Stories from Sunday, November 26, 2017

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- There was a turkey bound and determined to avoid being the centerpiece of a Thanksgiving Day feast. He took on costumes to deceive a farmer and his wife, and the desperate attempt was chronicled by second-grade students last year at Perryville Elementary...

Rodgers Theatre Inc., invites everyone to ring in the holiday season with a showing of the 1942 Christmas classic, Miracle on 34th Street at the Historic Rodgers Theatre. The film will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, following the 2017 River Radio Lighted Christmas Parade, which begins at 6:30 p.m., in Downtown Poplar Bluff...

On a blustery and cold afternoon Nov. 18 in Naylor, about 40 people stared into a field as they smelled their chance of winning $3,000 grow closer. Two Angus bulls from Tharp Cattle Company grazed around fenced pins marked with squares while participants waited for each to "drop" a patty in their purchased square...

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Henry Thomas Gimlin, Sr., 73-year-old resident of Doniphan, departed this life Friday, Nov. 24, 2017 at his residence. Mr. Gimlin was born Feb. 4, 1944 in Ponder, Mo. to the late Amos and Sarah Wilder Gimlin. Mr. Gimlin was a sawmiller and enjoyed playing poker, playing the lottery, watching cars drive by his house, watching Wheel of Fortune, and was an avid St. Louis Cardinal Baseball fan...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Cynthia Adkisson, 56, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017 at her residence. Arrangements are pending with Moore Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff.

By GEORGE F. WILL Not without thy wondrous story, Illinois, Illinois, Can be writ the nation's glory, Illinois, Illinois. -- official state song SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- This state's story, which lately has been depressing, soon will acquire a riveting new chapter. In 2018 Illinois will have the nation's most important, expensive and strange election...

CORNING, Ark. -- James Cochran, 88, of Jonesboro, Ark., passed from this life Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017 at St. Bernard's Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was known as "Daddy" by his children and "Poppa" by his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Many knew him by his childhood nickname of Dinkin...

PARAGOULD, Ark. -- Lowell Gerald Williams, 88, died peacefully at the Flo and Phil Jones Hospice House in Jonesboro, Ark., Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. Mr. Williams was born Aug. 18, 1929 in Cardwell, Mo. to the late Claude and Margaret (Jackson) Williams. ...

PUXICO, Mo. -- Ronald Peters, age 74 of Dexter, Mo., died suddenly on Nov. 19 in Low Moor, Va. Ronald was born on Sept. 5, 1943 in Puxico, Mo., to Dwight and Stella Peters, and he married Karen McGhee Oct. 12, 1963 in Puxico. He is survived by his wife and three children, Leslie Tucker and husband Jay, John Peters, and Sarah Sandusky, all of Dexter; five grandchildren, Debra Winters, Lauren Peters, Emily Peters, Sean Sandusky, and Rivers Peters; and two great-grandchildren, Kira Winters and Bryson Gordon. ...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Betty Sue Campbell, 76, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017 at her residence. The visitation will be from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday at Cotrell Funeral Chapel in Poplar Bluff. The graveside service and burial will begin at 3:30 p.m., Monday at the Rucker Cemetery in Wayne County...

CORINTH, Miss. -- Leading by two points with a minute to play, the Poplar Bluff boys basketball team took care of business Friday night. The Mules held off host Corinth (Miss.) for a 58-55 win at the Lighthouse Thanksgiving Classic. "I think that's a learning experience," Mules coach William Durden said. "We lost three games down late last year, including a big one in districts. That's kind of sticking in the guys' memory...

Willie Lucas couldn't get the ball enough early. Lucas had his best game of the season as the Three Rivers men's basketball team beat Tennessee Prep 81-75 on Friday at the Bess Activity Center in the Peoples Community Bank Thanksgiving Classic. Lucas was 8 for 11 shooting and 5 for 7 on 3-pointers to lead the Raiders with 23 points to go with six rebounds as the Raiders won their fourth straight game...

With Saturday's win, the Three Rivers men's basketball team swept all three games in the Peoples Community Bank Thanksgiving Classic for the second time in six seasons. The Raiders, who beat Hocking College (Ohio) on Thursday and Tennessee Prep on Friday, improved to 6-2 with an 81-68 win over Northeastern Oklahoma A&M on Saturday at the Bess Activity Center...

FISK. Mo.-- Mary Hackle, 63, of Broseley, Mo., died Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017 at her residence, in Broseley. Mrs. Hackle was born June 17, 1954 in Saint Louis, Mo., daughter of the late Roy and Rosalie (Patterson) Wilkerson. Mrs. Hackle was a homemaker. She enjoyed traveling, prospecting, and spending time with her family...

hantelle Becking can be humorously self-deprecating. She describes herself as a one-time business woman for a Fortune 500 company who might be annoyed by a woman with a child sitting behind her on an airplane. For those familiar with Becking, her self-assessment might bring a smile...

Carolyn Jane Long, 56, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017 at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Carolyn, the daughter of Jesse and Martha (Lund) Bradshaw, was born Oct. 27, 1961 in Galesburg, Ill. On Aug. 31, 1999 she retired with the rank of Master Sergeant after proudly serving 20 years in the US Air Force. ...

POPLAR BLUF, Mo. -- Imogene L. Gibson, 87, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Nov. 22, 2017 at her residence. She was born Aug. 22, 1930 at Neelyville, Mo. Visitation will be Monday, Nov. 27, 2017 at 10 a.m. in the Fowler & Sons Funeral Home at Neelyville with the funeral following at 11:30 a.m. in the chapel. Burial will be in the New Hope Cemetery near Doniphan...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Helen M. Evatt, 83, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Friday, Nov. 24, 2017 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Arrangements are pending with Cotrell Funeral Service of Poplar Bluff.

WILLIAMSVILLE, Mo. -- Doris Jean McDaniel, 68, of Williamsville, Mo., passed away Friday, Nov. 24, 2017 at Parkland Hospital in Farmington, Mo. Mrs. McDaniel, the daughter of Robert Laverne and Mae Carmelita (Mattingly) Shelton, was born Aug. 5, 1949 in Owensboro, Ky. She was a member of the Temple Baptist Church. Mrs. McDaniel was a homemaker and enjoyed spending time with her family, reading, planting flowers, traveling and cooking large meals for family and friends...

Octogenarian shares opinion on sexual advances Yes, I just have a question for all these people that are complaining about, um, sexual advances 40 and 50 years ago. Why didn't they open their mouths back then? Simply because the person that was doin' it was a teenager just like they were. ...

DONIPHAN, Mo.-- Derick Miles Samons, 22, of Doniphan died Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017, in Ripley County. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28 at Edwards Funeral Home, Inc. Funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29 at Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Gary Middleton, 75, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died on Friday, Nov. 24, 2017 at Cedargate Health Care in Poplar Bluff. Arrangements are pending with Moore Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff.

David Mays, 75, of Mayfield, Ky., formally of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died on Friday, Nov. 24, 2017 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. Arrangements are pending with Moore Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff.

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN Our aim is to "starve the whole population -- men, women, and children, old and young, wounded and sound -- into submission," said First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. He was speaking of Germany at the outset of the Great War of 1914-1918. Americans denounced as inhumane this starvation blockade that would eventually take the lives of a million German civilians...