Stories from Friday, September 8, 2023

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- A Morehouse, Missouri, woman who was found guilty of murdering her grandmother will spend the rest of her life in prison. On Wednesday, Sept. 6, Ashley M. Riggins, 37, was sentenced to life without parole for a first-degree murder charge; 30 years for armed criminal action; 10 years each for two counts of abuse or neglect of a child -- with all of those sentences to run consecutively -- and seven years each for abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence, which are to run concurrently, according to online court records.. ...

Nine residents of a residential care facility at Broseley were displaced Wednesday after a fire, although owners and staff of Cedar Valley are praising God because their preparations in case of a fire worked. When the fire alarm was activated Wednesday afternoon, everyone promptly exited the building while waiting for Butler County firefighters to arrive...

100 years ago Sept. 8, 1923 • A Daily Republican carrier boy rearranges his route so his last stop is the home of a woman with poor eyesight, to whom he reads the paper every day. • Piedmont sees a malaria fatality when George Munger, 20, dies after several weeks of illness...

The John J. Pershing VA Medical Center will offer veterans several opportunities to get no-cost influenza vaccinations during September and October. A drive-thru clinic will be held at the main campus in Poplar Bluff from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Sept. 25-29 and again Oct. 2-6, according to VA Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Program Manager Ashley Aubuchon...

To the Editor: Suicide deaths are on the rise in Missouri. Suicide is a complex public health issue that requires action. September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month — a time to share resources and information to shed light on this highly stigmatized topic. ...

Ten counties in Southeast Missouri are among the 33 counties covered in Gov. Mike Parson's request this week for a federal disaster declaration due to storm activity in the state from July 29 to Aug. 14. "For the past several weeks, state Emergency Management Agency has been working tirelessly and in close coordination with our federal and local partners to document widespread damage as a result of the severe weather that repeatedly struck Missouri late this summer," Parson said in a Wednesday, Sept. ...

Poplar Bluff fine art photographer Tim Edington’s work featuring the Ozark Mountains of Missouri is being displayed during September at the Missouri Department of Conservation Nature Center in Cape Girardeau. Edington will be on hand every Saturday in September to meet the public...

John J. Pershing VA Medical Center says it will work with the city to find another alternative for construction work access to the Westwood Boulevard campus. The VA had sought temporary access to Old Orchard Road from the north side of the campus as part of a project to add administrative space and other upgrades...

Bobby Duane Jenkins, 84, passed away peacefully in his home surrounded by his three children Shawn Jenkins, Debra Jenkins, both of Poplar Bluff, and Robert Jenkins of Florida the evening of Sept. 3, 2023. Bobby was a 1958 graduate of Poplar Bluff High School where he played football serving as one of the captains for that season. The Mules 1957 record of 9-1 is still one of best seasons in school history led by his coach and later friend Clarence “Dutch” Wyatt...

An Arkansas man who authorities believe may have been walking or camping in Ripley County near the state line was found dead on the side of DD Highway. According to reports, the deceased, Johnny Walls, 32, of Searcy, Ark., was spotted Sept. 5 by a passerby, who contacted Doniphan Dispatch...

Longtime Animal Welfare Alliance member Coretta Bishop is stepping up to direct the AWA No-Kill Shelter in Poplar Bluff. Her new position was finalized during an AWA board meeting Thursday night, as was her salary: $0. Bishop decided to take the position as a volunteer so the shelter, which is a nonprofit, can put that money back into its operating costs...