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Above photo: Danielle Berry, Murray Hammond and Sarah Chaffin     When my family moved back to my husband, Brian’s, hometown of Williamsville four years ago, my wise farmer father-in-law, Jim Becker, encouraged me to get involved in the community garden located right next door to the house. The soil was so rich he grew sweet potatoes the size of an infant! As that first Williamsville winter slowly faded into spring, I thought I’d give it a shot. With memories of beautiful gardens I witnessed growing up in Wisconsin, I chose a plot, designed my garden with the help of GrowVeg.com and started some plants from seed. That first year was an eye-opening foray into the very difficult, albeit rewarding,

Poplar Bluff, Mo - In November 2010, Shelby Road opened and provided a much need thoroughfare from Westwood Blvd to PP Highway. The new road also provided much-needed access to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. But in May of this year, a section of the road from Westwood Blvd to Oak Grove road was completely closed by the developers of Eight Points and Southern Bank’s new bank building. The 3-year old Shelby Road has been completely destroyed from the monster land movers passing across and back; moving dirt from the Eight Points side (east side) of Shelby Road to the Southern Bank side (west side). A City Official told SEMO Times that Shelby Road is currently closed because of the

An eerie calmness lay about the sea, the waves ceased to break, and the water temperature dropped 10 degrees in a matter of minutes. The Gulf of Mexico and all its inhabitants felt the presence of their greatest threat, the dreaded return of the one predator that could not be defeated, evaded, or defended against… This is how my arrival played out in my mind, the entire Gulf and all its’ fish and crabs shivering in fear as I walked onto the beach, in slow motion, and accompanied by dramatic music. The reality was less cinematic, unless you consider “The Three Stooges” cinematic! Within a few hours of getting settled into our house, I walked out to the beach to

Poplar Bluff, Mo. -  A downtown area generally grows by planting seeds of development. That means taking old buildings and making them new again: Useful to the citizens and neighborhoods they occupy. That is exactly what MACO Management Company desired to do with the Vine Street Apartments at the corner of Fifth and Vine Streets. What once was a block of neglected buildings is now modern, convenient, apartments designed with senior citizens in mind. Jennifer Ward, site manager for the apartments, says that the block now houses 42 units, all handicapped accessible. She notes since they opened in 2010, they have nearly always had 100% occupancy and generally have a waiting list. The apartments are designed for seniors age 55

When considering to be a part of the SEMO Times, I thought long and hard about the central role of a newspaper in a tightly-knit community such as ours. Though we live in the instant-information age of the internet, we will always look to the “paper” to supplement our information intake with local news, entertainment and sports, births and deaths, marriages and anniversaries, and even weekly sales and classified ads A local newspaper’s pivotal role in our daily lives carries with it a great responsibility. Our guideposts are simple: to be fair and objective, neutral and unbiased, thorough and informative. Most of all, we are obligated to treat all parties equally, regardless of who they are, and present both sides