Stories from Sunday, April 1, 2018

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- A Friday autopsy confirmed a Malden, Mo., man died as of the result of gunshots allegedly fired during what a witness described as a heated exchange with another man. The autopsy was performed on 46-year-old Geoffrey Wright by Dr. Russell Deidiker in Farmington, Mo...

Residents of two Poplar Bluff wards will have an opportunity Tuesday to choose the city council person who will represent those areas of the city for the next three years. Seats held by Ed DeGaris of Ward 2 and Philip Crocker of Ward 4 are up for re-election...

Roger Thomas Abbott, 69, of Poplar Bluff, died Friday, March 30, 2018 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Visitation will be held from 2-3 p.m. Thursday, April 5, 2018 at Moore Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff. A memorial service will follow at 3 p.m. in the Moore Funeral Service Chapel...

Dennis J. Barton Jr. and Courtney Norris are engaged. Barton is the son of Dennis and Sharon Barton of Poplar Bluff. Norris is the daughter of Ron and Lisa Norris of Salem Mo. Barton is a 2004 graduate of Poplar Bluff High School. Norris is a Salem High School Class of 2005 graduate...

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Katherine Marie Whiteside, 65, of Doniphan, Mo., passed away Wednesday, March 28, 2018 at her home in Doniphan, Mo.. Kathy was born March 13, 1953 to Max and Ruby Hatfield. She married the love of her life, Randy Whiteside, on Oct.ober 13, 1972; he survives...

Students earning a spot on the Qulin Elementary Honor Roll third Quarter Honor Roll include First Grade Kentley Austin, William Berger, Jace Blurton, Julia Bonifield, Harmon Brown, Natalie Burke, Katie Kirkman, Devin Leutert, April Maddock, Marcy McBroom, Emeri Miller, Drake Patterson, Ajay Rushing, Aiden Russell, Peyton Trainer...

Want answers Yea these new electric meters Municipal Utilities has put in throughout the whole city of Poplar Bluff are basically a bunch of B.S. My electric bill has went from basically $120 dollars to almost $400 and it's happening all over town of Poplar Bluff. And everybody is griping, they are not giving us answers of the reason why. Thank you bye...

Students earning a place on the Qulin Middle School Third Quarter Honor and Merit Roll include: Fifth Grade Honor Roll: Kendell Austin, Reese Crismon, Thomas Deken, Sophia Galloway, Aidan Miller, Raegan Null, Azriel Ruiz, Autumn Tanksley, and Elias Trout...

The Missouri Coalition of Recovery Support Providers will be hosting the Southeast Regional Conference April 9 and 10. The conference will be held at the Drury Plaza Hotel and Conference Center, 3351 Percy Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63701. The theme will be "Stand for recovery, everyone at the table. Recovery for the individual, the family, the community."...

Vicky Nicole Trimble and Calvin Junior Braden, both of Poplar Buff, Mo., announce their engagement. They plan to be married at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 26, 2018 at Calvary Baptist Church, Poplar Bluff, Mo. Trimble is the daughter of Violet Hillis of Poplar Bluff and Guy Trimble of Steele, Mo. Braden is the son of Thomas and Barb Braden of Poplar Bluff...

DANDRIDGE, Tenn, -- George W. McAlister, 91, of Dandridge, Tenn., formerly of Lake Wappapello, Mo., died Sunday, March 25, 2018. He was retired from General Motors V-8 engine plant in Flint, Mich. and was an Army Veteran. George is preceded in death by his parents: Fred McAlister and Carrie Treece McAlister Bean, and grandson: Derrick McAlister...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Glenda Carol Hodge, 79, of Montgomery, Ala., formerly of Piedmont, died Friday, March 23, 2018, at Diversicare in Montgomery. Visitation will be held from noon - 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 4, 2018, at Ruegg Funeral Home in Piedmont. Services will follow at 1 p.m. at the chapel. Burial will be at Mt. View Cemetery, Des Arc, Mo...

PUXICO, Mo. -- Mary Evelyn Carter, 86, of Puxico, died Saturday, March 31, 2018 at the Puxico Nursing Home. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 3, 2018, at the Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Puxico. The funeral will follow at noon in the Watkins and Sons Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Wayne Burchett of Broseley, Mo., officiating. Burial will be in Bollinger County Memorial Gardens in Marble Hill, Mo...

Brooke (Davis) and Cody Hindes of Monett, Mo., have chosen the name Landon Davis Hindes for their 9 lb. 15.6 oz. son born at 8:58 a.m., March 14, 2018 at Mercy Hospital in Joplin, Mo. Landon was 20.5 inches long. Grandparents are Paul and Penny Davis of Poplar Bluff, Mo., Paul and Rhonda Smallwood of St. ...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Richard H. Ross, 93, of Piedmont, died Friday, March 30, 2018, at the Clark's Mountain Nursing Center in Piedmont. Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Piedmont with Rev. Don Hutto and Rev. Dan Ross officiating. Burial was in the Eaton Cemetery near Piedmont. Memorials have been requested to the Friendship Baptist Church in Piedmont...

The Friday, April 6 opening of the popular "Art for Animals" benefit will feature a couple of fresh angles this year: Live music and a new on-line bidding process. The Unleashing (opening) reception for the two-week art show and silent auction is from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, April 6, on the lower level of the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library. The event benefits the Animal Welfare Alliance (AWA) and admission is free. Guests will be able to enter through the Library door that faces the parking lot...

