Stories from Tuesday, October 3, 2017

DEXTER, Mo. -- A Dexter woman lost her life in an accident Saturday afternoon, Sept. 30, when her vehicle ran off the east end of Whitman Street and came to rest upside-down in a pond. Karen Sue Hampton, 70, was eastbound on Whitman in her 2012 Toyota Camry at about 4:45 p.m. Saturday when her vehicle left the right side of the roadway, traveled across a yard and struck some landscaping pavers, then continued across the driveway at 116 Whitman and struck a brick retaining wall...

A citizen petition regarding the location of Poplar Bluff city hall, police department and municipal court is expected to be presented to officials Oct. 16. Jered Boeving, a supporter of the effort to keep city hall in Downtown, spoke Monday to the city council. The council also reviewed zoning changes to the Eight Points Development on Oak Grove Road and made an appointment to a city board...

It was supposed to be a weekend trip to Las Vegas for his girlfriend's birthday celebration, said Kent Sisco, of Piedmont, Mo. He never imagined it would end with them running for their lives after bullets began raining down on them during a Jason Aldean concert...

DEXTER, Mo. - Glen E. Wooley, 67, of Anderson, South Carolina, formerly of Dexter, died Wed., Sept. 27, 2017. Visitation will be at noon, Monday, October 2 at the Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Dexter. The funeral will follow at 1 p.m. in the Watkins and Sons Chapel in Dexter with Bro Steve Patterson officiating. Burial will be in the Chalk Bluff Cemetery in Dexter. www.watkinsfuneralhome.com...

PIEDMONT, Mo. - Betty Catherine Smith, 82, of Des Arc, MO, died Sept. 30, 2017 at Clark's Mountain Nursing Home in Piedmont. Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3 at Ruegg Funeral Home in Piedmont. The funeral will follow at noon in the Piedmont Chapel. Burial will follow at Old Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery near Patton, Mo. Pastor Mark Smith will officiate...

NFL about to learn a lesson in politics NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart recently said the message the players and teams are trying to express is being lost in a "political firestorm." He said they are under attack and their original message has been forgotten...

By GEORGE F. WILL Today, the Supreme Court will hear arguments tempting it to plunge into an impenetrable political thicket. It will consider a lower court's ruling that, if allowed to stand, will require the judiciary to determine whether and when partisanship in drawing electoral districts -- something as old as the Constitution -- is unconstitutional. And courts will wrestle repeatedly with cases requiring them to decide how to decide how much partisanship is too much...

Two weeks ago Senate and House leadership tasked their members with developing a solution to preserve in-home and nursing care for disabled Missourians who are impacted by a change in the point system that determines eligibility. Now, House Budget Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick and Senator Mike Cunningham say they are close to unveiling a solution they will be able to present to their colleagues as soon as next week...

Let's throw out a few numbers so we can put in perspective the NFL players taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem. Many say they are protesting against police treatment of blacks and racial discrimination. We might ask just how much sense their protest makes...

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- Peggy Louise Polsgrove, 88 of Dexter, formerly of Campbell, passed away Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017 in Cape Girardeau, surrounded by her husband and three children. Peggy, daughter of Fred and Sola Rosenbaum Froman and was born Wednesday, Jan. 30, 1929 in Flint, Mich...

Lester Shepard, 84, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Friday, Sept. 29, 2017 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center Mr. Shepard, the son of the late John Shepard and Gladys (Twitty) Johnson, was born Sept. 18, 1933 in Butler County. He was of the Christian faith and a self-employed farmer. ...

CORNING, ARK. -- A quintessential member of the Greatest Generation has passed on to be with her heavenly family. Edith (Gates) Brady of Success, Ark. left this world Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, at approximately 6:20 p.m. surrounded by her loving family at her "home on the hill" along the banks of the Current River north of Success, Ark. ...

MALDEN, Mo. -- Judy Ann Collins, 69, of Malden, died Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017 at her residence. Visitation will be at 10:30 - 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, at Bradshaw Funeral Homes, Inc., in Malden. Graveside service will be at noon, Wednesday, at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery with Rev. William Crawford officiating. Burial in Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield...

Betty A. Ash, 82 of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed away Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017 at her residence. Mrs. Ash, the daughter of the late Emmett R. and Mary (Vickers) Fox, was born Oct. 21, 1934 in Wappapello. She was of the Methodist faith. Mrs. Ash was a homemaker and enjoyed spending time with her family...

