Stories from Friday, November 25, 2016

By CHELSAE CORDIA Staff Writer Motivated shoppers were out and about Friday morning looking to grab up Black Friday deals. Many retailers this year chose to forego opening on Thanksgiving Day to allow employees holiday time with their families, including Menards, The Home Depot and Orscheln Farm and Home...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Poplar Bluff High School Pom Squad will perform in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31 in Orlando, Fla. The 19-member group earned an invitation to perform in the pre-game show during the National Dance Alliance camp held over the summer...

By LEE H. HAMILTON As hard as the campaign might have been and the transition is proving to be, Donald Trump's challenges are really just beginning. Governing after a toxic election in which the results awarded him an ambiguous national mandate -- his opponent, after all, got more votes -- will require finesse, a clear-eyed view of his role in the world, and no small amount of luck...

By MIKE JENSEN Publisher Sikeston Standard Democrat Thanksgiving is that uniquely American holiday that offers us a chance to pause and reflect on the abundant blessings and opportunities in our lives. It's a holiday abounding with food and relatives, naps and football and, if you're lucky, leftovers...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- Many undergraduates, their fawn-like eyes wide with astonishment, are wondering: Why didn't the dean of students prevent the election from disrupting the serenity to which my school has taught me that I am entitled? Campuses create "safe spaces" where students can shelter from discombobulating thoughts and receive spiritual balm for the trauma of microaggressions. Yet the presidential election came without trigger warnings?...

Class of 1960 meets Monday The Poplar Bluff High School Class of 1960 will meet for lunch at 11:30 a.m. Monday at El Acapulco Mexican Restaurant. All class members, spouses and guests are invited to attend. Anyone with questions may call 778-9261 or 32-0778...

The Agee Community Club met in the meeting room at Mad Hatters Cafe Friday, Nov. 11. Nickey Orton, hostess, gave the invocation. The members repeated the club motto, "When the heart is full of love, the world is full of beauty." The devotional read by President Cathy Womack, was from II Corinthians 12: 7 - 10. Paul's vision and his thorn. Also, read from the book from every hardship. Roll call was answered by "What we are thankful for?"...

Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) is a national program which promotes career development for student with disabilities through job shadowing and hands-on career exploration. The month of October was Disability Employment Awareness Month. Independent Living Center's yearly youth mentoring day took place Wednesday, Oct. 19...

Linda Kathleen Winingnear NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Linda Kathleen Winingnear, 58, of Neelyville, died Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, at her residence. Memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016, at the Chamber of Commerce in Poplar Bluff. Fowler-Sullivan Memorial Chapel in charge of arrangements...

JASPER, Ark. -- One elk from the 52 taken so far in 2016 has tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The elk, harvested in southwestern Searcy County on private land, was a 2.5-year old bull taken during the elk management assistance program quota hunt...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor Over the course of 2016's firearms season across the Show-Me State, Missouri hunters killed 185,066 deer, falling less than 1 percent off the 2015 harvest. The small decline put the brakes on what would have been three successive years of harvest increases...

By CALEB PRYOR Mo. Derpt. of Conservation Now that the firearms deer season is over, don't think you have to hang up your camouflage until next year. Instead why not try something new? Duck hunting in Missouri is a growing past time and with several waterfowl areas in and around Butler County, there are ample opportunities to go afield...

By FRANCIS SKALICKY Mo. Dept. of Conservation WEST PLAINS, Mo. -- A life-long interest in the outdoors will help Zack Swindle in his newest assignment as a Missouri Department of Conservation Agent for Shannon County. Swindle, a recent graduate of the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Agent Academy, has started his new duties as Shannon County's conservation agent. ...

Playing the first of three games in three nights, the Raiders reserves were called on early Thursday night. Three Rivers College got 73 bench points with four players reaching double figures in a 107-41 win over Malcolm X College to open the Peoples Community Bank Thanksgiving Tournament...

IRONTON, Mo. --Jacob Meinershagen's Thanksgiving prayer was answered Thursday night. The West County senior hit a twisting shot over Ellington's 6-foot-6 Wes Sharp as time expired, lifting West County to a 41-38 win in the Arcadia Valley Thanksgiving Tournament final...

Arthur H. Ploetze Mr. Arthur H. Ploetze, 88, loving husband of 65 years to Audrey (Stoll) Ploetze died Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016 at Westwood Hills Care Center in Poplar Bluff. Other survivors include two children: Bruce Arthur (Shelley) Ploetze, Denise Suzanne Rowe, all of Poplar Bluff; four grandchildren: Lauren (Jeff) Ploetze Houpt, Kristen Ploetze, Alisha Payne and Brett Payne...

Helen L. Oakley VAN BUREN, Mo. -- Helen L. Oakley, 95, of Ellsinore, died Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016, at Van Buren. Visitation will be from 4 -7 p.m., Saturday, at the McSpadden Funeral Home in Ellsinore. Funeral service will be at 1 p.m., Sunday, at the McSpadden Funeral Home in Van Buren. Burial will follow at the Van Buren City Cemetery...

Dorothy E. Sanders FISK, Mo. -- Dorothy E. Sanders, 94, of Silva, formerly of St. Louis, died Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016 at Greenville Nursing and Rehabilitation, in Greenville. Mrs. Sanders was born, July 8, 1922 in St. Louisto the late Alva and Edna Edgar. She married James D. Sanders, Nov. 15, 1952. He preceded her in death, July 10, 1994...

Jackie Carl Roberts ELLINGTON, Mo. -- Jackie Carl Roberts, 78, of Ellington, departed this life Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016, at the Brent B. Tinnin Manor in Ellington. Jackie, the son of the late Opal Mae Simpson Roberts and Frank Roberts, was born March 17, 1938, at Brandewiede Hollow on the banks of Current River in Shannon County, Mo...

Ruby Alma Smith PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Ruby Alma Smith, 88, of Silva, died Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016, at her residence. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., Sunday, in Kingdom Hall at Cherokee Pass. Online condolences: www.rueggfuneralhomes.com

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor VAN BUREN, Mo. -- Having broadened her horizons as a private-practice attorney in recent years, Amanda Oesch recently returned to her first love as a prosecutor. "I always wanted to prosecute," said Oesch, a Charleston, Mo., attorney, who was appointed in August by Gov. Jay Nixon to replace former Carter County Prosecuting Attorney Ernie Richardson...

Mack Vernon Barnett is the name chosen by Cortney Baugh and Barry Vernon Barnett for their 10-pound, 10-ounce son born at 8:18 a.m., Friday, Nov. 18, 2016, at Saint Francis Medical Center's Family BirthPlace in Cape Girardeau. Mack was 21 inches long...