Stories from Tuesday, July 19, 2022

John J. Pershing VA Medical Center has accepted a $3,000 donation from the SSGT Eric W. Summers Play for Honor Golf Tournament. The donation was made to three separate funds that benefit veterans, including indigent, homeless/at-risk veterans, and the Care and Share program...

Poplar Bluff city firefighters are paying tribute to the only city firefighter who died in the line of duty. The Walter Weaver Memorial Scholarship is being established in memory of Walter Weaver and will help future firefighters pay for training. Weaver was born Feb. ...

Joy Sharlene Burke, 57, of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, passed away July 17, 2022, at her residence. She was born May 8, 1965, to Elton Dunlap and Ada “Pierce” Dunlap. She was married Nov. 2, 2001, to Ben Burke at Jonesboro, Arkansas. He survives. Also surviving; Her mother, Ada Dunlap of Harviell, Missouri; three sisters; Michelle Meyers of Columbia, Missouri, Jan Chronister of Poplar Bluff, Missouri and Julie Stevenson of Dayton, Ohio...

William Donald Arnold Jr. of Poplar Bluff, Missouri passed away July 16, 2022 at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. He was born May 18, 1965 at Norman, Oklahoma, to the late William Donald Arnold Sr. and Geneva Veletta “Border” Arnold. He was married to Sandy Lampston. She survives...

Four Southeast Missouri residents were injured in a pair of motor vehicle accidents Monday, two of them seriously, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The first accident occurred at 1:30 p.m. in Johnson County in west central Missouri, two miles south of Kingsville at the intersection of Highway T and Southwest 400th Road...

Tonyi Deffendall is retiring after serving Butler County for 32 years, 16 of which have been spent in her current position as county clerk. “I’ve worked with so many wonderful people and great friends,” she said. “It’s just been an opportunity that I’ve been blessed with. I mean, it’s been a wonderful place to work in and raise a family.”...

Progress on the construction of Hilliard Bridge, located between County Road 525 and Ravenwood Lane on W Highway near Poplar Bluff, is on target for the original estimated completion date of Friday, Sept.30, 2022. Travis Slayton, project manager for Robertson Contractors, Inc. said, “It is really going well, we haven’t had any issues.”...

Funeral services for Judith “Judy” Wangelin Scott, 81, a retired Poplar Bluff educator and community leader who died Saturday, July 16, 2022, are planned for Friday morning at the Cotrell Willow Ridge Funeral Home on Iron Bridge Road off Highway PP...

Judith Scott, a retired Poplar Bluff educator who also served on many Missouri state boards, died Saturday at her Poplar Bluff home. Scott, 81, suffered from multiple illnesses for more than 10 years. She taught English, writing and other subjects to thousands of students over 45 years at Poplar Bluff Senior High School and Three Rivers Community College. She was at TRCC for 41 years, retiring in 2009...