Poplar Bluff Domino's, located at 2140 N. Westwood Blvd., and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) are teaming up with Poplar Bluff Fire Department to promote fire safety during Fire Prevention Week (Oct. 8-14). On Oct. 10 from 4-8 p.m., anyone who orders a Domino's pizza may be randomly selected and surprised at the door when their pizza arrives aboard a fire engine. ...

Ruth Marie Fisher, 67, daughter of the late Earl and Marie Killmer, left this life Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017 after a brief battle with the after effects of chemotherapy. Survivors include her companion and husband of 43 years, Wiley Fisher; her son, Det. Scott Fisher and her daughter, Kathy Fisher. Ruth was also blessed with four grandchildren, the lights of her life: Kyle Fisher, Ryan Fisher, Samantha Hartzell and Stephanie Brannum...

MALDEN, Mo. -- Merle Lou Gray, 95, of San Angelo, Texas, formerly of Malden, died Saturday, at Baptist Memorial Elise Gayler Long-Term Care in San Angelo, Texas. Graveside service will be at 11 a.m., Friday, at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Malden with Rev. Aulden LeBlanc officiating. Burial will be in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Malden...

Thomas W. Graham III, an Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadet at Maranatha Baptist University, Watertown, Wis., has graduated from the three-week airborne training course, also known as "jump school," at the U.S. Army Airborne School, Fort Benning, Columbus, Ga...

Three Rivers College officially kicked off basketball season at the stroke of midnight Saturday ... or technically first thing Sunday. Raider Madness, the last one ever in the Bess Activity Center with the Libla Family Sports Complex expected to be completed before next season, featured a three-point contest, a cheer performance and 10-minute scrimmages by both the Raiders and Lady Raiders...

PIEDMONT -- The Clearwater baseball team hasn't fallen behind much this season. Its average margin of victory through 10 wins was 9.2 runs, with big leads in the early innings eventually holding at the end being the norm. But the Tigers needed to prove they could battle back from adversity against Greenville in the opening round of the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament, three days after dropping a one-run decision to their Wayne County counterparts...

WEST PLAINS, Mo. -- The Poplar Bluff softball team enters the postseason having lost consecutive games following a 5-2 setback at West Plains on Monday. "We're not playing our sharpest," Mules coach Lisa Boyer said. Poplar Bluff (21-7) didn't have an RBI and left nine runners stranded against the Zizzers (23-4)...

PIEDMONT -- Things were a little disconcerting for the Twin Rivers Royals midway through Monday's first-round game in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament. Naylor pitcher Caleb Urich had only allowed three hits through the first four innings and the fifth-seeded Eagles led by three runs...

Carl Monroe Clubb, 88, of Florissant, Mo., formerly of Wayne County, died Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, at the Mark Twain Caring Center in Poplar Bluff, MO. Arrangements are currently pending with Ruegg Funeral Home, Greenville. Online condolences can be made at www.rueggfuneralhomes.com...

WOODLAND, Mo. -- The Dexter Bearcats went into pool play as the top seed and finished as the top seed, but the rest of Stoddard County made them work for it. Dexter swept Bloomfield and Advance and split with Woodland to hang on to the No. 1 seed in the Stoddard County Activities Association Tournament heading into Thursday's single-elimination bracket. The top four seeds, who all played in Monday's pool play, kept their starting spots with Advance being second, then Bloomfield and Woodland...

Derek Rahlmann finished with an eagle and a birdie to win the Westwood Hills Country Club Medal Play Championship on Sunday. Rahlmann shot even-par 142 with rounds of 4-under 67 and 75 to beat Bobby Godwin by one shot. Godwin shot 72 and 71. It was Rahlmann's fourth WHCC Medal Play win and first since 2009...

VAN BUREN -- Morgan Shockley blasted a double, a single and drove in four runs as the Van Buren softball team run-ruled Twin Rivers 13-3 on Monday. Shockley went 2 for 2 with a run scored while Brooke Jackson was 3 for 3 with three runs scored. Jalynn Morgan and Sydnee Sanders each belted a double and seven different players had RBIs for the Lady Dawgs (18-6), who scored a run in every inning and finished with 15 hits...