Stories from Monday, December 19, 2016

Total: $422,300 Court: $42,500, a 14.9 percent cut from 2016 Planning: $74,700, a 20.1 percent cut from 2016 Police: $92,900, a 1.9 percent cut from 2016 Street: $212,200, a 13.5 percent cut from 2016 Proposed 2017 budget Court Total: $263,200 Salary, etc.: $202,300...

By DONNA FARLEY Staff Writer Poplar Bluff council members want city department leaders to reduce expenses without laying off employees, but say cuts are ultimately needed. City manager Mark Massingham has asked for nearly $422,300 in cuts from four departments under a 2017 budget proposal which go before a council vote Dec. 27...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Eugene Field Elementary has earned Lighthouse School status through the Leader in Me program, a coveted title held by only 250 schools in the world. The Leader in Me program is based on Dr. Stephen Covey's best-selling book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and was instituted at Eugene Field in 2013. Lighthouse status is awarded by the Franklin Covey Co., to schools exhibiting outstanding student outcomes resulting from the program's principles...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Missouri freshman lawmakers got a sampling of community college life and its impact in industry in Southeast Missouri on Thursday, visiting technology departments at Three Rivers College as part of their orientation tour of the state...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor Local authorities continue to investigate a weekend armed robbery in which a masked man allegedly stole money and cigarettes from the Casey's General Store on South Broadway. Just before 2 a.m. Saturday, Poplar Bluff Police Patrolman James Henry was sent to the convenience store, where he contacted employees, as well as a customer...

By PAT PRATT Staff Writer Going by the smiles on the first responders' faces it was hard to tell who enjoyed the Fraternal Order of Police Cops and Kids shopping spree more, the children or the men and women of public safety. More than 150 local children were treated to a $100 Christmas bonanza early Saturday at Poplar Bluff Wal-Mart. ...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor Two Poplar Bluff, Mo., men may face drug related charges after local authorities responding to a citizen complaint Friday morning found them allegedly passed out in a vehicle. At about 11:50 a.m., Poplar Bluff police officers were sent to a residence in the 700 block of Dewey Street in reference to a vehicle parked at the residence, with a subject passed out at the wheel of a vehicle, according to a press release from Capt. Dave Sutton...

Martha "Marty" Lou Bowman ELLSINORE, Mo. -- Martha "Marty" Lou Bowman, 49, of Ellsinore died Friday, Dec. 16, 2016 at her daughter's residence in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Visitation will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 20, at the McSpadden Funeral Home in Ellsinore, with the funeral services being held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21, at the Funeral Home Chapel. Rev. Darrel Davis will officiated. Burial will be in the Qulin Cemetery in Qulin, Mo...

By DAVID SILVERBERG With a longing to see Iceland, artist/explorer Jason Henthorne captured the island's picturesque coastal beauty in outstanding long exposure images first exhibited at the Blue Ocean Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Fla., in November...

By CAROLYN SMITH Staff Writer The new director, Caleb Elkins, breathes fresh air into Child Concern Center, 611 Poplar St., Poplar Bluff, Mo. Born and raised in Fagus, Caleb came to Poplar Bluff to attend Three Rivers College. In 2011, he earned an associates degree in music...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN In this world, it is often dangerous to be an enemy of the United States, said Henry Kissinger in 1968, but to be a friend is fatal. The South Vietnamese would come to appreciate the insight. So it is today with Aleppo, where savage reprisals against U.S.-backed rebels are taking place in that hellhole of human rights...

By GREG ALLEN Time is an important thing. The years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds of our lives tick away without much thought, few seem to notice. Take a moment or two and stare at a clock with a secondhand, then ponder the direction of life. Is television or a video game really all that important? How should I spend my time? What's deemed most important? I'm sure thinking of others would be a far less priority if we dwelt on it...

KIRKWOOD, Mo. --After suffering their most lopsided loss in five years, the Poplar Bluff Mules basketball team bounced back 15 hours later. Willie Lucas scored a season-high 30 points and the bench provided 22 more as the Mules beat Kirkwood 74-62 Saturday afternoon in the Friendship Shootout...

