Stories from Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Robert “Rob” Bristow, 31, of Florrisant, died Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, at Christian Northeast Hospital, St. Louis. Visitation is at noon, Wednesday, Dec. 23, at Ruegg Funeral Home, Williamsville Chapel. Funeral service will follow at 2 p.m., also in the Williamsville Chapel. Burial in Cool Springs Cemetery, Taskee...

Maridel (Howard) Reed passed away Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020, at the Randolph County Nursing Home in Pocahontas, Arkansas.  Mrs. Reed was born Oct. 8, 1921, to Charles and Mary Agee Howard in the Agee Community, which was named after her maternal grandfather, William Agee. ...

City firefighters responded to an alarm of a smoke odor inside the lobby of the Poplar Bluff Post Office at 2:25 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20. It was investigation only. _ City firefighters responded to a call at 9:11 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 20, at 301 E. Neat St. to assist EMS personnel with loading a patient...

One person suffered serious injuries in a single-car accident at 12:58 p.m. Monday, Dec. 21, on Highway J, six miles north of Dudley. According to the report, Maria D. Topps, 54, of Advance was injured when her vehicle failed to stop at a stop sign, slid through an intersection and struck a highway sign. Topps was arrested on suspicion of DWI, careless and imprudent driving and no seat belt. She was transported to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center for treatment...

Last month, a state commission recommended a pay increase of 5% for statewide officials and legislators. Previous pay increase proposals were shot down by the legislature, and I will strongly support a resolution to oppose this recommendation as well. When Missourians are suffering hardships, including job loss and economic insecurity resulting from the pandemic, the last thing we should be doing is using taxpayers’ dollars to give ourselves a raise...

QULIN, Mo. — Kelly Dawn Tompkins Nixon, 49, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, passed away Monday, Dec. 21, 2020 at Southeast Missouri Hospital, in Cape Girardeau. Kelly was born June 2, 1971. On Nov. 9, 2019 she married Thomas “T.J.” Nixon. He survives. She is also survived by her parents: Tommy Tompkins of Williamsville, Missouri and Sharon (Jim) Doyle of Piedmont, Missouri; three children: Madison Renfroe of Bloomfield, Missouri, Natalie Renfroe of Blytheville, Arkansas and Nicholas Renfroe of Poplar Bluff; two brothers: Tracey (Marsha) Tompkins of Puxico, Missouri, Shannon (Rebecca) Tompkins of Williamsville and one sister: Joy (Bryan) Ferguson of Patterson, Missouri.. ...

Cyra Ensley Butler, the beautiful daughter of Addonya Nelson and Nathaniel Butler, was born on Friday, April 3, 2020 at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Cyra was a bubbly, serious but happy baby. Cyra laughed, smiled and mugged throughout her eight months of life; bringing joy and happiness to everyone she touched. She enjoyed eating, playing, fighting, daddy/daughter moments, and having sister/mommy photo sessions. ...

Anthony Allen Logan, 9, of Poplar Bluff appears to be shy, but with a little prompting, the Lake Road Elementary student answered questions about being victorious in a national event. He learned his poster “What Home Means to Me” earned a second-place award in Missouri, as part of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials contest...

One person is dead after an overnight shooting in Poplar Bluff. According to Poplar Bluff Police Chief Danny Whiteley, on Tuesday, Dec. 22, “at approximately 2:52 a.m., the Poplar Bluff Police Department responded to a residence in the 800 block of Valley Street after receiving a report of a person who had been shot.”...

Kaylee Meyers of Doniphan is this year’s recipient of the Rose Abbott Memorial Scholarship. Meyers graduated from the LPN school at Black River Technical College in December 2020 and will begin the RN bridge program at Black River Technical College in January. She plans to receive her RN degree in December 2021...

The first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in Butler County were given out Tuesday morning to frontline medical professionals. More will receive the vaccine in the coming days and weeks.

In the fall of 2019, when Holden and Ashlyn Bruce of Dexter discovered they were expecting a baby, the young couple was ecstatic. High school sweethearts who had married the previous September, they were looking forward to adding a new member to their little family...