Stories from Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Staff Reports After 39 years leading newspapers in Poplar Bluff and the surrounding area, Daily American Republic publisher and president of Butler County Publishing Don Schrieber will retire at the end of the month. The move coincides with control of Butler Country Publishing, which also includes newspapers in Dexter, Puxico and Doniphan, transitioning from Gary W. Rust to Rust Communications, a corporation led by Rust's three sons...

Stoddard and Butler County officials say the numbers of noncompliant sex offenders in their counties were skewed in the recently released state audit. The information released by state Auditor Nicole Galloway says 1,259 sex offenders are unaccounted for in Missouri. The audit ranked Stoddard County as having the highest rate, 25.2 percent, with Butler County as the third-worst at 20 percent...

PIEDMONT, Mo. - Bonnie M. Warmack, 78, of Piedmont, died Monday, Oct. 8, 2018 at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, MO. Graveside services will be at 11 a.m., Thurs., Oct. 11 at the Berrong Cemetery in Bollinger County under the direction of Morrison-Worley Funeral Chapel...

This month marks the 10-year anniversary of the housing market meltdown that led to the Great Recession. Is another crisis looming around the corner? Hopefully not, but it is worrisome that a decade later Washington is engaged in the same derelict behavior that caused the crisis. Government agencies are still issuing taxpayer guarantees on more than 90 percent of mortgages -- many with less than 5 percent down payments. Yikes...

After a 50-year siege, the great strategic fortress of liberalism has fallen. With the elevation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court seems secure for constitutionalism -- perhaps for decades. The shrieks from the gallery of the Senate chamber as the vote came in on Saturday, and the sight of that bawling mob clawing at the doors of the Supreme Court as the new justice took his oath, confirm it...

Why do Democrats resort to mob rule? In the wake of the national disgrace following the confirmation of a new Supreme Court justice, that seems a legitimate question to ask. Those gathering in protest, be it Ferguson, Planned Parenthood, immigration or a Supreme Court nominee, are not just exercising their First Amendment rights...

In an effort to renew hazard mitigation plans for six area counties, including Stoddard, Bootheel Regional Planning Executive Director Hannah Barnett met with several school superintendents during Tuesday's commission meeting. Currently, hazard mitigation plans are out of date within the county and Bootheel Regional Planning is in charge of updating those plans...

Eight hundred sixty-eight thousand, nine hundred seventy. That is how many meals Tyson Foods Inc. Meals That Matter provided to victims of Hurricane Florence. Over a nine-day span Meals That Matter cook teams from Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia descended on ravaged North Carolina and provided hot meals to those who had been impacted by the deadly storm and to those who were volunteering to help...

"The core of everything we do in our classroom is geared toward giving students the tools they need to be independent, contributing members of our community," says special services teacher Lacy Bennett, referring to the basic concept of her Life Skills class...

DEXTER, Mo. - Mike McCollum, 61, of Dexter, died Monday, Oct. 8, 2018 at the Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation will be from 5 - 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 11 at the Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Dexter. The funeral will be at 2 p.m., Friday, Oct. 12 in the Watkins & Sons Chapel in Dexter with the David Wilson of Bloomfield officiating...

A new formation wasn't enough to fix the young Poplar Bluff Mules' problems. They switched from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 against Saxony Lutheran on Tuesday and the change initially boosted Poplar Bluff, but the Mules eventually reverted to their habits and lost 3-1 at Mules Stadium...

Staff Reports Three Rivers College President Dr. Wesley A. Payne joined with Arkansas State University Chancellor Dr. Kelly Damphousse to sign articulation agreements for 21 academic programs Sept. 27 at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center. "We're thrilled this new partnership will create a smoother transition for our graduates looking to pursue bachelor's degrees at A-State," Payne said. ...

MALDEN, Mo. - William Lee Zimmerman, 84, of Malden, died Monday, Oct. 8, 2018 at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation will be from 6 - 8 p.m., Wed., Oct. 10 at the Landess Funeral Chapel in Malden. The funeral will be at 2 p.m., Thurs., Oct. 11 at the Landess Funeral Chapel in Malden with Pastor Kevin Hall officiating. Burial will be in the Elder Cemetery in Campbell, MO. Landess Funeral Home of Malden is in charge of arrangements...

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- Pearl Mae Jordan Labombarbe, 81-year-old resident of Doniphan, died Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018 in Doniphan. A memorial service will be held at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12 at the Doniphan United Methodist Church.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Jack Mehner and Lowell Peterson were hospitalized Tuesday when a plane they were flying flipped at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. The private aircraft carrying the two men flipped at 11 a.m., according to a statement issued by Cape Girardeau public-information manager Nicolette Brennan. The airport is a city property...

Mary Ann Mertens of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, at her residence. Arrangements are pending with Cotrell Funeral Service.

Richard (Dick) Miller, 70, of Poplar Bluff, passed Sept. 30, 2018 at Baptist DeSoto Hospital in Mississippi. He was born on Nov. 28, 1947 to Carl and Grace (Scott) Miller of Butler County, Mo. Dick enjoyed golfing and was a lifelong member of the Poplar Bluff Eagles...

DALLAS -- Three Rivers men's basketball traveled to Dallas, Texas, over the weekend for its first preseason action. Dropping all three outings, the Raiders saw areas that need improvement, as well as things to build off of as the regular season approaches...

MALDEN,Mo. -- Sue Ellen Shaw, 73, of Malden, Mo., was born on May 26, 1945 to Beulah Fulkerson Eaton and the late Warren Eaton in Poplar Bluff, Mo. She departed this life on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018 at her residence in Malden. Sue had been an Elementary School Teacher and a Junior High School Counselor for the Malden School System. ...

FARMINGTON -- Poplar Bluff finished third in a quad meet at Farmington on Tuesday with 68 points. Notre Dame won with 219 points, Farmington got second with 136 and Saxony Lutheran was fourth with 19. The Mules' 200 medley relay took third with a time of 2 minutes, 9.49 seconds. Gavin Vaughn won the 200 IM in 2:22.85 and was third in the 100 backstroke in 1:11.63. Jack Harrison won the 100 breaststroke in 1:09.08 and also took second in the 100 butterfly in 1:04.95...

It took nine innings, but third- seeded East Carter completed a comeback against No. 2 seed Naylor to reach the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament championship game with a 7-6 win at Roger Pattillo Field on Tuesday. After being held scoreless for the first three innings, the Redbirds began to chip away at a 6-1 Naylor lead. In the seventh inning, the comeback was completed...

In an effort to renew hazard mitigation plans for six area counties, including Stoddard, Bootheel Regional Planning Executive Director Hannah Barnett met with several school superintendents during Tuesday's commission meeting. Currently, hazard mitigation plans are out of date within the county and Bootheel Regional Planning is in charge of updating those plans...

Clearwater is one step closer to its goal of winning the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament. With the help of a seven-run inning in the fourth, the top-seeded Tigers were able to pull away from No. 5 seed Twin Rivers club, which put up a fight early on...

Ida Miller, 46, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Sunday, Oct. 7, 2019, at St. Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, at Mount Sinai Church in Poplar Bluff, The funeral will be from 11 a.m. to noon at the church with the Rev. Carl Williams officiating. The repass will be at the church. Burial will be in the City Cemetery...

FISK, Mo. -- Precilla Elsworth, 76, of Wappapello, Mo., died Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018 at her residence in Wappapello. Mrs. Elsworth was born Nov. 12, 1941 in Saint Louis, Mo. She enjoyed raising a big garden, growing flowers and fishing. She also loved to sing in church...