Stories from Thursday, December 1, 2011

BERNIE, Mo. -- There were no surprises after the first round of the 48th Annual Bernie Invitational Tournament was completed Wednesday night as the top four seeds all advanced to tonight's semifinal round. Top seed Risco had no trouble with No. 8 East Prairie in a 71-46 win last night while No. 4 Bloomfield was tested by No. 5 Twin Rivers before pulling out a 58-44 decision...

Three Rivers College President Devin Stephenson said the Poplar Bluff community college has grown at a rate of 41 percent and the Dexter Campus represents one of the primary reasons. The Three Rivers Dexter Campus opened in the fall of 2010 with 110 students and has grown to an enrollment of 247 in the fall semester this year. ...

PEMISCOT COUNTY, Mo. - On Nov. 28, 2011, at approximately 12:02 a.m., a member of the Missouri State Highway Patrol stopped a 2003 Ford F-350 pick-up truck traveling northbound on Interstate 55 in Pemiscot County for a traffic violation. The driver was identified as Manuel P. ...

Farril D. Wells, son of the late Levi Adolph Wells and Edith Phillips Wells, was born on Nov. 19, 1953 in Van-duser, Mo.i and died on Nov. 29, 2011, in the Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau at the age of 58. Mr. Wells was a resident of Dudley and worked most of his life as a dairy farmer. He was of the Baptist faith...

Michael Dale Jines, 31, the son of the late Gary Jines and Sherry Curtis Jines, was born on Jan. 26, 1980 in Sikeston, Mo., and died on Nov. 29, 2011 from injuries suffered in an automobile accident. Michael was an employee of Sandy Ridge Cotton Gin. He was of the Baptist faith and was a resident of Malden...

George Baker, a resident of Essex, Mo. died December 1, 2011 at the Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Missouri at the age of 94. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time and will be announced by the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter...