Stories from Monday, March 17, 2014

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor Never "one of those light chasers" who wanted to be a firefighter, Carl Williams credits fate and God's plan with leading him into a career, which would span more than three decades. "I worked up north for a couple of years in the auto industry, but back in the late '70s, early '80s, the bottom fell out of that, so I actually moved back home to catch my breath (and) find a job to save some money to move off again," explained Williams. ...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor A decision to sell City Cable could be made by the Poplar Bluff City Council during Monday's meeting which begins at 7 p.m. The asset purchase agreement is on the agenda for both the workshop session and the voting session...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Daisy Hill Farm near Williamsville, Mo., is a sweet dream for one local husband and wife that produces even sweeter homemade maple syrup. Angela and Cliff Smith, the current and former mayor respectively of their town of about 340, have long wanted their own farm. Three years ago the civic-minded couple purchased land just off Highway 67, north of their hometown...

By SARABETH WALLER Staff Writer Poplar Bluff's March winter storm led to a significant increase in emergency room visits due to falls, more even than previous snow and ice storms this winter. Between March 2-10, Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center saw 29 falls with fractures, according to Tammy Sorrell, director of the emergency department...

Students at Sacred Heart School took part in a nationwide effort to "Read the Most Coast to Coast" on Friday, Feb. 28. Sacred Heart students joined Renaissance Learning's challenge to break the record set last school year for the number of Accelerated Reader Quizzes taken in one day. The new one-day record is an amazing 4,987,949 quizzes!...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer The 64th Annual Missouri Senior Beta Club Convention was held March 7-8 in Branson at the Andy Williams Moon River Theater and Radisson Hotel. Beta is celebrating its 75th year in Missouri. The following students were elected state officers: president, Lindsey Young of Bloomfield High School; vice-president, Mason Douglas of Twin Rivers High School; and secretary, Drake Nilges of Bourbon High School...

Jane Cobb PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Jane Cobb, 91, of Patterson, Mo., died Thursday, March 13, 2014, at National Health Care at Desloge, Mo. Visitation will be at 9:15 a.m. Monday at Ruegg Funeral Home. Services will follow at 11 a.m. at the chapel. Burial will follow in Patterson...

By SHARON RANDALL McClatchy-Tribune News Service Someday, I swear, I am going to quit. Next month, maybe. Or next year. I've done it most of my life and it's getting old. Not that it's hard. I've been doing it so long it's like taking a shower or brushing my teeth or reminding my husband to tie his shoes. I could do it in my sleep...

By MICHELLE MALKIN A bunch of aggrieved women led by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg launched a high-profile "public service campaign" this week to "ban" the word "bossy." Sandberg, Beyonce, Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham and first lady Michelle Obama have joined femme forces to combat this phantom menace. ...

Leo Hindman Leo Hindman died suddenly at his home on Hwy. F Friday, March 14 at 2:30 a.m. Leo was born at Greenbriar, Mo., on June 14, 1924, and was looking forward to celebrating his 90th birthday this summer. Leo attended Chaffee, Mo., schools and was graduated from Chaffee High School in 1943. ...

Hazel Gentles PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Hazel Gentles, 87, of Piedmont, Mo., passed away Thursday, March 13, 2014, at Clarks Mountain Nursing Center in Piedmont. Hazel was born in Piedmont on Feb. 26, 1927. On Aug. 23, 1947, she married Dalpha W. Gentles, and to this union three sons were born...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- Someone who is determined to disbelieve something can manage to disregard an Everest of evidence for it. So Barack Obama will not temper his enthusiasm for increased equality with lucidity about the government's role in exacerbating inequality...

Jerry Bollinger BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Jerry Eugene "Bo" Bollinger, 63, of Gerald, Mo., died Friday, March 14, 2014, at his home. Visitation will be 5-8 p.m. Monday at the Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield, Mo. The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the funeral home chapel...

Opal Spencer Opal Mae Smothers Browning Spencer, 86, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Wednesday, March 12, 2014, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Mrs. Spencer was born Sept. 3, 1927, in Fairdealing, Mo., to the late Leonard and Mary Walker Smothers. She lived most of her life in Poplar Bluff...

Starting tonight and through Wednesday millions of people will be filling out brackets for the NCAA Tournament. Be it office pools or family bragging rights, whether they know what they're doing or making blind guesses, Americans just love being right...

Nathan Pringle NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Nathan Douglas Pringle, 23, of Neelyville, Mo., died at 7:30 a.m. Saturday at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mr. Pringle was born Jan. 29, 1991, at Paragould, Ark. He worked in emergency management in the U.S. Air Force...

SEMO News Service Three subjects were taken into custody today at the West Park Mall for openly displaying handguns, according to a news release from the Cape Girardeau Police Department. The news release said about 1:20 p.m., security officers at the mall contacted the police department to notify it of four subjects who had entered the mall, some with weapons...

FARMINGTON -- How the Dexter Lady Bearcats clinched their second straight trip to the MSHSAA Class 4 Show-Me Showdown will go down as a testament to one key fundamental that the program thrives on -- defense. Dexter only allowed six field goals the entire game as it thumped the Battle Lady Spartans 75-31 in the quarterfinal at the Farmington Civic Center...

THOMASVILLE, Ga. -- The Three Rivers baseball team closed its week on the road with a split against Thomas University. The Raiders lost the first game 4-3 and won the nightcap 5-2 Friday. Chad Tomlinson, a Raider freshman from Florida, allowed one hit through three innings in the opener before giving up a 3-run homer on a 2-0 pitch that put Thomas ahead 4-2...

JOPLIN -- At some point during her 4-hour bus ride to Joplin on Saturday, Jessica Menz morphed into Mark McGwire. Three Rivers' sophomore third baseman belted three home runs against Northern Oklahoma and whacked another one against Maple Woods during a trio of games at the tournament...