Stories from Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Local area McDonald’s restaurants will hire approximately 1,650 new employees in surrounding communities over the next few weeks. McDonald’s employees are eligible for the Archways to Opportunity program after 90 days and 15 hours a week. Employees have the chance to earn a high school diploma, receive $2,500 in upfront college tuition assistance, access to career advising services and the opportunity to learn English as a second language. ...

Dorothy Helen Ray, 95, of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, passed away Saturday, May 16, 2020, at The Manor in Poplar Bluff. Dorothy was born on Oct. 13, 1924, to Pete and Ora Coulson in Corning, Arkansas. She married G.B. “Bill” Ray in Essex, Missouri, in 1940...

SIKESTON - Route 114 in Stoddard County will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform bridge repairs. This section of roadway is located from Route 25 to Clements Street in Dexter, Missouri. Weather permitting, work will take place from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, May 21...

MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL Amy M. Wilson, 46, of Dexter was arrested at 10:08 p.m. Monday, May 18, on suspicion of DWI. She was booked at the Stoddard County Jail and released. _ Bethany M. Payne, 28, of Ellsinore was arrested at 6:59 p.m. Monday, May 18, on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine). She was booked at the Butler County jail...

City firefighters responded at 8:43 p.m. Monday, May 18, to a report of a gas odor in the 205 W. Harper St. residence owned by Shirley Hanna. According to the report, firefighters detected a gas leak in the oven. Spire personnel responded to the scene and shut off the gas...

SPRINGFIELD — Myra Lee Rutledge Clark, 86, passed away May 15, 2020. She was born June 30, 1933 to Lyman and Creasy Rutledge in Williamsville, Mo. Myra married the love of her life, her “Buddy,” Paul Clark, Jan. 10, 1951. They had three children together, whom they dedicated their life and love: Karen Davis (James), Richmond, VA; Gloria Roling, Springfield, Mo.; Richard Clark (Diane), St. ...

A Poplar Bluff man was sentenced to more than 50 years in prison Tuesday afternoon for raping and sodomizing a teenager over a nearly two-year period. Robert Allen Chavez appeared before Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett for sentencing after a Butler County jury convicted him in March of the unclassified felonies of first-degree statutory sodomy and first-degree statutory rape and the Class C felony of second-degree statutory rape...

Applications for the Boys & Girls Club of Poplar Bluff’s 2020 Summer Learning Program close Monday.

The Poplar Bluff R-I School District is coming up with multiple plans and a set of guidelines for students to return to school.

GREENVILLE — Shirley Mae Dalton, 84, of Greenville, MO, died Saturday, May 16, 2020. She was born to the late William Buford Minton and Frances Ruth (Rambo) Minton. She was a lifelong resident of Wayne county. Shirley attended the Cowboy Church in Fisk, MO. Her hobbies were shopping, checking out the flea markets, camping and sewing...