Having sung with, written for, and often fronted Shekinah Glory Ministry to now, Tarver felt it was time to venture forth on a solo project; entering Billboard's Top Gospel Album chart at #16 with "Draw Nearer" certainly wasn't a bad way to start.   Phil Tarver has come far since pouring his energies into what he terms the "club band, garage band thing" in his native Chicago. Tarver is the son of Poplar Bluff resident Gerald Davis, and the grandson of area sports great Lonnie Davis, an esteemed figure in the athletic and business life of Poplar Bluff from the 1950s until his death in May of 1986. This past fall Phil Tarver released his solo-debut CD, a no-holds-barred praise

A little over a week ago, I vowed to eat smart; immediately thereafter, as if in a walking dream, I went on a three-day doughnut binge, then followed that up with buckets of barbeque potato chips, and had late-night, Henry-the-Eighth-style dinners throughout the week. I reported my starting weight to have been 137 pounds; now I'm at 138! What happened?   OK, so who's bright idea was this, anyway? After one single day on the Lenten quest for bodily improvement...After one single day's walk about town, music spurring me on, the cold pushing me ever forward for what warmth I could generate...I was about ready to hole up in the house and never come out again. Then came the waves of sleet

  The tiny gold dolphin dangling from his ear on his return the first summer was just the beginning.   He hasn't always been this way; that's part of the conundrum. "I went off to college, and according to my mother, that's when I began losing my 'foundation'," this recent graduate reports. When asked to describe this "foundation", he happily---indeed, proudly---launches into a litany of principles and teachings central to his traditional, deeply religious upbringing here in the Bootheel. They include honesty, industriousness, thrift, regular church attendance, and general social conservatism. The first four apparently presented no problem for him during his years away from home; it's the last of these areas in which, to the dismay of both his

Sorry...did I mention the Gorgeosity Factor here? It was as if he'd escaped from a GQ photo-shoot just to give me directions to the P.O....   I had an East-Asia memory that recently brought a smile to my face, and so I thought I might share it on Valentine's Day. First, the back story: Once upon a time, I lived in the then-Portuguese territory of Macau, across the bay from Hong Kong. Just out of college myself, I taught English at Macau's University of East Asia. But I hopped over to Hong Kong regularly to hang out with friends, eat Western fast food, shop, see movies, do mailings (faster transit from HK), and generally stretch my legs in a bigger set

The semo.net Traveling Baseball team is looking for one more player to finalize its 2008 team roster. Player should be experienced 10 year old boy (maximum age is 10 years old on May 1st, 2008). Nine (9) year old boys can be considered but must be able to compete against 10 year old players. Team will be USSSA sanctioned and will play in the Missouri State tournament in St Louis as well as attempting to qualify for the USSSA World Series in Jackson, Tn. For a tryout or more information, contact head coach Mike Coleman at mcoleman@semo.net or 573-429-7629.

Update, Feb 15: It appears that the phone company is having problems with some local lines again.  Until they are able to resolve this problem, if you need technical support, please email support@semo.net.