Stories from Friday, October 13, 2017

Not only did the State of Missouri step in and offer assistance to Florida during the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the city of Poplar Bluff and Ozark Border Electric Cooperative did the same. Municipal Utilities linemen Mike Ketcherside, Shane Bridgewater, Kenny Barks and Terry Hicks departed Poplar Bluff Sept. 7 for Atlanta, Ga. to ride out the storm until heading for Altamonte Springs, Fla., the next morning...

An error on the state level has area school officials concerned after the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education declared statewide Algebra and English test scores taken last year invalid for yearly comparison purposes. A release by Stacey Preis, deputy commissioner for the Division of Learning Services, stated End-of-Course exams, or EOCs, for Algebra I and English II will be removed due to an error by the state's assessment vendor. ...

In the wake of the horrible, unbelievably sad and insane shooting massacre of 59 people in Las Vegas, on top of more than 500 wounded, it's time to blame human evil on guns again. The misled, uninformed and, in some cases, ideologically twisted, don't get it that the evidence of gun laws doing any good is leaky at best and that it's antics like theirs that boost sales. A calm, cool reluctance, meanwhile, reduces them...

He should have been sent up river Poor Ben Ressel -- he got run out of town. It's a shame he didn't have the privilege of being represented by the public defender. He should have been sent up the river. Mr. Prominent Business Man -- hardly a man in my opinion! Thank you...

Lyndle Kearbey, 82, of Poplar Bluff, died on Thursday, Oct.12, 2017 at Mark Twain Caring Center. Arrangements are pending with Moore Funeral Service in Poplar Bluff. Online condolences: www.moorefuneralservice.com

JACKSON, Mo. --Fall weather arrived just in time for the cross country season to heat up. "It made a major difference, I could tell, in my running," Poplar Bluff senior Katie Sliger said after placing third in the SEMO North Conference meet Thursday...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Walter Ray Allstun, 90, of Dexter, died Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017, at Joplin Gardens, in Joplin, Mo. Visitation will be from 5 -8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 13, at the Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Dexter. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m., Saturday, at...

Marilyn Kay Jewell, 55, of Poplar Bluff, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017 in Poplar Bluff. Kay was born in Ironton, Mo. to Charles and Mary Duncan Sept. 17, 1962. She graduated from Clearwater High School in Piedmont, Mo. in 1980. She went on to earn a BS in BA from Southeast Missouri State University in 1984. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Two days after it split sets with Notre Dame in pool play, the Poplar Bluff volleyball team looked short on answers against the same opponent. The Mules couldn't hang with the Bulldogs, letting things get away midset as they were swept 25-16, 25-13 in a SEMO Conference Tournament semifinal on Thursday night...

NEELYVILLE, Mo. -- Barbara Johnston Bell, 72, of Naylor, Mo., died Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, at Westwood Hills Healthcare, Poplar Bluff, Mo. She was a secretary at Vitronic, Her hobby was crossword puzzles. She attended the Naylor Church of God. Survivors are children, Susan Wilson and husband, Randy, of Naylor, Mo., and Thomas Johnson Bell of the home in Naylor; granddaughter, Jessica Meyers and husband Brandon of Naylor...

DEXTER -- When Krysten Garrison tore her ACL at the beginning of the summer, everyone was appropriately upset. The two-time team leader in kills was going to miss her senior season. Dexter coach Carmen Morgan threw away the now tainted team gear from the first match of the summer. At Dexter's fall media day, Garrison, her leg wrapped in bandages after recently having surgery, couldn't talk about missing her senior season without crying...

Ogden Elijah Wheelis, 92, of Poplar Bluff, Mo. died Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center. Mr. Wheelis was born June 7, 1925, in Illinois. He married Mary Lucille Wheelis July 18, 1969, She died July 26, 2014. He was of the Pentecostal faith and was a member of the Midland Church. ...

Ogden Wheelis -- Poplar Bluff, Mo. Walter Allstun -- Dexter, Mo. Marilyn Kay Jewell -- Poplar Bluff, Mo. Barbara Johnston Bell -- Naylor, Mo.