Stories from Saturday, February 4, 2017

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Poplar Bluff city officials say a mistake was made in the certification of a petition protesting the rezoning of property on Eugene Boulevard for a low income apartment complex. The Missouri National Guard Foundation will not need a super majority -- five out of seven city council votes -- to win a request to rezone a section of the dead end street, said city clerk Pam Kearbey. ...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor Despite a recent change in the Missouri Constitution allowing the unlicensed carrying of concealed firearms, Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs urges caution with regard to where the weapons are taken. The constitutional right to carry concealed weapons in Missouri, Dobbs said, is superseded by federal laws, including the Federal Gun Free School Zone Act...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer A Poplar Bluff Technical Career Center student was one of a group credited with helping save the life of a referee who collapsed during a Tuesday evening basketball game in Risco, Missouri. According to witness and media reports, referee Donnie Jenkins of Malden, Missouri, collapsed in between games in a room away from the courts due to apparent heart issues. He was revived after a fifth grader discovered him, and a group of nurses and a paramedic rushed to his aid...

By CHELSAE CORDIA Staff Writer SSLqSSLqWe rode bus 15, the whites called it the colored bus. Bus 15 drove us to J. Minnie Smith Elementary School every day." Proud Poplar Bluffian Wesley Lewis has worked for the Poplar Bluff R-1 School District for 27 years and fancies himself a "True Mule."...

David Lee Sparks -- Hilliard, Mo. Barbara Jean Priest -- Poplar Bluff, Mo.

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN That hysterical reaction to the travel ban announced Friday is a portent of what is to come if President Donald Trump carries out the mandate given to him by those who elected him. The travel ban bars refugees for 120 days. From Syria, refugees are banned indefinitely. And a 90-day ban has been imposed on travel here from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen...

Iran is offering the Trump administration its first foreign policy crisis. In a provocative act likely intended to take advantage of U.S. political turmoil, Tehran tested a ballistic missile understood by leading Western allies to be a violation of the recent nuclear deal brokered under the Obama administration...

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER WASHINGTON -- The flurry of bold executive orders and of highly provocative Cabinet nominations (such as a secretary of education who actually believes in school choice) has been encouraging to conservative skeptics of Donald Trump. But it shouldn't erase the troubling memory of one major element of Trump's inaugural address...

E. Field Students of Month Eugene Field Elementary School has chosen their January 2017 Students of the Month. Kaylin Walker, daughter of David and Jessica Walker, has been chosen leader of the month by her first grade teacher, Teresa Webb. Kaylin's classmates consider her a great role model and admire her leadership skills. Some of the reasons they state for selecting Kaylin are "She is kind, she always wants to help others, and she follows the rules."...

The University of Missouri fall semester 2016 dean's list includes the following area residents: Fisk: Brian Anthony Goodrich, Agr-Food and Natural Resources Harviell: Christian Earl Cmehil-Warn, Engineering Poplar Bluff: Madison McLane Baker, Sophomore, Arts and Science; Chang Q. ...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Trailing by six at the start of the fourth quarter Tuesday night, the Poplar Bluff girls basketball team got consecutive steals only to miss contested layups on the other end. The Mules didn't score over the first three minutes of the final period as Jackson stretched its lead to 15 before holding off a late comeback to beat Poplar Bluff 59-51 in SEMO Conference play...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff outscored Notre Dame by 14 points in the final event Thursday as the Mules swim team raced to a 3-point win. Taylor Norwood qualified for state in two more events and lowered her team record in the 200-yard freestyle by 1.38 seconds in the process...

Three Rivers men's basketball coach Gene Bess is unlikely to be on the bench for Saturday's game against State Fair after undergoing a knee procedure. After suffering from arthritis and wear and tear, Bess underwent stem cell treatment on both knees Thursday in an attempt to relieve the pain...

The Lady Raiders have a chance to lock up an opening-round bye for the upcoming region tournament this weekend, and put themselves head and shoulders atop the standings in the process. Three Rivers hosts State Fair at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Bess Activity Center. With a win and the Moberly Area loss against Mineral Area, the Lady Raiders would secure at least a No. 3 seed in the Region XVI Tournament, immediately placing them in the semifinals...

DEXTER -- A strong performance from Naylor junior Callee Pickrell wasn't enough for the visiting Lady Eagles to come in to Dexter and pull out a win Thursday night. Pickrell finished with a game-high 33 points, but the Lady Bearcats countered with big nights from sophomore Chaylea Mosby and junior Hannah Thurmon to lead wire-to-wire for a 62-51 win...

ELLINGTON -- Wes Sharp nailed a game-high 27 points, including four 3-pointers, as the state-ranked Ellington Whippets downed Viburnum 80-39 Thursday night. Sharp, just three days removed from reaching the 1,500-point plateau in a win over Couch, hit 11 field goals while Marshon Morrissey added 19 points for Ellington (17-3), which scored 57 points in the middle two quarters to run away with the win...

David Lee Sparks David Lee Sparks, 73, of Hilliard, Mo., died Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, at his residence. Mr. Sparks was born Dec. 27, 1943 in East St. Louis, Ill. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in the U.S. Army. He had worked for McKesson Drugs. An avid scouter, he was involved with Cub Scouts, Explorers and Boy Scouts...