Stories from Friday, October 12, 2018

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Ernest Kinney, 81, of Doniphan, Mo., died Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Burial took place Monday, Oct. 8, 2018, at the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Ill. Online condolences: edwardsfuneralhome.org...

Missouri is at a crossroads regarding transportation infrastructure. With the nation's seventh-largest highway network but a ranking of 46th in revenue per mile, we have been critically underfunding our transportation system for years. This is a concern not only for our statewide economy, but for the safety of all drivers and their passengers in our state...

We have less than a month to go before the midterm elections, and my bet is that most of America will be glad when it is over -- no matter what the result. Currently, Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency. Based on historical election patterns, the Democrats should pick up seats in both legislative bodies. However, recent legislative successes and a strong economy bode well for Republicans...

Mary Ann Mertens passed away on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018 after a long battle with ovarian cancer. She was the daughter of Roland and Anna Schoenhoff of St. Louis. An early marriage to Donald Mertens produced four loving children: Donald Jr. (Kathrine), David (May), Debbie (Deceased) and Diane (Michael Forsee)...

We do not need to increase military spending to deal with Russia or China. The 2019 military budget, recently authorized by Congress, stands at $716 billion. That's "billion" with a "b." That figure dwarfs expenditures by China and Russia. China spends $175 billion a year. Russia, whose economy is lagging badly, has cut military expenditure in the past two years, and is now under $60 billion...

Beer, pizza and defense. Americans spend more on each of these than anyone else. So what? These facts say nothing about how happy, healthy or safe we are. They are meaningless without context. Perhaps Americans could do with fewer jumbo slices and more gym memberships. But when it comes to defense spending, America needs to spend more, not less...

One of my favorite chapters in all the scriptures is Colossians Chapter 1. The Apostle Paul is writing to the church at Colosse. Paul thanks God for the Church and Prays for the Church. Early in the chapter in verse 6 we see a phrase that will become very familiar to us in Colossians Chapter 1; "All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing..."...

Lois Marie Schenewerk, 91, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., entered her Heavenly home Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018 at Cedargate Care Center in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Schenewerk, the daughter of the late Dalton and Belva Dixon Porter, was born Feb. 28, 1927 in Poplar Bluff. She was a member of Memorial Baptist Church and was a homemaker...

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Leo Melvin Ivy, 77, of Doniphan, Mo., died Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, at his residence. Visitation will take place from 4-9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018 at Spring Hill Church, Highway 160, Doniphan. Military Honors will take place at 4:30 p.m. at the church...

FISK, Mo. -- Venita Kearbey, 71, of Dudley, Mo., died Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018 at her home in Dudley, Mo. Mrs. Kearbey was born April 01, 1947 in Anna, Ill., to the late Ernest Willyerd and Wanda Schweer. She loved to shop, her bird feeders and spending time with her grandkids...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Verna G. Westmoreland, 91, of Piedmont died Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018 at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Visitation will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Piedmont. Funeral service will follow at 1 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home chapel with Pastor Richard Sanders officiating. Burial will be in the Masonic Cemetery...

FISK, Mo. -- Billy Lee Hart, 64, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Tues., Oct. 9, 2018 at his residence. A memorial service will be at 11 a.m., Sat., Oct. 20 at White-Sanders Funeral Home in Fisk. Memorials may be made to White-Sanders Funeral Home c/o Billy Hart. Interment private...

NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Mitchel Harold Dugger, 67, of Ripley County, Mo., passed away Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018 in the Saint Francis Medical Center at Cape Girardeau, Mo. He was born Sept. 13, 1951, in Waukegan, Ill., to William Howard Dugger and Thelma Fay Baltimore Dugger. On Jan. 27, 1974, at Marine Corp Base 29 Palms, Calif., he was married to Juanita Hernandez. She survives...

SENATH, Mo. -- Campbell fell behind a few points in both sets but refused to be denied the program's first Bootheel Conference Tournament championship in school history. Second-seeded Campbell overcame a three-point deficit in the opening set and rallied from seven down in the second set as it outlasted the top seed Malden 25-19, 26-24 Thursday in Senath...

ADVANCE -- The top two seeds experienced little difficulty in the quarterfinals of the SCAA Volleyball Tournament on Thursday at Advance High School. However, the third and fourth seeds had to withstand second-set challenges to advance to the semifinals...

Charles Lee Jackson, 73, of Indianapolis, Ind., died Monday, Oct. 8, 2018, at his residence. Visitation will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018, at the God in Christ Apostolic Church in Parma, Mo. Funeral services will follow at 11 a.m., at the church, with Elder Simon Wofford officiating. Burial will be in the Macedonia Cemetery in Malden, Mo. with military rites...

Junior Makenna Moore and the East Carter defense put on a show in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 Tournament semifinals Thursday. After getting nailed in the face by a throw from catcher Anna Willis in an attempted throw to second base, Moore recovered to pitch a shutout...

Twin Rivers came into Thursday's MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 Tournament having lost to Neelyville (12-10) twice this season. None of that mattered to the Lady Royals. With a 1-0 lead entering the third inning, third-seeded Twin Rivers (7-7) blew the game open with six runs. From there, error-free defense was enough to seal a 10-2 win to advance to the C2D1 Tournament championship...

The Clearwater Tigers need to work on their water bucket dumping skills. "They don't really know how to do it," said wet and cold Clearwater coach Cole Sheets. "They dropped it on my head. Instead of them just dumping it they threw it at me." Added senior Heath Ayers, "We haven't gotten to do that all year, or anytime we've been playing, so we had to make sure to hold him and make sure he didn't run away from us like he has before."...

A lot of extra emotion was built into Poplar Bluff's pink out game, and the Mules channeled it into a solid 25-22, 25-14 win over Eminence on Thursday at the Senior High Gym. In a ceremony prior to the game, the Mules announced they were donating all proceeds from the pink out game fundraising activities to Vicky Slaughter, whose daughter Haley is on the volleyball team...

Usually this season, Naylor collapses in these types of games. Credit a coaches' pep talk, a timely hit that was a few feet into the right spot, or clutch pitching late, but the Eagles held on to beat Twin Rivers 8-7 in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament third-place game...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- The City of Jackson could be a partner in development of an indoor aquatic center, particularly if the facility is located near the SportsPlex bordering Interstate 55, a councilman said Wednesday. Jackson Councilman Paul Sander, a former mayor of the city, delivered that message to a meeting of the Aquatics Facility Committee and consultants the City of Cape Girardeau has hired to help plan for the project...

JACKSON -- From the start of the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 Semifinals, top-seeded Seckman was all over fourth-seeded Poplar Bluff. It took Seckman four innings to tally 14 runs and five innings to finish off a 14-2 win for the top seed. Meagan McCorkell connected on home runs in the first two innings, setting the tone for Seckman and earning six RBIs in the process...

While out one evening, Twin Rivers High School senior Wyatt Doser and his friends discussed how fun it would be to wear the craziest or funniest T-shirt they owned to school the following day. "Later that night I was thinking about the next day and wondered what kind of attention the shirts might receive," Doser said. "Then it hit me. We could use the attention from the crazy shirts to be a positive force on the school."...

A new program at Clearwater Elementary encourages students to attend school ready to learn each day. Attendance H.E.R.O. asks students to be Here Every day Ready and On Time, said school counselor Kayla Myers. Students with perfect attendance receive a reward at the close of each month...

Members of a city advisory board have asked officials to consider greater enforcement of an ordinance they believe would allow the city to remove derelict vehicles from property without a lengthy court process. The matter was discussed Thursday by the residential housing advisory board. The board has asked officials to provide more information at their Nov. 8 meeting...