Stories from Tuesday, August 30, 2011

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A Columbia man was arrested Monday on multiple drug-related felonies stemming from an ongoing Stoddard County investigation into the manufacturers of suspected designer drugs. Kevin Earl Bay, 42, was arrested as state and federal authorities executed search warrants on his business and home, according to Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver, who was in Columbia for Monday's raids...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer To friend or not to friend? A new Missouri law set to go into effect Sunday would have laid down some ground rules for the use of social media like Facebook by teachers, such as barring private communication with students...

MX Wrangler-- a five-year-old stallion owned by Jim and Kathy Wilkerson of Wappapello, Mo., and his trainer, Michael Butler of Paris, Ky., can be seen competing in the final competition to be named "America's Favorite Trail Horse, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 13, on HRTV, available on Dish and Cable or ACTHA (www.ACTHA.us)...

The Lady Mules keep rolling. Poplar Bluff's softball and tennis teams each won Monday to stay unbeaten on the young season. The softball team won at Neelyville, 17-5, behind six RBIs from Ally Brooks while the Lady Mules tennis team won their home opener on newly refinished courts...

BLOOMFIELD -- The Bloomfield Lady Wildcats overcame their nerves Monday night in their season opener as they dropped the first game against Cape Central before coming out on top, 18-25, 25-16, 25-18. "The girls were a little nervous," Bloomfield coach Starla Pulley said. "We have four new girls playing varsity this year...

ELLSINORE -- The Clearwater Lady Tigers wanted to prove that they can be a force in this year's MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 softball tournament. On Monday against the defending champion East Carter Lady Redbirds, that statement was made. Clearwater got up big early and allowed East Carter back into the game before eeking out the game-winning run in extra innings for the 9-8 win...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Up to 10 Southeast Missouri State football players could receive their first starts as Redhawks on Saturday. Southeast coach Tony Samuel revealed his updated depth chart Monday in advance of the 6 p.m. season opener against Southern Illinois at Houck Stadium...

By SHARON RANDALL Scripps Howard News Service When someone asks for my advice, I try to answer with as much care and sensitivity as brutal honesty will allow -- even though I know they're probably going to do whatever the heck they want to do anyway...

Move military to US borders I would like to see all these military bases of the United States that are in Germany, Japan and Korea -- all over the world -- I liked to see everyone of them shut down and put or reopened or built on the Canadian and the Mexican border. ...

To the Editor Life on the Mississippi River. Growing up on the Mississippi River in Cape Girardeau, Mo., I never thought of the river as anything more than a big river that was muddy, smelled and caused problems with flooding every spring. My wife and I decided to learn more about the history, what life on the river was like, and its usefulness today...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN Chester Arthur was a most unlikely reformer. A crucial cog in the political machine of the Empire State's Sen. Roscoe Conkling, he was named by President Grant to the powerful and lucrative post of collector of customs for the Port of New York...

By GEORGE F. WILL CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- The red stone outcropping that gives this community its name is just a facet of the histrionic geology of Douglas County that sprawls prettily along the front range of the Rockies south of Denver. The county is named, Lord knows why, for Stephen Douglas, who defeated Abraham Lincoln in Illinois' 1858 U.S. ...

By BILL O'REILLY The media covering the president's vacation in Martha's Vineyard are being discouraged from photographing President Obama playing golf. There is no access. Apparently, the White House is nervous that in tough economic times, whacking a small white ball could be construed as insensitive...

By OLIVER NORTH WASHINGTON -- For most of the year, irrational behavior is a natural state in our nation's capital. This is a place where potentates and politicians, lobbyists and legislators and the elite and the lowly routinely say and do completely irrational things...

Are you a senior who has a house plant you are proud of? Do you believe it is worthy of recognition? If so, the Poplar Bluff Garden Club invites you to enter your house plant(s) in the Senior Plant Show being sponsored by the Club. Entries will be accepted between 8 a.m. ...

By MEGAN KEATHLEY Three Rivers News Services The campus police department at Three Rivers College has successfully shifted into a public safety department. "We started talking about it with the president in early June," said Scott Wiggs, Three Rivers' director of Facilities and Security Management. "The decision was made that we would officially transfer on July 1."...

