Stories from Sunday, July 9, 2017

It's gotten to where he can't even stand to look at it, World War II veteran Wilbur Schmit said Friday morning, as he moved to the back of the home he shares on Almond Street in Poplar Bluff with his wife Anna. A bedroom door, blocked now from the inside of the house, is all that separates the couple from the devastation caused when a large tree fell in late May...

To the Editor: On behalf of the Board of Directors for Rodgers Theatre, Inc., I am happy to report that our recent "Restore the Rodgers" banquet at the Black River Coliseum was an unqualified success. Nearly 300 people joined us as we honored those who have assisted us in our effort to restore the Rodgers Theatre. ...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN President Donald Trump flew off for his first meeting with Vladimir Putin -- with instructions from our foreign policy elite that he get into the Russian president's face over his hacking in the election of 2016. Hopefully, Trump will ignore these people. For their record of failure is among the reasons Americans elected him to office...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- The Bronx, the only one of New York City's five boroughs that is on the American mainland, once had a sociological as well as geographical distinction. In the 1930s it was called, as Daniel Patrick Moynihan noted, "the city without a slum." It was "the one place in the whole of the nation where commercial housing was built during the Great Depression." In the third quarter of the 20th century, however, there came, particularly in the South Bronx, social regression that Moynihan described as "an Armageddonic collapse that I do not believe has its equal in the history of urbanization.". ...

Jessica Ariel Bowers and Trent Lee Ezernack, both of Poplar Bluff, exchanged vows Saturday,ss May 27, 2017, at MawMaw's Pond, Poplar Bluff. Rev. Dereck Evans performed the double-ring ceremony. Parents of the bride are David and Sharon Bowers of Alexander, Ark. and Cynthia Hartley of Poplar Bluff...

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Charles Edward Lee, 90, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Saturday, July 8, 2017, at Dexter Living Center in Dexter, Mo. Mr. Lee, son of the late Charles Edward Sr. and Claire (Wright) Lee, was born Tuesday, March 19, 1927, in Doniphan, Mo...

Larry Wayne Childress, Sr. passed away Thursday, July 6, 2017, at the University of St. Louis Hospital at the age of 75 years. Larry Sr. was born Aug. 26, 1941, in Poplar Bluff, Mo., to the late Elbert and Etta (Warren) Childress. Larry retired from Union Pacific Railroad in 1997. He enjoyed camping, fishing and coaching Little League Baseball...

Janet Henson, 44, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Friday, July 7, 2017, at her residence. She was born in St. Louis, Mo., March 8, 1973, to the late Harold Theodore Huskey and Rosa Lee Heacock Huskey. She was a longtime resident of Butler County. She was a member of the Twin Springs Baptist Church...

In April 2014, the Poplar Bluff Junior High School was four years past a $2 million renovation which included removal of all asbestos from the facility and the installation of new heating and air conditioning units. The renovation led to the discovery of more than $800,000 in needed plumbing repairs for a system dating back to 1954...

By TYLER GRAEF SEMO News Service The Missouri Department of Agriculture issued a moratorium on all use and sale of Dicamba products Friday afternoon. The order, effective immediately, seeks to address pesticide drift, which allegedly has damaged thousands of acres of crops in Missouri and surrounding states, according to a news release...

Law enforcement officials continue to see what are described as non-regulated gaming devices popping up around the state of Missouri. The devices are being found in convenience stores, as well as other establishments, such as bars and restaurants. Unlike casinos and bingo halls, the devices are not regulated by the Missouri Gaming Commission, which works with the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Gaming Division...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man preempted his upcoming jury trial by pleading guilty Thursday to multiple felonies, including murder, in connection with a 2015 attack at a Bollinger County home. William Anthony Pickard of the 800 block of North D Street pleaded guilty to the Class A felonies of second-degree murder and first-degree assault and the unclassified felony of armed criminal action (ACA) before Circuit Judge Benjamin Lewis, according to docket entries on Casenet...

The American Cancer Society is recruiting teams from local families, businesses, schools, places of worship, and the community to participate in the annual Relay For Life of Butler County Sept. 15 at the Fred M. Morrow Studio at the Poplar Bluff Junior High School...

From across Southeast Missouri, people descended upon Cape Girardeau on Saturday night for the region's premier sports awards show. Student-athletes from 57 area high schools were on hand for the Fourth Annual Semoball Awards presented by SoutheastHEALTH at the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall on Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus, as awards were handed out in 25 sports categories...