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SEMOTIMES

Battle of the Civic

Organizations

Dr. Ben Adkins Organization:

Lions ClubChartered in Poplar

Bluff: 1936Active Members: 63

Meets: noon Tuesday at Bread Co. Plus

Local Cause: combating sight and

hearing lossMajor Fundraiser:

TV AuctionTradition: calls

hierarchy ‘king lion’

Brock Littles Organization: Kiwanis Club

Chartered in Poplar Bluff: 1921

Active Members: 53Meets: noon

Thursday at Las Margaritas

Local Cause: the children

Major Fundraiser: Pancake Day

Tradition: sings and wears vests

Steve Hicks Organization: Rotary Club

Chartered in Poplar Bluff: 1946

Active Members: 47Meets: noon

Wednesday at Colton’s annex or

Bread Co. PlusLocal Cause: health

care and educationMajor Fundraiser:

Spaghetti DayTradition: collects

‘happy dollars’

TALE OF THE TAPE

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI’S NEWS-MAGAZINE OF POLITICS AND CULTURE

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SEMO TIMES1.27.11 Volume 3 Issue 16 Poplar Bluff, Missouri

573-785-2200

Inside this edition

The Week in Review - 3The Social Network - 3

Battle of the Civic Orgs- 4

SEMO News Briefs - 5Business - 6

Opinion: Tort Reform - 7Editorial: WWJD? - 7

BGC New Website - 10Oscar Predictions- 11

Column: The Rambler - 11Almost Famous - 13

+bluffee Event’s Calendar - 15Hooked on Science - 15

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Joe Clark, [email protected]

Tim Krakowiak, managing editor

[email protected] Cozart, distribution

Jason DeBerry, internChristy Norman, sales

It was a bad week for the St. Louis Cardinals. Losing their ace Adam Wainwright to season ending elbow surgery.

What truly stings is that Wainwright was examined in October and given a clean bill of health. So instead of hav-ing him getting ready for an August return, he is preparing for an April re-turn… next April.

While we’re at it, it was a bad week for the Cincinnati Reds for celebrating Wain-wright’s injury. No class,

man. And by the way, karma can have a habit of coming back to bite you in the hindquarters.

It was a good week for ev-eryone who came out to the UCAN Texas Hold’em Tournament. A good time

for a great cause that will go to help some people facing a hard time.

It was a good week for Charlie Sheen who took it all in stride and is staying alive. He’s such a man, CBS

will have to rename his show to “3 Whole Men.”

It was a good week for Lind-say Lohan who brought a new sense of style to the American court system.

Business suits are out and skin tight white dresses are definitely in vogue.

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The Week in Review

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A recent string of events has shown how a lighthearted rivalry between Poplar Bluff’s Kiwanis, Lions and Rotary clubs, perhaps going back more than a half-cen-tury, is for the betterment of the community.

“I think our town is very lucky to have all three,” stated Kiwanian Ben Ressel, vice president of First Midwest Bank. He added: “Be-tween the three service clubs, there is a lot of friendly competition.”

During the Boys and Girls Club’s annual Christmas Gala in Novem-ber, Ressel “defeated” members of the other two civic organizations by raising the most money auction-ing himself off through what they called the Santa’s little helper con-test, donating four hours of work to the highest bidder.

As a penalty, Rotarian Todd Richardson, a member of the Mis-souri House of Representatives, and Lion Dr. Ben Adkins, a chiro-practor, were forced to sing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” while wear-ing opposing club vests during a subsequent Kiwanis Club meeting.

In December, the Rotary Club announced its donation of $2,000 to the Shop with a Cop/Hero program, through which local law enforcement officers take Butler Country children in need on $100

shopping sprees.

Shortly thereafter, the Lions Club made the announcement that it was putting up $2,010 for the same cause.

Asked if the Lions Club purpose-fully outdid the Rotary Club, Ad-kins, the Lions president, replied: “What motivates us may be ques-tionable, but [we do] whatever it takes to get the money in the right place.”

