Stories from Monday, March 18, 2019

FREE ACCESS Corrected city meetings agenda March 18-22 The Poplar Bluff City Council will take up four items tonight that will be both workshop and voting items. Workshop and voting items include the selection of an engineering firm for a possible street paving grant application and residency requirements for Poplar Bluff city employees. The council is also scheduled to discuss an agreement with a police dispatchers union. Meetings will also be held today by the utility advisory board; Tuesday by the tree advisory board; and Thursday by the plumbing advisory board and the Black River Coliseum advisory board.

QULIN, Mo. — Curtis D. Ferraresi, 57, of Broseley, Mo., died Friday, March 15, 2019 in Broseley. Visitation will begin at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19 at White-Sanders Funeral Home in Qulin. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 20 in the funeral home chapel with Rev. Danny Collins officiating. Burial will be in Brown Chapel Cemetery in Broseley. Condolences: www.whitesandersfuneralhome.com

WAPPAPELLO, Mo. — Paula Tater, 69, Poplar Bluff, died Friday, March 8, 2019 at her residence. There will be a gathering of family and friends on March 20 beginning at 5 p.m. at Little Brushy Church in Wappapello. Memorial services will follow at 6 p.m. at the church with Rev. Tim Schultz officiating. Condolences: www.whitesandersfuneralhome.com

DONIPHAN, Mo. — Delois Faye Hunt, 89, of Doniphan, died Friday, March 15, 2019 at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Monday, March 18 in the Edwards Funeral Home Chapel in Doniphan. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 19 at the First Baptist Church of Doniphan with Pastor Monty Flanigan officiating. Burial will follow in the New Home Cemetery in Tucker, Mo...

FISK, Mo. — Mona Raye Burns, 81, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Saturday, March 16, 2019 at The Manor in Poplar Bluff. Visitation will be at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 19 at White-Sanders Funeral Home in Fisk. The funeral will follow at 11 a.m. in the funeral home chapel with Adam Noles officiating. Burial will be in Walker Cemetery in Bloomfield, Mo...

PIEDMONT, Mo. —Bernard William ‘Zeke’ Wheelehon, 85, of Piedmont, died Sunday, March 17, 2019 at Landmark Hospital, Cape Girardeau, Mo.. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. Friday, March 22 at Ruegg Funeral Home, Piedmont. Funeral Mass will follow at 11 a.m. at St. Catherine’s of Siena Catholic Church, Piedmont. Burial will follow at St. Catherine’s Cemetery...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Bonita Clara Robertson, 91, of Cape Giraradeau, Mo. formerly of Poplar Bluff, Mo. died March 16, 2019 at Life Care Center in Cape Girardeau. Visitation will be Tuesday, March 19 at 11 a.m. at Fitch-Hillis Funeral Home Chapel in Poplar Bluff. The funeral service will follow at noon. Burial will be at Black Creek Cemetery with Rev. Rowdy Boyers officiating. Online condolences: www.fitchhillisfh.com

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Charlotte Ann Duncan, 95, of Poplar Bluff, died Saturday, March 16, 2019 at her residence. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, March 19 at Cotrell Funeral Home in Poplar Bluff. A second visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Wednesday, March 20 at Moore Funeral Home in Potosi, Mo. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, March 21 at Moore Funeral Home in Potosi. Burial will be in the White Oak Grove Cemetery in Shirley, Mo.

‘A’ Honor Roll Third Grade: Alicia Barker, Ricky Bunton, Landon Burdin, Mason Cosgrove, Devon Gore, Zimri Hogan, Brayden Newcomb, Morgan Oliger, Hailey Rich, Kyle Spears, Moriah Stone, Eli Stotts, Zaine Stull, Shanine Watkins Fourth: Sydney Barber, Stacie Cannaday, Brooke Christian, Caleb Cozart, Lily Flanigan, Braiden Hover, Jarett McKuin, Jasmine Taylor, Hunter Watson, Thomas Watson, Camden Wolfram...

Three Rivers College jumped to an early lead against Jones County in the National Junior College Athletic Association national tournament in Lubbock, Texas this afternoon. But the Lady Raiders couldn’t sustain the lead and lost 88-84 in the opening round of the national finals...

