Stories from Friday, May 27, 2016

From Staff Reports For his Eagle Scout Service Project, Johnathan Martin of Poplar Bluff and his fellow scouts in Boy Scout Troop 166 are building U.S. flag collection boxes and "I will be organizing a U.S. flag retirement and disposal ceremony." Martin will hold his first retirement and disposal ceremony after the American Legion Post 153 Memorial Day program Monday on the Black River Coliseum parking lot...

By CAROLYN SMITH Staff Writer Although Poplar Bluff and the surrounding community supports veterans in many ways, there is one area where support could improve. Every year, the Veterans Council and the American Legion 153 Women's Auxiliary hold two events Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately attendance at these two events could be better. Hopefully, this year, the community will make an effort to attend these events, which honor deceased veterans...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Butler County school superintendents are in accord on a recent Obama administration directive regarding transgender bathroom use, saying the issue should be dealt with on the local level. According to the Associated Press, the guidance from leaders at the Justice and Education departments says public schools are obligated to treat transgender students in a way that matches their gender identity, even if their education records or identity documents indicate a different sex.. ...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Stephanie Misner has a challenging job in helping students facing communication barriers learn how to express themselves, but she meets the task with understanding and love unparalleled according to her peers. O'Neal Elementary awarded Misner Teacher of the Year for 2016, based on dozens of recommendations from the school community on her behalf. ...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Dennis Hodo was born and raised in Doniphan. Less than 20 months after his graduation from DHS, he was serving with the U.S. Army as a battlefield medic in South Vietnam. Returning home, he went to college and became a civil engineer, working for many years in Oklahoma. Today he is retired and continues to devote time to Vietnam veterans. An accomplished singer and songwriter, he frequently comes home to perform at Music In The Park and other local venues...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- There was a time when very few Missouri children didn't know how to fish - especially for catfish. Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) fisheries biologists plan to start a catfishing revival with their Youth Pond Catfishing Clinic June 11 at the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center...

By FRANK CAMPA Mo. Dept. of Conservation This is the time of year where wildlife populations are at their highest. Late spring and early summer are when most of our wild baby animals are born, so they are a lot more visible than the rest of the year...

By GEORGE F. WILL LONDON -- Sixty-five years ago, what has become the European Union was an embryo conceived in fear. It has been stealthily advanced from an economic to a political project, and it remains enveloped in a watery utopianism even as it becomes more dystopian. ...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor ELLINGTON, Mo. -- Five years after an initial group of 34 wild elk were released into a 346-square-mile restoration zone in Southeast Missouri's Carter, Shannon and Reynolds counties, the herd continues to slowly grow, bringing with it increased tourism and enthusiasm to the region...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor After a couple years of rain and dense fog, the weather finally was close to ideal, albeit a bit windy, for the annual Kids Fish and Fun Day Saturday. Eighty-two youngsters had signed up to fish at last check, a good bump up from last year's rainy-day tally, and it looked like they all had fun as they spread out around Don Jones' pond off Highway T Saturday morning...

By MARK DAVIS The Dallas Morning News Via Tribune News Service In a hazardous year for political predictions, I'll offer one confidently: if the Republicans currently freaking out over Donald Trump can redirect that energy toward beating Hillary Clinton, she's toast...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- After scoring 42 runs over the last eight games, including 12 two days before, Clearwater's offense went silent in the MSHSAA Class 3 quarterfinal. Blindsided by Scott City's offensive outburst in the first inning, the Tigers were shut down and ran into dominant pitching and defense in a 3-0 loss at Clearwater High School...

By MONA CHAREN Washington state's Republican Party just defied the stampede toward "unity." Meeting over the weekend, they awarded 40 of the state's 41 delegates to Ted Cruz. Washington's Republicans have refused to be sheep. The past few days have featured hectoring demands of Never Trump people to "get over it." These have come not just from the more bullying precincts of Trump fandom, as in "Get on the Trump train or get run over," but also from party regulars and officeholders suggesting that failure to endorse Donald Trump now is a kind of stubborn self-indulgence. ...

Billy Lee Pippins Billy Lee Pippins, 85, of Dexter, Mo., died Tuesday, May 24, 2016, at the Country Club Care Facility in Warrensburg, Mo. Funeral services will be conducted at the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home on Friday, May 27, 2016. Visitation will be at 11 a.m. with the funeral service at 1 p.m. Rev. Michael Williams of the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will officiate. Burial will be at the Stoddard County Veteran's Cemetery near Bloomfield following the funeral service...

Douglas James West Douglas James West, 54, of Williamsville, passed away Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Mr. West, the son of the late Kenneth James and Dorothy Anne Chilton West, was born Feb. 9, 1962 in St. ...

Freida Breuning DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Freida Breuning, 91, of Fairdealing, Mo., died Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at The Manor in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Funeral arrangements are pending with Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan and will be announced upon completion...

Students at the Poplar Junior High School Fourth Quarter Honor Roll include: Highest Honors: Eighth Grade Abigail Baney, Brittany Croy, Kyle Elledge, Ethan Helm, Grace Helm, Abigail Jones, Faith Marshall, Kylie Miller, McKensi Miller, Dalton Phillips, Hannah Roberts, Carley Siler, Bailey Zych...