Stories from Tuesday, February 27, 2018

A levee break Monday evening in southern Butler County is not impacting roads or houses, according to officials, who spent the weekend repairing extensive road damage related to heavy rains. A section of the Black River levee broke near County Road 255, said highway superintendent Gary McDonald, who had not received any reports of roads or homes being impacted...

A local man is in critical, but stable condition at a Cape Girardeau, Mo., hospital after he was shot Sunday night. The shooting occurred sometime before 11 p.m., said Poplar Bluff Police Lt. Josh Stewart. "A male and female approached a couple, who was in a car on South 11th Street and asked them for a ride," Stewart explained...

Republican competitions have already formed for the Aug. 7 primary election for the state representative seat currently held by Steve Cookson, as well as Butler County treasurer. Filing started today for county, legislative and judicial candidates. Nearly a dozen Republican candidates for Butler County offices had filed by 9:30 a.m...

Students at Poplar Bluff R-1 were out of school yesterday to allow time for crews to clean the high school after Saturday's heavy downpour flooded parts of the building. According to district superintendent Scott Dill, the majority of the damage came from residue and silt left behind from the water, which he estimated rose from half an inch to one inch inside the building. ...

Deputy Thomas Forkum with the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department was at the office a little after 8 p.m. Saturday evening completing paperwork like any other shift. Following the heavy rain and storms in the area, a dispatch call came from 911 of people trapped in a vehicle that was swept off Highway K at Highway M near Leora in Northern Stoddard County...

MALDEN, Mo. -- Cleanup efforts are underway in Malden after an EF-2 tornado touched down there Saturday evening cutting a mile-long path along the town's south side. "For the most part, the streets are open now," said Mayor Denton Kooyman. "We have volunteers, too, going in to help."...

MALDEN, Mo. -- As she sat on the front porch of her tornado-damaged Kimball Street home, Michelle Miller reflected on how thankful she was that her daughter listened Saturday night when she warned her bad weather was imminent. "I got the alert on my phone that we were under a tornado warning," Miller said. "We were watching the DVR, so I turned to (the news)."...

To the Editor, I really like the new P.B. Vintage photos, but I don't think the photo last week is Poplar Bluff. The photo can be dated by the automobiles in it. Visible under the lead horse is a 1955 Chevrolet, to the right of the rear wheel of the wagon is an early fifties Buick Roadmaster, to the left of the wheel is a 1963 Ford station wagon. ...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN According to the indictment by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Russian trolls, operating out of St. Petersburg, took American identities on social media and became players in our 2016 election. On divisive racial and religious issues, the trolls took both sides. In the presidential election, the trolls favored Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein and Donald Trump, and almost never Hillary Clinton...

The Missouri House has approved a bill that would legalize the growing of industrial hemp in Missouri. Supporters say the bill would help to promote industrial hemp as an agricultural commodity in Missouri, which was one of the largest producers of industrial hemp in the nation before it became illegal...

By PHIL BROOKS In a recent debate, Missouri's Senate degenerated to a level of majority-party discord I have not heard in decades. But tales about cats during the filibuster reminded me how the Senate of old managed anger. This year's discord involved a filibuster over the electric utility industry's efforts to change how their rates are set...

Betty Jean Cunningham, 79, of Wappapello,mo. died Feb. 16, 2018 at her residence. A graveside service was held Feb. 17, 2018 at the Little Brushy Cemetery. Rev. Greg Stevens officiated. Online condolences: www.cotrellfuneralservice.com. Cotrell Funeral Service is in charge of arrangements...

BERNIE -- The top-seeded Puxico Indians overcame a sluggish start the night of Feb. 22 to beat second-seeded Campbell 60-36 to repeat as MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 champions. The Indians (18-9) will face Oran in a sectional playoff at 6 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, Feb. 28, in Jackson. Top-seeded Oran (19-4) beat Chaffee 56-44 Thursday night to win the District 2 championship...

CEDAR HILL, Mo. -- With their best defensive start of the season, the Poplar Bluff girls basketball team earned a shot at the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 title. The Mules gave up a season-low nine first-half points and beat host Northwest 45-27 Monday night in the semifinal...

