Stories from Saturday, April 16, 2016

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer GREENVILLE, Mo. -- The city clerk who last week filed a restraining order against her town's new mayor has been fired. City clerk Pam Birmingham says two aldermen came to city hall this morning and announced this was her last day. Aldermen Rendell Wills and Mack Lawrence said the city would not object if she files for unemployment, Birmingham said...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Parents can receive a free Amber-alert ready CD with their child's fingerprints, photograph and other identifying information Saturday during the Early Childhood Resource Fair. The annual Silly Saturday event offers many resources for children and their parents, according to organizers, who recommend children come ready to get messy...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor DONIPHAN, Mo. -- The day after a Doniphan man buried his wife and toddler son, who died when their house caught fire last week, he is in jail on suspicion of starting the fire. Ripley County Sheriff Ron Barnett said Michael Payne was arrested at about 4 p.m. Thursday at the sheriff's department on suspicion of first-degree arson...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man accused of sexually assaulting his live-in girlfriend over an extended period was charged Thursday with 21 felonies. Brandon Sean Hefner, 23, of the 1000 block of South 11th Street was charged with 10 unclassified felonies of forcible rape, 10 unclassified felonies of forcible sodomy and the Class A felony of first-degree assault by Butler County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Ted Thompson...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Three Rivers College paramedic program recently received national accreditation from the largest emergency medical services education commission in the nation, completing a rigorous five-year process. Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), notified the program in April that it would receive accredited status, a must for any instructing body teaching emergency medical skills, according to college EMS coordinator Tami Cunningham...

S. Heart Students of Month Ares Myers is Sacred Heart's preschool student of the month for April. Ares is the son of Adam Myers and Amantha Dunning. Ares enjoys being nice and playing with his family. His favorite activity is playing games with toys, building with Legos, and playing Minecraft...

Ellen J. Scaggs PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Ellen June Scaggs, 88, of Valier, Ill., died at 4:40 a.m. Thursday, April 14, 2016 at the Franklin Hospital Emergency Room. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at Whittington Church, with Revs. Mark Minor and Greg Shelton officiating. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Whittington Church. Arrangements in Valier are through the Leffler Funeral Home of Benton...

ST. LOUIS -- Cameron Clark worked for 80 pitches Tuesday and came away with a no decision. Thursday, he threw 11 pitches and got the win. Clark came out of the bullpen instead of starting and Three Rivers split with St. Louis Community College, winning the opener 9-8 in nine innings, and losing the nightcap 9-1 at St. Louis on Thursday...

BROSELEY -- It was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Twin Rivers baseball team, but it's beginning to look more like a successful turnaround. With their biggest offensive outburst of the season to date, the Royals sent 19 batters to the plate in the first inning and took advantage of some early miscues to make their Ozark Foothills Conference home opener a quick one...

O'Neal Elementary School has named their Students of the Month for March 2016. Second graders: Ella White is the daughter of Brian and (the late) Sarah White of Poplar Bluff and granddaughter of George and Katie Jarboe. Her hobbies are reading, dancing, painting, swinging and playing with friends. Her teacher, Shannon Miller, said her favorite subject is art because she likes to color and paint. Ballet is an extra-curricular activity...

PUXICO -- Tied at eight in the bottom of the seventh inning, Puxico's Kylie Moore stepped up to the plate and came through with a walk-off single. Puxico led 6-3 at home against Dexter after four innings, but was down 8-6 heading into the final frame and scored three runs to win 9-8 in the Stoddard County Activities Association contest...

"Squirrely" Shirley Swafford "Squirrely" Shirley Swafford, 60, of Poplar Bluff, died Wednesday, April 13, 2016, at her residence. She was born May 4, 1955 in Wood River, Ill. She married David Swafford July 1, 1982 in Poplar Bluff. He survives. A believer in God, she was a homemaker and "the boss." Her hobbies were yard sales, tanning, listening to the Beatles, and being with family...