Ozark Border Elective Cooperative held their annual meeting Saturday, Aug. 6. The following is a list of prize winners, gifts and donors: Anna K. Amrhein, Poplar Bluff, Mo., $50 Walmart Gift Card, Pike Electric; Lawrence M. Arnold, Poplar Bluff, standing fan, OBEC (Ozark Border Elective Cooperative); Ed Barger, Poplar Bluff, cooler, McCoy's Scrap Metal; Dennis Barnett, Broseley, Mo., Bunn coffee maker, Cash's Car Clinic; Carole L. ...

The Red Cross has scheduled the following blood drives in this area: Tuesday, Aug. 30: First Baptist Church, 308 Walnut, Doniphan, Mo., 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31: Ellsinore General Baptist Church, 16 North Herren, Ellsinore, Mo., 3-7 p.m...

Friday night the regional favorite, Buzzard Run, will be performing at Lake Wappapello Outdoor Theatre. Bernard and Brenda Allen along with Ed Hagen, Xan Grave, Dave Kimbrough, and Daniel Nobles playing fiddle, will provide entertainment. They are known for their traditional-style bluegrass music...

Maxine Bennett PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Maxine D. Bennett, 92, of Annapolis, Mo., died Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, in Pilot Knob, Mo. Mrs. Bennett was born June 30, 1919, in Vulcan, Mo. She was of the Baptist faith and spent her life as a mother and homemaker. On Dec. 24, 1937, she was married to George Bennett...

Sharon Scott Sharon Kay (Somers) Scott, 63 of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, at her residence. Mrs. Scott was born June 23, 1948, at Poplar Bluff. She had previously lived in Granite City, Ill. She had been a machinist and a medical transport driver. She enjoyed reading books...

Laura Mason BERNIE, Mo. -- Laura Jo Mason, 73, of Bernie, Mo., died Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, at her residence. Mrs. Mason was born in Bernie on Jan. 5, 1938. She was a homemaker. On Feb. 11, 1953, she was married to Delmar Luther Mason in Piggott, Ark. He preceded her in death on April 19, 1997...

Bill Sanders VAN BUREN, Mo. -- William Earl "Bill" Sanders, 78, of Van Buren, Mo., died Monday, Aug. 29, 2011, in the Riverways Manor Nursing Home in Van Buren. Mr. Sanders was born March 19, 1933, in St, Louis, Mo. He served in the U.S. Air Force and was a member of the Mountain Grove VFW. ...

David Couch NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- David Couch, 85, of Fairdealing, Mo., died Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Mr. Couch was born June 23, 1926, at Oxly, Mo. He was a member of the Naylor Church of God. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served during World War II...

Larry Moore Sr. DEXTER, Mo -- Larry Eugene Moore Sr., 57, of Dexter, Mo., died Sunday Aug. 28, 2011, at St. Louis University Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Mr. Morris was born on Dec. 19, 1953, at St. Louis. He was a self-employed auto mechanic. On Oct. 10, 1975 , he was married to Debra Miller at Dexter. She survives of the home...

Leon McGarrity DEXTER, Mo. -- Leon McGarrity, 90, of Dexter, Mo., died Monday, Aug. 29, 2011, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Mr. McGarrity was on Oct. 26, 1920, born in Bentley, Miss. He and his wife moved to Dexter in 1949 and opened Leons Dexter Queen where they worked until their retirement in 1980. ...

Bill Bowman PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Bill H. Bowman, 73, of Piedmont, Mo., died Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011, at Piedmont, Mo. Funeral arrangements are pending with Ruegg Funeral Home of Williamsville, Mo.

Willie Lee Cobb BERNIE, Mo. -- Willie Lee Cobb, 71, of Bernie, Mo., died in Missouri Baptist Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. on Aug. 27, 2011. He was born in Success, Ark. on Feb. 3, 1940 Mr. Cobb was employed by MFA Exchange in Bernie and a member of the Church of God in Parma, Mo...

Ronald Looney PUXICO, Mo. -- Ronald Dean Looney, 62, of Puxico, Mo., died Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011, at his residence. He was born Sept. 15, 1948, in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He lived most of his life in Puxico and graduated in the class of 1961. He ran his own lawn care service...

Robert Dover Robert LeRoy Dover, 77, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Monday, Aug. 29, 2011 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Mr. Dover was born Oct. 23, 1933, in Poplar Bluff and was of the Pentecostal faith. He enjoyed reading his Bible and writing songs...

Linda Drever PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Linda L. Drever, 82, of Piedmont, Mo., died Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Mrs. Drever was born Dec. 26, 1928, in Bernie, Mo. Formerly of St. Louis, Mo., where she worked for the Boise-Cascade Company, she had lived in the Piedmont area since 1988. She was a member of Salem Baptist Church in Florissant...

Lewis Minton Lewis Ellis "Huey" Minton, 84, of Ellsinore, Mo., formerly of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011, at The Manor in Poplar Bluff. Mr. Minton was born June 27, 1927, in Butler County, Mo. He was of the Pentecostal faith, and was a retired farmer. He enjoyed being outdoors, cutting wood and working on lawn mowers...

Jerry Stroud Jerry Stroud, also known as "Little Jerry, the Shoe Shine Boy," of Salem, Mo., formerly of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, at his home. Funeral arrangements are pending with Cotrell Funeral Service of Poplar Bluff.

David Gardner NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- David D. Gardner, 50, of Neelyville, Mo., died Friday, Aug. 26, 2011, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Mr. Gardner was born Nov. 14, 1960, in Corning, Ark. He was a lifelong Butler County resident. He enjoyed fishing, working on lawn mowers and gardening...

David Calvert David Eugene Calvert, 61, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Friday, Aug. 26, 2011, at his residence. Mr. Calvert was born March 2, 1950, in Dennison, Ohio. He was of the Baptist faith, and had previously worked at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. ...

Brayton-Alford family reunion The Brayton-Alford Family Reunion will be held Saturday, Sept. 3, at the Whiteley Park front pavilion. Attendees sould bring a couple of covered dishes.

Lone Hill School reunion The Lone Hill School reunion will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, at the school house. Everyone is asked to bring lunch meat, bread, chips or sodas to help with the lunch. Please bring any school pictures you may have so they can be shared...

Mole Hill Cemetery mtg. The annual Mole Hill Cemetery meetinwill begin at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, at the Twin Rivers High School Cafeteria in Broseley. The supper will be followed by an auction. The cost of the all-you-can-eat meal is $7 for adults and $4 for children under age six...

Maxine Bennett PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Maxine D. Bennett, 92, of Doniphan, Mo., died Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, at Pilot Knob, Mo. Funeral services are pending with Ruegg Funeral Homes of Piedmont, Mo.

Mammie Bowen Mammie Terria Bowen, 94, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Monday, Aug. 29, 2011, at Westwood Hills Healthcare Center in Poplar Bluff. Arrangements are pending with Cotrell Funeral Service of Poplar Bluff.

The music and environmental message of Wildheart will be heard at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, at Wappapello State Park in the amphitheater, thanks to a grant from the Missouri Arts Council. Wildheart is composed of Jan and George Syrigos, both Emmy award- winning educators and entertainers who bring a strong science message to young audiences as they explore wildlife, habitats and natural history. ...

By SHARON RANDALL Scripps Howard News Service When someone asks for my advice, I try to answer with as much care and sensitivity as brutal honesty will allow -- even though I know they're probably going to do whatever the heck they want to do anyway...

To the Editor Life on the Mississippi River. Growing up on the Mississippi River in Cape Girardeau, Mo., I never thought of the river as anything more than a big river that was muddy, smelled and caused problems with flooding every spring. My wife and I decided to learn more about the history, what life on the river was like, and its usefulness today...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN Chester Arthur was a most unlikely reformer. A crucial cog in the political machine of the Empire State's Sen. Roscoe Conkling, he was named by President Grant to the powerful and lucrative post of collector of customs for the Port of New York...