Stories from Wednesday, May 6, 2015

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Free vaccination clinics will be held this month in Poplar Bluff, Fisk, Qulin and Neelyville for students who will enter the eighth grade or attend college in the next school year. Butler County Health Department will provide the Tdap, HPV and meningococcal vaccines during clinics from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. May 14, 21 and 28 at the health department in Poplar Bluff...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor For 25 years, the Poplar Bluff Elks Lodge No. 2452 has shown its support for area law enforcement by hosting a Law and Order Night and bestowing the honor of "officer of the year" on a select group of professionals...

Butler County Sheriff's deputies reported they had to taser a man early Saturday while he resisted arrest after allegedly throwing a sawed-off shotgun from the top floor of Bullwinkle's Lodge. The gun smashed through a sunroof and into a car. Stephen C. Benton, 43, of Broseley, faces charges of resisting a felony arrest and first-degree property damage. He is currently in custody in the Butler County jail...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer A Fairdealing man faces several charges after he allegedly burglarized a home early Sunday, then ran from police and crashed into a telephone pole. Poplar Bluff Police arrested Matthew D. Russell, 29, on suspicion of second-degree burglary, careless and imprudent driving, resisting arrest, failing to stop for an emergency vehicle, failing to stop at a stop sign, and speeding 15-19 mph over the limit...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer A free event will be held Tuesday to provide resources to families and professionals who have or work with children who have an autism spectrum disorder. The annual conference will be held from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church. Lunch will be provided by Family Counseling Center...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor Although she remains a patient in St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Angela Pearson, who represents Ward 1 on the Poplar Bluff City Council, reports she is improving and wants the community informed on her situation...

STODDARD COUNTY - Two Bernie men face drugs and weapons charges following an investigation by the sheriff's department. Curtis R. McNece, 49, is charged with possession of a controlled substance, which is a class A felony due to the presence of firearms. He is held without bond in the Stoddard County Jail...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer It's often said that you can't run from the long arm of the law. Apparently - as a Poplar Bluff man found out on Monday - you can't swim away from it either. Police arrested Austin M. Million, 24, just before 8 p.m. in Wiseman Park on a laundry list of stealing related offenses. He was taken into custody after pulling himself from the river and surrendering following a failed escape attempt via Black River...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Poplar Bluff has been in default of a redevelopment agreement since Dec. 20, a representative of Eight Points development said Monday at a city council meeting. It is costing the city more than $1,500 a day, or $50,000 a month, the longer it delays issuing bonds as stipulated under the redevelopment agreement, Eight Points representative Alan Bornstein said...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer A decision from the Poplar Bluff City Council concerning a possible electric rate increase may be delayed until June as more information is gathered. Discussion during the Monday night council meeting involved a proposed rate increase of 10.89 percent for residential customers. The average monthly residential bill would increase about $14 under the proposal, utilities general manager Bill Bach said...

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- Deana Carter will take the stage, headlining the country concert at the Missouri Peach Fair in Campbell at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, at the Campbell Community Building on Highway 62. The daughter of famed studio guitarist and producer, Fred Carter, Jr., Carter grew up exposed to the wide variety of musicians her father worked with, including Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings and Simon and Garfunkel. ...

The Gala of the Royal Horses will high step their way into Poplar Bluff during the group's inaugural North American equestrian tour at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 22, the Black River Coliseum. Following in the footsteps of seven generations of his family, Reign Gasser, producer of the Royal Horses, has recreated a show only previously seen at the famous riding schools in Vienna and Spain. ...

VAN BUREN, Mo. - U.S. Park Rangers Lindel Gregory and Chris Figge have been selected as District Rangers at Ozark National Scenic Riverways, following the retirements of former District Rangers Marty Towery and Rick Drummond last year. Gregory has been selected as the new Lower Current District ranger, overseeing law enforcement and emergency services out of the district ranger station at Big Spring. ...

House Action Ramps Up As the members of the House completed the third to last week of the 2015 legislative session, bill activity hit a fever pitch with more than 50 pieces of legislation moving through the chamber. To date, the House has given final approval to more than 250 House bills and sent them to the Senate. ...

