Stories from Wednesday, November 11, 2015

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer A suspected robbery attempt with a baseball bat Saturday evening near downtown ended with a Poplar Bluff man facing felony charges. Poplar Bluff Police arrested Randy J. Foster, 42, of the 500 block of West Sixth Street, at 9:27 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Sixth and Cynthia Streets on suspicion of first-degree attempted robbery, a class B felony...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor An all-day search and rescue training class, co-sponsored by Butler County Emergency Management and Southeast Missouri Search and Rescue, was conducted Oct. 31 at Fellowship General Baptist Church. Jan Meyer, vice president of Gateway Search Dogs, Inc. ...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor Col. Bret Johnson, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, emphasized the importance of trust, the agency's eight core values and the hiring of minorities during the first Bridging the Gap unity service in Missouri Sunday night...

Why the switch? I am totally in shock that New Wave CableVision has pulled yet another stunt! Channel 3--KPOB--is now the weather in Centerville, Ill. Channel 3 had perfectly fine television shows on it. New Wave thinks we'd prefer to know the weather of an out-of-state town, I suppose. ...

By MICHELLE MALKIN Here we go again: another liberal narrative burned to a crisp. Over a two-week period in October, an arsonist targeted seven churches in the St. Louis area -- including several in Black Lives Matter protest hotspot Ferguson, Missouri...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump is just one symptom of today's cultural pathology of self-validating vehemence with blustery certitudes substituting for evidence. Another is the fact that the book atop the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list is a tissue of unsubstantiated assertions. ...

The First Baptist School is growing and students' parents are cooking up a way to finance a big and better playground for them. Students range in age from preschool to third grade and according to Erin Sanders of the parents' group, they need a bigger and better playground...

To the Editor: Veterans Day is a day of national remembrance -- a special occasion to honor all men and women, present and past, who took up arms in defense of America. On Veterans Day, ceremonies and observances will be held across the nation, and each of them can trace their origins to the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year 1918 -- when the guns of World War I were silenced...

Lelia White PIEDMONT, Mo. - Lelia T. White, 95, of Brenham, Tx, formerly of Piedmont, died Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015, at Brenham, Tx. Graveside services will be at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 14 at the Masonic Cemetery in Piedmont with Rev. John Harwell officiating. Burial will follow in the Masonic Cemetery under the direction of Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel. Online condelences may be made at www.morrisonworleychapel.com...

From Staff Reports Are your insurance needs perplexing you, Lisa Reynolds, the keynote speaker at the Women Aware noon luncheon Thursday at the Holiday Inn, will offer solutions to the confusing riddles. "Helping with the puzzle of your insurance choices is more than just words," Reynolds said. ...

By BEN KLEINE SEMO News Service CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- A theft victim described his 1988 Buick LeSabre as having rust spots on the roof, and the light blue paint was falling off in places. The ignition switch was damaged, and the doors no longer could lock. He valued the car at just $500...

By TYLER GRAEF SEMO News Service Cape Girardeau's "Mr. KFVS," Don McNeely, died Sunday at age 88, according to relatives and several former colleagues at the television station. McNeely, who worked for decades as KFVS-TV's weather forecaster, retired in 1993, exactly 50 years after his broadcasting debut...

Carolyn Hillis Carolyn Marie Hillis, 59, of Poplar Bluff died Friday, Nov. 6, 2015, at Mark Twain Caring Center in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Hillis was born March 31, 1956 at Pontiac, Mich. Survivors include one daughter: Lori Orton of Poplar Bluff; one son: Wil Hillis of Poplar Bluff; two sisters: Debbie Ellison of Fisk and Kathy Smith of Poplar Bluff; two grandchildren: Jaren Orton and Lane Hillis, both of Poplar Bluff; and several nieces, nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews...

Dallas Berry MALDEN, Mo. -- Dallas Berlin Berry, 85, of Dexter, Mo., died Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015, at his residence in Dexter. Visitation will begin at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden. The funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home chapel. Burial will be in Memorial Park in Malden...

By BEN KLEINE SEMO News Service JACKSON, Mo. -- Steven Earl Trout, 58, of Jackson has racked up 13 convictions or guilty pleas of driving while intoxicated since 1986, and on Monday he was sentenced to 10 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, the maximum allowed...

Lawrence Owens MALDEN, Mo. -- Lawrence E. Owens, 81, of Risco, Mo., died Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015, at his residence. Visitation will begin at 6 p.m. today at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden. The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church in Risco with burial following at Memorial Park Cemetery in Malden...

