Stories from Monday, August 24, 2015

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Every year the tangle of limbs and logs chocking the Black River channel south of Poplar Bluff, Mo., grows a little bigger -- or a lot, in the case of the 2009 ice storm. Every year the miles of navigable stream grow a little smaller...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Butler County commissioners have requested the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conduct a flood hazard study of the Black River, in the hopes of one day partnering with a variety of agencies to improve the now-clogged waterway...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Missouri rice has found a place in the world market. Last week buyers from Taiwan traveled to the research farm to inspect operations and also made purchase orders with several area companies. Greg Yielding of the US Rice Producers Association and the Missouri Rice Council says the quality of Missouri's medium grain rice and the enrichment process - which, is largely non-existent in other nations - make the product highly sought after...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Growers, experts in the commodity and tech vendors joined together on Thursday as the Missouri Rice Council hosted its 23rd annual field day at the Missouri Rice Research Farm in Glennonville, Mo. The rice council hosts the event in conjunction with Southeast Missouri State University, the University of Missouri Extension and University of Missouri Fisher Delta Research Center and ag vendors to promote the research farm and provide growers with the latest technology and information.. ...

By BARBARA ANN HORTON News Editor Attendees at the 28th Women Aware Conference will hear not only keynote speaker Carine McCandless talk about her powerful and unexpected experiences, they will choose from 28 breakout sessions designed to help them live their own dreams with no regrets...

Denise Nichols of Poplar Bluff announces the engagement of her daughter, Kate Michelle Nichols of St. Louis, to Ryan Lee Sheridan of St. Louis. The bride is also the daughter of the late Kent Nichols of Poplar Bluff. Sheridan is the son of Suzanne and Jeff Williams of Montgomery, Texas and Kevin and Sandy Sheridan of Belleville, Ill...

Ann McLane and Wayne Green were united in marriage in a double-ring ceremony at 5 p.m. Saturday, July 25, 2015, in the Bethany General Baptist Church in rural Campbell. Rev. Bryan Johnson, pastor of Bethany Church, and Rev. Kevin Murray, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Piggott, Ark., and pastor of Thousand Hills Cowboy Church in Fisk, Mo., officiated the wedding ceremony...

The Poplar Bluff Municipal Library District wrapped up a successful 2015 Summer Reading Program on July 31. This summer, 656 children signed up for the reading program, themed "Every Hero Has a Story," and reported 7,980 hours of reading time. Public library summer reading programs are proven to prevent and reverse summer reading loss. ...

Barry Whitehead Barry Dean Whitehead, 56, of Poplar Bluff died Friday, Aug. 21, 2015, at his residence. A memorial service will be announced later. Memorial contributions may be made to Cotrell Funeral Service, P.O. Box 548, Poplar Bluff, MO 63902. Online condolences: cotrellfuneralservice.com...

William Luna PIEDMONT -- William Marion Luna, 93, of Piedmont died Friday, Aug. 21, 2015, at St. Francis Medical Center at Cape Girardeau Visitation will begin at 5 p.m. Monday at Ruegg Funeral Home in Piedmont. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the funeral home chapel. There will be a Rose Croix Ceremony before the service...

Charlie Chatman Charlie Chatman, 42, of Poplar Bluff died Wednesday, Aug. 19, at his residence. He was born on Nov. 13, 1972, in Poplar Bluff to Charles Sr. and Evelyn (Greenwood) Chatman. Charlie spent several years as a jeweler, truck driver and farmer...

Bill Ormsby DONIPHAN, Mo. -- William "Bill" Ormsby, 73-year-old resident of Fairdealing, died Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015 at his residence in Fairdealing surrounded by his family. Mr. Ormsby was born March 14, 1942 in Doniphan, to the late Merton and Arlee Ormsby. He was a member of the Center Hill Baptist Church and proudly served his country in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He was a building contractor, farmer, and a lifelong resident of Ripley County...

Lloyd Brown MALDEN, Mo. -- Lloyd Henry Brown. 85, of Malden died Friday, Aug. 21, 2015, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be at 9:30 a.m. Monday at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden with the funeral following at 11 a.m. in the Bradshaw Chapel. Burial will be in Memorial Park in Malden with Military Rites...

By WALTER E. WILLIAMS Last week's column highlighted college campus absurdities and the ongoing attack on free speech and plain common sense. As parents gear up to fork over $20,000 to $60,000 for college tuition, they might benefit from knowing what greets their youngsters. Deceitful college officials, who visit high schools to recruit students and talk to parents, conceal the worst of their campus practices. Let's expose some of it...

Loretta Duffy FISK, Mo. -- Loretta Mae Duffy, 96, of Poplar Bluff, died Friday, Aug. 21, 2015, at Mark Twain Caring Center in Poplar Bluff. She was born Sept. 17, 1918, in Broseley. She retired from John J. Pershing V.A.M.C. She was a member of South Poplar Bluff General Baptist Church, where she enjoyed being a part for the Ladies Aid. She enjoyed doing ceramics, quilting, gardening, wildlife, fishing and taking care of her family. She was an avid Cardinal Baseball fan...

Jerry Dawe Jerry L. Dawe, 72, of Poplar Bluff died Friday, Aug. 21, 2015, in Poplar Bluff. The arrangements are pending and will be announced by Cotrell Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff.

ARNOLD, Mo. -- Tristen Francisco made it tough for his coach to stick with the gameplan Friday night in the season opener for the Poplar Bluff football team. The senior quarterback completed his first six passes and tossed a fourth touchdown pass on his eighth attempt in the first half...

DEXTER, Mo. -- This was Week 1, and it was evident from start to finish. Dexter and Ste. Genevieve combined for 27 penalties as both teams fought sloppy early play. Ste. Genevieve did the better job of learning and eventually won 42-7 Friday. "The effort level is there, it is just correcting the mistakes, which is our job as the coaches to make sure we correct those mistakes and go in and fix the problems that we have," Dexter coach Justin Peden said. ...

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- On the official Malden football roster, senior Kylus Thompson is listed as a wide receiver on offense. The 5-foot-10 162-pounder showed he's much more than that on Friday. He's an athlete. Thompson scored four touchdowns on 165 all-purpose yards, four-year starting quarterback Chapen Riley put up 227 yards and three scores through the air and the Green Wave rolled to a dominant 49-14 victory over New Madrid Central...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Aaron Harris put Cape Central ahead on a 22-yard touchdown run in overtime, but after failing to add the 2-point conversion, Vashon tacked on a 7-yard pass from Clifton Dickens to Levi Stockard and added a two-point conversion run from Charvon Lewis to come away with a 34-32 upset win in overtime...

GREENVILLE -- Down by a run in the bottom of the seventh, the Greenville Bears rallied for two runs to come away with a 3-2 season-opening victory Friday against Bloomfield. Bloomfield (0-1) took an early lead, scoring two runs in the third inning but were held to just two hits for the remainder of the game...

ST. LOUIS -- The Poplar Bluff boys soccer team played to a scoreless tie against Christian Brothers College in the first half before allowing three unanswered goals in a 3-0 loss Saturday. The Cadets scored in the eighth, 14th and 22nd minutes and outshot the Mules 14-9...

The Poplar Bluff R-I School District got some bad news this week when the bids were opened for the athletic complex that will accompany the new high school. To build a new stadium for football, soccer and track, as well as tennis courts and a field that baseball and softball will share, it will cost at least $5.8 million...