Stories from Thursday, April 5, 2018

By DENISE KINDER Staff Writer Last year, Ron Withrow walked into Dr. Randy Woods' office in Puxico, Mo., for a routine checkup of blood pressure and cholesterol. Donning his Three Rivers College jacket, Woods asked the alumni and basketball fan if he had been attending games...

When Dorothy Snider talks about undergoing treatment for six different types of cancer over the last 45 years, she recalls friends who made a 10-hour, round-trip journey so she could leave the hospital and spend weekends with her three small children in 1977...

By FABIAN V. FILIPP University of California-Merced Because of advances in drug design and precision medicine, researchers have been able to target certain molecules within a cell at the root of a particular disease and to develop specific therapies to undo their damages. Today, precision targeting combines therapy decisions with molecular insights to offer hope after a life-changing cancer diagnosis...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Staff Writer Dayna Zoll Cookson is a planner, but nothing has gone as planned since she was diagnosed with uterine cancer last summer. Doctors first told the Puxico woman her cancer was contained to her uterus. However, it somehow spread through her lymph node system into other organs, and she recently learned it's now in her brain...

MARC A. THIESSEN WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration is being sued over its plans to include a question about citizenship in the 2020 Census, which California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) says "is not just a bad idea -- it is illegal." No, it's not. ...

By CHELSAE CORDIA Staff Writer Devin Kirby admits he is lucky to be on this side of the dirt. In the past four years, the 39-year-old, Doniphan, Mo. resident received a stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis, underwent a bone marrow transplant, followed by spleen removal surgery a little more than six months later when doctors feared his cancer had returned...

My bill, HB 1465, was Truly Agreed and Finally Passed this week. It now moves to the Governor's desk for his signature. The bill will give higher education institutions greater flexibility to offer degrees that meet the needs of their local communities and businesses. ...

WASHINGTON -- After two years of stonewalling about its theft of Gerardo Serrano's 2014 Ford F-250 pickup truck, the government suddenly returned it. It sparkled from having been washed and detailed, bumper to bumper, and it had four new tires and a new battery. The government probably hoped that, mollified by the truck's sprucing-up, Serrano would let bygones be bygones and go back to Kentucky. This was another mistake by our mistake-prone government...

With warmer weather approaching, it brings many activities with it. One of the most popular activities among sportsman is fishing. As fishing activity increases, one of the common questions agents get is regarding the rule of keeping wildlife separate or identifiable...

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Sandra Jane Kennon, 65, of Doniphan, Mo. departed this life Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at her home in Doniphan. Sandra was born Sept. 19, 1952 to William D. and Georgia Faye (Hunt) Kennon. Sandra's passions were her faith in the Roman Catholic Church, her family and teaching young children. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) announces changes to its leadership team with the appointment of Mike Hubbard to the position of deputy director-resource management effective June 1. Hubbard will assume the role upon retirement of Deputy Director Tom Draper...

Lynda Kae Norris, 63, of Poplar Bluff, Mo. died Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Arrangements are pending with Moore Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff. Online condolences: www.moorefuneralservice.com

DEXTER, Mo. -- Robert "Bob" Tilley, 69, of Bloomfield, Mo. died Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at his home in Bloomfield. Visitation will be from 5 - 8 p.m. Thursday, April 5, 2018, at the Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Dexter, Mo. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. ...

MALDEN, Mo.-- Danny Ray Stroup, Sr., 67, of Malden died Wednesday, April 4, 2018 at the Saint Francis Medial Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation will be held from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday, April 6, 2018 at the Landess Funeral Home Chapel. Funeral services will follow at 1 p.m. in the Landess Funeral Home Chapel in Malden with Rev. Roger Fowler officiating. Burial will be in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Malden. Landess Funeral Home of Malden in charge of the arrangements...

It's no secret bobwhite quail numbers across the midwest have declined over the last few decades. Whether it's from changes in land use and farming practices, increases in predators or something else, quail populations just aren't what they used to be...

PUXICO, Mo. -- Richard Dean Hendrix, 79, of Idaho, formerly of Puxico, died Wednesday, March 14, 2018, Burial will be at 1 p.m. Friday, April 6, at the Bloomfield, Mo., Veterans Cemetery with full military rites. Rev. Ray Placher will officiate. Morgan Sifford Funeral Home in Puxico is in charge of arrangements...

Franklin Smith, 69, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Franklin, the son of the late Thomas F. and Geraldean (Hert) Smith, was born on Jan. 17, 1949 in Poplar Bluff. He was of the Protestant faith, and had retired in 1984 as a brakeman and conductor for Missouri Pacific Railroad. ...

Missouri's youth turkey season will take place this weekend, and all signs are pointing toward it being a tough one for young hunters. Hunters have two major factors going against them as the season kicks in - the weather forecast isn't good, and turkey numbers are at the lowest levels they've been in years...

MALDEN, Mo. -- James "Jim" Russell Dawson, 79, of Bernie, Mo., died Tuesday, April 3, 2018, in Malden, Mo. Visitation will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday, April 8, 2018,. until service time at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden. A funeral service will follow at 2 p.m., in the chapel with Brother Steve Fitzpatrick officiating. Burial will be in Dexter City Cemetery in Dexter, Mo...

Third grade teacher Kristie Robinson is Oak Grove Elementary School's 2018-19 Teacher of the Year. Described by her peers as a model teacher, Robinson has been with the Poplar Bluff R-1 School District since 2009. Fellow Oak Grove teacher Christy Young said Robinson is "one of the most impressive people I have known...

The fourth annual Night At The Museum Gala will honor the late Dale Gaebler, founding member of the Poplar Bluff Museum, with a Hawaiian luau on Saturday at the Old Mark Twain School Building on Main Street. The gala begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 each and will be available at the door...

Several area students returned from the 62nd Annual Southeast Missouri Regional Science Fair in Cape Girardeau, Mo., as project winners. The work of 654 students from 36 area junior high and high schools were displayed last month in the Show Me Center at Southeast Missouri State University, totally 380 projects in the junior division...