Stories from Saturday, May 7, 2016

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer The first time Poplar Bluff, Mo., native Charles Thies stepped into an art museum, he was no more than 12-years-old. The building was intimidating for both the boy and his father. But that short stop after a baseball game at Forest Park in St. Louis would lead to a lifelong pursuit of the arts...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer This week marks the five-year anniversary of a historic lake crest that changed the face of Wappapello Dam and its operations. Water topped the auxiliary spillway on May 2, 2011, carving out a new landscape that is now part of the story told by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer VAN BUREN, Mo. -- Two Van Buren city employees have quit as the newly sworn-in mayor continues to fight legal proceedings to have him removed from office. The city clerk and assistant clerk quit Wednesday, Mayor Mike Hoerner said. A judge also issued an order Wednesday that a pre-trial conference be held May 23 concerning Hoerner's legal problems...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer A new website for the city of Poplar Bluff, Mo., went live Thursday afternoon with See, Click, Fix, a way for residents to report and track the response to problems with city streets, code enforcement complaints and utility outages...

Bobby Neal Vandiver DEXTER, Mo. -- Bobby Neal Vandiver, 81, of Bloomfield, Mo., died Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at Southeast Health Center of Stoddard County in Dexter. Visitation will be from 2-3 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter with funeral services beginning at 3 p.m. in the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home. Burial will follow in the Bloomfield Cemetery...

By LAWRENCE KUDLOW AND STEPHEN MOORE GDP for the first quarter of 2016 came in at a paltry 0.5 percent. That sorry showing follows growth of 1.4 percent and 2 percent in the previous two quarters. If such a thing is possible, the already-anemic economy is actually getting worse...

By MONA CHAREN A longtime Republican conservative emailed me after Donald Trump's Tuesday night romp through the "Acela corridor." "Is the GOP now the anti-trade, anti-immigrant party?" I don't think so, but take no comfort in the reason: Republicans haven't signed on to protectionism and nativism (or at least, only a minority has), but they seem to have lost all philosophical coherence...

To the Editor: I went out to the City Cemetery Saturday to put out flowers on my family graves. I could not believe the disgrace the cemetery is in. It is very disrespectful to all of our families who have family buried there. Dead grass on every tombstone. You cannot read the names. I had to hunt for my family...

To the Editor: The Poplar Bluff High School Beta Club would like to thank the businesses that donated to our annual "Donut Day's" event at Poplar Bluff High School. The donors for this year's "Donut Day's were Commerce Bank, Sterling Bank, 1st Midwest Bank, and the Donut House. We would like to recognize Michael Cook and Christy Herald of the Donut House for their generosity and assistance with the donuts...

James L. Brill PIEDMONT, Mo. -- James L. Brill, 86, of Patterson, Mo. died Thursday, May 5, 2016 at the Greenville Nursing and Rehab Center in Greenville, Mo. Visitation will be held at 11: a.m. Sunday at the Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Piedmont. Funeral services will follow at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home chapel with Rev. Jeff Estes officiating. Interment will be in the Patterson Cemetery...

Franchell Turner Franchell Turner, 70, of Tacoma, Wash., formerly of Poplar Bluff, died Monday, April 25, 2016 at her residence. Visitation will be from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., Saturday, May 7 at Fitch-Hillis Funeral Home Chapel. A graveside service will follow at 2 p.m. at City Cemetery. Apostle Anthony Q. Williams will officiate. Arrangements are under the direction of Fitch-Hillis Funeral Home...

April Wills-Hearne, instructor of entrepreneurship at Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock, Ark., is one of the two C. Sam Walls Award winners this year. The C. Sam Walls Entrepreneur Educator Award honors two college or university educators who have worked in support of entrepreneurial education on their campuses. Wills-Hearne received $2,500 to be used at her discretion, and Pulaski Tech received $2,500 for the furtherance of entrepreneurial education...

Nora Loftis Nora Evelyn Loftis, 55, of Poplar Bluff, passed away Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Mrs. Loftis was born Jan. 25, 1961 in Poplar Bluff. She worked as a registered nurse for the State of Missouri. She enjoyed fishing, hunting, riding her Harley and being with her grandchildren. She was a member of Shepards Chapel...

Judith Leland "Judy" Reed DONIPHAN, Mo.-- Judith Leland Reed, 68, of Naylor, Mo. passed away Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Reed, daughter of the late Thomas and Helen (Eagan) Lidisky, was born July 6, 1947, in East St. Louis, Ill. She was self-employed in merchandising. Mrs. Reed loved all animals and chickens and raised horses and dogs, particularly Border collies and Shetland sheepdogs. She was of the Catholic faith...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- When Joey Lucchesi pulls his black baseball cap -- with its barely-bent brim and emblazoned with a Redhawk logo -- onto his head each Friday night, chances are it'll come into contact with freshly trimmed hair. The Southeast Missouri State ace tries to get his hair cut the day of each start. ...

The Ellington Chamber of Commerce announces the 33rd Annual Spring Fever Days located on Main Street in Ellington, Mo. on May 13-14. Demonstrations, craft and food vendors, carnival, games, contests and entertainment fill the two-day event with fun for the whole family...

JONESBORO, Ark. -- Shelbey Johnson's eighth multi-goal game of the season wasn't enough as the Poplar Bluff soccer team fell to Valley View (Ark.), the top-ranked team in the state of Arkansas, 4-2 Thursday. The teams remained scoreless for most of the first half until the Blazers scored at the 12 minute mark and took a 1-0 lead into halftime...

PIEDMONT -- Two years in a row, Corby Seib has denied Clearwater a shot at the Black River League Tournament crown. Seib pitched for East Carter in the semifinals last year against the Tigers and won. In the championship game Wednesday, he took the title with his arm and his bat as the Redbirds won 4-3 for their third straight Black River League Tournament championship on Thursday...

Roy Rice FISK, Mo. -- Roy Rice, 90, of Grandin, Mo., died Thursday, May 5, 2016 at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. He was born March 1, 1926 to the late David Luther and Gladys Irene (Cosey) Rice. On Nov. 25, 1954 he married Lillian Pauline Crain. She preceded him in death Aug. 5, 2005. He also was preceded in death by one daughter: Judy Vaughn; and one grandson: Henry Rice...

Franchell Turner -- Tacoma, Wash. Judith Leland Reed -- Naylor, Mo. Roy Rice -- Grandin, Mo. Nora Evelyn Loftis -- Poplar Bluff, Mo. James L. Brill -- Patterson, Mo.

BROSELEY -- The Lady Dawgs finished a near perfect spring season with an 11-1, 5-inning win over Twin Rivers. For the second spring in a row, Van Buren finished 21-1. The lone loss this year was a 4-3, extra innings loss to Naylor in the Swing Pink tournament championship...