Stories from Friday, November 30, 2018

DENVER -- Social scientists, say Colorado boosters, have plausible metrics identifying their state as the happiest and healthiest state, the former quality perhaps producing the latter. Or the other way around. Or maybe the tangle of causation cannot be unwoven. Be that as it may, 300 days of sunshine each year -- this Mile High City is practically cheek-by-jowl with the sun -- entice people into outdoor activities that help the state have chubby America's lowest obesity rate...

Staff Reports The Joy in Childhood Foundation, an independent organization powered by Dunkin' and Baskin-Robbins, is celebrated #GivingTuesday by awarding a total of $2 million in funding to 150 organizations nationwide, including $10,000 to the Bread Shed of Poplar Bluff...

MALDEN, Mo. -- Kathleen Pickard, 88, of Malden died Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018, at Malden Nursing & Rehab in Malden. Visitation will be from 1-2 p.m. Sunday at Landess Funeral Home Chapel in Malden followed at 2 p.m. by the funeral in he chapel with Rev. James Hamlett officiating. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery...

Carbon taxes are a mechanism that puts a price on emissions of carbon dioxide, generally focused on fossil fuel sources. When the price of carbon dioxide emissions go up, so does the cost of fossil fuels, so consumers and producers use less energy and consequently emit less...

The U.S. natural gas and oil industry is meeting the climate challenge head-on, investing in high-tech innovation, efficiency improvements and cleaner fuels. The U.S. leads the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions in the United States have plunged to their lowest level in a generation, while CO2 emissions around the globe have risen 50 percent since 1990...

Peggy Jane Butler, 85, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. Visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday at Cotrell Funeral Chapel with the funeral service following at 11 a.m. in the chapel. Mrs. Butler's son-in-law, Rob Stewart, will officiate. Burial will follow at the City Cemetery...

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- Kenneth Wencil Crowder, 44, of McGee, Mo. died Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Visitation will be from 6 - 8 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018 at the Landess Funeral Home in Campbell. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m., Monday, Dec. 3, 2018 at Landess Funeral Home in Campbell. Burial will follow at Black Creek Cemetery in Poplar Bluff...

"What is truth?" This is the question Pilate asks Jesus during his trial. Today we must ask the same thing every time we turn on our computer, TV or radio. We have found many in the media to be less than up front about the truth. Often our truths come from "certain points of view" (for more on this go back and re-watch "The Return of the Jedi"). ...

PUXICO, Mo. -- Ella Henning, 80, died Friday, Nov. 30, 2018, at home in Puxico. Funeral arrangements are pending with Morgan Sifford Funeral Home in Puxico.

SIKESTON -- Poplar Bluff's early season problems have been consistent. The Lady Mules have faded in the fourth quarter in all three games so far and it has cost them a pair of leads. Most recently, Poplar Bluff lost 52-41 to Saxony Lutheran in the third-place game of the SEMO Conference Tournament. Poplar Bluff also lost to Jackson 48-42 in the semifinals and beat Sikeston 63-59 in the first round...

ELSINORE -- Tenacious defense did the job for East Carter Thursday night. Kennedy Thies tallied seven of her team's 22 steals with suffocating defense on the ball as the Lady Redbirds defeated Puxico 51-42 with the help of a strong surge in the third quarter...

SIKESTON -- The Jackson Indians switched defenses in the second half to change their fortunes. The Indians took advantage of a stagnant performance by the top-seeded Dexter Bearcats en route to a 48-45 victory in the SEMO Conference girls basketball tournament championship game...

HOLCOMB -- Malik Williams, Travis McCullough and Carson Blair shouldered the load offensively for Bloomfield (1-1) in a blowout win over Puxico in the semifinal of the consolation bracket in the Holcomb Invitational Thursday. Williams led all scorers with 21 points on nine made baskets. He scored 16 points in the first half and sat out the fourth quarter once was the game was well under wraps...

Becoming the Southeast District president for the first time sure did "meme a lot" to the Poplar Bluff High School student council. Carrying the campaign theme "Vote for Poplar Bluff, it would meme a lot," featuring internet memes, pushed the club to victory earlier this month at the district convention held at Perryville High School...

Not only did the Poplar Bluff's student council return home earlier this month as Southeast District president, they also brought back a surprise to high school principal Mike Owen. Owen was named the Missouri Association of Student Councils Southeast District Principal of the Year from the recommendation of the Poplar Bluff student council...