Poplar Bluff Lions ClubOn Saturday, the Lions Club

raised more than $17,000 during its annual television auction, accord-ing to officers.

Besides helping to sustain the not-for-profit organization, the fundraiser allows the Lions Club to fulfill its mission, to combat vision and hearing loss, according to Dr. Jerry Long, a Lion since 1979.

“In 1925, Helen Keller addressed Lions International at its conven-tion, and challenged the organiza-tion to be ‘the knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness,’ and so that’s what we are,” ex-plained Long, who is an optom-etrist.

The Lions Club takes referrals for families in need of vision care, supplying free eye examinations and glasses. Those with more seri-ous ailments are sent to the Meth-

odist University Hospital in Memphis for diagnosis and surgery, at no cost.

The Lions Club also contributes to the Mis-souri Lions Eye Research Foundation in Columbia, and collects used glasses to be distributed to foreign countries.

In addition to the popu-lar TV auction, the Lions Club hosts Chili Day dur-ing the November elec-tion.

The civic organization sponsors the Leo Club at Poplar Bluff High School.

Poplar Bluff Kiwanis Club“Kiwanis is for the children,”

said Kiwanian Rev. Gregory Kirk, executive director of the United Gospel Rescue Mission.

The Kiwanis Club will host its annual Pancake Day in late March, although the date has yet to be determined, officers said.

The global campaign for Kiwanis is to eliminate maternal and neo-natal tetanus. Besides contributing to local organizations such as the rescue mission, the club operates Bacon Park.

“We have a maintenance agree-ment with [Poplar Bluff High

School] so they could use the park for practice at no charge,” ex-plained Kiwanian Kent Nichols, a former banker. “The Bacon fam-ily heirs own it, and we installed the walking trail with a grant to be tied in with the city’s future trail system.”

Last month, the Kiwanis Club donated 178 pairs of pajamas to area children in foster care through a program known as Pajamarama initiated by Kiwanis president Brock Littles, a sales associate with Coldwell Banker Ruth Hol-loway Realty.

In October, the Kiwanis Club will host its annual Peanut Day at Walmart, through which volunteers will give out peanuts and solicit donations.

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Guide to Choosing a Civic Organization

Photo providedAs the result of losing a friendly competi-

tion with a rival civic organization, Dr. Ben Adkins (left)—a Lion, and Rep. Todd Richard-son—a Rotarian, are forced to ‘eat crow’ dur-ing a recent Kiwanis club meeting.

The civic organization also sponsors the Key Club at the high school.

Poplar Bluff Rotary ClubThe Rotary Club, which boasts to

be the oldest civic organization in the world, is slated to host its an-nual Spaghetti Day April 5 at First Baptist Church.

Rotary International’s mission is to eradicate poliomyelitis. Lo-cally, the volunteer organization supports dozens of causes like the Boy Scouts of America, accord-ing to president-elect Steve Wells, engineering manager for Smith & Company.

The Rotary Club is responsible for the sensory garden at the Poplar Bluff Public Library on Phillip Kearbey Boulevard.

At each weekly meeting, the organization donates a book to the library or the R-1 School District.

On Saturday, the Rotarians will sponsor a Scripps qualifying spell-ing bee at Three Rivers College.

Besides the spaghetti fundraiser, the Rotary Club held a success-ful Casino Night for the first time in November at the Black River Coliseum, and plans to make it an annual event, according to officers.

A third generation Rotarian, Steve Lewis, Three Rivers division chair for humanities and social sci-ence, explained why he carries on tradition.

“Sure we have some fun and it’s a good networking opportunity,” Lewis said. “But I think what keeps me engaged is knowing that we represent a group within Poplar Bluff that wants to see the commu-nity grow in new ways.”

Tim Krakowiak can be reached by e-mailed [email protected].



