Stories from Friday, December 30, 2016

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man was arrested Wednesday morning for again having resumed his suspected counterfeiting operation. Shedric Douglas Anderson's arrest comes less than a week after he posted bond on multiple felonies, including two forgery charges stemming from his earlier alleged counterfeiting activities in November and October...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff woman was arrested after a delayed strong-armed robbery was reported by a retailer Saturday in Sikeston. According to Sikeston Department of Public Safety, a report was made at 12:55 p.m. from an employee of J.C. Penney Co., 1215 S. Main St., in Sikeston...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- A Campbell, Mo., man faces a maximum of life imprisonment after recently pleading guilty in federal court to a string of five armed robberies. Alexander Trent Whisnant, 23, pleaded guilty Wednesday, Dec. 21, to "all five armed robberies, plus an additional count for using a firearm during a crime of violence" before U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr., according to Assistant U.S. Attorney John Koester...

By BEN KLEINE SEMO News Service Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter soon will be leaving the elected office he has held since 2005, but he said he will continue to investigate the slaying of 19-year-old Mischelle Lawless -- a closed case he reopened two years into his tenure...

By JAY AMBROSE Tribune News Service Barack Obama first came to national attention as a conciliator. It was 2004 at the Democratic National Convention and the Illinois state senator made a resounding, eloquent speech calling for national unity. Five years later, at his inauguration as president of the United States, he made another resounding, eloquent speech, this time calling for national division...

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN Did the community organizer from Harvard Law just deliver some personal payback to the IDF commando? So it would seem. By abstaining on that Security Council resolution declaring Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal and invalid, raged Bibi Netanyahu, President Obama "failed to protect Israel in this gang-up at the UN, and colluded with it."...

Three Naylor High School graduates have won Douglas Lacy Harris Award study grants of $500 each to help underwrite their coursework at Three Rivers College. The award fund is administered by the Three Rivers Community College Foundation. All three recipients left high school with grade point averages well above 3.0...

Route U in Butler and Stoddard counties will be closed as contractor crews perform bridge repairs. The bridge is located between Route H in Butler County and Route CC in Stoddard County. Weather permitting, work will performed Monday, Jan. 9, through Wednesday, March 15, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily...

To the Editor: It is with great pleasure that I write this letter thanking our community for the success of an event planned, conducted and carried out by our friends at Bluff Burger and Brew. Owners Seth Gragg and Blake Collins along with their staff have been most helpful in achieving our Mission at the Boys & Girls Club of Poplar Bluff over the past two years. ...

By FRANK CAMPA Mo. Dept. of Conservation The alternative methods deer season is currently ongoing through Jan. 3. Some people are taking advantage of this opportunity, and some will still be archery hunting for deer and turkey through Jan. 15. Something you may want to think about doing when you are done hunting (the last anticipated hunt) for the season is to remove your tree stands from public ground...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Hunters and anglers will be able to carry most of the necessary licensing paperwork on their mobile devices in 2017 if the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission goes through with the expected approval of its new computerized electronic licensing plan at its January Commission meeting...

By PAUL DAVIS Outdoors Editor Duck hunting in Missouri's Middle Zone is getting down to the wire, and hunters have only five days remaining in the season. After Jan. 3, they'll have to move to the South Zone or call it a year. Unfortunately, last weekend's rain may have done more harm than good for those who hunt MDC's managed wetlands because it put a lot of water on fields to the south of us...

With the Mules clogging up the paint, Kenwood found open 3-point shooters and knocked out the host in the semifinals of the 30th annual Poplar Bluff Showdown. The Broncos from Chicago sank 9 of 19 shots from 3-point range as the defending champs returned to the final by beating Poplar Bluff 67-54 Wednesday night at the Senior High Gym...

HOXIE, Ark. -- The Poplar Bluff girls basketball team advanced to the championship game at the Mustang Classic. Kiley Bess and Autumn Dodd combined to outscore McCrory (Ark.) in a 73-37 win by the Mules on Wednesday. Poplar Bluff (5-5) will play host Hoxie (Ark.) at 7 p.m. Thursday in the final...

BLOOMFIELD -- For 3 1/2 quarters, it looked like Bloomfield was about to do something it hadn't done in 50 years. A night after beating the No. 4 seed, the fifth-seeded Wildcats held an eight-point lead against top-seeded Hayti and were six minutes away from reaching their own tournament final for the first time since 1966...

BLOOMFIELD -- When Dexter coach Josh Dowdy saw the seeds for the 60th annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament, the first thing he did was erase them. With a field so balanced, Dowdy wanted the No. 2 Bearcats to play as though they weren't one of the favorites...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- With less than a minute remaining in the fourth frame, the Advance boys basketball team suddenly found itself trailing to third-seeded Jackson when Payton Salyer hit a 3-pointer. For 3 1/2 quarters, the Hornets had led. No matter. Advance's Preston Wuebker took the inbounds pass, pushed the ball down the court and finished through traffic at the rim to knot the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament semifinal at 44-all...

BLOOMFIELD--Two familiar foes will meet once again to renew a storied rivalry as the eighth-seed Twin Rivers Royals will clash with Bernie, the No. 10 seed, in the consolation championship of the 60th annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament. The Royals used a 12-5 third-quarter run to beat Van Buren 62-49 Wednesday before Bernie beat conference rival Puxico 73-56...

Marjory P. Manns Marjory P. Manns, 81, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died December 12, 2016 at Westwood Hills Nursing facility. She was born August 13, 1935 in Butler County, to the late David Walter Edwards and Ida Alexander Edwards. She was a member of the South Poplar Bluff General Baptist church...

Joe Gulledge Sr Joe Gulledge Sr., 54, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Tuesday, December 27, 2016 at the Mark Twain Caring Center. Mr. Gulledge was born August 18, 1962 in St. Louis, Mo. He was an auto body mechanic and enjoyed restoring cars and hotrods. He also enjoyed outdoors, working in the yard and helping friends and family...

Gregory Alan Korrison Gregory Alan Korrison, age 51, of Wappapello, Missouri, a wonderful and loving Husband, Father, Brother and Grandfather, lost his fight with cancer on Thursday, December 22, 2016 in Saint Louis, Missouri. He was born in Elgin, Illinois on March 26, 1965 to Jerome and Gloria Korrison (nee Westphal). ...

Bobbie Lee Alsup KENNETT, Mo. - Bobbie Lee Alsup, 91, of Greenville Mo., formerly of Kennett, died Mon., Dec. 26, 2016 at the VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Visitation will be 10 a.m., Sat., Dec. 31 at the McDaniel Funeral Home in Kennett. The funeral will follow at 11:30 a.m. ...

Annetta Marr Annetta Francine Marr, age 78, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at Cedargate, in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mrs. Marr was born February 27, 1938 in Poplar Bluff, Mo. to the late Henery Edward and Mattie Tacy Loyd. On June 16, 1987 she married Thomas Marr at Dallas, Texas. ...

Stephanie Nicole Price VAN BUREN, Mo. - Stephanie Nicole Price, daughter of Steven Fry and Patricia Lynn Potter was born July 10, 1986 in Watseka, Ill., and was taken from this life too soon on December 24, 2016. She had attained the age of thirty years, five months and fourteen days...