Stories from Sunday, December 3, 2017

By JOHN R. STANARD "SMALL, Dancing LIGHT," a major sacred choral piece for the Advent and Christmas seasons, will be presented by the First United Methodist Church Chancel Choir on Saturday, Dec. 9. Augmented by guest singers and a 15-piece orchestra, the Chancel Choir will perform the work by noted composer Taylor Scott Davis at 7 p.m. ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man was sentenced Friday morning to 59 years in prison on multiple felonies, including a murder charge in connection with the shooting death of a good Samaritan who had given him a ride. Joseph Wade Wisdom appeared before Circuit Judge David Jones for sentencing, after having pleaded guilty to the Class A felony of second-degree murder, two Class B felonies of first-degree assault, two Class B felonies of unlawful use of a weapon and the Class D felony of unlawful use of a weapon.. ...

Good little boys and girls in the area will be lining up to give the jolly man in red their Christmas lists during the annual Santa Land, hosted by several area local organizations, at the Black River Coliseum. Santa Land will be held Tuesday, Dec. 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. Doors will open at 5 p.m. for anyone with special needs...

Patricia Randall, 70, of Poplar Bluff died Friday, Dec. 1, 2017 at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Arrangements are pending with Fowler Sullivan Funeral Home.

NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Judy C. Merritt, 61, of Oxly, Mo., died Friday, Dec. 1. 2017, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, at West Point United Pentecostal Church with services beginning at 1 p.m. at the church. Rev. Chuck Carr will officiate, Burial will be in the Walters Family Cemetery. Fowler & Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements...

Annie Favorite, 86, of Poplar Bluff died Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 at her residence. Arrangements are pending with Fowler Sullivan Funeral Home.

NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Tammie Deckard, 52, of Poplar Bluff, Mo. died Friday, Dec. 1, 2017, at her home. Visitation will be from 11-1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, at Fowler & Sons Funeral Home in Neelyville with services at 1 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will be in Cochran Cemetery near Harviell. Donnie Fowler will officiate...

Joyce Bayne, 48, of Poplar Bluff died Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Arrangements are pending with Fowler Sullivan Funeral Home.

Vietnam vet wants to donate uniform My husband was in the Vietnam War and has his Army suit and I would like to know if there's a place in Poplar Bluff that you can donate their uniforms so that like in a museum or somethin' like that in Poplar Bluff or Dexter would be the areas that I could go to. So please put this in Speak Out because I don't want to have to throw it away or somethin'. And my children don't want it so please put this in Speak Out. Thank you so much. Bye-bye...

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- Dartha Marie Clifton, 77, of Campbell, died Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017 at the Ridgeview Nursing Home in Malden. Mo. Visitation will be from 1 - 2 p.m., Monday, Dec. 4, at Landess Funeral Home in Campbell followed at 2 p.m. in the funeral chapel with Rev. Davis officiating. Burial will follow at Carola Cemetery in Qulin...

NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Brenda L. Wallace, 61, of Farmington, Mo., died Friday, Dec. 1, 2017, at her home. A registered nurse, Mrs. Wallace was the head nurse at Camelot Rehabilitation. She was born May 19, 1956, at Harviell, Mo. Her hobbies were scrapbooking and traveling. She enjoyed her grandchildren and Cardinal baseball. She married Doyle Wallace Aug. 31, 1979, in Poplar Bluff, Mo. He survives...

Glendol and Judy Garrett of Poplar Bluff, Mo., celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Waynesville, N.C. with their children and their spouses. They are son, James and Mindy Garrett; daughter, Sheila and Dee Early; and grandchildren: Hailey and Kenzie Garrett. The children planned a week full of family fun...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN In the morning darkness of Wednesday, Kim Jong Un launched an ICBM that rose almost 2,800 miles into the sky before falling into the Sea of Japan. North Korea now has the proven ability to hit Washington, D.C. Unproven still is whether Kim can put a miniaturized nuclear warhead atop that missile, which could be fired with precision, and survive the severe vibrations of re-entry. More tests and more time are needed for that...

By MONA CHAREN So the friendly morning host with the warm smile was a serial sexual predator? He had a secret lock installed on his office door operated by a button under his desk like a Bond villain? The NPR guy was a Prairie Homewrecker? Next you'll tell us that that nice Bill O'Reilly is a creep. Never mind about that last one, he never even seemed nice...

By MICHAEL JENSEN The head cleric of the Church of England says he still doesn't understand why Christians support President Donald Trump. Now under normal circumstances, this off-handed comment by a religious leader in a foreign country would go virtually unnoticed...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man will spend the next four years in prison for his role in the December 2015 hit-and-run accident that killed a local teenager, Heavenly Grace Hafford. Randel Craig Sparks, who preempted his August trial by pleading guilty to the Class D felonies of leaving the scene of a motor-vehicle accident and tampering with physical evidence, was sentenced Friday morning by Judge David Jones in Greene County...

Construction of the earliest permanent Poplar Bluff City Hall was completed in 1902 in the 300 block of South Broadway. The two-story brick building held city offices, the police department and fire trucks on the first floor, with city council chambers and a firefighter dormitory on the second floor...

Editor's Note: See 1C for a look at the long history of debate surrounding Poplar Bluff's city halls. By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Just under 30,000 square feet of Northwest Medical Center will be available for renovation immediately after Poplar Bluff officials close on the purchase of the Barron Road building...

NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Velma Jean Tubb, better known to most as "Mamaw", was born on Jan. 25, 1936, to the late Herman Pennington and Myrtle Staats in Qulin, Mo. She departed this life Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017, in Poplar Bluff, Mo. at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center...

Mission accomplished. The former Navy SEAL turned Governor of Missouri Eric Greitens successfully orchestrated a state Board of Education with a vision reflecting his own. After the second attempt in nine days and a 5-3 vote, the traditionally non-partisan board ousted Dr. Margie Vandeven as Missouri's commissioner of education. Her removal was effective immediately following Friday's closed meeting and she was replaced by interim appointee Dr. Roger Dorson...

PADUCAH, Ky. -- There wasn't much defense to be found Saturday. Playing their first road game in two weeks, the Three Rivers men's basketball team shot 54 percent from the field in a 117-109 barnburner against West Kentucky Community and Technical College...

DEXTER -- The last time Sikeston and Dexter met on the basketball court, the Bearcats nearly pulled off one of the biggest shockers of the year back on Feb. 27. Sikeston escaped its district semifinal with a 56-54 win over Dexter that night, but it also served notice that the Bearcats were a team to be reckoned with heading into this season with the bulk of the roster returning...

MANCHESTER, Mo. --Josh Lawrinenko won his weight division, winning six matches Saturday at the Patriot Classic as the Poplar Bluff wrestling team finished fourth as a team. Quinten Bell and Tanner Dunivan placed third while four more Mules finished fourth in their divisions...

The Lady Raider offense rolled into the Christmas season and extended their win streak to five games. Three Rivers defeated Missouri Baptist JV 113-41 on Friday and Arkansas Baptist 91-73 on Saturday in two of their three highest scoring games of the season. The Raiders had not scored more than 90 points since their season-opener...

LADUE, Mo. --Taylor Norwood qualified for state in her first individual event of the season Saturday, missed a second by less than a second, while Poplar Bluff's medley relay was 0.6 of a second from qualifying. The Mules placed seventh as a team at the Ladue Invitational with times that left the coaching staff pleasantly surprised...