Stories from Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Ripley County Route A will be reduced with a 10-foot width restriction as contractor crews perform pavement repairs. This section of roadway is located from Route 21 to the Arkansas state line. Weather permitting, work will take place Tuesday, May 26 through Monday, June 15 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily...

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (“Southern Missouri,” NASDAQ: SMBC), parent company of Southern Bank, Poplar Bluff, Missouri, announced that its merger with Central Federal Bancshares, Inc. (“Central”), Rolla, Missouri, was completed today. Central was the parent company of Central Federal Savings & Loan Association of Rolla (“Central Federal”), which was merged with and into Southern Bank...

CAPE GIRARDEAU – SoutheastHEALTH has announced the appointment of Jason Emmenderfer, PT, MBA, CSCS, as director of orthopedics and sports medicine. He will be housed in the Southeast Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Clinic located at 1723 Broadway in Cape Girardeau...

Seven people died in traffic crashes and boating accidents over the 2020 Memorial Day weekend, including one in the Troop E area. The counting period included over 300 traffic crashes, and ran from 6 p.m., Friday, May 22, through 11:59 p.m., Monday, May 25. Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers investigated the following over the 2020 Memorial Day holiday weekend, according to a press release:...

Louise Marvel Essary passed away on May 25, 2020. Louise was born on Sept. 19, 1937, in Poplar Bluff, Mo. She was a proud graduate of Poplar Bluff High School, the place where she made lifelong best friends and met her future husband, Clyde Essary. The two were married on Feb. 8, 1958, and went on to have five children. Although her husband died 18 years ago, she said their love was enough to last a lifetime...

A $100,000 cash only bond has been issued for the suspect in a series of incidents Sunday that include gunshots, and a high speed chase in a vehicle stolen from a mortuary. Jaquise Arictea Hamblin, 20, of St. Louis was captured at 8:40 a.m. Monday by officers, who had received a tip from a concerned citizen. He was riding a bicycle in the mini park area on Harper Street at the time, according to information released Tuesday by Chief Danny Whiteley...

Three Rivers College is announcing that students registered for fall classes by June 22 will be the first group reviewed for Three Rivers Endowment Trust scholarship eligibility for the 2020-2021 school year. This priority scholarship deadline is to help ensure that funds are available for scholarship recipients at the very beginning of the semester.

Michelle Hughes, 54, died Thursday, May 21, 2020 at Neelyville. She formerly lived in Topeka, Kan. Fowler & Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements, No service is scheduled.

Five new cases of the COVID-19 virus were reported in Stoddard County over the holiday weekend, all resulting from a gathering at a Malden church a little over a week ago, according to Stoddard County Presiding Commissioner Danny Talkington. Talkington reported during Tuesday’s weekly conference call that three positive cases were reported Saturday, one Sunday and one Monday in the county. Three cases are in Dexter and two in Bernie...

Thomas ‘Tom’ Ray Huff, 62, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., passed Thursday, May 14, 2020, in Poplar Bluff. Tom was born on May 25, 1957 to Orville and Margie Baker Huff, in Poplar Bluff. He married Barbara Ann Bates Oct. 14, 2010, in Piggott, Ark. He was an active member of Highland Church of Christ. ...

Byron “Wayne” Daggett, 62, of Des Arc, died Sunday, May 24, 2020, at Parkland Hospital, Farmington. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. -1 p.m, Saturday, May 30, 2020, at Ruegg Funeral Home, Piedmont Chapel. Funeral service following at 1 p.m. Burial in Masonic Cemetery...

POPLAR BLUFF FIRE DEPARTMENT Firefighters responded at 4:43 p.m. Saturday, May 23, to 1700 W. Maud St., to assist police in removing a lock from a door. _ Firefighters responded at 8:26 p.m. Saturday, May 23, to 1704 W. Maud St. to an unauthorized fire, where a mattress and box spring were burning. They advised the resident of the city’s burn ordinance...

POPLAR BLUFF POLICE DEPARTMENT Cheyenne D. Stevens, 26, of the 5000 block of Nelley Sue Circle was arrested at 11:45 a.m. Monday, May 25, on suspicion of fourth-degree domestic assault, second-degree property damage, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana. She was booked at Butler County jail...