Josh Johnson and Tony Bichsel are heroes this morning.

The Canton Marine and Towing Co. employees helped rescue three workers who were dangling from the Memorial Bridge. The hydraulic arm on a truck on the Memorial Bridge collapsed and left them dangling over the Mississippi River.

Bischel expertly piloted the Sir-Ene to the site, and Johnson grabbed the workers and got them off their harnesses.

Guiding a tug in the swirling Mississippi River can’t be an easy thing, but Bischel had no issues getting the boat, and Johnson wasted no time cutting the workers down.

After docking by Clat Adams Park, the Sir-Ene pushed off and headed south down the river.

Quincy Fire Chief Scott Walker expressed gratitude to the crew and the company for helping out. A QFD rescue boat was en route but not needed, because the tug happened to be close.

News and notes after the Nathan Stice plea hearing in St. Charles Thursday morning … for the story, click here.

— Alcohol once again reared its ugly head in a criminal case. Questioned by Judge David Pelikan before making his guilty pleas to involuntary manslaughter and felonious restraint, Stice admitted he’d been drinking and was intoxicated the night he and David Ater had a confrontation with Rodney Wood. Stice admitted Ater was also drinking that night — Stice said he had “two shots” and Ater had “several shots.” Stice admitted to hitting Wood first and then trying to break up a fight between Wood and Ater before they left Wood in the road.

— The hearing took place in St. Charles because of a change of venue. The previous hearing for Ater and Stice drew complaints because nobody in the courtroom could hear what was going on. This time, Judge Pelikan did an excellent job presiding over the hearing and making sure Stice understood what was happening, along with making sure families, attorneys and media clearly heard the proceedings.

— Sheila Wood, Rodney Wood’s widow, sat in the front pew of the courtroom to get a glimpse of the man who took part in her husband’s death plead guilty. She was crying during the hearing but remained remarkably composed. Sitting next to here were Rajah Maples and Melissa Shriver of KHQA-TV, and several times the two reporters reached over and gave Wood a comforting hug.
I wouldn’t necessarily do something like that in court while covering a hearing (might be more of a gender thing, too), but I cannot fault Maples and Shriver. A job is a job, but human emotion is a powerful thing as well. When you work in a small market you get to know people involved in tragic cases. Wood declined to appear on camera after the hearing, but the three women and other family members had cordial discussions when it was done.

— Jennifer Richardson, David Ater’s attorney, was an interested spectator at the plea hearing. Stice agreed to testify against Ader if Ader’s September trial for second-degree murder goes on as scheduled. Stice made his deal first with Marion County Prosecutor Tom Redington, and if you believe what he says about the incident, Ater seems to be more culpable.
It will be interesting to see what Ater ultimately decides to do, and what kind of negotiations his attorney and Redington have. One would think that a high-profile murder case in Hannibal wouldn’t give Redington that much wiggle room — second-degree murder with negotiable prison time, maybe — but you never try to guess what will happen in our criminal justice system.

Who do you blame when everything goes wrong?

We blame God. We blame fate. We blame the circumstances, culture, the government, anybody in the way.

So listen very carefully to Bud Abney, the Missouri man who lost everything in a fire last month. He lost his mobile home, all the possessions in the home. He lost his dog and best friend, Timbr. He lost a barn and several other buildings.

The only thing left he had as he went to bury Timbr was his jacket. So he took it off and used it to wrap Timbr’s body before putting him in the ground.

Abney is a man of faith. He is going to recall recent circumstances, including some severe medical problems, to do testimonials. Bud called his place near Emerson “Angel Haven” because he believes in angels, and he believes they’ve blessed his life.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Bud says. “I’m not mad at God. God didn’t do this to me. I’m mad at the devil. My time is running out anyway, but don’t take my dog.”

Bud prefers to count his blessings. He could have been in the mobile home when it caught fire — he says investigators suspect a refrigerator may have contributed to the blaze, which then set off propane tanks.

He’s made miraculous recoveries from severe health problems. U.S. Cellular donated 500 minutes for his cell phone so he could stay in contact with people after the fire. He’s living with his sister in Quincy for now, making daily trips back to the Emerson property to fee his ducks, geese and a few sheep.

And a Hannibal woman who doesn’t know him has started a bank account to help him get back on his feet. You can read more about her efforts to help here.

Sharilyn Davis met Bud Abney after reading about his plight. She still doesn’t know him that well.

But she does know him well enough to know he will survive.

“He seems to take things in stride, and his faith takes him to the next level,” Sharilyn says.

John Kurfman was humble and polite when talking about winning more than $80,000 at a recent Heartland Poker Tour event in Iowa. Click here for the story.

In the Heartland Poker Tour’s Web site recap of the event, Kurfman was called a farmer from Baylis. But at the end of our interview, Kurfman wanted to make sure his hometown was correct.

“Please put in there that I’m from Fishhook, not Baylis,” he said.

Hey – proud to be from Fishhook!