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Three Rivers to Host 2nd An-nual Spelling Bee

Three Rivers College will host a Scripps qualifying spelling bee for area elementary and junior high school students at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Tinnin Fine Arts Center.

Christy Norman Joins 573 Media

573 Media welcomes yet another member to the team, Christy Norman who hails from Northwest Illinois, and brings new energy to the growing advertising department.

Financial Assistance Available for High Tunnels

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has $200,000 available to assist eligible Missouri producers interested in installing seasonal high tunnels. Ap-plications for high tunnels must be received by March 4 at NRCS offices.

TRC Nursing Program Dead-line in March 1

The deadline to apply to Three Rivers College’s nursing program is March 1.

Legislators and Superinten-dents Discuss Foundation

FormulaState Rep. Todd Richardson, R-Pop-

lar Bluff, joined Chris Hon, superin-tendent of the Poplar Bluff R-I School District, at a dinner and workshop on the Missouri public school founda-tion formula held recently in Jefferson City, sponsored by the Missouri As-sociation of School Administrators.

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Tim Krakowiak Managing Editor

SEMO Times: Can you tell our readers a little about the Kay Keeny Local History and Genealogy Depart-ment that was expanded last year?Shon Griffin: The Local History and Genealogy De-partment was dedicated in memory of Kay Keeney. She worked for the Poplar Bluff Public Library for 32 years and passed away shortly before the renovation and remodeling began.Special thanks to the generous bequest by the late Kay Porter, [which] allowed the renovation and this area in particular to become a possibility…This collection contains more than 3,000 items, rang-ing from locally written histories to formal “how-to” advice books on international research. The majority of the items fall somewhere in between, and primar-ily cover states east of the Mississippi River, except for Missouri, of course! ST: What are some of the local history resources in the collection of thousands of items?Griffin: The library has many items created by the Butler County Genealogy Society, ranging from tran-scribed census records, to indices for various records held at the courthouse, to books of obituaries collect-ed and indexed from the Daily American Republic since the late 1970s…Also of local interest, the library owns city directories dating back to 1906 and Poplar Bluff High School yearbooks starting with 1920.ST: What are some good resources available online for tracing one’s family lineage? Griffin: We subscribe to HeritageQuest and Ances-try.com. HeritageQuest is available to patrons to use at home with a library card while Ancestry.com is available for use only inside the library…In Missouri, a great place to research is the state ar-chives website: www.sos.mo.gov/archives/. Locally, some may wish to contact the BCGS for assistance using their request form: www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mobcgs/request.html.ST: How far back do your newspapers go, and is the collection all inclusive?Griffin: Newspapers are available on microfilm as

far back as 1878, but are not continuous. They jump, sometimes a span of four or five years. Of course, we own the Daily Ameri-can Republic, and por-tions of the following newspapers to fill in “holes:” the Poplar Bluff Interstate Ameri-can, the Poplar Bluff Citizen, the Daily Re-publican, the Butler County Democrat and the Weekly Citizen Democrat.ST: How could patrons track down obituaries? Griffin: Obituaries since 2008 are avail-able online through our “This Day in History” por-tion of the library catalog. It can easily be searched by name or date at: www.poplarbluff.org/library/his-torycatalog.html. Various years have been indexed by the BCGS from 1976 through 2008; some have complete obituaries while other books are strictly an index. Anything older must be researched using the microfilm collection.Patrons are welcomed to use the microfilm machines on a first come, first serve basis for up to two hours, and printing is 25 cents per page. Remote ac-cess from home, school or an-other library is also an option.For those too far away to make a trip to the library or without computer access for remote ac-cess, the library does provide a research and copy service of articles/obituaries from the mi-crofilmed newspaper for a fee of $5 per incident.



