Stories from Friday, June 22, 2012

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor A Poplar Bluff, Mo., homeowner preparing to leave for work Thursday morning re-entered his home to find a man in his kitchen, which led to a nearly two-hour search for the would-be burglar. At about 7:50 a.m., the Poplar Bluff Police Department received a 911 call of a burglary in progress at a residence in the 2800 block of Vaughn Avenue, according to Lt. David Sutton...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Three area agencies say they are now better equipped to rescue residents when floods impact areas of Butler and Ripley counties. Butler County Fire Department, Poplar Bluff Fire Department and Ripley County Emergency Management Agency have each purchased Zodiac boats from a federal surplus program that provides used, but good-condition items at a greatly reduced cost...

By JIM LOW Mo. Dept. of Conservation SUMMERSVILLE, Mo. -- Missouri's free-ranging elk herd got a boost Tuesday, as the Missouri Department of Conservation released 33 elk at Peck Ranch Conservation Area in Carter County. Another release of 13 elk is planned for Saturday on neighboring land in the elk-restoration zone...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer The American Red Cross will provide upper level volunteer instruction next week during a training institute offered for the first time in the 11-county Southeast Missouri chapter. Butler County volunteers have grown in the last year from 10-20 before the flood of 2011 to more than 125 now...

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer More than 10 years after undergoing heart surgery, Jerry Smith, 65, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., is still playing softball each week during the summer for Grace Christian Fellowship. At age 54, Smith, a cemetery maintenance worker for the city of Poplar Bluff, began feeling ill one night...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor A Poplar Bluff, Mo., homeowner preparing to leave for work Thursday morning re-entered his home to find a man in his kitchen, which led to a nearly two-hour search for the would-be burglar. At about 7:50 a.m., the Poplar Bluff Police Department received a 911 call of a burglary in progress at a residence in the 2800 block of Vaughn Avenue, according to Lt. David Sutton...

TRC Board meets Wed. Three Rivers College Board of Trustees will meet at noon Wednesday at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center. Items on the open session agenda include: monthly financial report; proposed Fiscal Year 2013 budget; bids for the Academic Resource Commons renovation; employee health reimbursement account; personnel action...

Qulin Lions Extreme Couponing Erin and Lorie of TLC Extreme Couponing will present "How to Coupon Extreme Style!" at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Qulin Lions Club in Qulin, Mo. Tickets are $15 in advance of $20 at the door. There will be drawings and giveaways. Come ready to learn and have fun as the secrets of extreme couponing are revealed...

Ellsinore men to show at national Joshua A. Brannon and Genesis Brannon, both of Ellsinore, Mo., will exhibit Angus cattle at the 2012 National Junior Angus Show at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, Louisville, Ky., July 15-21, reports Robin Ruff, director of junior activities for the American Angus Association®...

WAPPAPELLO, Mo. -- Maggie Thorne, a young performer from Bloomfield, Mo., will made her first appearance at the Lake Wappapello Outdoor Theatre at 6:30 tonight. Located adjacent to Crabb & Co. Restaurant on Highway T two miles south of the dam, the outdoor theatre has scheduled music performances on Friday nights and open jam sessions on Saturday nights from 6:30 to 8:30...

By LARRY MARGASAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker John Boehner demanded Thursday that the Obama administration give in and turn over documents related to a botched gun-tracking operation, insisting that's the only way to stop a House vote to hold the attorney general in contempt...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN In introducing his new book, "Leo Strauss and the Conservative Movement in America," Paul Gottfried identifies a fundamental divide between neoconservatives and the traditional right. The divide is over the question: What is this nation, America?...

By WALTER E. WILLIAMS Back in 2009, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said we were "a nation of cowards" on matters of race. Permit me to be brave and run a few assertions by you just to see whether we're on the same page. There should be two standards for civilized conduct: one for whites, which is higher, and another for blacks, which is lower. ...

By GEORGE WILL COLUMBIA, Md. -- Three hours before showtime, Brian Wilson says: "There is no Rhonda." Sitting backstage, gathering strength for the evening's 48-song, 150-minute concert, Wilson was not asked about her, he just volunteered this fact. The other members of the Beach Boys seem mildly surprised to learn that the 1965 song "Help Me, Rhonda" was about no one in particular...

Shirley McGonigal -- Doniphan, Mo. Kathy Weekley -- Silva, Mo. Veatrice Denbow -- Poplar Bluff, Mo. Alice Riley -- Poplar Bluff, Mo. Richard Lane -- Gatewood, Mo. Marjorie Raymer -- De Soto, Mo.

Richard Lane DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Richard "Bud" Lane of Gatewood, Mo., died Thursday, June 21, 2012, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Funeral arrangements are pending with Edwards Funeral Home in Doniphan, Mo.