We learned this week that the Secret Service dawdled for an entire year before fixing a broken security system at the home of former President George H. W. Bush. The Secret Service itself is looking pretty broken these days. A few weeks ago, two drunken agents returning from a party drove right through an active bomb investigation outside the White House. They didn't notice that their colleagues were examining a suspicious package...

Donald Loyd Jr. FISK, Mo. -- Donald Ray Loyd Jr., 45, of Broseley, died Saturday, May 2, 2015, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Funeral arrangements are pending with White-Sanders Funeral Home at Fisk.

Kathleen Davis PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Kathleen Davis of Patterson, died Sunday, May 3, 2015, at her residence. Arrangements are pending with Ruegg Funeral Home of Piedmont.

Tax day has come and gone for most, but some taxpayers are still trying to get their returns straight. This year, there has been an astronomical uptick in identity theft used for fraudulent tax returns. When some law-abiding citizens filed their tax returns, they discovered a thief had already used their social security number to file a return. ...

Hattie Stratton Hattie May Stratton, 71, of Poplar Bluff, died Saturday, May 2, 2015, at her residence. She was born Feb. 10, 1944, in Harviell to the late Walter Turner and Goldie Robertson Turner. She was a long time resident of Butler County. She was of the Baptist faith...

Documents shredded free on Tuesday Document shredding and disposal will be offered from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday at Lisa Reynolds Insurance, 2445 N Westwood Blvd. This is a free event open to everyone to help prevent identity theft by destroying documents that are no longer needed. To ensure everyone is able to participate, please limit boxes to four per person...

VAN BUREN, Mo.-- A Carter County jury deliberated about 2 1/2 hours Thursday afternoon before awarding an Ellington native $200,000 in a medical malpractice suit. Randy Buxton had filed suit against local podiatrist Zackwrie Parr for nerve damage he had suffered during a hammertoe surgery in January 2011, according to a press release from Buxton's attorney, Stephen Walsh of Walsh & Walsh LLC...

New website not necessary Kaplan is trying to sell the council (and people) that he needs to hire a web design company out of California to develop the City's web site even though there was one local firm that bid on the web design (and actually they were the low bid.)...

By MICHELLE MALKIN It's never enough. American taxpayers have surrendered billions and billions and billions of dollars to the social-justice-spender-in-chief. But it's never, ever enough. The latest paroxysm of urban violence, looting, and recriminations in Baltimore prompted President Obama on Tuesday to trot out his frayed Blame The Callous, Tight-Fisted Republicans card. ...

To the Editor, I have been watching what the politicians in Jefferson City have been bouncing around for the past few years -- REPAIRS TO MISSOURI ROADS AND BRIDGES. The way that the present transportation tax is distributed, by the time it gets down to the actual repairing of the roads and bridges, it is so diluted that there is not much left for the repairs...

Charlie Floyd CAMPBELL, Mo. -- Charlie P. Floyd, 64, of Campbell, died Saturday, May 2, 2015, at his residence. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. today at the Landess Funeral Home in Campbell. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the funeral home chapel with Bro. Gary Long officiating...

By WALTER E. WILLIAMS Californians are experiencing their third year of drought. Headlines read: "Current California Drought Is Driest In State's History; Scientists Fear 'Megadroughts' On Their Way." "Global Warming Upped Heat Driving California's Drought." Then there are scientific claims such as, "There's a rapidly growing body of scientific research finding that California is in the midst of its worst drought in over a millennium (and) global warming has made the drought worse." A Stanford University study said, "Human-caused climate change helped fuel the current California drought." One news outlet summarized the conclusions of a group of environmentalists this way: "California's severe and ongoing drought is just a taste of the dry years to come, thanks to global warming.". ...

Rev. A. Doewer "A.D" Cleaver Rev. A. Doewer "A.D" Cleaver, 84, of Van Buren, died Sunday, May 3, 2015, at his residence. Visitation will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the McSpadden Funeral Home in Van Buren. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday in the funeral home chapel with State Bishop and the Rev. Garry Reagan officiating. Burial will follow in the Pleasant Site Cemetery in Fremont with Missouri Military Honors...

