Stories from Thursday, October 15, 2015

By BARBARA ANN HORTON News Editor All roads will lead home to Broseley, Mo., Friday and Saturday for the annual Homecoming, which has been taking place in the eastern Butler County community for more than two decades. The town will come alive with music, beginning with a fundraising concert by Blend Friday at the Twin Rivers High School gymnasium, 9327 Highway 51. ...

Travelers nearing Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center will notice a pink glow around the local medical facility during October. The shining pink lights are the hospital's way of calling attention to Breast Cancer Awareness month. There are more than 2.8 million women in the U.S. with a history of breast cancer. In Missouri, it accounts for one-third of all diagnosed cancers. And the biggest risk factors? Being a woman, and getting older...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Malden High School is embracing the future of technology in the classroom by adding a one-of-a-kind in the area virtual reality lab to the campus. School officials unveiled the new lab, which consists of six 3-D printers, six design computers, a portable 3-D projector, an electrical and recycling station...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Broseley Preschool and Daycare is receiving special status this fall due to its efforts to get kids away from the television and out to the playground. The preschool earned Missouri's MOve Smart designation after adopting new guidelines for physical activity designed to improve heath and wellness of children ages 2-5. They include recommendations for physical activity, learning integrated physical activity, screen time and staff participation...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor The city of Poplar Bluff will have sufficient funds to make payments on a $6 million bond issue for a new City Hall, Police Department and Municipal Court. "I think we can handle $6 million," City Manager Mark Massingham told the feasibility study committee Tuesday...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer The public will have a chance to tell hiring personnel what they want in the next superintendent of Poplar Bluff R-I Schools. Currently holding that position, lifelong educator Chris Hon will retire at the end of the school year. In September, the school board approved a search service provided by the Missouri School Boards Association...

By DAVID SILVERBERG Associate Editor NEELYVILLE -- The first annual Tiger Fest sponsored by the Neelyville School District will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday with a parade, featuring floats, antique cars and farm equipment, bicycles and other entries. Anyone wanting to be in the parade must be at the Neelyville Bus Garage by 9:15 a.m. to line up...

The Butler County Genealogy Society met Sept. 24 at the First United Methodist Church in Poplar Bluff with 19 members and guests attending. After a short business meeting led by President June Allen, the program was presented vy Connie Warren, Fred Wilkerson and Gloria Hampton who reported on a genealogy seminar they attended in Union City Tenn. ...

Veteran Perry James, 63, of Corning, Ark., recently participated in the National Veterans Golden Age Games in Omaha, Neb. This is the fourth year James has competed in the Golden Age Games. He won a silver medal in Air Rifle. He shot a 40. James also competed in bowling, 9-ball, and badminton. He plans to be in Detroit for the 2016 Golden Age Games. Perry would like to see a team of local Veterans in Detroit...

Amy Marie and Christopher Donald Dover have chosen the name Cara Lynn Dover for their 8-pound, 6-ounce daughter born at 8:44 a.m., Monday, Oct. 5, 2015, at Saint Francis Medical Center's Family BirthPlace in Cape Girardeau. Cara was 20 inches long. Grandparents are: Larry and Cindy Allen of Greenville, Mo., and Carolyn Cody of Eureka, Mo...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN "Seems the more people you kill, the more you are in the limelight." That blog post on the email address of Oregon mass-murderer Christopher Harper-Mercer was made after Vester Lee Flanagan shot and killed that Roanoke TV reporter and her cameraman...

Eva R. Jackson PIEDMONT, Mo. - Eva R. Jackson, 75, of Patterson, died Monday, Oct. 12, 2015 at the Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Arrangements will be announced by Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Piedmont.

By WALTER E. WILLIAMS I receive loads of mail in response to my weekly nationally syndicated column. Some recent mail has been quite disturbing. Here's a sample: "Given your support of freedom on a great many issues, I wish to bring to your attention the following George Mason University staff who have formally called on the President to use RICO statutes to punish organizations and individuals who dispute the 'consensus' of the" Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. ...

