Stories from Thursday, March 24, 2016

By EVAN HOLLEY Staff Writer Twin Rivers is "getting really close" to raising the money for a new NBA-style video board for their high school gymnasium, according to school board Superintendent Jeremy Siebert. District leaders held a luncheon last week with community business owners, as well as the video board company, Sportable Scoreboards, to discuss advertisements needed to raise the funds to install the board...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor NEW MADRID, Mo. -- A former Poplar Bluff, Mo., pastor is free on bond after recently being charged in New Madrid County with raping his then 4-year-old foster daughter in 2015. Keith E. Frye Jr., 54, of Lilbourn, Mo., was charged Thursday with the unclassified felony of first-degree statutory rape by New Madrid County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Lawson...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer As Poplar Bluff Public Schools completes the major components of its district-wide revitalization - a new high and middle school - work on the four elementary schools is also expected to soon begin. Board of Education members during the March meeting voted to approve a bid by Perryville, Mo., based Zoellner Construction for $1,586,997, which includes multiple projects at all four R-I elementary schools highlighted below...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer The city of Poplar Bluff, Mo., could tear down upwards of 100 derelict properties in the next three years, if requests for state grant funding are successful. The project would begin this year with 18 houses in Ward 5 and one additional commercial structure, an approximately $200,000 project. To qualify for the grant, all of the properties have to have been vacant for at least one year...

Joe Hutchason DEXTER, Mo. -- Jospeh "Joe" Hutchason, 94, of Dexter passed away Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at Crowley Ridge Care Center in Dexter. Services were held Sunday, March 20, 2016 at Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter. Dr. Barry Winders officiated. Burial followed in the Dexter Cemetery...

John Crawford John Bob Crawford, 87, of Harrison, Ark., formerly of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Harrison. Services were held Saturday, March 19, 2016 at the Cotrell Funeral Chapel in Poplar Bluff. Rev. Reggie Darnell officiated. Burial followed in the Mt. Zion Cemetery in Butler County...

Clarence Myers ADVANCE, Mo. -- Clarence A. Myers, 87, of Gipsy, Mo., passed away Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Services were held Thursday, March 17, 2016 at Berrong General Baptist Church near Zalma. Rev. Earl Elfrink and Rev. LeeRoy Hefner officiated. Burial followed at Berrong Cemetery...

Wayne Hargrave Wayne Hargrave, son of the late Richard and Wilmoth Morton Hargrave, was born in Sturdivant, Mo., on July 20, 1936, and passed away at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo., on March 16, 2016, at the age of 79 years, 7 months and 25 days...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN Friday evening's Donald Trump rally in Chicago was broken up by a foul-mouthed mob that infiltrated the hall and forced the cancelation of the event to prevent violence and bloodshed. Brownshirt tactics worked. The mob, triumphant, rejoiced...

To the Editor: I am writing this letter regarding our local Boys & Girls Club (BGC) here in Poplar Bluff. This program is an amazing opportunity for all children in our community. The programs and the staff at BGC are top notch and are directly geared to the kids they service. ...

Edna Kay Bounds Edna Kay Bounds, 63, of Poplar Bluff, Mo. died Sunday, March 20, 2016 at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. She was born June 29, 1952 in Oxford, Miss. Mrs. Bounds was of the Baptist faith. Survivors are her mother, Rosie Etta Johnson; children: Yvonne Tate, Alexander Bounds, Tracey and Stacey Bounds; sisters: Clydell Crouch, Lillie Forte, Reba Johnson, Eunice Bingley, Beverly Delph; brothers: Donald Johnson, Eddie Johnson and Terry Johnson; eight grandchildren: Mia Johnson, Kaylen Johnson, Tyasia Bounds, Kyle Bounds, Kahlil Carptenter, Cammryn Bounds, Elisha Bounds, and Aliyah Bounds.. ...

By MONA CHAREN "Burn it down." That's the slogan of faux conservatives who now rejoice that the Republican Party is being smashed by a slick, howlingly transparent grifter. The urge to destroy has a kind of pornographic appeal to a certain personality -- but it's a shock to find it so widespread...

Tracy Wilson BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Tracy Wilson, 78, of Dexter, Mo. died Tuesday, March 22, 2016, at the Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation will be after 10 a.m. Thursday, March 24, 2016, at the Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield with the funeral beginning at 11 a.m. ...

James "Jim" Triplett DEXTER, Mo. -- James "Jim" Triplett, 80, of Dexter died Monday, March 21, 2016 at the Southeast Health of Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, March 24, at the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter with the funeral service beginning at 1 p.m. in the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Chapel in Dexter with Rev. George Nite officiating. Burial will follow in the Dexter Cemetery...

By BRIDGET BROWN SEMO News Service Next week, Kent Buxton, formerly of Cape Girardeau, will make his debut as a contestant on the television game show "Jeopardy!" His first, but maybe not his last, episode will air Monday. The outcome of each show is kept under wraps, so no one but the contestants and those involved with the show know the winner of an episode before it airs...

HILLSBORO, Mo. -- Destiny Bolen is on pace to break both the single season and career home run records at Three Rivers. "I have all kinds of feeling that she'll get that and I hope she does," Three Rivers coach Jack Childress said. "She also gets base hits. I talked to her a lot about trying to get base hits and home runs will take care of themselves."...

Kameron Misner circled the bases the hard way and the easy way Tuesday afternoon. The Poplar Bluff senior hit the first home run at Bobby Strenfel Field and also sprinted home following a throwing error, turning a triple into an insurance run as the Mules opened SEMO Conference play with a 6-1 win over visiting Kennett...

The Poplar Bluff tennis team opened its season with a sweep of visiting West Plains on Tuesday. The Mules dropped just four games in a 9-0 home win. "A great first outing," Mules coach Charlie Harper said. "The wind was the only bad thing. Blowing very strong, making play difficult...

DONIPHAN -- After more than 16 years of attempts to bring the sport he loves back to his alma mater, the third time was the charm for Gary Pennington. The Doniphan school board voted Tuesday night to accept the Doniphan for Football Inc. proposal, which would bring football back to the school after a more than 30-year hiatus in three to four years...

BLOOMFIELD -- The hot hitting continued for the Lady Bearcats on Tuesday. Dexter, which is averaging 14 runs per game in its first three games this season, calculated 29 runs on 29 hits on its way to a 29-10 win at Bloomfield. "Last year we struggled a little bit with our hitting so we kind of focussed on that in the offseason and our hitters have turned it around," Dexter coach Starla Pulley said. ...