Stories from Friday, July 31, 2015

SEMO News Service A Cape Girardeau teenager died Tuesday night while on a trip with his church group. Marvin T. Scott, 16, died after swimming in the ocean on a North Carolina coast during a church retreat. At 7:30 p.m., Emerald Isle Police, Fire and EMS units were sent to the area of 7017 Ocean Drive for a water rescue, according to a news release...

By SAMANTHA RINEHART SEMO News Service Families preparing for their final vacations and weekend getaways before the start of the next school year are encouraged to take a few precautions if they plan to visit any favorite swimming spots. The Missouri State Highway Patrol recently reported the number of accidental drownings for this year has reached 30, surpassing the total number of drownings in all of 2014 by one...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Several events will take place next week to assist struggling families with school supplies for the upcoming year. The South Central Missouri Community Action Agency will host a community back to school fair from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 6 at the Black River Coliseum...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor DONIPHAN -- Jury selection began this morning in the trial of a Poplar Bluff man accused of two home invasions, which left two people shot and a third person assaulted. Court officials report about 80 Ripley County residents were expected to report to the courthouse to begin the selection process in the trial of Rodney Joe Green...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor A Saturday afternoon joyride over Poplar Bluff in his Cessna 150 airplane turned out to be more than Morgan Taylor and his girlfriend, Lauren Lady, ever expected. The pair was sitting around bored before their evening dinner reservation and decided to go look around...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor Nearly 25 Butler County residents were served with grand-jury indictments Wednesday for drug-related offenses as part of a multijurisdictional round up. More than 75 members of SEMO Drug Task Force, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Poplar Bluff Police Department, Butler County Sheriff's Department, Sikeston Department of Public Safety, Cape Girardeau Police Department, Stoddard County Sheriff's Department, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives began serving warrants for 50 individuals early Wednesday morning.. ...

Sweet Missouri peaches are being harvested Now is the time to start looking for Missouri juicy peaches which are hitting the local markets and roadside stands. Millions love this summertime favorite fruit. In fact this happens to be my favorite fruit...

WAPPAPELLO LAKE -The 24th Annual Old Greenville Days Event will be celebrated on Sept. 19 - 20 at the Greenville Recreation Area just two miles south of Greenville on U. S. Highway 67. This annual family-oriented event is done in partnership with the Wayne County Historical Society and several businesses and volunteers. It consists of a Civil War black powder rendezvous living history encampment, craft shows, and live entertainment...

Donnie Marcum PUXICO, Mo. -- Donnie Marcum, 74, of Wappapello, Mo., died at his home Tuesday, July 28, 2015. Visitation will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Morgan Sifford Funeral Home in Puxico. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Morgan Sifford Funeral Home. Burial will be in the Dogwood Cemetery in East Prairie, Mo...

From Staff Reports Former Poplar Bluffian Elssie Deaner will be 100 years old Saturday and her family is planning a special birthday celebration in California where she has been living with one of her 12 children since 2011. Deaner moved to California because of her health...

By GEORGE F. WILL WASHINGTON -- It came two days after the announcement of the nuclear agreement with Iran, yet little mention was made on July 16 of the 70th anniversary of the first nuclear explosion, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The anniversary underscored that the agreement attempts to thwart proliferation of technology seven decades old...

By MICHELLE MALKIN It's the most far-reaching scandal in Washington that no one wants to talk about: Tens of millions of federal employees had their personal information hacked as a result of Obama administration incompetence and political favoritism...

By ANDY KOENIG and MARC SHORT Los Angeles Times July was supposed to be a particularly bad month for the U.S. economy. On June 30, the U.S. Export-Import Bank's charter officially expired. For the previous 81 years, this little-known New Deal relic handed out hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer-backed financing to benefit a select few well-connected companies, which used the taxpayers' generosity to sell their products overseas. ...

Fay Edwards Green DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Fay Edwards Green, 100, of Ponder, Mo., died July 27, 2015, at Westwood Hills Healthcare in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Fay was born on Jan. 5, 1915, in Ponder to Ben and Ona (Tyson) Edwards. Upon graduation from Doniphan High School, she began her teaching career at Union School, a one-room school in rural Ripley County. Fay then taught at Ponder, also a rural one-room school for some time...

James "Jimbo" Fuller James "Jimbo" Marcus Fuller, 50, of Poplar Bluff, passed away Tuesday, July 28, 2015, at Poplar Bluff Regional Hospital. Mr. Fuller was born in Poplar Bluff on February 19, 1965 to Adrian J. and JoElla Wolpers Fuller. He was of the Baptist faith and attended New Home General Baptist Church. Mr. Fuller worked as a maintenance technician at Westwood Hills Country Club. He was an outdoorsman who loved fishing, camping, and golfing...

Roberta Brumbaugh Roberta Brumbaugh, 76, of Silva, Mo. died Saturday, July 25, 2015 at Missouri Baptist Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Visitation is 1:00 p.m., Saturday, August 1st at Ruegg Funeral Home in Greenville, Mo. The funeral will follow at 2:00 p.m. at the Greenville chapel. Burial will be in the Greenville Cemetery. Online condolences can be made at www.rueggfuneralhomes.com...

Kathleen Ewing Kathleen Ewing, 61, of Poplar Bluff, died Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. The arrangements are pending and will be announced by Cotrell Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff.