Stories from Saturday, August 31, 2013

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor A small gasoline station in Poplar Bluff, Mo., is an unusual place for a national leader to meet with local officials unless the topic is fuel blends and environmental requirements. U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) arrived at the Money Mizer station on the East Side Thursday morning to promote the "Gas Accessibility and Stabilization" Act, which he has re-introduced in the Senate...

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer The Twin Rivers R-X School Board recently approved continuing an ACT incentive program for the 2013-14 school year, aimed at increasing participation and improving scores. "If students have perfect attendance, they don't have to take the final for that class," explained Superintendent Mike Stevenson. ...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor GREENVILLE, Mo. -- The Missouri Attorney General's Office has been appointed to further investigate and prosecute a Piedmont, Mo., woman who recently was charged with threatening to kill a Wayne County judge. Vickie L. Lawson, 44, was charged in mid-August with the Class C felonies of tampering with a judicial official and tampering with a judicial proceeding by Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Ramshur...

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer Area pageant contestants and fans can get a glimpse of televised competitions next Saturday at the Holiday Inn. German TV station RTL will be on hand Sept. 7 to film the Little Mister and Miss States of America pageant, beginning with private interviews around 9:30 a.m. The stage show begins around 11 a.m. and will be open to the public...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor With the red lights flashing and stop arm extended, Poplar Bluff bus driver Tim Hollinger is watchful -- watchful as to the safety of the students getting on and off, as well as the vehicles approaching his stopped bus...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Freshman Gracie Gargac had Naylor's only two hits against Notre Dame as the Lady Eagles lost 2-0 in their season opener. Naylor (0-1) gave up an unearned run in the fifth and sixth innings. Shayna Tharp gave up three hits with three walks and two strikeouts...

DEXTER -- The winner of MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 volleyball tournament has sent a team to the final four in three of the past four seasons. With a pair of seniors and plenty of returning experience, the Dexter Lady Bearcats want to be the next team to keep the trend going...

SIKESTON -- After rallying from a 3-run deficit in their final at-bat Thursday, the Poplar Bluff softball team suffered another extra-inning loss to Sikeston. Hannah Placek provided the walk-off double following a two-out walk in the eighth inning, lifting the Bulldogs to a 9-8 win over the Lady Mules in the season opener for both teams...

Larry Goines MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Larry Ray Goines, 81, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Saturday, Aug. 24, 2013, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau, Mo. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2013, at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witnesses in Sikeston, Mo...

Brandie Chapman Brandie Ellis Chapman, 32, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., went to be with her Lord and Saviour on August, 29, 2013. Arrangements are pending with Fowler-Sullivan Funeral Home in Poplar Bluff. A full obituary will be placed in Sunday's edition...

Jim Lankford DEXTER, Mo. -- James "Jim" Bryan Lankford, 74, of Dexter died Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013, at his residence. Mr. Lankford was born Sept. 3, 1938, in Essex, Mo., to the late Bryan and Mary Evelyn Ellis Lankford. He had lived in Phoenix, Ariz., from 1967 to 1994 when he moved back to Southeast Missouri. He had been a resident of Dexter since 2010. He was retired from the Salt River Project as an engineer technician and was a member of the Essex Methodist Church in Essex...

PUXICO -- Rankings can be a funny thing sometimes. They can be motivating as well. Last fall, the Puxico Lady Indians volleyball team wasn't even thought of as a top-3 team in their own district tournament. A few weeks later, they were a top-8 team in the state...

The new head coach of the Poplar Bluff volleyball program didn't need to introduce herself to the players, she's already coached most of them. Amanda Lance takes over the Lady Mules after being the junior varsity and assistant junior high coach last fall...

Edward Young FISK, Mo. -- Edward L. Young, 59, of Fisk died Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Mr. Young was born July 11, 1954, in New Madrid, Mo. He was self-employed. On June 9, 1972, he married Kathleen Butrum. She survives...

Evelyn Dieter DEXTER, Mo. -- Evelyn Estelle Dieter, 96, of Dexter died Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013, at the Miner Nursing Center in Miner, Mo. Visitation will be from 9-10 a.m. Saturday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The funeral service will follow with Father David Dohogne officiating. Burial will follow in the Dexter Cemetery...

By DAN K. THOMASSON Scripps Howard News Service Forget about a good 5-cent cigar. What this country needs is an infusion of common sense. We are about to engage in another round of pin-the-tail-on-the- jackass in a Congress that more and more seems dedicated to increasing the nation's angst...

By BONNIE ERBE Why am I not surprised? This White House has done a stunningly less-impressive job of appointing women to Cabinet-level jobs than its most recent Democratic predecessor, the Clinton administration. Here we are, 13 years after Bill Clinton left the Oval Office, and the next Democrat in that job has fewer women in those critically visible posts than Clinton had. Harrumph!...

By REG HENRY Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Before Barack Obama's birth certificate became an object of fascination in the tinfoil-hat community, fluoride was all the rage. It was said to be a communist plot intended to rot America's moral fiber. Sensible people in that era smiled at this suggestion through their fluoride-protected teeth, knowing that America's moral fiber would rot without artificial inducement, thanks to Elvis Presley having invented sex. ...