Business

GENEALOGY

Shon Griffingenealogy reference librarian,

Poplar Bluff Public Library



Opinion & EditorialTort Reform - At What Cost

Politicians, pundits and physicians are casting stones against individuals who seek help from the court system for substandard medical treatment. The prior campaigns of tort reform are reemerging on the heels of the recent midterm elections, and the controver-sial federal health care law. Proponents are once again championing limitations on medical malpractice cases as the solution to protect against increasing health care costs and a failing health care system.

So what is medical mal-practice? Medical malpractice

is a legal cause of action that affords individuals compensation to offset the harm sustained by sub-standard medical care. The types of harms vary but typically include serious injuries that forever alter a victim’s life, or death. Medical malpractice cases seek to offset these harms through compensating the victim, and provide an incentive for medical provid-ers to meet accepted standards of science ensuring the best possible results for their patients.

At first glance limiting this compensation in an attempt to save a failing health care system may seem like sound policy, but it comes with unbear-able costs. The foremost cost is the stripping away of the individual’s constitutional right to a trial by jury. Every Missourian has a constitutionally protected right to have a jury of their peers deter-mine the merits of a medical malpractice case. This includes the ability to have the jury determine the extent of the harms caused by substandard medical care, and the amount necessary to fully compensate the harms. This right is guaranteed by Missouri’s Constitution of 1820. The drafters believed the right to a trial by jury was of such importance, they guar-anteed the right “inviolate,” or free from change. This express restriction was designed to place the right to a trial by jury beyond the reach of hostile legislation.

The right to a trial by jury was also of the highest importance to the United States’ founding fathers. In a recent Missouri Supreme Court case, Judge Wolff called attention to the remarks by founding father Alexander Hamilton. In describing the drafters of the United States’ Constitution in Federalist Papers, No. 83, Hamilton stated: “if they agree in nothing else, concur at least in the value they set upon the trial by jury.” In evaluating the necessity of the right to a jury trial, Hamilton noted that some drafters re-garded the right as “a valuable safeguard to liberty,” while others considered it “as the very palladium of free government.”

The campaign to place limits on medical mal-practice cases invades the constitutionally protected right to a trial by jury by removing the jury’s ability to determine the extent of the harms caused by substandard medical care, and the amount necessary to fully compensate those harms. This new call for tort reform cast in jeopardy the very safeguards of liberty and free government our founding fathers sought to protect in the Missouri and United States

WWJDBy: Silence DogoodFor those of you not raised with a religious up-

bringing, WWJD is an acronym for “What Would Jesus Do?” I have found the hard way that God has a place in every aspect of man’s life here on earth, but as former Congressman Charlie Wilson put it, “When people go getting God in politics sooner or later they see him on both sides.” Never one to take sound ad-vice, I’ll proceed.

I do not ask myself the question WWJD nearly enough in my own life, but I wonder how many Mis-souri state legislators asked themselves that question earlier this month when they voted overwhelmingly to test those who are in need of a helping hand when they are down to see if they are ingesting any chemi-cals into their body the state doesn’t approve of. You would have read in headlines something more akin to “Welfare Recipients to be Drug Tested”.

At first blush, it sounds good to the hearty Conser-vative ears of our area. Welfare recipients are bad, and so are those drug users who smoke marijuana in-stead of tobacco of k2 to ease their nerves. Yeah, two birds with one stone. Now that is Conservative!

But, as the son of a preacher man, that nagging acronym is in the back of my mind: WWJD. Well, let’s pose the question. If there was a person who had fallen on hard times, and was forced to humble them-selves and ask the government for a hand (think Jim Braddock in “Cinderella Man”), let’s assume for a moment that man, instead of asking the great state of Missouri for a little help when he was down on his luck, asked Jesus Christ for charity. Are you to have me to believe that Christ in his infinite mercy and grace would have handed him a cup to urinate in before offering charity to a man who had fallen on hard times?

The Book of Luke, Chapter 3, states: “And the crowds asked [John the Baptist], “What then should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” In fact the Book of John, Chapter 3, follows up: “But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” Perhaps the litmus test to be ap-plied was lost in translation.

