__Oct. 25, 1923__
• The Poplar Bluff Lyceum course opened at the High School auditorium. There was a good crowd in attendance to welcome the Croatia Tamburica Orchestra. Reports indicate that from the start to the finish of the program every number received enthusiastic applause.
The chief part of the program was “high-class” music, but there was a part of it given to the “light-passing creations in the field of music.”
The Chamber of Commerce was behind the Lyceum course. It was the first time in years that the opera had been produced, but was considered to be a wise financial transaction and very popular.
__Oct. 25, 1948__
• Joanie Southern, 15-month-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Southern, was crushed to death under a soda truck in front of the Whiteblock service station, operated by the child’s parents, at Kennett Friday evening.
State highway patrolmen said the child died instantly. The truck was driven by Gilbert Hester, about 35, of Kennett. State troopers said the vehicle was a Pepsi-Cola truck.
The child was playing on the driveway of the service station and was not seen by Hester as he started to drive away in the vehicle. The body was taken to the Lents Funeral Home in Kennett.
__Oct. 25, 1973__
• Two persons were injured and one is in critical condition following a chase by city police that resulted in a wreck. One arrest was made.
Police chased a 1969 Ford Mustang driven at a high rate of speed by Lynn D. Boyer, 20, of Poplar Bluff. The vehicle was chased from Highway 53 and SU to Highway 142 and Fair Street, where it went out of control and overturned four times. Robert Dale Phillips, 17, of Fisk was thrown from the passenger’s seat of the vehicle. Police then pulled Boyer from the wrecked car which soon caught fire after the crash.
Both Boyer and Phillips were taken to the Doctors Hospital by Safeway Ambulance. Phillips was later sent to a hospital in St. Louis with a serious skull fracture. Chief Bill Pierce said Boyer was charged with driving while intoxicated and opened beer cans were found in the wrecked vehicle. Boyer will also be charged with resisting arrest.