Stories from Thursday, August 17, 2017

By MONA CHAREN If you haven't heard of the "mattress girl," it's not for lack of trying among liberal opinion-shapers. Emma Sulkowicz, who dragged a blue mattress around Columbia University's campus in 2014 to dramatize her plight as a rape victim, was profiled sympathetically in New York magazine, The New York Times and other publications. ...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Kenneth "Kenny" Allen, 80, of Piedmont, Mo., died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Arrangements currently are pending with Ruegg Funeral Home, Piedmont. Online condolences: www.rueggfuneralhomes.coms...

Bonnie Absheer Knowles, 100, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., went to be with her Lord, family and friends, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017 at Mark Twain Caring Center. She was born to the late Charles Robert and Gelina Smith Absheer on July 22, 1917, on the family farm in Wayne County near Piedmont, Mo. ...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor "I'm just speechless at how well it all went down," said Poplar Bluff St. Jude Heroes team captain Miranda Fickert when reflecting back on last weekend's Shootin' for St. Jude fundraiser event. "It's become such a big event."...

MALDEN, Mo. -- James Edward Sims, Sr., 81, of Clinton, Ky., formerly of Clarkton, Mo., died Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, at Lourdes Hospice Care, Paducah, Ky. Visitation will be at 1 p.m., Thursday, at Bradshaw Funeral Home, Inc., Malden. The funeral will follow at 2 p.m., at Bradshaw Chapel in Malden with Brother Gayle Barnes officiating...

By MIKE JENSEN Publisher Sikeston Standard Democrat I've always been told there is a solution for every problem. Look hard enough and work hard enough and you'll eventually find that elusive solution. But the issue of race relations may be that single issue in this nation that currently defies a solution...

Mikel D. Murphy, 52, of Poplar Bluff, died Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017 at Cedargate Care Center. Arrangements are pending with Fitch-Hillis Funeral Home.

Since Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens announced state budget cuts in January, Southeast Missouri State University has been making changes to offset them. In May, the Board of Regents approved a 2.8 percent tuition and fee increase beginning this semester. The increase will bring $1.34 million to the university, according to a Southeast news release...

FISK, Mo. -- Tamarya Sue Milam, 58, of Fairdealing, Mo., died Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017 at her residence in Fairdealing, Mo. There will be a celebration of life on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017 at Thousand Hills Cowboy Church in Fisk. Condolences: www.whitesandersfuneralhome.com...

Ila Deneen Witte, 90, of Poplar Bluff, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2016 at Oakdale Assisted Living Center in Poplar Bluff. Ila, the daughter of the late Fred and Sweetie Belle Pace Aylor, was born Sept. 24, 1926 in Poplar Bluff. She was a former member of First Christian Church where she sang in a trio and was a member of First Presbyterian Church. ...

The football locker room at the Poplar Bluff Senior High School feels like a locker room, or at least smells like one. This time last year it smelled of fresh paint while shiny new lockers sat empty, waiting for the Mules to move across town. Now, there's marker boards on the walls filled with circles and lines below a television screening plays of the upcoming opponent. Players dress and walk out the double doors toward another practice, as if they've been doing it here for years...

The wait was excruciating. Weeks felt like months. Months felt like years. The Malden football team didn't want to lose its momentum. After starting the season 9-0, the Green Wave reclaimed their third straight SEMO Conference East title, won their third consecutive district championship and were up 7-6 10 minutes into the MSHSAA Class 2 quarterfinal...

Dexter expects more of the same from Ste. Genevieve when the Bearcats open their season at 7 p.m. Friday at Charles Bland Stadium. "Ste. Gen is Ste. Gen.," said coach Kevin Goltra who is entering his second season heading up the Bearcats after going 2-8 last year. "We've been working for weeks on getting the right fits on those screens."...

Looking to make coming to Mules Stadium to see a football game easier, Poplar Bluff High School officials announced a plan for fans arriving to campus on Friday nights. Traffic will be routed around the high school building and into the main parking lot with JROTC students directing fans to a spot...

Coming off an 8-3 season and with numerous key contributors returning, including a quarterback who threw for nearly 3,000 yards, the theme for the Jackson football team is pretty self-explanatory: continuous improvement. The Indians will look to build off a year in which they claimed their first conference title since 2013, with a 4-0 run in the SEMO North, and advanced to the Class 5 District 1 final, before falling to eventual state champion Vianney, 49-14...