Elbert Michael Honey, 66, of Poplar Bluff, Mo. passed away Thursday, March 29, 2018 at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. He was born on Nov. 18, 1951 to the late Vinus Vistal Hone and Emma (Howard) Honey at St. Louis, Mo. Elbert was a retired nurse. He enjoyed karaoke, playing cops and robbers with the neighborhood kids...

Reba Valjean McDonald, 64, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away on Thursday, March 29, 2018 at Manor Nursing Facility in Poplar Bluff. Born Jan. 25, 1954 at Poplar Bluff, she was the daughter and sixth child of Ruben and Zomer Ellison McDonald. Reba was their only daughter and their last child...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Rocky H. Jackson, 67, of Piedmont died at his residence on Friday, March 30, 2018. Visitation will be 4 p.m. Monday, April 2, 2018 at Ruegg Funeral Home in Piedmont. Funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at the Ruegg Funeral Home chapel with a Masonic service at 7 p.m. Burial will be at the Masonic Cemetery with full military honors...

Johnny Charles Atwell, Sr., 78, of Neelyville, Mo., passed away, Friday, March 30, 2018, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. He was born Nov. 22, 1939, to Nathaniel H. and M. Earline (Parrish) Atwell in Naylor, Mo. He graduated from Neelyville High School in 1957 and married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Louise Hover, on May 10, 1958...

WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. -- The Raiders ended a seven-game skid with a dominant sweep Friday. Three Rivers beat Williams Baptist 13-5 in the opener and then 5-0. "It was probably the best weather day we've had all spring, so a good day all around," Three Rivers coach Stacey Burkey said...

Turner Fritts is a self-confessed, slow decision maker. It took him 2 1/2 years to pick a college, but halfway through his senior year he made a decision and signed to play baseball for Southeast Missouri State University. The Poplar Bluff second baseman started getting interest from colleges when he was a sophomore. Playing Division I baseball was always a dream for Fritts ... but where? One of the choices he had to make was to go far away or stay close to home...

Three Twin Rivers school district residents are vying for positions on the Board of Education in Tuesday's election. Two chairs are up for election, which are currently held by Donna Sue Ashcraft-Fincher and Board President Lee Lewis. The incumbents are challenged by Keith Parker...

Second grade teacher Cindy Robertson is the 2018-19 Eugene Field Elementary School Teacher of the Year (TOY). Robertson has been with the Poplar Bluff R-1 School District since 2007 and said she hopes to "leave the legacy of my care, time, and the genuine concern I have for my students as they come in and out of my classroom and my life."...

Mack West understands sacrifice. She understands hard work, as well as loss. But that isn't what the 94-year-old sees when she looks out across the fields of tall grass that surround her home on a hilltop west of Poplar Bluff. It is the happiness of a life well lived...

This is not the year Ashley Proctor saw for herself. In April 2017, she was pregnant with her second child. She knew juggling a new baby and her husband's bid for Butler County prosecutor would be challenging. Especially with a 3-year-old at home and her own demanding job at First Midwest Bank as assistant vice president and credit administration officer...

Leah Casteel attributes the strength and determination she has learned in the last decade to a 2-week-old "heart baby." She was a more naive and carefree 21-year-old when doctors first told Casteel her newborn daughter had serious heart problems. Today, Casteel is a loan officer at Southern Bank. She has turned a skill at marketing into an ability to relate with each and every customer...

Three professional women who were interviewed independently all listed one thing in common: each said a passion for people inspired them to pursue the career they're in today. But before digging in and asking their perspectives, already on the surface was a commonality. This specific group of millennials was selected because of the proficiency each woman displays in her respective field and in her seeming ability to keep life in order despite a demanding work schedule and family commitments...

Before she became a stylist, a business owner, a wife and a mother, Tabatha Libla was a soldier in the United States Army. The Operation Desert Storm veteran and owner of The Salon said recently she began considering how her time in the service affected the rest of her life...

Hard work, doing more than expected and occasional pushes from management is how Katrina Hopson worked her way through the ranks from teller to vice president of operations at the Ozark Federal Credit Union in Poplar Bluff in just 16 years. Hopson, 38, is no stranger to hard work. While in college and keeping up with her studies, she worked at a grocery store and held an internship at Poplar Bluff Regional Hospital...

Advancements in technology allow small-business owner Janet McNece to no longer be tied down as she was when she and her husband started Productive Staffing LLC in Poplar Bluff nearly 25 years ago. "In the beginning, you didn't have cellphones to remotely connect with the offices, so you were pretty much tied down, you couldn't go anywhere as a small business owner," McNece said...

Emily Hale has grown up in the fields of Stoddard County helping supply and clean seed and feed for area farmers. When customers arrive at Stoddard County Seed & Feed, they are met by a 26-year-old slender blonde who is not afraid to get her hands dirty. Hale can easily toss 50 pound bags of feed into the back of pick-up trucks and drive 18-wheelers and tractors...

"The road to womanhood is not always glamorous," according to Sarah Holt. In reflecting on her achievements thus far, Holt admitted she doesn't see herself as a role model. "I have many regrets," she explained. "The paths that led me to where I am today were full of roadblocks and unexpected obstacles."...

For more than a year now a woman has lead the state's largest law enforcement agency, the Missouri State Highway Patrol. When Col. Sandra K. Karsten was appointed as the patrol's 23rd superintendent in March 2017, she became the first female to achieve the ranks of lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel and colonel in its history, now in its 87th year...

By CALEB H. SWALLOWS The Stoddard County election process already has begun with the filing of candidacy for the April elections. Many local city offices and school board positions have had quite a few individuals file for positions. The city of Puxico has six positions open, two of which have no candidates running at this time. ...