By MONA CHAREN The Justice Department has announced that it will begin releasing 6,000 "nonviolent" inmates from federal prisons starting at the end of this month. Welcome to the era of de-incarceration. At a conference named for former New York Mayor David Dinkins (who presided over the city at a time of runaway crime), Hillary Clinton decried the number of Americans behind bars and declared, "It's time to change our approach. It's time to end the era of mass incarceration."...

Marjorie Marler MALDEN, Mo. - Marjorie Hilda Marler, 90, of Union, Mo., died Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015 at Sunset Health Care in Union. Visitation will be at 6:00 p.m., Wed. Oct. 14 at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden. The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m., Thurs. Oct. 15 at Bradshaw Chapel in Malden. Burial will be in Mt. Gilead Cemetery in Clarkton, Mo...

Donald Maccani Donald P. Maccani, 65, of Fairdealing, died Monday, Oct. 12, 2015, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, after suffering a stroke a week earlier. Mr. Maccani, the son of the late William and Jeanne (Prouty) Maccani, was born June 5, 1950, in Toledo, Ohio. He spent most of his life in the suburban Detroit area, where he worked for many years in sales for Grosse Pointe Moving & Storage. He earned a bachelor's degree from Northern Michigan University...

Christopher Gentry Christopher Gentry, 43, of Poplar Bluff, died, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015 at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Mr. Gentry was born July 5, 1972 in Jonesboro, Ar. He was employed with KBI Construction and enjoyed hunting, fishing, shooting pool and riding country roads. ...

GIDEON, Mo. - Ollie Dwayne LunBeck Sr., 82, of Gideon, died Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015 at his residence in Gideon. Visitation will be at 10:00 a.m. on Wed. Oct. 11 at First Baptist Church of Gideon with the funeral immediately following. Burial will be in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Malden, Mo...

William Bates William Leonard Bates. 99, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died October 11, 2015 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. He was born July 21, 1916 in Hohenwald, Tenn. to the late Percy Bates and Hannah Hensley Bates. He was a long time resident of Poplar Bluff, Mo. William was a member of the Highland Drive Church of Christ...

B.A. Skidmore MALDEN, Mo. - B.A. Skidmore, 77, of Malden, died Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015 at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation will be from 9-11 a.m., Friday, Oct. 16 at Landess Funeral Chapel in Malden. The funeral will follow at noon at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield, Mo. ...

Thelma Penrod NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Thelma Penrod, 93, of Neelyville died Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015, at her residence in Neelyville. Mrs. Penrod was born March 23, 1922, in Neelyville to the late Lynn Grimes and Sarah Hancock Grimes. She was a life-long resident of Butler County and was owner/manager of a local grocery store. ...

DONIPHAN, Mo. - John F. Dusza, 71 year old resident of Oxly, Missouri, departed this life Oct. 10, 2015, at his residence. Mr. Dusza was born Sept. 22, 1944, in Doniphan, Mo., to the late John and Mary (Kovach) Dusza. John was a farmer and mechanic, and had worked for the City of Doniphan for 19 years. ...

By MICHELLE MALKIN Liberal readers have scoffed at my repeated warnings about the dangerous prospect of an enemy combatant dump on American soil. Over the years, I've flagged the Obama administration's scouting forays in Illinois, Kansas and South Carolina. Now, the White House is considering my adopted home, Colorado, as the new digs for the dregs of Gitmo...

We have an opportunity right now to really shake up Washington. At dinner tables around the country, folks are wondering if things are going to get better and if their children will ever be able to achieve The American Dream. Making ends meet has gotten harder and confidence in government has plummeted. ...

Dishing out advice I just noticed three of my neighbors went to DISH TV. You think that could be because New Wave is the worst cable company in the world? Thanks a lot, Bagby. Make him pay for it Let him pay for his own projects Today is Wednesday, Sept. ...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor Just in time for the most popular hunting seasons of the year, Butler County has a new conservation agent to replace retired agent John Pratt. Caleb Pryor, a native of the Kirksville, Mo., area, started work Oct. 1 after graduating from the Missouri Department of Conservation's agent academy in September. He previously earned a criminal justice degree from Missouri Western State University in 2014...