DEXTER -- The top-seeded Dexter Bearcats put together three strong stretches Monday night in the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 semifinal. Those runs proved pivotal in the Bearcats' 64-41 victory over fourth-seeded Cape Central. The Bearcats (21-5) will meet Notre Dame in the championship game at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Bearcat Event Center. Second-seeded Notre Dame beat third-seeded Sikeston 74-46 in the other semifinal...

GREENVILLE, Mo. -- Claybert Paul Barker, 81, of Greenville, died Sunday, February 25, 2018, at his residence. Visitation will be held at 5 p.m. today at Ruegg Funeral Home in Greenville. Services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Greenville chapel. Burial with full military honors will be held at Camp Eight Cemetery...

Lucille I. Gamble, 86, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Monday, February 26, 2018, at Oakdale Care Center. Arrangements are pending with Cotrell Funeral Service of Poplar Bluff.

MALDEN, Mo. - Gary Don Irvin, 78, of Malden, died Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018 at Ridgeview Living Community - Malden. Visitation will be at 9 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 28 at Bradshaw Funeral Home - Malden. The funeral will follow at 10:30 a.m. at Bradshaw Chapel - Malden. Burial with military rites will be in the Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Malden...

Dorothy Head Abney, 73, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Feb. 24, 2018 at her residence. She was born Dec. 5, 1944 in Poplar Bluff, to the late Raymond F. Head and Olive Hendrickson Head. She was of the Baptist faith and a member of First Gen. Baptist Church of Poplar Bluff. She was a long time resident of Poplar Bluff...

Dennis Ray Talley, 63 of Poplar Bluff, passed away Saturday, February 24, 2018, at his residence. He was born on Feb. 1, 1955, to the late Carson and Jean (Chilton) Ellis at Red Bluff, CA. On Aug. 4, 1978, he married Ica Smith. She preceded him in death...

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- James A. Vinson, formerly of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Saturday Feb. 24, 2018. Beloved husband of Carol A. Vinson (nee Crowell); loving father of Cynthia (Michael) Sanders and the late Mark Vinson; Adoring grandfather of Kaitlyn (fiancé Joel Fisher) Stewart and Amber (fiancé Dylan Baugher) Miller; dear brother of Howard E. (Sheila) Vinson and Alma Pegouski; our dearest brother-in-law, uncle, great uncle, cousin and friend to many...

The old saying, "everyone deserves a second chance" does not just apply to people for Meagan DeLisle. She believes Thoroughbred race horses also deserve a second chance once their race careers end. DeLisle was one of 15 from Missouri chosen to participate in the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky...

Stoddard County Commissioners discussed exploring the cost of an 80 bed jail facility as opposed to the previously proposed $10 million, 120 bed facility. During the Feb. 13 county commission meeting, Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis said he had three options he could ask for a motion on to move the jail expansion project forward and wanted input from fellow commissioners...

From Staff Reports Puxico Board of Aldermen approved a contract Feb. 15 for Henson Trash Service to continue collecting trash in Puxico for five years. Chad Henson of Henson Trash Service presently has the contract for trash service which ends in September. Henson offered a five year contract for removal with the first two years' rates staying the same as they are now ($12.30 per customer) and year three through five would have an annual 50 cent increase per customer...

For many in the community, this week will be revival time-a time to worship with each other from several of the churches of the community. I would say we need spiritual revival in our personal lives. It is easy to become so involved in the every day whirl of our busy lives that we neglect the spiritual aspect of life...

By JOHN R. STANARD Until she settled in Texas some 27 years ago, author Paulette Jiles, now approaching age 75, spent most of her time on the move to places as far-reaching as the Canadian Arctic and Mexico. But a major constant in her life, especially in her early years, has been her rewarding and positive experiences with public libraries...

Vernon Abernathy, son of the late Edward and Myrtle Boyd Abernathy, was born in Advance, Mo. on May 10, 1929, and passed away at his home near Puxico, mo. on Feb. 21, 2018, at the age of 88 years, 9 months and 11 days. He had lived in St. Louis and moved to Puxico in 1966. ...