Stories from Monday, March 30, 2015

By NOREEN HYSLOP SEMO News Service State Rep. Tila Rowland-Hubrecht is more than familiar with the condition of bridges in Stoddard County. She was raised in a rural area within the Richland School District and travels the roads often. The need for bridge replacements and improvements was driven home, however, during a tour Friday with MoDOT Area Engineer David Wyman...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Candidates for the Poplar Bluff R-I Board of Education will face the voters in a public forum at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Kay Porter Theater. Hosted by the Missouri National Education Association (MNEA) and the Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) the forum will allow potential board members to introduce themselves to the community and allow citizens to ask relevant questions of each candidate...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor Fire officials urge citizens to make sure their homes have working smoke detectors after separate fires claimed the lives of five Poplar Bluff residents in the last seven weeks. "I can't ever remember a time like this right here (where fire deaths have occurred) this close together," said Poplar Bluff Fire Chief Ralph Stucker. "That goes back 20 years; this is rare."...

By BRIAN ROSENER Sports Editor Imagine running from Poplar Bluff to Cape Girardeau. That's essentially what Beth Muse did last week at the Howard Aslinger Endurance Run. Muse competed in the 24-hour ultra-running event at Arena Park in Cape Girardeau, Mo., while three area women ran in the 12-hour race...

Gene and Mary Gibbs of Poplar Bluff recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Florida. Each year they celebrate Grandparents Day in Ormond Beach, Fla. with their granddaughter, Anniston. This year after the grandparents' festivities, they celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary with their son, Gene, also of Ormond Beach, and other family members. This fall they plan to travel to the Northeastern part of the United States for a delayed celebration...

Megan Lynn Emmons, formerly of Fairdealing, and Brian Anthony Pappalardo, both of Little Rock, Ark. were wed in a double-ring ceremony on Sept. 13, 2014, at Trapnall Hall in Little Rock with Michael Gallup officiating. The bride is the daughter of Donny and Linda Emmons of Fairdealing...

Gene McVay SIKESTON, Mo. -- Joseph E. "Gene" McVay, 77, passed away Monday, March 23, 2015, at Sikeston Convalescent Center. He was born May 23, 1937, at New Madrid, to the late Joseph L. and Nora Young McVay Jr. He had resided in Kalamazoo, Mich., where he pursued his college education and retired from General Motors...

Nova Pratt Nova Arlene Pratt, 94, of Poplar Bluff, formerly of Ironton, passed away Thursday, March 26, 2015. Mrs. Pratt was born Feb. 18, 1921 in Hogan, Mo., to Elzie and Clara Odessa Swaringim Sherrill. On Nov. 12, 1941, she was united in marriage to the father of her children, Lewis E. Pratt. He preceded her in death in April, 2008...

Geraldine Mondy FISK, Mo. -- Geraldine Mondy, 86, of Independence, Kan., died Friday, March 27, 2015, at Jane Phillips Medical Center at Bartlesville, Okla. She was born May 6, 1928 at Fisk. She had lived in Independence for the past seven years and had formerly lived around Poplar Bluff, Mo...

The Agee Community Club held its March meeting at the Bread Company on Thursday March 19. Cathy Womack who is the club president was this month's hostess and opened the meeting with the members repeating the club motto, "When the heart is full of love the world is full of beauty". ...

Leonard Ehlers Leonard W. Ehlers, 95, of Columbia, Mo., formerly of Poplar Bluff, died Friday, March 27, 2015, at Lenoir Woods-Slater Place Assisted Living Center in Columbia. Visitation will begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Cotrell Funeral Chapel in Poplar Bluff with the funeral service following at 2 p.m...

By BARBARA ANN HORTON News Editor Plunging into marriage, Britney Dover and Matt Allison of Wappapello wanted a unique site for their August ceremony. They wanted a place special to them, their family and friends. The only place the couple could imagine repeating their vows was at "The Tree" on Wappapello Lake...

Defending employees I would like to respond to the article about our Department of Revenue new license bureau here in Poplar Bluff. I was there three times this week! Tuesday, I went in and it was packed. I took a number and I needed two things: driver's license and license plates renewed. ...

Ronnie Radford PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Herbert Ronald "Ronnie" Radford, 75, of Piedmont, passed away on Friday, March 27, 2015, at the Clark's Mountain Nursing Center in Piedmont. Visitation was held Saturday at Ruegg Funeral Home in Piedmont. Services will be held at 2 p.m. today at the funeral home. Burial will be at Masonic Cemetery...

