Keen-eyed local readers will recognize a familiar name on Jan. 7, 1974: local community and education leader Kathern Harris was named an Outstanding Elementary Teacher for going above and beyond for Cleveland schools. In other education news, families in Puxico keep their schools open by paying subscription fees for the 1924 spring semester.
Jan. 6, 1924 and Jan. 6, 1974 — No issues available.
__Jan. 6, 1949__
• A DUI arrest Jan. 5 was complicated by the fact that no one knew who was driving.
Poplar Bluff police pulled over construction workers James N. Wolford and Velda L. King after their vehicle was observed swerving across both lanes of Pine Street. The men claimed they could not recall who was behind the wheel, and apparently the arresting officers were unsure as well.
Both men were charged with drunk driving and jailed. This morning the suspects decided Wolford was the driver. He was fined $60.50 for reckless driving while intoxicated and King was fined $15.50 for intoxication only.
__Jan. 7, 1924__
• Butler County’s largest lawsuit to date has been filed. Monroe De Ment of Morehouse filed for $25,000 in damages against the Morehouse Stave and Manufacturing Company after a beam from the upper level of the plant fell and struck him in the head Nov. 19. The injury resulted in sensory paralysis.
Morehouse Stave and Manufacturing Company also owns property in Fisk, allowing the suit to be heard in Butler County.
__Jan. 7, 1949__
• The winners of the DAR’s 1949 New Year’s First Baby Contest are twins Lynn Eugene and Linda Darlene Bennett, born at 7:05 a.m. and 7:17 a.m. Jan. 1 at the Poplar Bluff Hospital. They and their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Edison Bennett of Poplar Bluff, will receive prizes from 14 area businesses.
Irvin Maske, owner of the Family Shoe Store, generously doubled his gift from one pair of baby shoes to two.
• The Butler County chapter of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis opened the local March of Dimes for polio victims with a banquet last night (Jan. 6).
• Ozark Border Electric Cooperative closed a deal with Sho-Me Power Cooperative yesterday (Jan. 6), purchasing water and electric plants and lines in Puxico. The facilities serve 293 customers and were acquired for $89,000.
Power lines running northeast were also purchased by the Scott, New Madrid and Mississippi Electric Cooperative.
__Jan. 7, 1974__
• Kathern Ferguson Harris is declared an Outstanding Elementary Teacher for 1973 by the Outstanding Elementary Teachers of America. She’s taught for four years at Gordon Elementary School in Cleveland. Last year, Harris conducted a pilot reading program and helped write a new social studies curriculum for the Cleveland Elementary School System.
She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Ferguson of Neelyville.
• Two shootings over the weekend of Jan. 5-6 left two dead and one in critical condition in the towns of Puxico and Fisk.
Luther Wayne Shephard, 50, of Little Rock was killed and Leo Merland Nelson, 41 of Fisk critically wounded on Jan. 6 after a violent confrontation at Nelson’s trailer home. Investigators said the men traded shots with handguns.
An inquest is planned in the death of Betty Jo Wolford, 31, of Puxico. She died Jan. 5 in an alleged accidental shooting. Family friend Merlin Kauffman said he and the deceased’s husband Johnny Wolford left the room after examining the latter’s gun collection, then heard a shot.
__Jan. 8, 1924__
• A “pipe thawing machine” ordered by the City Light and Water Company is expected to arrive today, restoring water service to homes left without water by a recent cold wave. The machine is capable of thawing out 100 feet in 30 minutes and “will eliminate a great deal of digging to locate the freeze” according to A.E. Hecker, City Light and Water Co. superintendent.
• Puxico citizens are banding together to keep their schools open. At a school board meeting, community members pledged to pay $5 per month per high school student and $3.50 per grade school student. This raised $2,500 of the $3,000 needed to complete the year.
The schools’ financial crisis was caused by the Bank of Puxico closing.
__Jan. 8, 1949__
• A $100,000, three-story addition to Poplar Bluff Hospital has been completed, bringing the hospital’s capacity to 100 beds and 40 private rooms, including an expanded nursery and juvenile section. The new wing opens on Monday (Jan. 10).
__Jan. 8, 1974__
• The Poplar Bluff City Council authorized the issuance of up to $300,000 in revenue bonds last night (Jan. 7) to construct a multi-level parking garage downtown.