Stories from Wednesday, October 3, 2018

On Saturday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. all military veterans are invited to attend a special dinner in their honor at the Dexter Elks Lodge. The event will be hosted by the Elks, and it is their desire to recognize all veterans for their service. Any proceeds will go to the Elks Veterans Committee. ...

DEXTER -- Auditors called into question Sept. 25 for a second time a decision by a Stoddard County board to spend $2.57 million on building construction that was not put out for bid. The matter was raised as Senate Bill 40 board members received audits for the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years. The matter was previously questioned by state auditors during a review of Stoddard County financials...

Stoddard County Commissioners heard options from a new phone, internet and cable provider during their Monday morning meeting. GoSEMO Fiber, SEMO Electric Cooperative's broadband project, offers Fiber-fast Internet, HDTV and phone packages for six counties...

DEXTER -- Members of the Senate Bill 40 board that oversees programs for the developmentally disabled in Stoddard County voted Sept. 25 to make approximately $60,000 in payments to an existing sheltered workshop, while stripping money for other new programs from their 2019 budget...

To whom it may concern in response to articles in the Dexter Statesman on 9-12-18 edition, by Steven Moore and Michael Jensen. As a woman, I find Trump offensive as his comments to treatment of women i.e.: "just grab them in (private area)." His comments as he makes fun of disabled people; his petty, childish behavior when he tweets comments to get "back at people" who disagree with him or his actions. ...

By STEPHEN MOORE I have spent some three decades railing against faulty budgetary scoring of tax bills, but the latest charade from the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Tax Committee takes the cake. The story of fiscal phony math is so indefensible when it comes to the Trump tax cut that you may not believe it could be true. Alas, it is...

Republican leaders are "a bunch of wimps," said Jerry Falwell Jr. Conservatives and Christians need to stop electing "nice guys." "The US needs street fighters like Donald Trump at every level of government because the liberal fascists Dems are playing for keeps."...

''You know, when a person gets to be 50 or 60 years old, you think, 'I don't want to get old,' but then you get old, and you really don't give a rip," laughs 92-year-young Connie Hux. "You can say and do whatever you want!" Born Jan. 26, 1926, Hux's life began in Oakland, California. Her mother was born in Syracuse, New York, after her parents immigrated there from Parma, Italy. Hux's father was born in Oakland; however, his family had emigrated from the Azore Islands in Portugal...

DEXTER, Mo. - Carol Sue Whitchurch, daughter of the late Walter W. Davis and Wanda Lee Taylor Davis was born on April 12, 1947 in New Madrid County, Mo. She completed her earthly journey on October 1, 2018 at her residence in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Mrs. Whitchurch worked for the State of Oklahoma as well as the State of Missouri. She worked with special needs clients and retired from Southeast Missouri Department of Mental Health in Poplar Bluff after 19 years of service...

NEELYVILE, Mo. -- April McKnight Stevenson, 38, of Naylor, Mo. died Monday, Oct. 1, 2018 at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. No visitation is scheduled. A private graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Fowler and Sons Funeral Home in Neelyville is in charge of arrangements...

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Joyce E. Lang, 88, of Patterson, Mo. died Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018 at the Parkland Health Center in Bonne Terre, Mo. Visitation will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday at the St. Catherine Catholic Church in Piedmont. A Funeral Mass will follow at 11 a.m. Saturday at the church. Burial will be in the Rockwell Cemetery near Patterson...

Bailiff is Top Lister Lucas Edington, broker/owner of Mossy Oak Properties, has announced Tammy Bailiff as the Top Lister for September. Bailiff has deep roots in Southeast Missouri. She is a 1985 graduate of Puxico High School and resided in Dexter for numerous years before settling in Van Buren with her husband, John, and daughter, Brittany in 1999...

Keith Knight, 89, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, in Poplar Bluff. At Mr. Knight's request there will be no public services. Condolences: www.whitesandersfuneralhome.com

PUXICO, Mo. -- Arthur V. Rector, 75, of Wappapello, Mo., died Monday, Oct. 1, 2018, at his residence. Visitation will be at noon Friday at Morgan Sifford Chapel in Puxico. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. at the funeral chapel with Rev. Aarvin Haynes officiating. Full military rites will follow the service. Burial will be Womack Cemetery...

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- It took until the final at-bat but the Campbell Camels finally received the clutch hit it needed to secure the top prize at the Campbell Fall Baseball Classic Tuesday. Campbell leadoff hitter Charles Parker stepped to the plate with the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning and hammered a line drive up the middle...

Vercie Dunivan Cooper, 84, of Bloomfield, daughter of the late William Lesley and Georgia Maybelle Page Dunivan, was born near Zadock, Mo. Feb. 1, 1924, passed away at the Bloomfield Nursing Center Oct. 2, 2018. Vercie had lived in this area most of her life. She had worked as a licensed General Baptist minister, was a beautician and a member of the Oak Ridge General Baptist Church. She enjoyed sewing, cooking, singing and quilting...

DONIPHAN,Mo. -- Cleola Mae Sawyer, 87-year-old resident of Doniphan, Mo., died Monday, Oct. 1, 2018 in Doniphan. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 in the Edwards Funeral Chapel with Bro. Hubert Payne officiating. Visiting will be Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018 in the Edwards Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will be in the New Hope Cemetery...

Area Girl Scout leaders plan to file complaints with the scouting group's national office and launch a letter-writing campaign in an effort to keep Camp Cherokee Ridge open. The board of directors of Missouri Heartland Girl Scouts voted last month to close the Southeast Missouri camp Dec. 16 and sell the property...

KELLY -- Poplar Bluff nearly earned a comeback win over Kelly Tuesday, but its efforts came up just short. The Mules entered the seventh inning in a 5-1 hole before scoring three runs in the final side to cut the Kelly lead to one. They couldn't find the tying run, though...

Three Rivers College recently met a milestone that many institutions of higher education only strive to accomplish. The college completed its accreditation review with the Higher Learning Commission meeting all criteria with no concerns, scoring a 100 percent for the first time in TRC's history...

In a slow pool, Christian Todd shattered his personal record in the 100-yard freestyle. Todd won the 100 free with a time of 1 minute, 5.35 seconds, a good 7 seconds better then his previous best. "I don't know why it was fast. I'm not sure. I just did really well today," Todd said. "I was really surprised ... I cut a lot of time. I've been working really hard to cut a lot of time and I was really happy."...

PIEDMONT -- Clearwater baseball looks at itself as more than just a team. Each player looks at one another as family. From eating team breakfast on game days, giving those who need it a ride to and from practice when need be or going swimming together in their free time, the players have formed a tight-knit group, and it's led to success this season...

David Michael Thompson, 48, formerly of Poplar Bluff, Mo., left this earth on Sept. 25, 2018 at St. David's Medical Center, Round Rock, Texas. David was born March 4, 1970 in Poplar Bluff, Mo. He worked as a Millwright at Austin White Lime Company near Georgetown, Texas, loving his short time there. He loved the outdoors, being near water, camping, fishing, riding motorcycles and spending time with family...

Dexter volleyball coach Starla Pulley felt optimistic despite her team's loss to Mountain View-Liberty on Tuesday night at the Bearcat Event Center. The Bearcats took a team that averaged 24 wins a season over the past 10 years, won a state championship in 2014 and placed third at state just two years ago to three sets...

SB40 Board debate I believe we, as citizens of Stoddard County need to get more involved with our tax dollars and how they're being spent by our commissioners, our Senate Bill 40 board and the workshop board. Our tax dollars are the benefit to the mentally disabled citizens of our county. ...