Stories from Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Twin Rivers R-X Bus Mechanic Kurt Lichtenegger keeps the wheels on the buses going around and around, as well as much more. In the past 10 years, Lichtenegger has scored a 90 percent or better on the annual State Highway Patrol School Bus Inspection. This year, however, he outdid himself, scoring 100 percent on his 15 buses...

For the fifth year, Congressman Jason Smith is traveling the 8th District to visit farms and learn about the diverse agricultural enterprises in the area he represents as part of his annual Farm Tour. Smith visited Cane Creek Sod Farm Monday in Poplar Bluff and talked with area farmers and local officials to hear some of their main concerns...

Four incumbents held their positions on the Ozark Border Electric Cooperative Board of Directors during an election Saturday. The election comes after a year that saw more than one-third of the cooperative's management staff retire, taking nearly 180 years of experience with them...

KENNETT, Mo. -- The state filed the necessary paperwork Monday afternoon declaring its intentions to seek the death penalty in the case of a Malden, Mo., woman charged with the death of a man killed in an apparent attempted robbery. Dunklin County Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey McCormick filed a notice to seek the death penalty with the Dunklin County Circuit Court in the case Brianna Bonaparte...

City officials believe construction on a 2.5-mile extension of Shelby Road could begin as soon as September. The Poplar Bluff City Council received bids Monday night for the approximately $10 million project, which would extend from Kanell Boulevard to Highway 53...

The Poplar Bluff City Council refused a Katy Lane rezoning request Monday night in a split vote, while unanimously supporting an effort to purchase new safety equipment for the fire department. The council voted 4-3 against changing the zoning from residential to office professional for a portion of a vacant lot that touches Katy Lane...

The Corps of Engineers at Wappapello Lake in partnership with the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Wake Foundation and the National Wild Turkey Federation, are sponsoring a Mobility Impaired Modern Gun Deer Hunt on October 21 and 22, 2017. Applications will be accepted until September 1, 2017...

As the sun is the center of our solar system with everything revolving around it, and depending upon it for life, so also is Jesus Christ the center of life for all Christians. "Now Christ is the visible expression of the invisible God. He existed before creation began, for it was through Him that everything was made, whether spiritual or material, seen or unseen. ...

MDC recently revised its Hunter Education curriculum to enhance student convenience and emphasize mentorship and hands-on training. The new, more flexible program is divided into two parts. The first part provides necessary knowledge about hunting equipment, safety, and ethics through either an online course or a self-paced student manual. The second part consists of a mandatory four-hour hands-on skills session and a 35-question multiple-choice exam...

By GEORGE F. WILL One day [Marine Theodore Wallace] saw an officer casually aim his rifle and try to shoot a Vietnamese boy in the distance. "Sir, what are you doing?" he'd asked. "He's probably supplying the [North Vietnamese Army]," the officer said. "What's he doing out here anyway?"...

By MIKE JENSEN Publisher Sikeston Standard Democrat Scanning a Kansas City newspaper this week, I was reminded of the tragic election night plane crash that took the life of Congressman Jerry Litton and his family. It was August 1976 that Litton defeated former Gov. Warren Hearnes for the Democratic nomination to the United States Senate...

PALMDALE, CALIF. -- Olaf Carlson Smith, 85, passed away Sunday, June 16, 2017, after battling cancer and declining health. He was born Sept. 20, 1931, in St. Louis, Mo., to John W.E. and Olivia (Carlson) Smith. The love of his life, MaryJo, passed away in November, 2013. ...

To the Editor, As another school year quickly approaches, I cannot stress the importance of watching out for the children as they walk to school, ride the bus or being dropped off. Of course with the beginning of each year also brings athletics into the picture. ...

DONIPHAN, Mo. - A Doniphan man recently uncovered a $100,000 top prize on a Missouri Lottery "20X the Cash" Scratchers ticket. Jonathan Shedd purchased his winning ticket at 24/7 Mini Mart, 333 Leroux St., in Doniphan. The "20X The Cash" Scratchers game started on Dec. 27, 2016. More than $5.7 million in prizes, including two top prizes, are still available in the $5 game. For complete information about prizes remaining in all Scratchers games, go to MOLottery.com...

Paige Mayberry, 17, of Van Buren, has won a $1,000 Tommy Parks Memorial Scholarship to help underwrite her studies at Three Rivers College. The scholarship is administered by the Three Rivers Community College Foundation. Mayberry, who is working toward a TRC associate degree in nursing, is a 2017 graduate of Van Buren High School, where she was active in Beta Club, Science Club and Future Business Leaders of America. ...

PUXICO, Mo. -- Jerry Wayne Crisel, 75, of Puxico, son of the late Herbert Eugene and Roxie DeCelis Crisel, was born April 20, 1942, in St. Louis, Mo., and passed away Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017 at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was a life long resident of Puxico. He was self-employed in the trucking business and was a farmer. He was a member of the First Baptist Church, the Masonic Lodge #596 and had been a Puxico School Board Member for several years...

The Butler County unit of the Missouri Retired Teachers Association will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16, in the Altrusa Room at Twin Towers. Poplar Bluff Schools Superintendent, Scott Dill will address the group. All retired teachers and retired school personnel are invited to attend. The meetings usually last about an hour and are very informative...

The John J. Pershing VA Medical Center will host a job fair from 2-5 p.m. Thursday at the Missouri National Guard Armory, 1605 Cravens Road. Applicants will be considered for the position of medical support assistant. Duties include scheduling appointments, answering phones, operating a computer, providing customer service, and receiving and indexing health and administrative information...

FISK, Mo. -- John Martin Elliott, 86, of Poplar Bluff, formerly of Fisk, died Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017 at his son's residence, in Poplar Bluff. Mr. Elliott was born Oct. 3, 1930 in Callaway County, Mo., son of the late Henry Martin and Lillie M. (Gauby) Elliott. He was a farmer and mechanic. Mr. Elliott was a Paratrooper and an Atomic Soldier serving in the Army during the Korean War...

ELLSINORE, Mo. -- Fred Thomas Mabe, 91, of Grandin, Mo., died Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. Visitation will begin at 11 a.m., Wednesday, at the McSpadden Funeral Home in Ellsinore, with the Funeral Service following at noon in the Funeral Home Chapel. Rev. T J Woodard will be officiating...

There were days when Drew Brown enjoyed watching his quarterback complete a touchdown pass, being an integral part of the offense and feeling the glory of holding his block as a running back surged into the end zone. As it turns out, blindsiding a quarterback and making tackles behind the line of scrimmage feel pretty good, too...

WEDNESDAY - Aug. 9 7 p.m. -- Church Night - Veterans Park 6:30 - 10:30 p.m. -- Bracelet Night 10:30 p.m. -- Attendance Drawing THURSDAY - Aug. 10 8 a.m.-- Goat Burger Golf Classic Ozark Ridge Golf Course - PB 6:30 - 10:30 p.m. -- Bracelet Night 7:00 p.m.-- Puxico Band in Veterans Park...

The top readers in the Puxico Library reading program are Carter Ward, Maddalyn Ward, and Misty Ellis. JoLeah Tettleton said, "We had our Big Summer Reading Drawing Thursday, Aug. 3. It was a lot of fun!. The kids that finished up the program were amazing and good sports all around. Everyone received their participation certificate, and free ice cream from JKM."...

The Missouri State Highway Patrol asks the public to be aware of and plan for the total solar eclipse Aug. 21. The eclipse will follow a diagonal path across Missouri approximately from St. Joseph in the west to Ste. Genevieve in the east. Thousands of visitors are expected to arrive in the days leading up to the event. This influx of additional motorists will affect traffic patterns. Please plan your trip accordingly...

By AMY WALKER Hannah Wight and Tammy Hancock are the new volleyball coaches for the 2017-2018 school years, the Puxico R-8 School Board announced. With both coaches saying they have their hearts completely in the sport, the Lady Indians have taken on to kill the season by focusing on teamwork and fundamentals...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The Stoddard County Board of Equalization denied two appeals of 2017 property tax assessments at their regular meeting July 31 at the Government Building. The board first denied an appeal by Union Electric Company d/b/a Ameren Missouri and then denied an appeal by Kenneth LaRue of Dexter...

By AMY WALKER Local musician, Maggie Maryann Thorn-Lowery, recently released her third country music album titled, The Other Side. On this 12 track album, 11 songs were written by Thorn-Lowery along with some help from her lead guitarist and father, Tony Thorn and her husband, Logan Lowery...

"I heard a Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) agent speak when I was in the sixth grade in Dexter and from that moment on I knew I wanted to be a conservation agent," MDC Protection Regional Supervisor and former Site Administrator Gary Cravens said while talking to the Quill about retiring on Sept. 1 after 41 years with MDC...

PUXICO, Mo. -- An Olympic hopeful from Puxico Mo. has been banned from the 2020 Summer Olympics after testing positive for a drug often associated with athletes who compete in the field of weightlifting. Tyler Moore, 24, has accepted a four-year sanction for an anti-doping rule violation, according to the U.S. ...

As Adrienne Stucker and nearly every softball pitcher can attest, there have been some close calls in the circle. From the moment a fastball leaves the hands of a pitcher and comes off the bat, there's a lingering fear among the game's hurlers that a 60-mph heater can come screaming back as a 100-mph line drive. These sharp line drives, or comebackers, happen all too often in fastpitch softball and leave pitchers standing 43 feet from the batter with less than a second to react...

Four incumbents held their positions on the Ozark Border Electric Cooperative Board of Directors during an election Saturday. The election comes after a year that saw more than one-third of the cooperative's management staff retire, taking nearly 180 years of experience with them...

For the fifth year, Congressman Jason Smith is traveling the 8th District to visit farms and learn about the diverse agricultural enterprises in the area he represents as part of his annual Farm Tour. Smith visited Cane Creek Sod Farm Monday in Poplar Bluff and talked with area farmers and local officials to hear some of their main concerns...

Kim Jenkins, 58, died July 25, 2017. Services were held July 28 at the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Bernie. Rev. Stewart Allen Clark officiated. Burial followed in the Dexter Cemetery. Memorials may be made to 18 for Life in the name of Kim Jenkins.s...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Norman B. Harty, son of the late Walter and Nellie Harty, was born in Puxico, Mo., and died at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo., on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, at the age of 81. A well known local businessman, Mr. Harty owned N.B. Harty Contractors and a total of 10 branches of First Commercial Bank across southeast Missouri. Through his contracting industry, he conducted business on an international scale...