Stories from Friday, April 10, 2020

SIKESTON - Business 60 in Butler County will be reduced as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform bridge repairs.

A 16-year-old Blytheville, Arkansas, resident was killed in a one-vehicle crash at 4:20 p.m. Thursday, April 9, on Highway NN, two miles north of the Arkansas state line in Dunklin County. According to the report, a 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer was being operated northbound by a 16-year-old Gosnell, Arkansas, resident when it ran off the left side of the road and struck a utility pole before overturning...

MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL A 72-year-old Van Buren man was injured in a one-vehicle crash at 1:45 p.m. Thursday, April 9, on Highway D, two miles north of Van Buren. According to the report, Eddie W. Duncan was operating a 2000 Chevrolet pickup northbound when it ran off the right side of the road and struck a traffic sign. Duncan’s truck reportedly then returned to the road and again ran off the right side of the road...

City firefighters responded at 10:56 p.m. Thursday, April 9, to a report of a structure fire at the intersection of Spring and Ninth streets. According to the report, firefighters were told en route it was a grass fire. Upon their arrival, firefighters found a small grass fire at the intersection of Maud and Ninth streets and used three gallons of water to put it out...

VAN BUREN — Carter County Clerk Leona Stephens hugged her young daughters for the first time in more than a week Friday after she and other county officials were able to leave self-quarantine. “All elected officials housed in the courthouse, and the employees that were here” on April 1 had to self-quarantine until COVID-19 test results were returned for an employee, who had come to work sick that day, Stephens said...

A Puxico area man who was awarded America’s most prestigious wildlife conservation honor was the keynote speaker at the recent joint convention of The Wildlife Society and the American Fisheries Society. Dr. Leigh Fredrickson, a renowned wetland ecologist and retired University of Missouri professor, received the coveted Aldo Leopold Memorial Award. That honor earned Fredrickson the keynoter slot at the recent annual convention in Reno, Nevada...

This is the time when the community needs to come together. People are worried about what COVID-19 means for society and there are a lot of unanswered questions, which breeds anxiety.

Easter Sunday is a day that should be marked by celebrations of faith and family, but this year, we are being asked to do something difficult.

Linda Robinson, 76, of Poplar Bluff passed away on April 01, 2020 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Linda was born on April 5, 1943 to Frederick and Dorothy(Plunkett) Ray in St. Louis, Missouri.  She married Michael R. Robinson on June 9, 1960, in Desloge, Mo...

Walter Hollowell, Jr., 87, of Poplar Bluff, went to his Heavenly Home on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Walter was born December 25, 1932 in Broseley, Mo., to the late Walter Hollowell, Sr. and Era (Johnson) Hollowell.  He had one brother, Arth “Bud” Hollowell, who preceded him in death and one sister, Marge Garner who survives...

Ronald F. ‘Dago’ Scott, 91, of Poplar Bluff entered the Gates of Heaven on Good Friday, April 10, 2020, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. Mr. Scott, the son of the late Charles and Rubye Kearbey Scott, was born July 1, 1928, in Poplar Bluff. ...

As school districts and parents face the fact that COVID-19 will keep students from returning to class this school year, the issue of equitable access to broadband is coming to the forefront.

By SCOTT BORKGREN Staff Writer When Brother Ron Robinson of First Baptist Church of Van Buren gives his Easter Sermon this Sunday, he’ll be standing in a movie projection room above a congregation of cars. Amidst a pandemic that prevented any kind of traditional church service, Robinson contacted the owners of the 21 Drive In Theater to see if he might be able to use its lot for temporary services. ...

Rumors have been circulating over the past couple of weeks about the arrival date for COVID-19 economic stimulus payments. Those who work with the IRS on a regular basis, such as tax accountants and tax attorneys, hadn’t heard a word about when to expect stimulus payments when asked midweek...

Working on a story about social distancing with this being Easter weekend that will appear online later today and in the Saturday print edition. There is a study from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention that looks at how one person who didn't know they had COVID-19 spread it at a funeral, a birthday party and church, leading to three deaths in Chicago...

A Butler County juvenile was being treated at a St. Louis area hospital after being shot accidentally by another juvenile Friday afternoon, said Sheriff Mark Dobbs. At 3:16 p.m. authorities received a call from a residence in the 1800 block of County Road 316 of an accidental shooting...

At least a hundred cars assembled in the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center parking lot Friday to show their appreciation for medical workers, as well as all first responders. "It was amazing," said Lacey McClintock, PBRMC Director of Marketing and Community Relations. "I had a few nurses who were up there on the seventh floor with me that were crying. It was really touching."...