Gail Dabbs NIXA,Mo. -- Gail Dabbs, age 73, of Nixa, passed away Wednesday, April 13, 2016 in his home surrounded by his family. He was born Oct. 19, 1942 in Fisk to Lawrence and Christeen (Stucker) Dabbs. He met Joan Bogle in Aurora, Ill. through a mutual friend, and married Joan Aug. ...

Archie Lloyd Robinson NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Archie Lloyd Robinson, 87, of Festus, Mo., died Wednesday, April 13, 2016, at Mercy Hospital in Festus, Mo., in Jefferson County. He formerly lived in St. Louis, Mo. Visitation will be from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at Fowler-Sullivan Memorial Chapel followed by the funeral at 2 p.m. in the chapel. Burial will be in Kinsey Cemetery near Harviell, Mo...

Correction The Wednesday edition article "TRC Trustees take office oath" incorrectly stated new trustee Gary Featherston lives in Butler County. Featherston lives in Doniphan in Ripley County, Mo. The reporter regrets the error.

Eugene Field Elementary School has chosen the Students of the Month for March. Second grader Alexzander Kearby, son of Amy and David Kearby, was nominated by his teacher Cheri Sparkman because he is a hard-working and very determined student. He strives to do his very best at any task given him. ...

G'ville Students of the Month Greenville High School has named its Students of the Month. They are Grant Dalin Miller and Tryntonn Lyn Tompkins. Miller, son of Bradley Miller and Tonya Steward Miller, of Piedmont, is active in Fellowship of Christian Students, FCCLA, FBLA, Art Club, National Honor Society, Pep Club, Bear Ambassador, Senior Beta Club, and Character Council. ...

Galloway honored at college WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. - Taylor Galloway of Fisk, Mo., has been elected president of Phi Beta Lambda and inducted into Sigma Beta Delta, both at Williams Baptist College. Galloway is the daughter of James and Kim Galloway of Fisk...

Citizenship Club meets The Women's Citizenship Club met at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 3, at Twin Towers with nine members present. President Gloria Hoover opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Prayer was offered by Rita McVey and the club collect was led by Lavern Matthews. Hoover suggested guests be allowed to speak and resume the business meeting after...

Butler County Retired Teachers and School Personnel will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 20, in the Altrusa Room at Twin Towers. Davine Conover from Ozark Federal Credit union will be the guest speaker. In addition, President Jan Duffy will give a report from the president summitt and members will discuss a 50-year celebration. All retired educators and school support employees are invited to attend...

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER WASHINGTON -- The split-screen told the story: on one side, images of the terror bombing in Brussels; on the other, Barack Obama doing the wave with Raul Castro at a baseball game in Havana. On one side, the real world of rising global terrorism. On the other, the Obama fantasy world in which romancing a geopolitically insignificant Cuba -- without an ounce of democracy or human rights yielded in return -- is considered a seminal achievement of American diplomacy...

I don't have the typical pedigree for a Congressman, my father was an auto mechanic and a preacher, my mother was a factory worker. As a teenager, I remember visiting my grandparents for the holidays and having to go outside to pump water out of the cistern which had collected rain water from the roof just to have fresh water. However, I learned firsthand the disciplined work ethic needed to be successful and put myself through college, becoming the first college graduate in my family...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- Republican peculiarities in this political season are so numerous and lurid that insufficient attention is being paid to this: The probable Democratic nominee's principal credential, her service as secretary of state, is undermined by a debacle of remarkable dishonesty...

Down a run in the bottom of the seventh, Poplar Bluff squeezed out another walk-off home win Thursday. Jared Moses hit a game-tying single past a drawn-in second baseman and Mason Libla later bunted as Tyson Cox was headed to the plate to give the Mules a 6-5 win against Greene County Tech (Ark.)...

Stephanie Worth went into the week having a somewhat OK season. A couple home runs, a few doubles, an average batting average and just as many hits as strikeouts. Welp ... that changed. In 72 hours, Worth hit four home runs over six games, giving her six in two weeks and eight for the season. She's gotten a hit in five straight games and eight of the past 12...