However, is the point to better the lives of Mis-souri citizens? So I assume it is the opinion of the General Assembly that if those on the state dole are kicked off they will stop using non state sanctioned drugs, and become CPAs, or lawyers, or dream of all dreams if they are able to completely turn their lives around, they might get on another government dole and become state legislators. After all when on that particular form of state assistance they will be free from drug testing.

Wait drug test legislators on the public dole… What a novel idea, but WWJD?

Chris Yarbro, Attorney, kennedy,

kenndy, robbins & Yarbro

Constitutions. It is too great of a cost to exchange our constitutional freedoms for the popular rhetoric of tort reform and the economic gain of those cham-pioning the cause.

But, even if we are willing to sacrifice consti-tutional freedoms, medical malpractice reform is not the answer. There are not too many “frivolous” malpractice lawsuits. In a study undertaken by the Harvard School of Public Health, one which ana-lyzed over 1,400 closed malpractice claims, the au-thors concluded that over 97 percent of filed medical malpractice claims were meritorious. And of those, 80 percent involved death or serious injury.

Malpractice claims do not drive up health care costs. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners most recent analysis, in 2007 the total spent defending claims and compen-sating victims of substandard care was $7.1 billion - just 0.3% of total $2.2 trillion health care costs. In 2008 that number was reduced to $6.2 billion.

Doctors are not fleeing the practice of medicine. According to the American Medical Association’s statistics, since 1960, the numbers of physicians have grown twice as fast as the United States popu-lation. Advocates of medical malpractice reform of-ten argue the state of Illinois is the leading example of doctors fleeing due to an unfavorable litigation climate. However, the number of licensed physi-cians engaged in “patient care” in Illinois has never declined. Instead, Illinois has more doctors per capita than California, Ohio and Texas, states which have placed limitations on malpractice compensa-tion.

Malpractice claims do not drive up doctors’ insurance premiums. Researcher at the National Bureau of Economic Research reported that, “in-creases in malpractice payments made on behalf of physicians do not seem to be the driving force behind increases in premiums.” Similarly, Ameri-cans for Insurance Reform conducted an analysis of the relationship between insurance payouts and premiums charged and found that, “[n]ot only was there no ‘explosion’ in lawsuits, jury awards or any tort system costs to justify the astronomical pre-mium increases that doctors have been charged in recent years. These rate increases were rather driven by the economic cycle of the insurance industry, driven by declining interest rates and investment.” Additionally, an analysis by the American Associa-tion of Justice of the 2008 financial statements filed by the 10 largest malpractice insurers found that the average profits of these companies are higher than 99 percent of all Fortune 500 companies.

Medical malpractice reform will not lower insur-ance rates. Medical malpractice reforms are often passed under the guise they will lower physicians liability premiums. In 2009, the average liability premium in states without compensation limits were lower than the average premium in states with such limitations. In Texas, a state with very restrictive limitations, the opposite has occurred. Following the Texas’s enactment of limitations, GE Medical Protective, one of the nation’s largest medical mal-practice insurer, announced a 19 percent increase in premiums.

Finally, the true solution lies not in tort reform, rather, insurance industry reform. In March 2010, the American Medical Association released a report titled Competition in Health Insurance:A Compre-hensive Study of U.S. Markets. In this report, the American Medical Association states “[a]n absence

of competition in health insurance markets is clearly not in the best economic interest of patients. The [American Medical Association] has urged the Department of Justice and state agencies to more aggressively enforce antitrust laws that prohibit harmful [insurance] mergers.”

The present campaign of medical malpractice reform utilizes simple rhetoric that is not supported by facts. We cannot afford to sacrifice the right to a trial by jury to accommodate misguided political pressure.

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Tim KrakowiakManaging EditorIt is the classic story of one

man’s loss becoming another’s gain.

The Ladewigs were approaching retirement when the economy took a dip, drying up their portfolios. They found themselves moving back home where the property taxes are lower, in an effort to downsize their lifestyle.

