Stories from Tuesday, February 21, 2012

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer A magnitude 4.0 earthquake, centered near East Prairie, Mo., shook Southeast Missouri at 3:58 a.m. Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reports. Locally, residents in Poplar Bluff, Doniphan, Piedmont and Puxico reported feeling the quake on the U.S.G.S. website, as did people in Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois. It also was felt by a few people in Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor The Poplar Bluff, Mo., man is now in custody after allegedly firing a shot Monday afternoon through a vehicle occupied by two men he has had prior disagreements with in recent months. Myson Brunson, 20, of the 800 block of Apple Street turned himself in at the Poplar Bluff Police Department at about 9:30 a.m., according to Chief Danny Whiteley...

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer Opaa Food Management Inc. was chosen to serve Neelyville R-IV schools for the 2012-13 school year at Monday night's monthly board meeting. The district first hired Opaa in July 2011 for the 2011-12 school year. For consideration of its services, Opaa offered the district a five-year projection, with bids for the cost of services. The company will not raise district costs above the projection, but the contract is year-to-year, with the board voting on it...

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer A magnitude 4.0 earthquake, centered near East Prairie, Mo., shook Southeast Missouri at 3:58 a.m. Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reports. Locally, residents in Poplar Bluff, Doniphan, Piedmont and Puxico reported feeling the quake on the U.S.G.S. website, as did people in Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois. It also was felt by a few people in Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor The Poplar Bluff, Mo., man is now in custody after allegedly firing a shot Monday afternoon through a vehicle occupied by two men he has had prior disagreements with in recent months. Myson Brunson, 20, of the 800 block of Apple Street turned himself in at the Poplar Bluff Police Department at about 9:30 a.m., according to Chief Danny Whiteley...

By DAN K. THOMASSON Scripps Howard News Service If you wonder why Americans are increasingly disillusioned about the dysfunction of their government, take a look at President Barack Obama's proposed budget -- a nightmarish $3.7 trillion spending package that has no chance of adoption and that fails to address most of the nation's pressing problems...

By OLIVER NORTH WASHINGTON -- Twenty-three years ago this week, Iran's self-appointed supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, broadcast a religious edict declaring that author Salman Rushdie and his publishers were "hereby sentenced to death." The fatwa also called for "all the intrepid Muslims in the world" to "execute them quickly, wherever they find them." The U.S. ...

By MONA CHAREN Leaving aside the blatant assault on religious liberty that the Obama administration's contraceptive mandate represents (a number of commentators have ably elucidated the assault on free exercise), the edict ought to offend all sensible Americans for its sheer economic and moral fatuousness...

Fans of the Academy Awards and all area residents are invited to "be the stars" at the Three Rivers College Oscar Gala on Sunday night Feb. 26. Red carpet festivities will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center. Guests are encouraged to attend in fine evening attire, their favorite movie costume or celebrity-themed apparel, and walk the red carpet. Attendees can expect to be photographed, questioned about their apparel, and perhaps even asked for an autograph...

Ellsinore folks, get involved Yes, I was very happy to see a letter from someone in Ellsinore. That doesn't happen very often. I'd like to add to it that we have nepotism in our school, our city government and now it's down at our nutrition center. I think more people needs to get involved with what's going on in their town. Thank you...

Irene Duke Irene Pearl Duke, 79, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be announced by Fowler-Sullivan Funeral Home in Poplar Bluff.

Mildred Jenkins Mildred Jenkins, 95, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, at Cedar Gate in Poplar Bluff. Funeral services will be announced by Fowler-Sullivan Funeral Home in Poplar Bluff.

Vivadean Adams PUXICO, Mo. -- Vivadean L. Adams, 83, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, at Cedar Gate in Poplar Bluff. Funeral services will be announced by Morgan Sifford Funeral Home at Puxico, Mo.

The top three seeds in the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 basketball tournament all face the same road to the title -- two wins. So when the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules picked up the No. 2 seed it didn't really matter much. "We like where we're at right now," senior Elizabeth Montgomery said. "We like it, we're ready to play."...

GREENVILLE -- Twin Rivers junior Tori Cole had about as good of a night as possible Monday. In a 66-51 win at Greenville, the Twin Rivers junior had a triple-double of 42 points, 20 rebounds and 20 blocks. The 42 points was a career-high for Cole, who also scored her 1,000th career point on the night...

VINCENNES, Ind. -- Vincennes University used its hot shooting to put Three Rivers in a hole and the Raiders never could recover. The third-ranked Trailblazers were 6-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half to build a double-digit halftime lead and held off a late Raiders push as they beat Three Rivers 89-67 Monday...

The Three Rivers softball team scattered 15 hits but lost both games of a doubleheader to Williams Baptist, 4-2 and 14-6 at Rains Field. "We are going to have two practices today," Three Rivers coach Jack Childress said. "We are going to run some hills. They are not going to forget about yesterday."...

Fans of the Academy Awards and all area residents are invited to "be the stars" at the Three Rivers College Oscar Gala on Sunday night Feb. 26. Red carpet festivities will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center. Guests are encouraged to attend in fine evening attire, their favorite movie costume or celebrity-themed apparel, and walk the red carpet. Attendees can expect to be photographed, questioned about their apparel, and perhaps even asked for an autograph...

Ellsinore folks, get involved Yes, I was very happy to see a letter from someone in Ellsinore. That doesn't happen very often. I'd like to add to it that we have nepotism in our school, our city government and now it's down at our nutrition center. I think more people needs to get involved with what's going on in their town. Thank you...

Irene Duke Irene Pearl Duke, 79, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be announced by Fowler-Sullivan Funeral Home in Poplar Bluff.

GREENVILLE -- Twin Rivers junior Tori Cole had about as good of a night as possible Monday. In a 66-51 win at Greenville, the Twin Rivers junior had a triple-double of 42 points, 20 rebounds and 20 blocks. The 42 points was a career-high for Cole, who also scored her 1,000th career point on the night...

VINCENNES, Ind. -- Vincennes University used its hot shooting to put Three Rivers in a hole and the Raiders never could recover. The third-ranked Trailblazers were 6-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half to build a double-digit halftime lead and held off a late Raiders push as they beat Three Rivers 89-67 Monday...

The Three Rivers softball team scattered 15 hits but lost both games of a doubleheader to Williams Baptist, 4-2 and 14-6 at Rains Field. "We are going to have two practices today," Three Rivers coach Jack Childress said. "We are going to run some hills. They are not going to forget about yesterday."...