Stories from Wednesday, March 13, 2019

“With a cold front like this, the fish just do not move,” said Missouri Department of Conservation Fisheries Management Biologist Paul Cieslewicz, climbing out of a boat along the shore of the Black River below the Clearwater Lake dam Sunday afternoon...

The 26th annual banquet of the Heartland Gobblers chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation drew 170 supporters Saturday for what organizers called a big success. The event, said chapter president Chuck Stewart, grossed around $45,000 for the NWTF’s habitat programs...

Lee Enterprises Consulting, headquarted in Little Rock, Ark., is pleased to announce the addition of Travis Birdsong of United Country- Birdsong Auction and Real Estate Group in Poplar Bluff to its renewable plant sales team. The consulting group has more than one hundred experts who have completed thousands of projects worldwide and have in-depth expertise in all phases of the bioeconomy, including biodiesel, ethanol, biomass power, renewable chemicals, renewable jet fuels, pyrolysis, hydrolysis, gasification, waste-to-energy, anaerobic digestion, torrefaction, wastewater treatment, butanol, steam reformation, biochar, carbonization and biogas.. ...

Saint Francis Healthcare System is pleased to welcome Adult/Pediatric Hospitalist Devika R. Nagaraj to Saint Francis Medical Center. Dr. Nagaraj received her medical education and completed her internship in 1991 from Bangalore Medical College at Karnataka State in India. She completed her residency in 2001 at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital-PMI in Pontiac, Mich. Dr. Nagaraj is board certified through the American Board of Internal Medicine and American Board of Pediatrics...

Saint Francis Healthcare System is pleased to announce Nurse Practitioner Jennifer Heuring has been promoted as a Nocturnist with Saint Francis Hospitalists. Heuring began her career at Saint Francis in 2009 as a Nurse Extern. She served as Charge Nurse in the Surgical and Trauma Intensive Care Unit from 2010-1014. ...

By MARK MASSINGHAM City manager, Poplar Bluff Several days ago someone posted an old photo of Poplar Bluff on Facebook. It was a photograph of the Highway 67/53 intersection that was taken in the 1950s. At the top you could see the building that is currently Maya’s Restaurant. ...

VAN BUREN, Mo. — Ozark National Scenic Riverways is hosting a river cleanup effort on March 30 with the Ozark Heritage Project. Come join the effort to clean up along the Current and Jacks Fork rivers. Staff from Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Ozark Heritage Project, park concessioners, local chambers of commerce, area schools, youth groups, and volunteers will band together to tackle litter in the rivers and along the roads and accesses of the park...

KENNETT, Mo. — Two teenagers pleaded guilty Wednesday to assaulting another teen, who authorities say was beaten over a dispute involving money and drugs. Malcomb Townsend McBride, 19, of Malden and Jordan Paul Morgan, 19, of Bernie pleaded guilty to the Class E felony of third-degree assault, according to Dunklin County Prosecuting Attorney Nicholas Jain...

Area drivers using North Main, Tremont and Ninth streets in Poplar Bluff should be prepared for delays or find an alternate route for two weeks beginning Monday, March 18, as the more-than-a-century-old brick street will be undergoing improvements. Poplar Bluff Street Department Jerry Lawson said Main Street will be reduced to one lane when the street department employees will be working between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. each day...

Bulls, bands, dirt and fans will fill the Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff two big nights this weekend for the Larry Hillis Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Fiat Black River Xtreme Bulls and Bands event. The action begins at 7:30 p.m. each evening presented by Legacy Farm & Land Specialists. ...

An investigation into the alleged harassment of students at a Butler County bus stop resulted in two women going to jail on unrelated offenses. Butler County authorities were contacted at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday regarding two men “harassing and threatening children at a school bus stop on County Road 4702,” explained Butler County Chief Deputy Wes Popp. “The individuals then were reported as entering a residence located in the 200 block of County Road 4702.”...

VAN BUREN — Observations made by a South Central Drug Task Force officer Tuesday morning resulted in the seizure of nearly 2 ounces of suspected methamphetamine and the arrest of two. At about 9:10 a.m. Tuesday, Carter County Chief Deputy Justin Eudaley, according to his probable-cause statement, was contacted by Cpl. Jason Kuessner with the South Central Drug Task Force...

City firefighters responded at 9:18 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, to a report of a smoke/carbon monoxide detector sounding at the 1706 Sanders St. residence owned by Julius Hightower. According to the report, firefighters used a multigas meter to check the residence. There were no gas appliances in the home...

Tomorrow morning marks the opening of Missouri’s paddlefish season, which draws an almost cult-like following, if only for the first few days. With the discharge back to normal below the Clearwater Lake dam, there probably will be quite a few anglers out ripping big hooks and weights through the water, hoping to tie into a big paddlefish...

High winds appear to have caused bricks to fall off a downtown Poplar Bluff building Wednesday afternoon. The Poplar Bluff Fire Department used a ladder truck as Chief Ralph Stucker and Captain Jeff Hale inspected the building on Poplar Street. It appeared that the wind lifted the medal flashing on the roof, loosening the attached bricks that landed on a lower roof of the law offices of Little, Schellhammer, Richardson and Knowlan, as well as the sidewalk and edge of the street...