While things were moving slowly last summer for 1-2-1 Com-puter Services, Bret Ladewig’s new computer and Web support busi-ness, he decided he would begin volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club of Poplar Bluff.

“God just put him on our doorstep one day,” explained Chris Rushin, BGC executive director.

The BGC will launch a brand new website come March, cour-tesy of Bret and his wife Judy Ladewig, who both worked for the National Association of In-surance Commissioners in their former life, he as a Web devel-oper and she a Web designer.

The site, www.bgcpb.org, will contain information about the after school program, a news feed, a cal-endar of events and a photo album.

“I’ve found there’s nothing that has a more profound impact on people wanting to be a part of the club than seeing what our kids and staff do on a daily basis,” Rushin said. “Now we will be able to use the website as a tool to help edu-cate the public and make sure par-ents are up-to-date on our program offerings.”

The BGC previously operated a website, but it was a template hosted by the national operation that proved to be slow, difficult for

the user to navigate and impossible for the staff to update, according to Bret.

Bret used to volunteer for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City, another mentoring program for children at risk.

“I’m kind of one of those grass-roots people,” Bret said. “I always enjoyed working with kids. I love doing anything I can for them.”

At the BGC, Bret started by taking over as the club’s in-house technician, resolving simple me-chanical issues like poor Internet performance. When a part-time youth develop-

ment professional position became available earlier this year, Bret took over the computer lab class, teach-ing young people how a computer works, Internet safety and connec-tivity.

“A lot of the time, kids could get on Facebook or play games, but when it comes to knowing what a computer program actually does or how to import a document, for example, they have no clue,” said Leroy Nicholson, BGC unit direc-tor.

Still volunteering during part of

his time, Bret is currently work-ing on developing a long-term technology plan for the BGC so it could systematically rotate out old computers.

“He’s been a true godsend,” Rushin said. “Under our budget-ary constraints with trying to grow the size and scope of the club, it’s volunteers like Bret that allow us to be able to reach more kids.”

Tim Krakowiak can be reached by e-mailing [email protected].

Volunteer Builds New Website for Boys and Girls Club

Photo providedVolunteer Bret Ladewig (left), a com-

puter service technician, and chris Rushin, executive director of the Boys and Girls club, prepare to launch a new website for the after school program.

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Oscar Picks and PredictionsThe 83rd annual Academy Awards are going to

air this Sunday on ABC. Oscar predictions aren’t usually that interesting considering it’s usually pretty easy to figure out who’s going to come out on top in most categories. However, knowing who is going to win doesn’t necessarily mean I agree with The Academy. That being the case, I thought it might be fun to share with readers not only who I think is going to win, but also who my pick for who should win in the major categories.

BEST PICTURE: The last two years, The Academy has gone to a 10 nominee format de-signed to optimize exposure to a wider variety of films. Personally, I think it demeans the Best Picture nomination, but I don’t foresee a return to the traditional five nominee format anytime soon.

Nominees: “The Kings Speech” – All indica-tions are that this is the “movie of the year.” The momentum seems to be going its way, and based on the sheer number of nominations it received this cycle, it’s my bet that this is going to be our winner. While I didn’t get all that excited about it, it’s the kind of movie The Academy likes. A nice, historic movie that doesn’t cause too much commotion.

“Black Swan” - Good flick and probably worthy of the nomination.

“Inception” – If an action movie is going to get an Oscar nod, this is the one that deserves it.

“The Kids are All Right” – Worth renting, but not as good as most reviews say. I’m guess-ing The Academy likes the idea of celebrating non-traditional families here. Doesn’t seem to fit in with the other quality films included in the category.

“127 Hours” – One of the two nominated mov-ies I haven’t seen, but I heard James Franco is great.

“The Fighter” – The other film I haven’t seen (Come on AMC. Bring it here. Starring Marky Mark for goodness sakes).

