Stories from Saturday, January 31, 2015

The Margaret Harwell Art Museum will hold reception from 6-8 p.m. Saturday to kick off a new exhibit.. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet exhibiting photographers Tim Vollink and Marcus Janzow, who will be on hand to discuss their work. Both are from Cape Girardeau, Mo...

By TERRY GANEY Gateway Journalism Review JEFFERSON CITY - The Jefferson City press corps has voted to give the Missouri Times until the end of March to clean up the news organization's ethics mess or face the possibility of losing credentials to cover events in Missouri's state capital...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer As the Missouri legislature continues to stall on the issue, Missouri Rural Crisis Center pitched the benefits of Medicaid expansion to about a dozen people during a Thursday panel discussion at First Church of God. With expansion Medicaid eligibility would be raised to include 138 percent of the poverty level, giving coverage to another estimated 300,000 Missourians. The federal government pays for 100 percent of coverage in 2015 and 90 percent thereafter...

Clara Davis Ware MALDEN, Mo. -- Clara Davis Ware, 101, of Malden died Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015, at the Golden Living Center in Malden. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Friday at the Landess Funeral Home Chapel in Malden. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. ...

Wilma Dempsey Wilma J. Dempsey, 82, of Wappapello, Mo., died Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. The arrangements are pending and will be announced by Cotrell Funeral Service at Wappapello.

Ryan Harris DONIPHAN, Mo.-- Ryan Edward Harris, 16, of Doniphan, died Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015, at his residence in rural Ripley County.Mr. Harris, son of Aaron and Kelli (Elliott) Harris, was born June 22, 1998, in Poplar Bluff. He was a student in Doniphan High School and worked at the Harris family sawmill. Ryan enjoyed hunting and being with his friends. He was a member of Beta Club, Choir and Sierra Phoenix Gaming...

Betty Buchanan Betty Jean Buchanan, 83, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Mrs. Buchanan was born Aug. 16, 1931 in Stoddard County, Mo. to the late Roy Franklin and Ora C. Reese Johnson. ...

Callie Chronister Callie Wahnetta Chronister, 91, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015 at River Mist Assisted Living Center in Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Chronister was born Oct. 1, 1923 in Advance, Mo. to the late Joseph M. and Clara E. Wright Pyle. She was of the General Baptist faith, and had retired as a bookkeeper in the automotive industry. Mrs. Chronister enjoyed spending time with her family...

To the Editor: I am writing this letter to address allegations of impropriety related to my organization. Bidding and quoting IT is a complex process that has many moving parts that require a certain degree of intelligence to interpret. It is always dangerous to inspect a single piece out of thousands and make a gross general assumption. ...

Kenneth Willard Sr. Kenneth A. Willard Sr., 53, of Bismarck, Mo., died Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015. Visitation will be at noon Saturday at the Morgan-Sifford Funeral Home in Puxico. The funeral will follow at 2 p.m. in the funeral home chapel with the Rev. Jim Ware officiating...

BLOOMFIELD -- The Dexter Bearcats and Bernie Mules are set to square off in the championship of the Stoddard County Activities Assocation tournament for the fourth time in the last six years. Top-seeded Bernie outlasted fifth-seeded Bloomfield 44-40 in the first semifinal Thursday while Dexter followed with a 72-65 overtime victory against second-seeded Woodland...

By BEN CARSON In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama was upbeat and inspiring, particularly if a listener had no prior knowledge of his many speeches that were quite similar but bore no fruit. It almost appeared that he was living in an alternate universe that bore no resemblance to present-day America and the current global stage...

William Baker DEXTER, Mo. -- William Fred Baker, 76, of Dexter, Mo., died Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015. He will be cremated and a memorial plaque will be placed at the Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield. Rainey Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter is in charge of arrangements. A Celebration of his life will take place in the spring at his home...

Joan Shepard CAMPBELL, Mo. -- Joan Shepard, 68, of Saint Mary, Mo. died Thursday at the General Baptist Nursing Home in Campbell. There will be no visitation. The graveside service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Woodlawn Cemetery in Campbell. Landess Funeral Home of Campbell is in charge of arrangements...

Lexi Hafford picked a good time to end Poplar Bluff's 3-point shooting woes Thursday night. The sophomore sank a corner 3 off an inbound pass in the opening minute of overtime for the lead. It started a 10-2 run to give the Mules a much-needed 48-42 win over visiting Kennett...

By MICHELLE MALKIN COLORADO SPRINGS -- From the liberal media's coverage of my beautiful adopted hometown, you'd think we live in a KKK-infested hotbed where every person of color fears for his or her life. Take a look at these ominous headlines: --"Bombing of NAACP headquarters harkens to bad old days" -- MSNBC...

GREENVILLE -- Wayne County's top girls basketball players were on display Thursday night. Clearwater's Lexi Morris reached 2,500 career points earlier this month while Greenville has a pair of players with over 1,000 career points each. Greenville's senior stood out the most after being honored along with her teammates...

By EMILY PRIDDY SEMO News Service A Scott City man is set for arraignment next month on charges he beat an amputee in the face with a hammer and stole his prescription medications. Dustin T. Smith, 27, faces charges of first-degree assault, armed criminal action, burglary and robbery in connection with the Dec. 28 confrontation...

BROSELEY -- Kylee Lewis posted a career-high 23 points as she led Twin Rivers over Doniphan, 62-51, in Ozark Foothills Confernce play Thursday night. Lewis, a 5-foot-3 sophomore, was 5-for-8 on 3-pointers to go with two steals. "She just played with better confidence," Twin Rivers coach Kelly Westerfield said. "She was aggressive with her dribble and hit 2-pointers as well."...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor Fifty volunteers will give away 500 smoke alarms to Poplar Bluff residents from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. The American Red Cross is working with the Butler County Emergency Management Agency and the Poplar Bluff Fire Department to promote this Home Fire Safety Program. Other community partners are the Missouri National Guard and the AmeriCorps program...