Stories from Wednesday, February 19, 2020

A recent Pew Research Center survey finds that only half of American adults think colleges and universities are having a positive effect on our nation. The leftward political bias, held by faculty members affiliated with the Democratic Party, at most institutions of higher education explains a lot of that disappointment. Professors Mitchell Langbert and Sean Stevens document this bias in "Partisan Registration and Contributions of Faculty in Flagship Colleges."...

A pair of Poplar Bluff retail spaces have sold to a New Jersey buyer for just over $2 million. Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, a national real estate brokerage and advisory firm specializing in retail property sales, has announced the firm has completed the sale of two, two-tenant retail properties occupied by a Starbucks Drive-Thru. The sales represent record pricing, according to a press release...

The Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy this week amid a deluge of sex-abuse lawsuits. The Catholic clergy's pedophilia conspiracies have cost the church more than $3 billion and countless followers. Scandal after scandal shows how cunning child predators have exploited trusted civic institutions under cover of "diversity," "inclusion" and "progressivism."...

A new partnership between Three Rivers College and the Associated General Contractors of Missouri seeks to take students from the classroom and into heavy construction jobs.

MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL Jodie L. Pullum, 42, of Festus was arrested at 4:06 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18, on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), failure to properly affix front plate and no seat belt. She was booked at the Wayne County Jail and released...

City firefighters responded at 1:17 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, to a report of a kitchen fire at the 1311 N. 11th St. residence owned by Lisa Spencer. According to the report, firefighters found smoke inside the residence, but no fire. A pot of grease reportedly had been left on the stove, which caused the smoke alarm to sound...

DONIPHAN — Human remains found Sunday in a rural area of Ripley County have been identified as a Doniphan man reported missing since Jan. 24-25, Sheriff Mike Barton said Tuesday. “On Sunday, Feb. 16, the Ripley County Sheriff’s Office was called to a location in rural Ripley County,” Barton said in a prepared statement released Tuesday afternoon. “The remains of a human had been located, which was determined to be the remains of Brandon Wayne Harris.”...

BLOOMFIELD — A retired Catholic priest now living in Springfield, Mo., was arrested Wednesday on multiple sexual abuse charges that allegedly occurred 20 years ago while he was a priest at an Advance parish. Frederick Joseph Lutz, 76, was arrested on a Stoddard County warrant charging him with two counts of second-degree statutory sodomy and the felonies of forcible sodomy and sexual abuse, Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver said in a news release...

Cancer patient Damon Smiley, 50, of Malden recently won courtside seats to watch his first pro-basketball game, a game he enjoyed sharing with a former NBA player. Smiley, who is battling lung and pancreatic cancers, was nominated through a raffle that asked the public to nominate someone deserving...

Mary Katherine Rimer, 96, of Poplar Bluff, died Monday, Feb. 17, 2020. She was born Feb. 13, 1924 in Hickman, Ky. to the late Joseph Owen Stafford and Mary Magaline (Birdwell) Strafford. Mary was a long time resident of Butler County. She enjoyed being at home for her family, playing bingo with friends, puzzles and taking long walks...