Lyna Bolden NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Lyna Roschell Bolden, 47, of Jefferson City, Mo., died Thursday, March 26, 2015, in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Lyna was born Oct. 22, 1967, in St. Louis, Mo., to Betty Banks and the late John Bolden. Her stepfather, the late Henry Banks, helped raise her. She has two brothers, Jimmie Warren and Ricky Warren...

By SHARON RANDALL Tribune News Service Children are like sponges soaking up drops all around them, especially the drops you'd rather they not touch. But they are also excellent teachers. My brother, blind from birth, taught me how to see the world, not just with my eyes, but with all my senses. He taught me other things, too, like how to be pig-headed and never confuse pickles with jalapeno peppers...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer In a gesture long overdue for those who served our nation in Vietnam, the community "welcomed home" veterans during a Friday morning ceremony at Three Rivers College. Several states and localities will celebrate Vietnam Veterans' Day today. No official federal recognition exists for that date despite the efforts of some lawmakers, but it indeed has a special place in the history of what many see as America's most unpopular war...

According to City Manager Heath Kaplan, Poplar Bluff is broke. It is so broke he has talked about possibly closing the Black River Coliseum, which has become a popular venue for community events. It is so broke Kaplan has said it can no longer afford to provide free police escorts for parades and funeral services ... unless the city gets paid for it. (Fortunately, the city council shot that bright idea down ... for now, at least.)...

Frank Catalano, Sr. WAPPAPELLO, Mo. -- Francis "Frank" Joseph Catalano, Sr., 71, of Wappapello, Mo., passed away Saturday, March 28, 2015 at his residence. Mr. Catalano was born Jan. 3, 1944 in New Orleans, La., to the late Michael and Mary Gagliano Catalano. ...

JONESBORO, Ark. -- It took 20 innings, but the Poplar Bluff Mules finally gave up a run in the Xtra Innings Tournament. Following shutouts in the first two games Thursday and Friday, the Mules held off Nettleton, Ark. 3-2 Saturday. "We played great defense today, it was awesome," Mules coach Steve Edwards said...

Dexter swept doubles play and took a pair of tight singles matches to beat Poplar Bluff 7-2 Friday. Top-seeded Ethan Flowers of Dexter edged Poplar Bluff's Zain Siddiqui 8-6 while Dexter's Addison Moore edged Peyton Bradley by the same score to win the No. 6 match...

Floyd Ward PUXICO, Mo. -- Floyd L. Ward, 85, of Puxico, Mo., died Friday, March 27, 2015, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Sunday at Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Puxico. Masonic services will be held at 7 p.m...

Abby Tillotson was unaware of the situation she was walking into. The Three Rivers freshman catcher stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the sixth with two on and the Lady Raiders ahead five runs against St. Louis. After falling behind 0-2 in the count, she sat back on a changeup and smacked her first walk-off home run to invoke the run rule in a 9-1 decision...

Having moved to Poplar Bluff from Michigan just a year ago, Phil Edwards has no problem running in the cold. Edwards and 75 other runners battled a chilly wind Saturday morning in the Badge of Honor Benefit Run half-marathon. He won the race in 1 hour, 24 minutes, 13.4 seconds while Jennifer Bunner was the first female across the finish line in 1:38:35.6...

BERNIE -- It was a cold, blustery day. But Brock Beacham made it feel like summer time on the sand and near the water for the Bernie Mules baseball team. Beacham kept Neelyville in check as he allowed no hits over five innings. In the bottom of the fifth, he then launched a solo homer over the right-field fence to end the game with a 10-0 victory...

VAN BUREN -- Summer Shockley continued her early season dominance on Friday. The Lady Dawg ace allowed one run on two hits with 11 strikeouts over five innings. She also starred at the plate with two doubles, a single, two RBIs and three runs as Van Buren beat Mountain Grove 12-1 in Van Buren...

PARK HILLS -- Three Rivers had eight days off between games and it showed. The Raiders played well in spurts, but five errors and an inability to get timely hits led to losing both games against Mineral Area, 5-3 and 6-3 on Saturday in Park Hills. "At times, we played well and just weren't able to put together a complete game," Three Rivers coach Stacey Burkey said. ...