Lena Smith DEXTER, Mo. -- Lena M. Smith, 93, of Dexter died Friday, Nov. 6, 2015, at Crowley Ridge Care Center in Dexter. Mrs. Smith, daughter of the late Charles W. Redfairn and Blanche Manning Redfairn, was born in Hazleton, Ind., on Feb. 8, 1922. She was a homemaker and was a member of Sadler Chapel United Methodist Church...

Jesse Chaffin Jesse C. Chaffin, 57, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015 at his residence. Mr. Chaffin, son of the late Jesse C. and Wanda Louise Chaffin, was born Feb. 1, 1958, in Poe Clinic, Mo. He had worked in construction and carpet sales for Dennis Young. He enjoyed flying, fishing, collecting arrowheads, flea marketing, yard-work and working in the garage...

Jenice Putman NEELYVILLE, Mo. - Jenice Putman, 70, of Doniphan, Mo., died Friday, Nov. 6, 2015, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Fowler-Sullivan Memorial Chapel in Neelyville. A graveside service will follow at 1:15 p.m. at the Antioch Cemetery in Oxly with Donnie Fowler officiating...

Dorothy Ponder DONIPHAN, Mo. - Dorothy Kenaga Ponder, 87, of Doniphan, departed this life Saturday, November 7, 2015, at Southeast Hospital of Ripley County in Doniphan. She was a self-employed editor for the Prospect News newspaper from 1961-1995 with her husband Chester L. (Bud) Ponder...

Bud Keathley PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Marvin Edward Keathley, 75, of Mill Spring, Mo., passed away Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015, at his residence. Visitation services will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Ruegg Funeral Home in Piedmont. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Victory Baptist Temple also in Piedmont...

Wayne Dugger Wayne Thomas Dugger, 71, of Poplar Bluff died Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. The arrangements are pending and will be announced by Cotrell Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff.

The first four minutes of the Lady Raiders' game against Dyersburg State foreshadowed the next 36. Three Rivers jumped out to a 10-0 run in the span. Chelsea Vinson contributed eight points, including three putbacks. "In my mind, I'm just thinking go hard and take every opportunity that I had. ...

Phyllis Moussette WAPPAPELLO, Mo. -- Phyllis Darlene Moussette, 74, of Greenville, Mo., passed away Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015, at her residence. Mrs. Moussette, the daughter of the late Thomas and Priscilla (Cleveland) Winchester, was born Sept. 10, 1941 in Caseyville, Ill. She was a member of Little Brushy Missionary Baptist Church in Wappapello and was a retired Registered Nurse. Mrs. Moussette enjoyed spending time with her family and fishing...

Thomas Hunter Thomas W. Hunter, 41, of Independence, Mo., passed away Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015, at St. Louis University Hospital in St. Louis. Arrangements are pending with Cotrell Funeral Service of Poplar Bluff.

Roy Lee, fresh off winning the tie-down roping competition at the Three Rivers Raider Rodeo, took sixth in the men's all-around competition after finishing in the top 10 in both tie-down roping and team roping at the Southern Arkansas University rodeo over the weekend...

Evelyn Simpson PUXICO, Mo. -- Evelyn Simpson, 99, of Puxico died Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015, at the Cypress Point Skilled Nursing Center in Dexter, Mo. Evelyn, daughter of the late Rufus John and Mary Tune Moore, was born in Chaonia, Mo., on Dec. 24, 1915. ...

Kathryn Lay BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Kathryn Lay, 94, of Bloomfield died Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015, at the Bertrand Nursing Center in Bertrand, Mo. Visitation was held at 11 a.m. today at the Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield. Funeral services followed at 1 p.m. at the funeral home with the Rev. Ronnie Stevens of Bloomfield officiating. Burial is at the Walker Cemetery in Bloomfield with Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home of Bloomfield in charge of arrangements...

Emma Cantrell PIEDMONT, Mo. - Emma Ruth Cantrell, 80, of St. Louis, Mo., formerly of Wayne Co., died Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015, at the DePaul Medical Center in St Louis. Visitation will be at 11 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 12 at the Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Piedmont. The funeral will follow at 1 p.m. in the funeral home chapel. Burial will be in the Cowan Cemetery near Hiram. Condolences may be made at www.morrisonworleychapel.com...

The annual Veterans Day Program, sponsored by the Poplar Bluff Veterans Council, will begin at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Veterans Wall in front of the Black River Coliseum. However, if it is raining, the program will be in the VFW building east of the coliseum parking lot...