Underpaid school staff are not a new phenomenon. After negotiations in 1974, the Poplar Bluff School Board grants employees a pay raise to alleviate the financial burdens of inflation. Also on this date: a fatal train derailment in Advance and traffic improvements in Poplar Bluff.
100 years ago
Jan. 18, 1924
• A train derailment near Advance killed one and critically injured another last night (Jan. 17). Frisco passenger train No. 876 derailed at a switch on its way into the station, instantly crushing longtime engineer Henry Williams to death. H.L. Burnett, the “fireman” maintaining the boiler, was badly scalded and his injuries may prove fatal.
The accident occurred only 150 feet from the station. No cars overturned and no passengers were injured.
No. 376 had departed from Poplar Bluff that afternoon.
75 years ago
Jan. 18, 1949
• The city council acted to reduce traffic hazards at its Jan. 17 meeting. The council will order stop lights for the intersections at Second Street and Pine Boulevard as well as Fifth and Vine streets. A no-parking ordinance was also placed on the east side of Main Street between Tremont and Harper, since traffic for the new license office poses risks for students at the nearby Mark Twain school.
• A land appraiser claims his office was broken into last night and “a number of governmental papers” were burned in the stove. W.D. McGhee’s office is on the second floor of the Piedmont city hall. He reported the incident to Piedmont’s city marshal, who notified the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
MSHP as of yet has no list of the papers destroyed and no estimate of the documents’ value. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Department had yet to receive a report of the break-in as of this morning. McGhee declined to comment to reporters on the nature of the files.
50 years ago
Jan. 18, 1974
• A man arrested in Arizona is revealed to be the main suspect in an armed robbery in Kennett last week. Richard Benfield, 25, formerly of Kennett was arrested in Phoenix two days ago (Jan. 16) for 11 armed robberies and three murders in Arizona and Texas. He is being held on a $110,000 bond.
Kennett authorities called Benfield the prime suspect in a holdup at the Kennett IGA Foodliner supermarket last week. However, no warrant has been issued.
“We’re not going to get this guy back from Arizona for at least 10 years, I would say, so there’s not [sic] point in filing charges here at this time,” said Dunklin County Prosecuting Attorney Charles H. Baker.
• After a campaign by staff, the Poplar Bluff R-I School Board voted unanimously on a pay raise. Non-certified personnel earning less than $2.26 per hour will be brought up to $2.25 per hour, and certified personnel will receive a 3% raise.
The Jan. 17 meeting was well attended by district employees, with E.W. Rose as their spokesman. Rose cited a statistic from the Community Teachers Association stating inflation had eaten up 10% of teachers’ pay in the past year.
“Our people are borrowing to buy gasoline to get to work. They are working for $1.61 and $1.71 per hour... If we don’t get it (the raise), there won’t be any school tomorrow,” he said.
The raise ends several days of negotiations between employees and the school.