Jo Alice Wheelis CAMPBELL, Mo. -- Jo Alice Wheelis, 75, of Campbell, died Friday, May 1, 2015, at the General Baptist Nursing Home in Campbell. There will be no visitation. A graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Woodlawn Cemetery - Landess Addition...

Kathleen Davis PIEDMONT -- Kathleen "Kay" Davis, 93, of Piedmont died Sunday, May 3, 2015. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Wednesday and the funeral will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday at Ruegg Funeral Home, Piedmont. Donations can be made to St. Jude...

Lake Road Elementary School has announced its Students of the Month. They are: 1st Grade: Melina Obarr is a student in Ms. Sells' class. Melina is a hard worker who always strives to do her best. She does a great job at helping others anytime there is an opportunity to do so. Melina sets a great example for her friends and peers, and is such a treasure...

PBHS '59 lunch Thurs. The Poplar Bluff High School Class of 1959 will meet for lunch at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at Fazoli's. All class members, spouses and guests are invited. Any questions, call 573-6868-1019 or 575-718-5900.

Donald Ray Loyd Jr. Donald Ray Loyd Jr. 45, of Broseley, died Saturday, May 2, 2015 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. He was born Oct. 4, 1969 at Poplar Bluff. Mr. Loyd was a respiratory therapist at Ripley County Medical Center. He was a member of the Black River Missionary Baptist Church at Qulin. He was an avid Cardinal fan and also enjoyed Raider Basketball, barbecuing, fishing and playing baseball and basketball video games...

Scharlotta A. Fowler Scharlotta A. Fowler, 78, of Culleoka, Tenn., died Monday, May 4, 2015 at Williamson County Hospital at Franklin, Tenn. Funeral arrangements are pending with White-Sanders Funeral Home at Fisk.

A sound of shots fired was reported at 8:20 p.m. Monday in the 600 block of Lindsay. Investigators searched the area, but found no evidence of a crime.

Destiny Wallace only played briefly Monday night. But she came up big. The Poplar Bluff junior, nursing an injury, broke a scoreless tie with just 14 seconds remaining until halftime at Whiteley Park. The goal stood as all the Lady Mules needed, but they added an insurance goal with three minutes left to take a 2-0 win over Sikeston...

Matthew B. Carter, 25, of Naylor, was booked at the Butler County jail Sunday on a failure to appear warrant for stealing. _ Benjamin B. Harrison, 41, of the 2700 block of Oakmore, was booked at the Butler County jail Sunday on suspicion of possession of a weapon at a correctional facility, possession of marijuana and shoplifting...

Brian J. Grimes, 28, of Dudley, was arrested on a warrant for burglary. He was booked at the Stoddard County Jail. _ Ethan H. Standley, 19, of Bloomfield, was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He was booked at the Stoddard County jail...

GREENVILLLE -- Emily Duncan allowed one hit and no walks with three strikeouts as Greenville beat Zalma 10-0 in five innings in the first round of the MSHSAA Class 1 District 6 playoffs. Jaden Francis went 2-for-3. Mackenzie Clark was 2-for-2 with a double for the Lady Bears (6-8)...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Trailing 2-0 and down to their final five outs against one of the best teams and pitchers in the state, the Poplar Bluff Mules found a way Monday night. Kameron Misner kept it close, Brandon Stuckenschneider provided the key hits late and Jared Moses closed the door as Poplar Bluff rallied past Notre Dame 4-2 to win the SEMO Conference Tournament for the first time...

NAYLOR -- Shayna Tharp faced the minimum through seven innings and pitched a no-hitter in her final high school game for Naylor. Tharp, who is signed with Three Rivers, allowed one walk to Jaysea Morgan, who was caught stealing as Naylor won 2-0 at home...

A pedestrian was injured after being struck by a Sandy's Cab at 12:35 a.m. Sunday near north store entrance of the Wal-Mart on South Westwood. According to Poplar Bluff Police reports, Lorie A. Brock, 54, of Poplar Bluff, was taken to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center for treatment of apparent injuries to her shoulder, elbow and right leg...