BROSELEY -- Savanah Aaron was through sitting. The Doniphan junior spent all of last season keeping the bench warm while nursing a torn ACL in her right knee. After colliding with Twin Rivers' Katie Baxter on a drive to the basket early in the third quarter Saturday, she hyper-extended that same knee and was sent to the bench once again...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Josh Lewis defended his title Saturday at the Tiger Classic, winning the heavyweight division as Poplar Bluff placed third as a team. Lewis earned a 4-2 win in the final at Cape Central High School while Drew Dugas lost his 182-pound championship match...

BROSELEY -- A disjointed and rushed final possession by the Greenville girls basketball team worked out just right in the end. On her way down the court with just under 10 seconds remaining, Beth Bangert weaved her way in between defenders before finding an opening and a clear path to the basket...

BROSELEY -- A sophomore and a stifling defense stole the opening act in the Lady Royals Christmas Classic. Malden sophomore Tebrya Benford scored a tournament-high 31 points and the 11th-seeded Green Wave scored 34 points off turnovers in a 66-49 upset of No. 6 Charleston on Saturday...

ELLINGTON -- There wasn't much Van Buren could do to slow down Wes Sharp. Ellington's big man led all scorers with 27 points as the Whippets beat Van Buren 53-38 on Pink Out Night on Friday. "He had to work his tail off to get that," Ellington coach Jeremy Peterson said...

BROSELEY -- The Lady Redbirds were happy to play in the afternoon. East Carter, the No. 13 seed, lost to No. 4 Kennett 56-27 in the first round of the Lady Royals Christmas Classic on Saturday. It was close early, competitive at the half, and not so much late...

PIEDMONT -- Hayden Thomas and Chance Wilkerson scored 22 points each leading the Twin Rivers Royals to a dominant 73-59 Ozark Foothills Conference win over Clearwater Friday night. Colin Garrette added seven points and Jacob Mitchell hit two from beyond the arc for six points...

Terry Summers Terry Summers, 58, of Harviell, Mo., died Friday, Dec. 16, 2016 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. He was born July 11, 1958 to Bill and Aileen (Easley) Summers in Poplar Bluff. Terry is survived by his three brothers: Bob Summers of Harviell, Wayne (Melodie) Summers of Poplar Bluff, and Joe (Lori) Summers of Fisk; and nieces and nephews...

John Scott Mathis DEXTER, Mo. -- John Scott Mathis, 54, of Bernie, departed this life Friday, Dec. 16, 2016 in Benton. He was the son of Vernon Carroll Mathis and June Faye Lawrence Mathis of Dexter, Mo. was born Jan. 18, 1962 in Sikeston. John Scott was an employee of Donald Bond Construction Company, where he was a heavy equipment operator. He attended Liberty Hill General Baptist Church in Dexter. John was an avid outdoorsman, he enjoyed duck hunting, deer hunting and motorcycles...

Anita Melton CORNING, Ark., -- Anita Faye Melton, 56, of Doniphan passed away Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016. Mrs. Melton was born Oct. 7, 1960 in Walnut Ridge, Ark. She worked for River Valley Inn Home and was a member of River Valley Community Church. Survivors are her children: Stephanie Nielson of Lakeland, Fla., Jessica Martin and Vela Melton of Doniphan; brothers: Ronnie Gobel of Boiling Springs, S.C. ...

David J. Hyslop David J. Hyslop of Bloomfield, 54, son of Mildred Irene Hyslop and the late James Calvin Hyslop, was born in Poplar Bluff, Mo. on July 18, 1962, and died at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau on Dec.15, 2016, following an accident at his rural Bloomfield home...

Harold E. Fleeman WAPPAPELLO, Mo. -- Harold E. Fleeman, 89, of Puxico, Mo., passed away Friday, Dec. 16, 2016 at Southeast Health in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Harold, the only son of the late Alonzo and Elizabeth Osborne Fleeman, was born Nov. 23, 1927 in Manila, Ark. ...

Gagging on city's disgusting water [EMAIL] Poplar Bluff is so worried & concerned about all these dog parks, skateboard parks, the almighty new football field, that has practically doubled our taxes recently and spending time and money on the Downtown Development that will probably end up dead in the water! When are we going to wake up and start worrying about the nasty, brown, stinky & disgusting water that is contaminating our bodies?!?! The State standard has supposedly been raised but they are doing the "so called" improvements, or so they say, in stages as slow as molasses instead of immediately like it needs to be!!. ...