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER WASHINGTON -- There's the cycle of poverty. There's the cycle of violence. And then there's the cycle of gun talk. It starts with a mass shooting. Gun-control advocates blame the deaths on gun-control opponents, who argue, in turn, that none of the proposed restrictions would have had any effect on the incident in question. The debate goes nowhere. The media move on...

Jack Griffith WAPPAPELLO, Mo.-- Jack Griffith, 82 of Wappapello died Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015 at his residence. Visitation will be 6-8 p.m. Thursday at Cotrell Funeral Chapel in Wappapello and the funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Lakeland Assembly of God Church in Wappapello...

Hans Scheiffele PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Hans Scheiffele, 80, of Piedmont, Mo., died Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 at the Clark's Mountain Nursing Center in Piedmont. Arrangements will be announced by Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel, Piedmont. Online condolences: www.morrisonworleychapel.com...

Eva R. Jackson PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Eva R. Jackson, 75, of Patterson, Mo. died Monday, Oct. 12, 2015 at the Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Visitation will be held from 3 - 6 p.m. Thursday at the Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel in Piedmont. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the funeral home chapel. Burial will be in the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. Memorials have been suggested to the American Heart Association...

By KATHERINE WEBSTER SEMO News Service A Desloge, Missouri, man charged with stealing copper has been sentenced to prison for his role in the crime. James E. Mahurin, 43, pleaded guilty Sept. 18 in Perry County Court to second-degree burglary and theft of wire/electrical transformer or other device/pipe. He was sentenced to three years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on each count, to run concurrently...

SEMO News Service Two Cape Girardeau winners are sharing a $1 million lottery prize. Farah and Justin Shaddix of Cape Girardeau and Erik Kneebone of St. Peters, Missouri, will share a $1 million lottery payout, according to a news release from Missouri Lottery...

Lewis Franklin Pruitt, II Lewis Franklin Pruitt, II, 54, of Poplar Bluff died Monday, Oct. 5, 2015. Visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15 at Cotrell Funeral Chapel, followed by a Celebration of Life at 10:30 a.m. Lt. Commander Timothy Powell, Chaplain, will officiate. Burial will follow at Fairdealing Cemetery...

James "Buddy" Leon Gurlen James Leon Gurlen, 83, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Monday, Oct, 12, 2015, at Greenwood Leflore Hospital in Greenwood, Miss, He was a member of the Old Timers Fishing Club. Survivors include three sons, Shane Glover and wife Melissa of Cape Girardeau, Mo., Josh Gurlen and Jesse Gurlen and wife Leona, all of Poplar Bluff; four grandchildren, Audrey Glover, Addison Grace Starkey, Jessie Faith Gurlen and Shannon Gurlen; one sister, Peggy Sinople of Poplar Bluff, and a host of other relatives and friends.. ...

PBPD reports IRS scam On Tuesday the Poplar Bluff Police Department received an attempted stealing complaint. According to the report, the victim received an automated message, which advised he or she was being sued by the Internal Revenue Service and urged the victim to call a number immediately...

PIEDMONT -- Kim Young slammed 10 kills to lead Clearwater in a 25-13, 25-10 sweep of South Iron Tuesday night. Bailey Roach had 17 assists and four aces while Hannah McElmurry added two kills. Libby Chitwood chipped in a kill and two aces for the Lady Tigers (14-13-1)...

Arthur "Joe" Gunn Arthur Joseph "Joe" Gunn, Jr., 65, of Poplar Bluff, and a former resident of Arkansas, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015 at Westwood Hills Healthcare Center in Poplar Bluff. Mr. Gunn, son of the late Arthur J. Sr. and Edna L. Boyer Gunn, was born Aug. ...