“The Social Network” – Could give “The King’s Speech” a run for its money. Viewed as the early favorite, but the momentum may be slip-ping.

“Toy Story 3” – This may be one of those films that benefit from the 10 nominee format. While I think it should have been included even if limited to five films, an animated feature would probably miss the cut.

“True Grit” – My pick for Best Picture of the Year. In my opinion the best from the Cohen brothers to date. Its status as a remake probably eliminates it from contention, but if it didn’t make the list I was going to be seriously upset. They were also snubbed in the Best Original Score category despite what was the best score I’ve ever heard (apparently, it wasn’t original enough).

“Winter’s Bone” – Worth seeing, if only for its realistic portrayal of meth addicts in rural Mis-souri. No chance to win though.

BEST ACTOR: Virtually certain that Co-lin Firth will run away with it for “The King’s Speech.” He’s won at every major awards show this season. My pick = Firth. He really was as great as they say.

BEST ACTRESS: Natalie Portman is the odds on favorite for this one. Hollywood seems to be a big fan of Annette Bening’s performance in “The Kids Are All Right,” but if she upsets Portman it will be a major upset. My pick = Portman.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christian Bale for “The Fighter” is the likely winner here. Ap-parently, he is totally transformed in this movie. My pick = Bale, but only because my pick for Best Supporting Actor, Barry Pepper in “True Grit,” wasn’t nominated. Was very disappointed about that one.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa Leo is going to grab this one. While I haven’t seen the whole film, the clips are enough to see that her performance is awesome. My pick = probably Leo.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: My pick is “Re-strepo,” the story of U.S. soldiers fighting in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan.

Overall, this year’s winners are pretty pre-dictable with the exception of the Best Picture showdown between “The King’s Speech” and “The Social Network.” Anything else would be a shocker. While I ultimately was underwhelmed with this year’s nominees, I have to commend AMC for bringing the majority of these films to Poplar Bluff. In past years, I have had to drive to Cape or St Louis to see most of the nominated films. However, this year, I suppose AMC thought that the people of Poplar Bluff actually wanted to see quality cinema (as opposed to watching “Hotel for Dogs” 13 weeks in a row). Kudos to them. Enjoy your Oscar parties everyone, and don’t forget to see what kind of craziness Helena Bonham-Carter wears on the red carpet!



The Ramblerwith Gordon Johnston

Stringtown and Other Place Name StoriesI’ve found myself in Stringtown a couple of times,

by accident, having expected to end up somewhere else. Also, I have a record (as in album, LP, vinyl) from about 1982 by the Stringtown String Band, lo-cal musicians who in some guise or other are prob-ably still making music in Southeast Missouri.

You have to wonder where a name like Stringtown would come from. An explanation I recently heard is that it was a place where, to put it bluntly, they strung people up.

You may have your own list of oddly named places. Mine includes Finger, Frisbee, Licking and

Peculiar. I don’t remember where most of these places are, I just remember seeing the road signs. In Southwest Missouri there’s Noel, where people used to take their Christmas cards to be postmarked, and maybe they still do, if they still send Christmas cards. Some place names are like little poems. My favorite is the wonderfully evocative Blue Eye, also in Southwest Missouri.

I grew up in Texas County, near a community called “Arroll.” There’s just a community church and a few houses there now; when I was a kid it had two stores that sold gas and sodas and candy bars mainly. There were some cans of stuff on shelves, but you would have to wipe the dust off the labels to know what was in them. Anyway, as far as I know, there’s no such word as “arroll.” The only explana-tion I’ve ever seen, and I’m afraid I don’t remember where I read this, is that the town was originally called “Carroll,” but the “C” fell off the sign. I think there was a post office there at one time, so records should exist somewhere, or perhaps an old map that

would show the earlier name, if this story is true.One time I was visiting family in the Norfolk,

Neb., area. Natives have pronounced the name of their town “Norfork” for as long as anybody can remember. I was in a waiting room for some reason and read the following in a local history publica-tion that was on the coffee table. According to this publication, the town’s original name was “North Fork,” but folks gradually stopped pronouncing the “th” (this sort of thing happens a lot; for ex-ample, Blytheville, Ark., is pronounced something like “blyvul” or even “blahvul”). An enterprising journalist came to town and started a newspaper and began printing the town’s name as “Norfolk,” not knowing any better, and the spelling stuck. The pronunciation stayed the same, though, until recent decades. Radio announcers and newcomers insist on saying “Norfolk,” so the old pronunciation seems to be fading. Me, I’m sticking with tradition. Depend-ing on how you say it, “Norfolk” sounds kinda dirty, or just plain stupid.

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Entertainment section www.semotimes.com

SONICOLOR!Listen to the sounds around you. The fre-

quencies of everyday life can be overwhelm-ing, but the subtle vocals of SONICOLOR!’s Timothy Starnes can put even the most agitated mind at ease. The fluid melodies and relaxed musical arrangements set the atmosphere for a calming and satisfying experience.

“I’ve always loved music and I used to write lyrics all the time before I ever made music,” Starnes said. “I just decided that I wanted to start [making music] so I learned to play the guitar and piano.”

SONICOLOR! was birthed in 2008 as Starnes continued to explore his musical tal-ents.

Alongside playing instruments, a one-man project also has to write the lyrics for the band, Starnes explained.

“Normally, I get an idea that sounds awe-some in my head, so I write it down and build around it until I have something solid. And then, sometimes I'll be play-ing guitar, and lyrics [will] just come to me. That's probably my favorite way to write a song.

“My inspiration comes from experiences that have affected me greatly in the past or that I'm going through at the time. Feelings or emotions to-ward a certain situation often lead to the creation of a new song,” Starnes said after being asked where his inspiration comes from.

Starnes also talked about the bittersweet areas of running a musical group.

“It's hard because I have to do everything as far as promoting and get-ting my music heard by myself, but I love the freedom. It gives me the ability to do whatever I want with my music, whenever I want to do it.”

Describing SONICOLOR! as an “electro/acoustic pop” genre that is influenced by groups like Owl City and City and Colour, Starnes faces the harsh reality of the cultural acceptance of neo-modern music, but is optimistic.

“I think that it [the music] is accepted. I mean, not everyone is going to like my styles, but I understand that. Everyone has different tastes. I try my best to bring a little of everything out in my music.”

For an aspiring young artist, the first live concert is always the most nerve-wrecking.

“My first live performance was pretty horrifying, because I had terrible stage fright and my voice was quivering when I talked. After the show, people kept telling me I did so well, and not to give up. Ever since then, I've been fine on stage.”

SONICOLOR! currently has over 1,000 “Fans” on its Facebook page, and the number grows every day.

Timothy Starnes is no Justin Bieber, but give him a run for his money in the local music scene.

To hear music from SONICOLOR!, visit www.purevolume.com/so-nicolor or www.facebook.com/sonicolor to become a “Fan” and keep up with the latest SONICOLOR! news. For booking, contact [email protected].

To suggest an up-and-coming artist, athlete or musician to be featured in Almost Famous, e-mail Jason DeBerry at [email protected].

Activity section www.semotimes.com



11 am to 2 pm Saturday Feb 26Black River ColiseumChili Cookoff for United Gospel Rescue Mission

Noon to 4 pm Saturday Feb 26End of the Universe Comics and GamesThe Timeless Book 2 Book Signing

8 pm Saturday Feb 26The Wine RackThe Ryan Tyler Band

Noon Wednesday March 2Bread Co Plus at Three Rivers CollegeBoard of Realtors Meeting

8 pm Saturday March 5The Wine RackBruce Zimmerman with Ken Keller

730 pm Friday March 11Black River ColiseumLuke Bryan in Concert

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2.25.11 semo times

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