Stories from Friday, November 4, 2016

RON SMITH SEMO News Service While campaigning for what would be his fourth and final term in the Missouri House, Steve Cookson often carries a pie chart instead of the traditional 'vote for me' material. Recognition isn't a problem in a rural district where the Republican lawmaker served as a school administrator for three different districts before retiring...

By RON SMITH SEMO News Service DONIPHAN - A Ripley County homicide case still is missing a key piece of evidence but two men facing murder charges will be tried in felony court. During a preliminary hearing Wednesday, investigators said that bone fragments found in the remains of a fire allegedly used to dispose of the body of 34-year-old Jonathan Tarvin later were confirmed by an anthropologist to be animal bones...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor A Poplar Bluff, Mo., woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to stabbing a teenager she suspected of having an affair with her husband. Accompanied by her attorney, Erin Bradley with the Public Defender's Office, Jessica Ann Sincup pleaded guilty as charged to the Class A felony of first-degree assault before Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett...

By BARBARA ANN HORTON News Editor The aroma of fresh brewed coffee, biscuits warming in the oven and eggs cooking on the grill will welcome those attending the 2016 annual Fall Festival Saturday at the Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church, 913 Garfield St...

The most contentious storyline of this presidential campaign took shape months ago: Republican Donald Trump, facing broad questions of his fitness to serve, vs. Democrat Hillary Clinton, dogged by her email scandals and other character issues. Nothing that's happened in the closing weeks of the race changes those broad outlines of the decision voters will make...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor For the third consecutive year, the Daily American Republic in Poplar Bluff, Mo., will host a big buck contest during the November firearms deer season. Judging will be done in three categories: the total number of points at least 1-inch long, the widest outside spread and the total length of the two longest tines of each side of the rack...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor WAPPAPELLO, Mo. -- When it's 80 degrees in late October and the water temperature in Wappapello Lake still is warm, crappies can be hard to find in their traditional fall hangouts - mainly, shallow water. That's precisely the problem Missouri Department of Conservation Fisheries Management Biologist Dave Knuth faced while conducting his annual crappie trapnetting survey on the lake last week...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor T-shirt weather isn't what you'd expect while deer hunting the last days of October, but that's what Missouri's youth deer season hunters faced over the weekend during the first segment of their special season. Warm temperatures, into the mid-80s in the afternoons, plus a good bit of wind Sunday, made conditions tough, while stifling daylight deer movement somewhat...

By STEPHEN MOORE By now, everyone knows that Obamacare is the public-policy flop of this generation. With the latest news of premiums increasing 22 percent, insurance companies dropping out, rising taxes and less completion, this is truly the Hindenburg of health plans...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- As the presidential campaigns sink to the challenge of demonstrating that there is no such thing as rock bottom, remember this: When the Clintons decamped from Washington in January 2001, they took some White House furnishings that were public property. ...

By FRANK CAMPA Mo. Dept. of Conservation Whether you are outdoorsman or woman or not, it is very important to pay attention to what is going on in the natural world around us. Hunters are not the only ones that should be paying attention to deer and deer movement this time of year...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor The 2016 fall firearms turkey season in Missouri will go down as the worst since the season was initiated in 1978. Hunters across the state took a mere 3,698 birds during the month-long October season. That's a decline of 40 percent from last year's 6,158...

By TOM UHLENBROCK Mo. State Parks TROY, Mo. -- Chip Taylor demonstrated the delicate technique of catching, and holding, a butterfly. With net in hand, he ventured off Blazing Star Trail at Cuivre River State Park into the tallgrass prairie. He was stalking a spicebush swallowtail, which was flitting among the flowers and grasses...

POCAHONTAS, Ark. -- The second phase of restoration to Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management Area in northeast Arkansas delayed the closure of flooding structures on greentree reservoirs in the WMA until Oct. 31. The restoration of the WMA has been a long time coming, as it was the focus of a seven-year lawsuit between the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers. ...

Katie Mullins of ReBlessed will share how to create the perfect setting for future holiday memories at the Women Aware Inc. monthly luncheon from noon-1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, at the Holiday Inn. "The holidays are a time for inviting the people you love to gather together and make new memories," said Women Aware program chairman Meredith Rines. ...

Here we go again. The matchup that has produced one of the best football rivalries in Southeast Missouri in recent years will once again play out Friday night at The Swamp. The Malden Green Wave will put their undefeated season on the line as Caruthersville comes to town in a rematch of the last three MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 finals...

There's no denying that Malden coach Joel Wyatt wants his offense to have a run-first mentality, but that all starts with an imposing offensive line. Fortunately for the Green Wave, those protectors in the trenches might be peaking as the team's playoff push continues. Malden's offensive line has paved the way for season-high rushing performances in back-to-back weeks and has allowed only two sacks in the past four contests...

College was tough at first for Steven Haley. He went from setting a single-season record at Poplar Bluff with 153 tackles to being a freshman red-shirt for Southwest Baptist football. He missed being home, missed the friends, family and moral support that came with it. It took a little bit to settle in...

Elizabeth Ann Pruitt-Turcotte On July 4th, 1965, Betty Joyce Kanell Pruitt and Thomas Lewis Pruitt welcomed Elizabeth Ann to their family. She was a smiling, sweet baby with a strong spirit and soon became the light of their lives. Elizabeth spent her babyhood in the family's home on Peach Street, next to Pruitt Paint and Glass, where her parents and grandparents worked. ...

Robert Lee Cooley NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Robert Lee Cooley, 89, of Doniphan, died Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2016, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. He was born Jan. 28, 1927 in Locust Grove, Ark. He married Mary Christine Smith, Nov. 18, 1944 in New Madrid. She preceded him in death April 18, 2015...

Jordan Lee Haines MALDEN, Mo. -- Jordan Lee Haines, 19, of Malden died Friday, Oct. 28, 2016 in St. Louis. Visitation will be from 2-3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, at the General Baptist Church in Bernie followed by the funeral at 3 p.m. at the church with Bro. Steve Fitzpatrick officiating. Burial will be in the St. Peter & Paul Cemetery in St Louis. Landess Funeral Home of Malden is in charge of arrangements...

Larry Dale Moiser PUXICO, Mo. -- Larry Dale Moiser, 63, of Wappapello, Mo. died Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016 at his home. Morgan Sifford Funeral Home in Puxico is in charge of arrangements. A memorial service is planned for a later date.

Marna Rhea Gillespie Davis DEXTER, Mo. -- Marna Davis, 84, daughter of the late John Benjamin Gillespie and Lila Mae Dover Gillespie was born on June 16, 1932 at Poplar, Mo. and died Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016 at Southeast Health in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was united in marriage to Bob Davis on Dec. 25, 1951 in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mr. Davis survives of the home in Dexter, Mo...

Barbara Dickson Barbara Dickson, 46, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016 at Son Shine Home in Poplar Bluff. Arrangements are pending with Moore Funeral Service Online Condolences: www.moorefuneralservice.com

Julie Ann Keele Julie Ann Keele, 66, of Poplar Bluff, Mo. died on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016 at her residence. Arrangements are pending with Moore Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff. Online condolences: www.moorefuneralservice.com

Lula Lorene Grimes FISK, Mo. -- Lula Lorene Grimes, 79, of Dudley, Mo. passed away Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016 at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was born April 4, 1937 in Brownsville, Tenn., to Albert and Margaret (nee' Owens) Conner. She and Allen Hale were married in 1954. He passed away Feb. 7, 1994. She married Johnny Grimes in 1983. He passed away March 15, 1993...