Stories from Tuesday, February 6, 2018

After a career that took him several places with dictatorship and authoritarian governments, Poplar Bluff native and former CNN "Scud Stud" newscaster Charles Jaco said each began with a war on language, press and media. "The idea behind this is very simple," Jaco said. "If you repeat something over and over and loud enough and persistent enough, then said lie becomes fact."...

One night Jerry Sneathern was browsing through Facebook and ran into a site called St. Louis Vintage. It let members post old pictures of St. Louis. "It hit me to get it started here," Sneathern said. "I saw it (Jan.) 18th and started it (with a Facebook page) immediately. It started going crazy and within 24 hours we had over 300 members."...

Workers at Municipal Utilities will receive a 4 percent raise in 2018, 2019 and 2020 under a union contract approved Monday by the Poplar Bluff City Council. The raise for about 80 employees of the electric, water and sewer departments will cost approximately $232,000 in 2018, with wages and benefits, said Bill Bach, utilities general manager...

GREENVILLE, Mo. - Annalee V. Hellums, 94, of Milton, FL, formerly of Wayne County, MO, died Friday, February 2, 2018 in Milton, FL. Visitation will be from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., Tuesday, February 6 at Ruegg Funeral Home, Greenville. The funeral will follow at 1 p.m. in the chapel. Burial will be in Greenville Cemetery. Online condolences may be made at www.rueggfuneralhomes.com...

FISK, Mo. - Grace Colter, 95, of Fisk, died Saturday, February 3, 2018 at Westwood Hills Health Care Center, in Poplar Bluff, MO. Visitation will be at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 6 at White-Sanders Funeral Home in Fisk. The funeral will follow at noon in the funeral home chapel with Rev. Steve Patterson officiating. Burial will be in Shain Memorial Cemetery at Fisk. Condolences: www.whitesandersfuneralhome.com...

By MONA CHAREN Early in George W. Bush's first term, I was dining with a friend who didn't agree with my worldview. He challenged my certitude, allowing that he wasn't sure about many issues. "Don't you wonder whether you're right?" he asked. "Well," I replied, "if I held an incorrect view, I'd change it to the correct one."...

FISK, Mo. - Grace Colter, age 95, of Fisk died Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018 at Westwood Hills Health Care Center, in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mrs. Colter was born April 3, 1922 in Lynnville, Iowa, daughter of the late Henry and Hilda Remmenga. She was a member of the former Landreth Chapel General Baptist Church and had attended Black River General Baptist Church. On July 20, 1939 she married James "Bud" Colter. He preceded her in death on Aug. 27, 1998...

NAYLOR, Mo. - Bobby Allen Ward, 74, of Doniphan, Mo., died Friday, Feb. 2, 2018 at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. - noon, Tuesday, Feb. 6, at the Naylor Pentecostal Church. The funeral will immediately follow at noon in the church with Bob Moore officiating assisted by Donnie Fowler. Burial will be in Ash Hill Cemetery in Fisk, Mo...

NEW YORK (AP) -- An estimated 103.4 million people watched the Super Bowl on NBC, a 7 percent drop from last year that indicates that television's biggest event may have peaked in popularity. The Nielsen company said it's the smallest Super Bowl audience on television since 2009 despite the underdog Philadelphia Eagles beating the New England Patriots in a thrilling game that was close from start to finish...

NEELYVILLE, Mo. - Louis Edgar Campbell Jr., 60, of Oxly, Mo., died Feb. 4, 2018 at Southeast Health Center of Ripley County. Visitation will be from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 8 at the Fowler & Sons Funeral Home in Neelyville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Fowler & Sons Funeral Home...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - Bill "Cowboy" McRoy, 86, of Bloomfield died Monday, Feb. 5, 2018 at the Bloomfield Nursing Center. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 8 at the Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield. The funeral will be at 2 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 8 at the Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield with Bro. Tim Griffin of Dexter officiating...

CORNING, Ark. - Winnie Rogers, 86, of Corning, passed away Feb. 3, 2018 at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. Mrs. Rogers was a retired department supervisor for Corning Hospital. She enjoyed gardening flowers, cooking, volunteering for many organizations including the mission, attending church and reading the Bible. She was a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Corning...

JACKSON, Mo. -- For three quarters it was a grind-it-out battle. Perhaps not pretty, but certainly a struggle worthy of the top of the SEMO Conference. Then the Saxony Lutheran girls basketball team announced its status as league front-runner. Locked in a three-point game with Poplar Bluff going into the fourth quarter, the Crusaders absolutely blistered the visiting Mules down the stretch, opening the final period on a 17-0 run and rolling to a 69-38 win in a battle between the only remaining undefeated teams in the SEMO Conference on Monday night in Jackson.. ...

MALDEN, Mo. - Mary Faye Martin, 80, of Houston, Mo., formerly of Malden, died Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 at her residence. Visitation will be at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 6 at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden. The funeral will be at 1 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 7 at Bradshaw Chapel in Malden. Burial will be in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Kennett...

DEXTER -- The Dexter Bearcats turned up the pressure defensively, and the Perryville Pirates didn't have an answer. The Bearcats pulled away in the second half Monday night and cruised to a 67-35 nonconference win. Dexter led 37-23 at halftime and then outscored the Pirates 30-12 in the second half...

QULIN, Mo. -- Earma J. Henderson, 77, of Qulin, died Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018 at her residence in Qulin. Visitation will begin at noon Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018 at White-Sanders Funeral Home in Qulin. The funeral service will follow at 1 p.m. in the funeral home chapel with Rev. Jared Hancock officiating. Burial will be in Qulin Cemetery at Qulin. Condolences: www.whitesandersfuneralhome.com...

DEXTER, Mo. -- John Allen Sugg, 71, of Dexter, died Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018 at the Piggott Community Hospital in Piggott, Ark. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, 2018. The funeral will follow at 2:00 p.m. with Sister Bonnie Cannell, of Dexter, officiating at the Watkins & Sons Funeral Chapel in Dexter...

PIEDMONT -- The Lady Royals shot 52 percent from the field to get one more chance at toppling the top team in the Ozark Foothills Conference. Twin Rivers beat Doniphan 76-61 in the OFC Tournament semifinals Monday and will play Neelyville -- which beat Naylor 78-30 in the other semifinal -- in the championship at 6:30 p.m. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- The Dexter Bearcats erupted for 28 first-quarter points Monday night and rolled to a 73-50 SEMO Conference road victory over Notre Dame. "We really came out of the gate playing well the first quarter," Dexter coach Chad Allen said. "Struggled offensively in the second quarter. I thought we played much better defense in the second half to seal the win."...

PIEDMONT -- It has been awhile since Neelyville lost. It has been a long time since it lost an Ozark Foothills Conference game. It has been 11 years since it lost an OFC Tournament game. The Lady Tigers face their latest challenger in Twin Rivers in the OFC Tournament championship at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Bess Activity Center at Three Rivers College...