Editor's Note: This is the fifth of a 10-part series looking back on area events reported in the newspaper that highlighted 2018.
JUNE
1 * The iconic tower at the Rodgers Theatre is removed for repairs as work on restoring the 69-year-old building continues downtown.
3 * The Federal Emergency Management Agency releases a report on initial levee analysis and mapping in Butler County but money has been allocated to move forward with the project to assess about a dozen levees that protect more than 3,500 people from flooding.
5 * A boat crash on Black River kills a Poplar Bluff teenager and injures five others. ... The city of Poplar Bluff hires a new street superintendent in Jerry Lawson Jr. and announces Tim Edington has the city's first Director of Human Resources.
6 * Foster families from Butler and Ripley counties are honored with a dinner. ... Dexter Board of Alderman approve a $10.5 million operating budget.
7 * The Three Rivers College rodeo team and the University of Missouri-Butler County Extension Office put on a horse camp for kids.
8 * The United Gospel Rescue Mission receives a $1,000 grant from PeopleForBikes to benefit the Mission's Bike to the Future program.
10 * Stoddard County 911 becomes the first agency in Missouri set to roll out new public safety software to integrate many agencies within the county to one system.
12 * An Oak Ridge, Mo. man is killed during the eighth annual Trucks Gone Wild event at Brick's Off-Road Park after being severely beaten after he was accused of physically striking a young boy. ... Neal Boyd, the Sikeston, Mo. native who won the "America's Got Talent" television show in 2008, dies at 42.
14 * A large black bear was found dead in the Current River south of Van Buren.
15 * A Qulin area toddler missing for more than 12 hours was reunited with her family after she was found in a cornfield with the family dog who stayed with her all night. ... The United Gospel Rescue Mission celebrates 50 years of serving the community with a banquet to recognize those who helped.
17 * A suspicious fire destroyed a South 11th Street commercial building housing two businesses and storage units. ... The annual Wheatley Historical Preservation Association's Juneteenth celebration is held.
19 * The Poplar Bluff City Council approves a proposed trash transfer station to be constructed on the edge of the Industrial Park.
20 * Poplar Bluff Junior High students in the "I'm a Citizen, Too" class present Missouri House Speaker Todd Richardson with a plaque thanking him for support and service.
21 * Mid Continent Nail says it laid off 60 of its 500 employees and could be out of business by Labor Day because of tariffs to steel and aluminum used to make its nails.
22 * The first restored letter of the Rodgers Theatre is shown during a benefit fundraiser.
24 * Roxie Road is set to close to allow for realignment of the road at the new Shelby Road intersection. The closure is scheduled to last two weeks, weather permitting. ... Wayne County judge Randy Schuller announces his retirement from the bench. ... Three vehicle pursuits occurred within about an hour as members of the SEMO Street Crimes Task Force combat drug trafficking in Poplar Bluff.
27 * A Doniphan man is found guilty of murder in the first degree for the April 2016 shooting death of a 34-year-old man.
28 * A traveling World War II memorial replica is delivered to Piedmont and set up at the McKenzie Creek Greenway.
29 * Homicide is suspected in the death of a Dexter man found in his Mulberry Street home. ...The Poplar Bluff R-1 Board of Education approves a $55 million spending plan. ...Neelyville R-IV Board of Education approves a 1.7 percent pay increase for certified staff.