Seventh grader Dillon Rice won a 32-inch flat screen television for having perfect attendance for the entire first semester at Poplar Bluff Junior High School. Dillon was among 65 students who were entered into a drawing on Thursday, Jan. 15, for maintaining flawless attendance. The students were also treated to a pizza party, as part of a new incentive program the Junior High has initiated in order to help boost attendance. The prize was made possible through a $600 donation from Ronald McDonald House Charities, which was presented by school board president Steve Sells earlier this month. A total of three TVs were purchased with the funds so the drawing can continue over the next two semesters. Smaller prizes

We did it!!! 500 likes on our SEMO.net Facebook page! Our contest details started with 10 gift cards if we reached our goal by the 8th of January, 9 cards if by the 10th, 8 if by the 12th, all the way down to 5 if by the 18th. Since we did this before the 18th, we are giving away 5 - $25 gift cards, one to each of the following people. Debbie Worley Martin Tawana Barger Tonya McCollom Amber Schisler Karen Wilkerson-Paukner Each winner can select their own gift card from any of the great ones on Amazon.com which includes Applebees, Burger King, Starbucks, Texas Roadhouse, etc. Stay tuned, we'll be running another contest to get us to 1000

There’s no way I can fit all of this in one article, but after 24 hunts in Kentucky and Missouri without getting a shot, we’d conceded defeat, until I got a call from a buddy in Mississippi. At around 4:30, I saw what looked like a deer way out in the green field. After looking through my binoculars I saw that it was a doe, and got Jameson's gun up for him. I generally wouldn't let him take a shot that far, but we’d had a tough season without him ever firing a shot, and he was confident that he was on her. The first squeeze of the trigger resulted in a “click”, as I hadn't turned the safety off,

The Three Rivers College Music Department will host the 24th annual Three Rivers College Jazz Band Festival on Feb. 12, 13 and 14 at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center on the Three Rivers’ Poplar Bluff campus. The festival includes free concerts at 7 p.m. each night, featuring junior high, high school and Three Rivers College jazz bands on Thursday, Feb. 12; Arkansas State University Jazz Ensemble on Friday, Feb. 13; and the 2015 All-District High School Jazz Band on Saturday, Feb. 14. Dr. Joel Vanderheyden will be guest clinician for the Festival and will direct the All-District Jazz Band. Vanderheyden is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Jazz at Jefferson College. He has performed with the St. Louis Symphony,

The AT&T Pioneers, a nonprofit arm of the telecommunications corporation comprised of employees and retirees, donated two Kindle Fires to the O’Neal Elementary School library on Friday, Jan. 9. Over the next couple years, the AT&T Pioneers plan to donate two devices to all the elementary schools in the region, including Eugene Field, Lake Road and Oak Grove, according to volunteers. In October, the organization donated special student dictionaries to all of the third graders in the R-I district as well.

JEFFERSON CITY — Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, yesterday announced Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, will serve as the new chairman of the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee during the 98th General Assembly. Senate Dempsey said the chairmen of each committee will act as leaders to find solutions to move Missouri forward in a prudent, positive manner. “I’m honored to be chosen as the new chairman of the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee,” said Sen. Libla. “For years, our state has been struggling with ways to fund our highways and bridges. It’s a pressing issue. We also have a number of outstanding infrastructure projects that need to be done in this state. I’m looking