.7 degrees, according to the National Weather Service at Paducah, Ky...

By ERIN RAGAN SEMO News Service The Paducah, Kentucky, NBC affiliate that experienced broadcast interruptions during this year's Super Bowl apologized to viewers Monday and pointed to a faulty power supply as the reason the area missed much of the game's second half Sunday...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer A city of Poplar Bluff proposal to attach fees for city employees' time at any community event, including police assistance at everything from funeral processions to the annual Fourth of July parade, sparked concern Monday...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Black River Medical Center in Poplar Bluff will receive the biggest Medicare bonus in the United States for 2014 - part of a 2010 change in disbursements that takes performance into account. Dubbed "Hospital Value-Based Purchasing" the program is part of a federal effort to link Medicare payments to a value-based system. The payments are based on performance on four domains, clinical process, patient experience, outcome and efficiency...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer The city of Poplar Bluff will benefit from more than $8 million in Missouri Department of Transportation money this year for improvements to roads outside the state's primary network of highways. Funding shortages will limit MoDOT's highway construction funds to maintenance of primary roads like U.S. 60 and 67 and Highway 53 in the future, area engineer David Wyman told the city council Monday...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor A Poplar Bluff man was arrested Tuesday night after he allegedly crashed a suspected stolen vehicle following a short pursuit with city officers. The man, identified as Demetri Darnell Rodgers, and another man are suspects in separate armed robberies involving a Poplar Bluff man and his mother...

Cacie and Tyler Ramsey announce the birth of their daughter, Isabel Fern Ramsey, born 9:28 a.m. Jan. 16, 2015 at St. Francis Medical Center's Family BirthPlace in Cape Girardeau. She weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 19 1/4 inches long. Grandparents are Randy and Linda King of Puxico, Ernie and Betsy Chaffin of Poplar Bluff, Wanda Ramsey and the late Russell Ramsey of Puxico...

Cheyanne Robertson and Taylor Crisel announce the birth of their daughter, Kinsley Ann Crisel, born Nov. 22, 2014 at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She weighed 6 pounds and was 19 inches long. Maternal grandparents are Sean and Laura Stucker of Poplar Bluff and the late Michael Robertson...

By MICHELLE L. VARVIL The Puxico Board of Aldermen approved the purchase of a 2015 Ford Explorer at a special meeting Thursday, Jan. 29, at Puxico City Hall. Marshal Daniel Dew had asked the board to consider the purchase of the Explorer to replace the department's 2003 Ford Expedition during a special meeting Jan. 8...

That God has spoken, none of us will question. We believe the Bible is God's word to us, yet, we seem confused and uncertain about what He is saying to us. One reason for this is God is speaking primarily of spiritual things, and we are too carnal-minded to be sensitive to the things of the spirit. ...

The members of the Zalma General Baptist Church will be holding their Ninth Annual Special Needs Dinner and Silent Auction from 3:30-7 p.m. March 7 at the church gym. All proceeds will go to help those in need throughout the year. Dinner will be served from 3:30-6:30 p.m., and the silent auction will be from 3:30-7 p.m...

By DUSTIN WARD SEMO News Service BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - The No. 3 seeded Dexter Bearcats took charge from the get-go and never looked back against the No. 6 seeded Puxico Indians the night of Jan. 26 in a varsity quarterfinal at the SCAA Tournament. Dexter limited Puxico to just three first-half field goals at it built a commanding 26-7 lead by the halftime break...

The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers at Wappapello Lake has announced the calendar of special events for 2015. April 18-19 -- 2015 Old Greenville Black Powder Rendezvous May 16 -- Kids to Parks Day June 20 -- Annual Kids Fun Day (Fishing Derby) July 4 -- Ranger Willie's Wet and Wild Waterfest...

By MICHELLE L. VARVIL Eagle Days will be held Saturday, Feb. 7, at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge with area students getting a preview of Eagles Days on Friday, Feb. 6. "Friday is the School Days," said Peter Rea, visitor services park ranger at Mingo NWR. "That's not open to the public. That's just for school. We're going to have over 500 students that will come through during the day. Puxico is one of them, but there's also other schools coming too."...

The John J. Pershing VA Medical Center will host a special "214 Day" event and a Veterans Art Show on Feb. 14. The events are part of the National Salute to Veteran Patients Week. "Often our veterans don't realize the importance of having their DD-214 documents (military release papers) recorded with their county recorder," medical center Public Affairs Officer Angela Smith stated. "If they ever lost their original document due to theft or fire, an official copy would be readily available."...

Puxico Schools will hold third quarter parent-teacher conferences Feb. 12 and March 19 . The Feb.1 2 date is a mid-quarter conference and will be held for parents of junior high and high school students. The March 19 date is an end of quarter conference and will be held for parents of elementary students. All conferences will be held from 1-7 p.m...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN Last November, Republicans grew their strength in Congress to levels unseen since 1946. What united the party and rallied the nation was the GOP's declared resolve to stand up to an imperious president. Give us powerful new majorities, said John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, and we shall halt these usurpations of Congressional power...

By ALEX WEST Staff Writer MALDEN -- A new 13,000-square-foot facility gives Harry Blackwell Ford, LLC, in Malden, Mo., the opportunity to better care for the customers they value so much. Harry Blackwell and Associates provides a large selection through the Chevrolet Buick GMC and Ford Dodge dealerships located in Malden and the Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep dealerships located in Dexter...

By FRANK CAMPA Mo. Dept. of Conservation Hopefully by now, you have retrieved your stands from the woods and cleaned, oiled and put away your bows and guns. But now, what do you do with everything you put in that deep freeze? For some folks, it is not quite grilling season, but you can utilize some of that wild game right now in the cold of winter. And, it might taste really good...

To The Editor: I have been a pharmacist, and businessman in Poplar Bluff for 55 years and I believe it gives me some responsibility to comment upon the current, somewhat squabble we have going on concerning our city government. We chose to have a "City Manager" type of government many years ago. ...

New York's schools are the most segregated in the nation, and the state needs remedies right away. That was Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch's message to New York's governor and Legislature. She said that minority children are disproportionately trapped in schools that lack teaching talent, course offerings and resources needed to prepare them for college and success...

Maxine Wallar DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Agnes Maxine Wallar, 79, of Doniphan died Friday, Jan. 30, 2015, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Visitation will be held from 5 - 8 p.m. Thursday in the Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan. The funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Friday in the funeral home chapel with burial to follow in the Shirley Cemetery...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor The story is still the same at Wappapello Lake. Crappie fishing has been good lately, but the size of the fish coming out of the impoundment leaves a lot to be desired. Several people have reported catching a good number of fish, but maybe only 10 percent of those meet the 9-inch minimum length limit...

Naylor Elementary 2nd Quarter Honor Roll: A Honor Roll: 1st Grade: Coleton Armstrong, Ariel Darnell, Cameron Dragon, Zelda Luye, Michael McGee, Colby Sullivan, Chloe Warren, and Kameryn Wuesthoff; A/B Honor Roll: Braiden Adams, Joseph Bunn, Alexis Holcomb, Cohen Miller, Ryan Mitchell, Caleb Moore, William Moore, Maisyn Stone, Camlyn Summers, and Jalynn Winder;...

Lawrence Fergel Lawrence Fergel, 64, of Poplar Bluff, died, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015, at St. Louis University Hospital. A graveside service with full military honors will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield, Mo...

Elvis Parker AMARILLO, Texas -- Elvis Parker, 86, formerly of Williamsville, died Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015 in Amarillo, Texas. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the South Georgia Baptist Church in Amarillo, Texas with Pastors Marvin Knox, Mike Martin, and Bob Miller officiating. Online condolences: www.rectorfuneralhome.com...

Four years ago Poplar Bluff senior Madison Bulger would have never guessed the Mules swim team might be this big or even have a diver, let alone compete for a conference championship. But that's exactly what they'll attempt to do a week from Friday...

Phoenix Brannon Phoenix Tylar Brannon, 10, of Poplar Bluff, passed away Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, alongside his brother, JayDen, at the home of his grandparents, as the result of a fire. Phoenix was born April 25, 2004, in Poplar Bluff, to Jonathan Brannon and Dusty Whittaker. He was a fifth grader at Poplar Bluff 5th and 6th grade center. He loved spending time playing video games, fishing with his PaPa, reading and playing with his brothers...

JayDen Brannon JayDen Lyric Brannon, 8, of Poplar Bluff, passed away Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, alongside his brother, Phoenix, at the home of his grandparents, as a result of a fire. JayDen was born in Poplar Bluff on May 30, 2006, to Terry Blankenship and Dusty Whittaker. He was a 3rd grader at Lake Road School. He enjoyed spending time with his grandpas, reading to his little brother Grayson, fishing and swimming...

Clorene Alberta Glass DEXTER, Mo. -- Clorene Alberta Glass, 82, of Dexter died Monday, Feb. 2, 2015 at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 9-11 a.m. Friday at the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter. A memorial service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Friday the funeral chapel...

Mildred Jarrell DEXTER, Mo. -- Mildred Jarrell, 88, of Dudley at the Southeast Healthcare of Stoddard County in Dexter Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2015. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Wednesday at the Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Dexter. The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Watkins & Sons Chapel in Dexter. Burial will be in the Dudley Cemetery in Dudley with Watkins & Sons Funeral Service of Dexter in charge of arrangements...

Barbara Kendrick Barbara Kendrick, 70, of Wentzville, Mo., died Monday, Feb. 2, 2015. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Thursday with the funeral service at 7 p.m. at Grace Baptist Church, 3601 Ehlmann Rd, St. Charles, MO 63301. Burial will be at noon Friday at Wood Lawn Cemetery, Poplar Bluff...

Tuesday, Feb. 3 Mega Millions: 11-22-25-58-69 Mega Ball: 13 Megaplier: 5 Next jackpot: $49 million Pick 3 Evening: 3-3-3 Pick 3 Midday: 1-4-5 Pick 4 Evening: 2-3-3-5 Pick 4 Midday: 6-6-0-0 Show Me Cash: 03-26-35-37-38 Next jackpot: $75,000...

For four years Bailey Alford and Matt King have wrestled against each other in practice every day. "You don't really look forward to it, but it does make you a better wrestler," said Alford of wrestling the Mule who has never been pinned in a match...

VALHALLA, N.Y. (AP) -- A crowded commuter train slammed into a sport utility vehicle on the tracks at a suburban New York crossing and burst into flames, killing six people, seriously injuring more than a dozen others and sending hundreds of passengers scrambling for safety, authorities said...

LITTLE ROCK -- Four of Three Rivers' five starters shot worse than 40 percent against Arkansas Baptist. Coupled with a 17-5 run by the Buffaloes out of halftime, the Raiders fell behind and lost 75-66 on Tuesday night. Justas Furmanavicius shot 6-for-8 for Three Rivers and was the lone bright spot among the starters. He finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season and second in a row. It was also his first start since Jan. 13...

BERNIE -- Bernie proved the old adage that it's hard to be a team three times in one season. But the Mules got it done against Twin Rivers Tuesday night. It took two overtimes before the Mules escaped with a 66-64 win. "Beating a good team three times is a very tough thing to do," Bernie coach Brad Botsch said. "Twin Rivers came here and played our butts off. They were more physical and really hurt us on the glass and just had more fire and desire overall"...