Stories from Wednesday, December 26, 2018

A plan for a new training center may have to be dropped from an effort to renovate and update facilities districtwide at Dexter schools. Final estimates fall between $20 million and $21.9 million for a project list given to CTS Group, the company assisting with planning and design...

The hit country artist famous for songs like "Farmer's Daughter," and "It's America," will add a stop in Poplar Bluff to his February concert dates. Rodney Atkins was announced this morning as the performer for the annual Valentines for Veterans concert to be held Feb. 15 at the Black River Coliseum. Tickets will be available to the public starting Jan. 3 at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce and the Black River Coliseum...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Donald Eugene Wethington, 75, died Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018 at his home in Bloomfield suddenly of a heart attack while he was out working in the yard. Visitation and funeral were Wednesday morning, Dec. 26, 2018 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Dexter with Father William Hennecke officiating. Burial followed at the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield with full Military Honors...

PIEDMONT, Mo.-- Dorothy E. Clover, 90, of Piedmont, died Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018 at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation will be held from 5-8 p.m. Wednesday at the Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Piedmont. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home chapel. Burial will be in the St. Catherine Church Cemetery. Memorials have been requested to Cancer Research, in care of the funeral home...

In one of the most remarkable Abbott and Costello routines in modern times, the economic wizards at the Fed again raised interest rates on Tuesday. Their crackerjack logic for doing so is to steer America on a course toward recession so they have the tools in hand to end the recession that they themselves created. Can anyone tell us who's on first?...

Bob Girtman, 60, of Clarkton, Mo. died Friday, Dec. 21, 2018, at the Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be after noon until time for services at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018, at the Watkins & Sons Funeral Home Chapel. Online condolence: www.watkinsfuneralhome.com...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Willadene Fulkerson, 101, of Bloomfield, Mo., daughter of the late George and Beryl Asbell Cook, was born near Bloomfield, Nov. 3, 1917, passed away at the Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau Friday, Dec. 21, 2018. Willadene had lived in the St. Louis and Bloomfield areas all her life. She had worked as an LPN, was a member of the Mt. Pisgah General Baptist Church and had been a member of the Eastern Star in Bloomfield...

It was Jan. 2, 2010, midway through the final season of Keith Tkachuk's 18-season NHL career, and he was where he often was, parked in front of the net, looking to deflect a puck into the net or pounce on a rebound. Teammate T.J. Oshie took a shot that hit Tkachuk in the mouth and deflected into the net for a goal. Tkachuk never saw it. He was already making a dash for the locker room...

A trail project for the city of Dexter is among several included in $1.79 million in grant funding announced Thursday afternoon by the Missouri Department of Transportation. The city will receive $576,325 to extend a new trail parallel to Arvin Road, between One Mile Road and Sycamore Road, said David Wyman, MoDOT area engineer. The grant is for total project costs...

Dexter Fire Dept. adds ladder truck January February March April May June...

The Neelyville High School cheerleaders had the opportunity to perform in front of a different type of crowd last month, a packed stadium of college football fans in Jonesboro, Arkansas. After attending their summer cheer camp with UCA, Coach Brandi Lumby said the girls were invited to join several other squads and perform at Arkansas State University's football homecoming game on Nov. 3...

After serving as one of Butler County's associate circuit judges for more than 20 years, John Bloodworth will soon hang up his robe for the last time later this month. Having served as judge since Dec. 15, 1998, Bloodworth chose not to seek re-election to another term. Poplar Bluff Attorney Wade Pierce was elected to succeed Bloodworth and will be sworn in Friday...

Emily "Beth" Webb, 72, of Poplar Bluff, passed away Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018 peacefully at home. Beth was born Feb. 20, 1946. Daughter of Joe and Ora Fuchs of Qulin, Mo.. Beth worked as a Rehab Tech for nearly 20 years in the Poplar Bluff area. On June 11, 1963 she married Johnny...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Larry E. Becking, 78, died at his residence in Dexter, Mo. Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018. Visitation will be at Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2018 from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. Funeral services will then be conducted at 11 a.m. in the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Chapel with Rev. Susan Marner-Sides officiating. Burial will be in Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield, Mo. with full Military Honors...

By MICHAEL JENSEN Somewhere deep in the recesses of my desk are a heap of rubber-bound calendars dating back to the 1970s. It's a company ritual that each year around this time, neat, new cellophane-wrapped calendars mysterious arrive at our desks. Being an obsessive scribbler, I favor the flip calendars instead of the desk models. Opting for a desk calendar would result in a mishmash of unreadable notes and pseudo-artsy designs only a mother could love...

GREENVILLE. Mo.-- Evelyn Allen, 99, of Greenville, Mo., died Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, at her residence. Visitation will be from noon until 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 27, 2018, at Ruegg Funeral Home, Greenville, Mo. Funeral service will follow at 2 p.m. also at the Greenville chapel. Burial will be at the Greenville City Cemetery, Greenville...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Kathleen Wamble, 75, of Essex, Mo., died Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, at the Crowley Ridge Care Center. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Dec.27, 2018, at the Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Dexter, Mo. The funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 28, 2018, at the Watkins & Sons Chapel in Dexter with Bro. Junior Cagle of Bloomfield officiating. Burial with be in the Essex Cemetery in Essex with Watkins & Sons Funeral Service of Dexter in charge of arrangements...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Harriett L. Clay, 92, of Piedmont, Mo., died Monday, Dec. 24, 2018, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, Poplar Bluff, Mo. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018 at Ruegg Funeral Home, Piedmont, Mo. Funeral service will follow at 2 p.m. also in the Piedmont chapel. Burial will be in the Masonic cemetery, Piedmont, Mo...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN "Deck the halls with boughs of holly," goes the old Christmas carol. "'Tis the season to be jolly." Yet if there were a couplet less befitting the mood of this capital city, I am unaware of it. "The wheels are coming off," was a common commentary on the Trump presidency on Sunday's talk shows. And the ostensible causes of what is looking like a panic in the political establishment?...

Wade Pierce will be sworn in Friday as Butler County associate circuit judge by the man who helped inspire him to enter the legal field, his brother-in-law, Ripley County Associate Circuit Judge Thomas David Swindle. Pierce then will swear in Swindle, and both will serve in the 36th Judicial Circuit that includes Butler and Ripley counties...

It might happen at the supermarket 30 minutes away from his ranch or at breakfast joint nearby when a neighbor or friend of a friend starts quizzing Matt Carpenter about his profession and inevitably asks what he has been unable to answer. "Baseball, huh? What position do you play?" they'll say...