Stories from Saturday, July 25, 2015

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Poplar Bluff was recently ranked by financial technology company SmartAsset as the best place in Missouri to retire. To find the best places to retire, SmartAsset gathered data on separate regional factors that affect the quality of life for retirees. First, the company looked at state and local tax rates - considering two types, income and sales...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Poplar Bluff City Council members are expected to vote Aug. 3 on changes to an agreement with the city firefighters' union, announcing this week a clause negotiated by former city manger Heath Kaplan is not legal. The council voted in January to give the firefighters a 5 percent raise, retroactive to the date their last contract expired, Oct. 31, 2013...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Summer vacation is almost over and the Twin Rivers R-X community is gearing up to help students prepare with its annual Back to School Fair from 1-7 p.m. Aug. 5 at the high school in Broseley. The event will provide a wealth of information, free school supplies, health screenings and more. School board member and long-time organizer Donna Sue Ashcraft-Fincher says the event is a "must attend" for all students...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor Replacement of the Highway 53 bridges over the St. Francis River and overflow area is on the Missouri Department of Transportation five-year construction schedule. Construction on the $7.5 million project southeast of Qulin on the Butler/Dunklin county line is expected to begin during the summer of 2016...

PERRRYVILLE, Mo.--R. David Crader, chief executive officer of The Bank of Missouri and chairman of Reliable Community Bancshares, Inc. has been selected to receive the Missourian Award. Crader was chosen for his work with Teen Challenge, as well as his contributions to community and state...

'Make my own rule' I have been dismayed at the lack of moral compass in our society. We hear of situational ethics, which is no ethics at all. The "make my own rule" implies a self-centeredness and self-adulation. "Political correctness" is a term of insult to the true American. ...

By MONA CHAREN President Obama seems on the verge of the most abject diplomatic capitulation in American history -- to Iran, our bitterest enemy -- and Republicans are arguing about Donald Trump? The prospect of a deal with Iran is dumbfounding and infuriating, as the U.S. held all the cards in the protracted negotiations and yet executed serial surrenders to the Iranians, rather like a courtier bowing his way backward from a monarch...

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER "Thank you Planned Parenthood. God bless you." -- Barack Obama, address to Planned Parenthood, April 26, 2013 WASHINGTON -- Planned Parenthood's reaction to the release of a clandestinely recorded conversation about the sale of fetal body parts was highly revealing. After protesting that it did nothing illegal, it apologized for the "tone" of one of its senior directors...

Church Expo 2015 will be held from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Saturday, July 25, at Wheatley School. Church Expo is a 12-hour Christian event with food, both nutritional and spiritual, fun activities, and family fellowship. "The Love Institute" is the heart of the Christian educational component this year focusing on the five languages of love: quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service, physical touch and receiving gifts. The Love Institude will be followed by a graduation exercise and dinner...

Perry Warncke Piedmont, Mo..-- Perry Warncke, age 71, of Annapolis, passed away Thursday, July 23, 2015 at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Arrangements are pending with Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Piedmont.

Lavaughn Stout BLOOMFIELD, MO.-- Lavaughn Lottie Stout, 82, died at Health South Rehabilitation in Dothan, Ala. Tuesday July 21, 2015. Visitation will be at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield with the funeral service following at 10 a.m. at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Oak Ridge Cemetery near Bloomfield with Rev. Ronnie Stevens of Bloomfield, officiating. Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home of Bloomfield in charge of arrangements...

Louise Owens MALDEN, Mo.--Louise Owens, 81, of Malden, died Thursday, July 23, 2015, at Malden Nursing and Rehab. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Saturday at the Landess Chapel in Malden. The funeral will follow at 1 p.m. in the chapel with Rev. DeWayne White officiating...

Students started lining up at 5 p.m., 30 minutes before the doors opened. There was still a line more than two hours later as 254 students took advantage of free physical night at Poplar Bluff High School. "We really feel like this is a service our doctors provide to the community and we get a lot of kids in and taken care of," Poplar Bluff Athletic Director Kent Keith said. ...

Carl Strenfel Carl Strenfel, 83, of Poplar Bluff, died on Thursday, July 23, 2015 at his home on Ten Mile Creek. Carl was born on March 1, 1932 to Valentine and Gertie (Sneathern) Strenfel in the home that was his lifelong residence. He worked at International Shoe for 13 years. ...

Carroll A. Griffy Carroll A. Griffy, 78, of Nixa, formerly of Poplar Bluff, died Wednesday, July 22, 2015 at The Manor Care in Springfield. Mr. Griffy, son of the late Ralph and Fanny (Siler) Griffy, was born Feb. 26, 1937 in Puxico. He was a former member of Memorial Baptist Church in Poplar Bluff and was a member of North Nixa Baptist Church in Nixa. ...

Kathleen Sellers Kathleen Ann Sellers, 67, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Wednesday, July 22, 2015, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Mrs. Sellers was born Feb. 19, 1948 in St. Louis, Mo.  She enjoyed crafts, gardening and swimming. Survivors include her children, Lana K. ...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer The Poplar Bluff R-I Board of Education says school will start Aug. 13 as scheduled, despite a rumor circulating in the community that date would be altered due to construction. During his report at Thursday's regular monthly meeting, Superintendent Chris Hon gave an update on ongoing construction and addressed a rumor that school would not start as scheduled. ...