Dr. Wesley Payne was named President of Three Rivers College by the institution's Board of Trustees during the Board's monthly meeting in September.   Three Rivers College's Board of Trustees has offered Dr. Wesley Payne a contract as president of the institution, which Payne accepted at the Board's September meeting. The contract makes permanent Payne's appointment as President of Three Rivers, a post that he has been filling in an interim capacity since June. "We felt no need to wait until November to offer Dr. Payne this position," said Randy Grassham, chair of the Three Rivers College Board of Trustees. "He has a clear passion for the work, a proven ability to get along with everyone, and I believe he's

POPLAR BLUFF –Thursday marks the 27th year for Poplar Bluff’s Women Aware Conference being held at the Black River Coliseum. Rozette Little, one of the organizers of the event, says Women Aware is designed to help both women and men network with other area business people, sharing ideas and helping to build the local economy through the things they learn from one another. Featured speaker this year is Jeanne Robertson of North Carolina, who is a highly sought speaker because of her use of humor in her messages. In addition, there will be many breakout sessions for attendees to learn more about specific areas of interest. The cost for the event is $40, and includes a continental breakfast, and a

JEFFERSON CITY - Parents and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) came to blows as they began work on the development of Missouri’s standards for the public schools across the state as part of HB 1490 signed into law by Governor Jay Nixon in July of this year. HB 1490 was supported by parents and citizens from across the state because the intent was to allow parents and teachers to work together to develop Missouri’s educational standards. Throughout the process of lobbying for HB 1490, parents and citizens sought to redress much of the Common Core Standards adopted by the Governor in June of 2009. Regardless of the intent of HB 1490 to allow the groups involved to work

On the cover of his new album, "The Fall," Jesse Charles Hammock II is pictured in a building that looks to have been hit by a tornado. Debris is all around – bits of fallen ceiling and fallen wall. Jesse is in the center of it, with a shell-shocked look on his face. "That's not far from the truth," said Hammock. Last August, a bizarre accident seemed to foreshadow coming trouble in Hammock's life. He was driving home late one night and "out of nowhere" a horse appeared in the middle of the road. "The horse hit me, and both of us saw our lives flash before us," recalled Hammock. The accident left Hammock shaken. A couple of days later,

SEMO TIMES is proud to announce that one of our editors, Toni Becker, has been named to an Educational Standards Workshop. The following is a press release from House Speaker Tim Jones' office: House Speaker Tim Jones Names Missouri Citizens to Educational Standards Workgroups JEFFERSON CITY – House Speaker Tim Jones today announced his selections to the new Missouri Educational Standards workgroups that were formed with the passage of HB 1490. Jones selected 16 parents and 11 education professionals to participate in the discussions the eight workgroups will have to determine new educational benchmarks for Missouri students. HB 1490 was passed by the Missouri General Assembly during the 2014 regular session to reject the federal Common Core standards and begin a process

Dustin and Whitney McCutcheon being presented their check by Brick's owner Scott Brickell in front of Dirty Hooker, the first truck to ever make it through "The Slough" in the six years of the Mud Truck Challenge   What do you do when you win $10,000 in Brick’s Mud Truck Challenge and win the title “Slough Terminator”? You come back and try to win it again! That’s exactly what Dustin McCutcheon of Marquand, Mo., intends to do September 26-28 when he brings his truck back to Brick’s Offroad Park for their Mud Truck Challenge. Named “Dirty Hooker,” he has become the crowd favorite having become the first truck to ever make it through Brick’s world famous mud slough. Last year,