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Trent Hillis and Carr Vernon won their opening matches Thursday at the 105th Missouri Amateur, advancing to the round of 32. Hillis won his match 2 and 1 while Vernon needed an extra hole to advance at Dalhousie Golf Club. Vernon trailed Ryan Marks of Warrensburg heading to No. 18 but carded a birdie to force the playoff. Vernon won with a par on the 378-yard, par-4 first hole while Marks, who plays for the Iowa Hawkeyes, carded a bogey...

KENNETT -- The Kennett Senior Babe Ruth baseball team handed the Poplar Bluff Thunder a bitter dose of its own medicine Thursday night in the fourth meeting this summer. Poplar Bluff, which calculated a double-digit run total in each of its first three games against Kennett, trailed 10-0 after three innings. The Thunder scored six runs in the fourth inning to trim the margin to four, but never scored again as Kennett cruised to a 15-6 win...

Alice Riley FISK, Mo. -- Alice Ann Riley, 82, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Thursday, June 21, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Riley was born Oct. 31, 1929, at Hayti, Mo. She had lived most of her life around Poplar Bluff and was a member of Fellowship General Baptist Church. She had formerly worked at Rowe Furniture and later worked at the Regional Diagnostic Center...

Kathy Weekley GREENVILLE, Mo. -- Kathy Ann Weekley, 52, of Silva, Mo., died Wednesday, June 20, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, Poplar Bluff, Mo. Ms. Weekley was born on Oct. 23, 1959, to the late Mary Ellen (Jones) Weekley and to the late Jimmie Lee Weekley, in St. Charles, MO. She was of the Christian faith. She attended elementary school in St. Charles later the Greenville schools. She had been employed at The Midway Drive In for the past 10 years...

Shirley McGonigal DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Shirley McGonigal, 97, of Doniphan, Mo., died Wednesday, June 20, 2012, at Current River Nursing Center in Doniphan. Mrs. McGonigal, daughter of Joe and Emily (Walker) McGee, was born Jan. 20, 1915, in Doniphan. She had been a cook at local restaurants and the Ripley County Memorial Hospital. Ms. McGonigal enjoyed cooking, sewing and reading...

Robert and Britney Rodgers of Poplar Bluff, Mo., have chosen the name Trance Jacob Rodgers for their 8-pound, 6.7-ounce son born at 6:01 p.m. Tuesday, May 22, 2012, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Trance was 20 inches long. Grandparents are Sandra Bryant of Poplar Bluff, Jerry Clark of Bloomfield, Mo., and Darla Keene, also of Poplar Bluff...

Marjorie Raymer ELLSINORE, Mo. -- Marjorie Imogene Raymer, 83, of De Soto, Mo., died Wednesday, June 20, 2012, in Park Lane Nursing Home in Wentzville, Mo. Mrs. Raymer was born June 22, 1928, in Ellsinore, Mo. She was a longtime resident of Desoto, Mo. ...

Stage Co. auditions start Wednesday Stage Company will hold auditions beginning at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Rodgers' Theatre for their upcoming production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." The play will run Sept. 7, 8, 14, 15 and 16. Rehearsals will begin the week of July 1 and will continue at least four times a week until opening night...

R-1 closed meeting tonight The Poplar Bluff R-I Board of Education will meet in closed session at 6 tonight at the Central Office to discuss personnel issues.

Highway E 1-lane Sat. BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Highway E between Stoddard County Roads 517 and 527 will be reduced to one lane from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday as contractor crews do bridge maintenance. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution while traveling in the work zone...

Masonic family picnic Saturday Poplar Bluff Lodge 209 A.F. & A.M. will be hosting a Masonic Family Picnic Celebration from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at the North Main Street Masonic Complex. All members of Poplar Bluff Masonic organizations are invited and are encouraged to bring their friends and family...

Veatrice Denbow Veatrice Mae Denbow, 85, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Thursday, June 21, 2012, at Oakdale Care Center. Mrs. Denbow was born Nov. 15, 1926 in Malden, Mo. She was a member of Westwood Baptist Church and had worked at Doctors Regional Medical Center as a nurse's aid during the 1970's. She enjoyed spending time with her family, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, sewing, and traveling, especially to Branson, Mo...

TRC Board meets Wed. Three Rivers College Board of Trustees will meet at noon Wednesday at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center. Items on the open session agenda include: monthly financial report; proposed Fiscal Year 2013 budget; bids for the Academic Resource Commons renovation; employee health reimbursement account; personnel action...

Veatrice Denbow Veatrice Mae Denbow, 85, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Thursday, June 21, 2012, at Oakdale Care Center. Mrs. Denbow was born Nov. 15, 1926 in Malden, Mo. She was a member of Westwood Baptist Church and had worked at Doctors Regional Medical Center as a nurse's aid during the 1970's. She enjoyed spending time with her family, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, sewing, and traveling, especially to Branson, Mo...