Stories from Friday, October 14, 2016

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer A program designed to help improve the economic outlook for Butler, Carter, Reynolds, Ripley and Wayne counties will hold the first of five public meetings Nov. 1 in Poplar Bluff, Mo. The meeting will be held at 2 p.m. at the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Butler County, Mo., has been awarded more than $76,000 in state grant money to replace a damaged roof on its nearly century old courthouse. The Butler County Commission expects to put the project out for bid by the end of the month...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor Local and federal authorities seized a suspected counterfeiting operation from a Twin Towers apartment Wednesday afternoon and arrested a man who admitted to making the fake money. Poplar Bluff Police Patrolman Joey Woodruff received information from a confidential informant about possible counterfeiting at a 506 Hazel St. apartment in the north Twin Tower, said Chief Danny Whiteley...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Rain may have soaked the "field," but did little to dampen the "faith" of more than 2,500 young people who, on Wednesday, packed Black River Coliseum. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes eighth annual Fields of Faith was moved from Poplar Bluff High School football stadium to the coliseum at the last minute due to inclement weather. Regardless, organizers said the event was likely in the top ten biggest in the nation...

Zach and Alyssa Clark of Poplar Bluff have chosen the name Zachary Tobias "Toby" Clark for their son born at 12:36 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. He weighed 6-pound, 6-ounces and was 19 inches long. Grandparents are Tom and Peggy Deken of Glennonville and Mike and Sally Clark of Poplar Bluff...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) recently added 10 new agents. The conservation agent class of 2016 graduated during a special ceremony at the Department's Runge Conservation Nature Center in Jefferson City on Wednesday, Oct. 5. During the graduation, the new agents were pinned with a badge by their families and also took the oath to become conservation agents...

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. -- A new regional organization has been created to help conserve the 29 federally designated wilderness areas in Arkansas, Illinois and Missouri. At a meeting this past week in Doniphan, MO, a group of dedicated volunteers voted to establish Arkansas/Illinois/Missouri for Wilderness Stewardship, Inc., using the name AIM for Wilderness Stewardship...

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER WASHINGTON -- Only amid the most bizarre, most tawdry, most addictive election campaign in memory could the real story of 2016 be so effectively obliterated, namely, that with just four months left in the Obama presidency, its two central pillars are collapsing before our eyes: domestically, its radical reform of American health care, aka Obamacare; and abroad, its radical reorientation of American foreign policy -- disengagement marked by diplomacy and multilateralism...

By FRANK CAMPA Mo. Dept. of Conservation With archery deer and turkey season ongoing and firearms deer season just a few weeks away, there is a topic that does need to be addressed. That topic is hunting deer and turkey with the aid of bait. Some hunters may be placing a product out they may not know they cannot legally hunt over and others are intentionally placing illegal bait there to greatly enhance their possibilities of taking a deer or a turkey...

To the Editor: We had Heath Kaplan. He was fired with maybe criminal charges coming in the future. Then we found out Dr. Rushin violated ethics rules and he resigned. Now PB has a $5,000,000.00 debt as a result of Kaplan/Rushin/Tinsley/Pearson/Johnson/Brannum, advertised as the Coalition...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN Donald Trump turned in perhaps the most effective performance in the history of presidential debates on Sunday night. As the day began, he had been denounced by his wife, Mike Pence, and his own staff for a tape of crude and lewd remarks in a decade-old "locker room" conversation on a bus with Billy Bush of "Access Hollywood."...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor A stout northeast wind at the Poplar Bluff Gun Club Saturday morning made shooting a little tough for those trap shooters competing in Poplar Bluff High School's Fall Classic, but even so, the home team prevailed to win the event...

Carrol Laray Fletcher Carrol Laray Fletcher, 73, of Poplar Bluff was lifted into the arms of His Loving Savior Monday, Oct. 10, 2016 at St. Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Surrounded by his loved ones, he accomplished a peaceful home going. He had been in declining health due to congestive heart failure this past year. This strong, hardworking father, Papaw, brother, uncle, and husband was loved by many, but became too weak to continue on his earthly journey...

Following three straight road games, the Poplar Bluff football team returns to Mules Stadium to close out the regular season Friday looking to clinch another home game. A win locks up the No. 2 seed in the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 playoffs for the Mules (7-1), who would host the semifinal Oct. 28...

Ada Lerch PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Ada Lerch, 84, of Springfield, Mo., formerly of Patterson, died Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016, at Wilsons Creek Nursing Home in Springfield. Visitation will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, at Ruegg Funeral Home Piedmont. Funeral services will follow at 1 p.m., also at the Piedmont Chapel. Pastor Pete Ruble will minister to the family...

Gary Dale McLeod, Sr. DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Gary Dale McLeod, Sr., 57, of Doniphan, died Monday, Oct. 10, 2016, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Visitation will begin at 5:30 p.m., Friday, at the Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan. The funeral service will follow at 7:30 p.m. in the funeral home chapel...

The Ozark Foothills Conference fall baseball landscape is changing. Last Tuesday marked the final fall baseball game for Doniphan, which will scratch the sport in place of its newly rejuvenated football program at the start of the 2017-2018 school year. It leaves the six other teams in the OFC -- Clearwater, East Carter, Greenville, Naylor, Neelyville and Twin Rivers -- wondering their fall ball fates and if the end-of-the-year tournament will continue...

The Lady Raiders had some weaknesses exposed in their preseason opener, specifically in the post, but coach Jeff Walk thought things looked significantly better than Raider Madness two weeks ago. "We've got to start out better, but it is a process," Walk said. "We can't let someone come down and just set up on us. We've got to make it an up and down game, going to have to press, push the ball like we were."...

Melvin G. Dalke Melvin G. Dalke, 63, of Poplar Bluff, Mo. died Monday, Oct. 3, 2016 at his residence. A graveside service will be at City Cemetery, at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. Arrangements are under the direction of Fitch-Hillis Funeral Home...

Rusty and Heather Stucker of Hunter, Mo. announce the birth of their son Logan Ray Stucker at 4:17 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. He weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces and was 21 inches long. He has three older sisters, Sydney, Zoey and Maddie. ...

Charles Ray "Chaz" Colbert, III. ADVANCE, Mo. -- Charles Ray "Chaz" Colbert III, 26, of Wappapello, passed away Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016, in Butler County. He was born May 27, 1990, in Washington, DC, the son of Charles Ray Colbert Jr. and Carmen Rachelle Biggerstaff...

Virgil A. Osborn Virgil A. Osborn, 87, of Williamsville, Mo., passed away Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016, at his residence. Virgil was the son of the late Cecil and Mary (Gilbreath) Osborn of Williamsville. Virgil married Aileene Greenwall of Williamsville. He retired after a career with General Motors in St. Louis, Mo. and Aileen preceded him in death in 1991...

Charles "Chaz" Colbert III -- Wappapello, Mo. Ada Lerch -- Springfield, Mo. Gary McLeod, Sr. -- Doniphan, Mo. Virgil A. Osborn -- Williamsville, Mo. Melvin G. Dalke -- Poplar Bluff, Mo.