Stories from Friday, June 17, 2016

By MARK BLISS SEMO News Service The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents will look to approve the school's general operating and auxiliary budgets for fiscal 2017 when it meets today in St. Louis. University officials have proposed a $114 million operating budget, an increase of about $2 million over the current year's budget...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Temperatures are climbing to dangerous levels in several Midwestern and Southern states. The National Weather Service has issued heat advisories for parts of Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Taxpayers will benefit from lower asphalt costs as Butler County repairs six county roads and Poplar Bluff paves two city streets. A drop of 20-25 percent is being seen by some local agencies compared to this time last year...

Give atheists their own day In response to Friday's letter to the editor, I would like to praise the lady who wrote the letter concerning our government honoring our God and our country. I'd like to add to that: our so-called atheists, why do they accept their holiday pay or bonuses or so-forth and another thing, if they don't like us worshiping our God over the holidays give them their own national holiday which should be April the first which someday they will be fooled. ...

By MONA CHAREN Whole doctoral dissertations could be devoted to the question of what makes President Obama angry and what does not. His Tuesday broadside against Donald Trump stood in marked contrast to Sunday's somewhat-cold response to the Orlando massacre. This is a pattern...

To the Editor: On November 21, 2002, a baby girl named Heavenly Grace Hafford was introduced into this world to a father, Steven and mother, Debra who began already plotting how their sweet young baby girl was going to be raised. Not personally knowing the Hafford's but having two young daughters myself I can almost picture what kind of plans they may have had for this little child being held so gently by them. ...

The President's List and Dean's List for the Spring 2016 semester at Black River Technical College have been announced. The two lists recognize local full-time students who have achieved the highest grade point average. The President's List includes students who have earned a compiled grade point average of 4.00...

JONESBORO -- Arkansas State University has released the list of 2,067 students who were awarded diplomas on the undergraduate and graduate levels during the 2016 spring commencement services May 14. Chancellor Tim Hudson conferred the degrees in a ceremony held in the Convocation Center...

More than $10.1 million in prizes of $1,000 or more were awarded to Missouri Lottery players during May. Thousands of other prizes of less than $1,000 also were awarded during the month. Winners of $1,000 or more in May include the following: Pick 4 winners:...

If they play long enough, pretty much every athlete not named Bo Jackson must choose a single sport to focus on. It was a tough decision for Bloomfield's Noah Vandiver. He led the Wildcats' basketball team in scoring and rebounding as they went to the final four for the first time in 50 years...

By CALEB PRYOR Mo. Dept. of Conservation On March 30, 1927, the eastern bluebird was officially designated the Missouri state bird by an act of the Missouri Legislature because it was "common in Missouri" and "a symbol of happiness." This was an appropriate selection in every respect. ...

SHANNON COUNTY, Mo. -- Missouri Department of Conservation agents would like to speak to the driver of a 2007-12 dark gray four-door GM pickup, reported by an anonymous tip to have been at Log Yard Access along the Current River between 8:30 and 9 p.m. ...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Millions of people will take to the riverways of Southeast Missouri for summertime water sports in the coming weeks, and, as they do every year, disputes will likely arise between property owners and visitors over access rights...

Opal Womack Bondurant DEXTER, Mo. -- Opal Womack Bondurant, 96 of Overland Park, Kan., died June 12, 2016. A graveside service honoring Mrs. Bondurant will be at 10 a.m., Friday, 17th at Missouri State Veteran Cemetery, 17357 Stars and Stripes Way Bloomfield, MO 63825. Burial will follow with Watkins & Sons Funeral Service in charge of services...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Area residents can expect to see road construction continue through the summer and into the fall on a 10-mile section of Highway 60/67 north of Poplar Bluff, Mo., that is travelled by more than 13,000 vehicles a day. The state is completing a $2 million project to repave portions of the highway, with a completion date of October, said David Wyman, area engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor If you're a tournament angler, this should be a good weekend because you'll have a choice of smallmouth or largemouth events, and children also can partake in a crappie tournament geared just for them. The first event is the Chaonia Volunteer Fire Department tournament Saturday, fished out of, where else, Chaonia Landing...