Stories from Sunday, December 10, 2017

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff Chief of Police Danny Whiteley was named the year's "Top Cop" Thursday night by the Missouri Police Chiefs Association. Whiteley, who has served 17 years as the city's police chief, was presented with the Donald "Red" Loehr Chief of the Year Award by Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams, who is the association's past president...

Poplar Bluff city officials have not released information concerning the fate of a street department superintendent who was bound over for trial Monday on charges of threatening another employee with a shotgun. Denis Kearbey has been ordered to appear Dec. 27 before Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett for arraignment...

Area school districts are preparing for their upcoming elections with the opening of board of education filing beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12. Poplar Bluff, Neelyville and Twin Rivers School Districts each have two board of education positions available for the April election...

Diana Dye lives one-tenth of a mile from the Dollar General Store in Downtown Poplar Bluff. Getting there should be an easy trip, but because of poor sidewalk conditions, she is subjected to a haphazard route; Dye travels deftly along Vine until Broadway Street, where she then turns against traffic because her motorized wheelchair can't make it safely onto the sidewalk. She then maneuvers around parked cars until she reaches the dimly lit parking garage...

By MONA CHAREN In 2003 a genetics paper revealed that one in 200 men alive in that year was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan (1162-1227). Khan was the Mongol emperor whose armies swept out of the north to conquer pretty much all of Asia. His successors took big chunks of Europe as well. When Marco Polo traveled to China, he met the conqueror's grandson Kublai Khan...

By JASON SMITH The era of strategic patience and capitulation symptomatic of the Obama Administration and their approach to North Korea finally ended this week. President Trump has now formally declared and labeled North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. What does that mean? It's simple, President Trump is holding North Korea accountable for actions that aim to terrorize and destabilize society - standing up for America and fighting for our interests across the globe...

Dante Piroli, 87, of Poplar Bluff, passed away Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017 at his residence. He was born Aug. 28, 1930 to Guy and Marina (Battisti) Piroli in Aliquippa, Pa. Dante served in the United States Air Force and was stationed in Africa working in communications during the Korean War. Dante retired as a currier for First Midwest Bank...

DONIPHAN, Mo. - Doris Ileen Emmons, 90-year-old resident of Doniphan, Mo., departed this life Friday, Dec. 8, 2017 in Doniphan. Mrs. Emmons was born Oct. 15, 1927, in Ripley County, Mo., to the late Phillip and Neacie Reeves Davis. Doris had worked at Southern Bank for over 30 years, was a lifelong member of the Belleview Baptist Church, a life member of the Ladies Auxiliary, VFW Post 3485, and also a Democratic Committee Woman for the Jordan Township. ...

ELLSINORE, Mo. - Mary Louise Kasting, 91, of Poplar Bluff, died Friday, Dec. 9, 2017 at Mark Twain Caring Center in Poplar Bluff. Visitation will begin at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, 2017, at McSpadden Funeral Home in Ellsinore. Funeral services begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in the McSpadden Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will be at the Mount Carmel Cemetery in Ellsinore. Online condolences may be made at www.mcspaddenfh.com...

MALDEN, Mo. -- Jerry Moore, 74, of Malden, died Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017, at his residence. Visitation will be at 1 p.m., Sunday, at Bradshaw Funeral Homes, Inc., in Malden. The funeral will follow at 2 p.m., at the Bradshaw Chapel with Rev. Brad Moore officiating. Burial in Memorial Park Cemetery in Malden...

The Blue Angels will return to Cape Girardeau May 2019 to perform their signature airborne stunts at the Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival. The U.S. Navy's prestigious demonstration squadron is scheduled to spend two days of their nationwide tour at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport on May 18 - 19, according to their online schedule...

Wednesday, Dec. 13, 5:30 - 7 p.m., the First United Methodist Church, 500 N. Main St., invites the citizens of Poplar Bluff to enjoy their annual Community Christmas Dinner. For many Poplar Bluffians, the community Christmas dinner is a tradition. This year, as in years past, members of the First United Methodist Church and volunteers will serve a roast turkey dinner with all the trimmings. The dinner, which is free, is this church's gift to Poplar Bluff...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN Even interventionists are regretting some of the wars into which they helped plunge the United States in this century. Among those wars are Afghanistan and Iraq, the longest in our history; Libya, which was left without a stable government; Syria's civil war, a six-year human rights disaster we helped kick off by arming rebels to overthrow Bashar Assad; and Yemen, where a U.S.-backed Saudi bombing campaign and starvation blockade is causing a humanitarian catastrophe...

BERNIE, Mo. - Carl Gene Keasler, son of the late Bert Keasler and Lucy Jones Keasler, was born in Parma, Mo., on Jan. 17, 1930 and departed this life at his residence in Bernie on Dec. 8, 2017, at the age of 87. Mr. Keasler is a Veteran of the United States Marine Corps, a retired farmer and a resident of Bernie. He was united in marriage to Kathryn Vieth in Vinson, Mo., on Oct. 5, 1956. Mrs. Keasler survives in their home in Bernie...

Check out Sunday Extra, C1 and C4, for a special section on our Holiday Helpers From page C4 Popsicle stick creations Graydon Latrasse, 4, holds up a Popsicle stick snowflake. Kendra Throckmorton, 10, and Kiersten Moore, 7, make Popsicle stick Christmas crafts at Poplar Bluff library...

Rev. Alan Lohmann, 73, of Poplar Bluff, passed away Friday, Dec. 8, 2017 at John J. Pershing V.A. Medical Center. Mr. Lohmann was born was born on Sept. 13, 1944 in St. Louis. He was a member of Lakeland Assembly of God in Wappapello, Mo., and served in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War. Fifty-one years ago, he married his wife, Darlene, who surives. Also surviving is one brother, Tom Lohmann...

VAN BUREN -- The Fish headed to Ellsinore after the East Carter Redbirds thwarted a late comeback Friday night in the 35th annual Yellow Sucker Game. Dalton Rudd's steal and layin as he was fouled with 50 seconds remaining padded East Carter's three-point lead and Lane Chilton sank four free throws to close out a 69-62 win over host Van Buren...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Dexter Bearcats picked their poison Friday night. The fourth-seeded Cape Central Tigers made seven 3-pointers and beat the seventh-seeded Bearcats 54-39 in the third-place game of the SEMO Conference Tournament at the Sikeston Field House...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Cold shooting and Demarcus Sharp proved to be the thorns in Poplar Bluff's side Friday night. Sharp scored a game-high 23 points, and the second-seeded Charleston Bluejays beat the Mules 54-40 in the consolation final of the SEMO Conference Tournament at the Sikeston Field House...

The defending Mississippi Class 1 state champion Pine Grove Panthers scored 22 straight points over the middle two quarters Saturday and rolled to a 47-34 victory Saturday in the SEMO Border Challenge girls basketball tournament at Poplar Bluff High School...

NEOSHO, Mo. -- Looking to avenge one of their two losses on the season, the Three Rivers women's basketball team fell behind quickly and never recovered Saturday. The Raiders scored six first-quarter points to trail by 13 and lost for a second time to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 72-45 at Crowder College...

The Three Rivers Raiders were missing that spark in the first half. They found it about halfway through the second half Saturday night in a 77-55 victory over the Nation Wide Academy Bengals at Bess Activity Center. The win stretched the Raiders' win streak to eight games...