NEELYVILLE, Mo. — Melvin Eugene Graham, 64, of Poplar Bluff, died Sunday, March 17, 2019 at his residence. Visitation will be held Wednesday night, March 20 from 6-8 p.m., with services following on Thursday, March 21 at 2 p.m., both at Fowler & Sons Funeral Home in Neelyville. Burial will follow at Cochran Cemetery in Harviell with Elder Kenny Graham and Elder Tommy McMurtry officiating. Online condolences may be made at www.fowlerandsonsfuneralhome.com

You know Shakespeare and are familiar with his plays. You have been exposed through media including “A Witch’s Tangled Hare” (1959) starring Bugs Bunny and Chancellor Gorkon in “Star Trek VI: Undiscovered Country” stating, “You’ve not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon.” While tongue-in-cheek, these examples illustrate the timelessness of this literature and how much it is a part of our culture. ...

MALDEN, Mo. ­— Daphne Richardson, 94, of Gideon, Mo., died Monday, March 18, 2019 at Gideon Care Center in Gideon. Visitation will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 20 at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden. The funeral will follow at 11:30 a.m. in the Bradshaw Chapel. Burial will be in the Misssouri Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield, Mo...

This past week was “Sunshine Week,” where hundreds of organizations, civic groups, and schools around the country held events to educate the public and advocate for transparency in government. If we truly are to have a government “of, by, and for the people,” we must be open and honest about how the people’s business is being conducted. ...

GIDEON, Mo. — Redgie Arlie Owens, 76, of Gideon, died Saturday, March 16, 2019 at Region One Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, March 20 at Stanfield General Baptist Church in Gideon. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 21 at the church with Bro. Andy Evans officiating. Burial will be in Stanfield Cemetery in Clarkton, Mo...

City firefighters responded at 8:10 p.m. Thursday, March 14, to a report of trash burning at the 1310 Gardner St. residence owned and occupied by Zelda Ordway. According to the report, firefighters found an unauthorized burn involving the remains of a trash fire that were still smoking...

Louis Lyndell Coleman of Sikeston, Mo, died Saturday, March 16, 2019. Visitation for Louis will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Cotrell Funeral Chapel in Poplar Bluff. The funeral service will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday in the funeral chapel with Mr. Ralph Innes officiating and the Coleman family speaking. Burial will be at Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Poplar Bluff.

DEXTER, Mo. — Curtis Poston, 92, of Parma, Mo., died on February 14, 2019 at the Ridgeview Living Community in Malden, Mo. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. until time of service at 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 19 at the Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Dexter...

The city fire department responded at 2:44 a.m. Saturday, March 16, to an alarm apparently created by a heat sensor at 2910 Barron Road. Nothing was showing. ———— The city fire department responded Saturday, March 16, to an unauthorized and unattended trash fire in the backyard of 815 Grant Ave. The firefighters advised the residents of the burning ordinance and the fire was extinguished...

The aroma of brewing coffee and frying sausage captured the attention of hungry folks Saturday as they headed into the Poplar Bluff Junior High School for the 81st annual Kiwanis Pancake Day, proceeds from which benefit area children. Pancake Day Chairman Matthew Sparks was busy making certain all the workers had what they needed to keep the estimated 400 to 500 people fed...

While formal filing for the District 25 seat currently held by Sen. Doug Libla won’t begin until February 2020, two candidates have already expressed interest in the position. Poplar Bluff businessman Eddy Justice announced today he is seeking the seat when Libla’s current term ends. Libla is prevented by term limits from running again...

BLOOMFIELD — Stoddard County officials will soon be seeking bids to handle the county’s financial accounts for the next four years. Commissioners approved for County Clerk Cecil Weeks to draft bid specs for the county’s financial accounts. Once drafted, Weeks said the bid request will be posted in the newspaper and letters will be sent to local banks...

Questions surrounding bids for an $18.2 million upgrade to Poplar Bluff’s wastewater treatment plant resulted in two split votes Monday night before council members decided to hold another workshop session on the matter. Four companies have bid on the project, with Brockmiller Construction of Farmington, Mo. submitting the apparent low bid, according to city documents...

Poplar Bluff City Council members selected Mathis and Associates on Monday as the engineering firm to work on a possible street paving grant project. The matter originally came before the council earlier in March and failed to receive enough support to move forward with a vote...

Poplar Bluff City Council members are expected to vote April 1 on a union contract with the police department dispatchers’ group. The matter was discussed Monday during a workshop session. The contract, good through December 2020, would give shift differential pay. This is the main difference between it and other city union contracts, said city manager Mark Massingham...

A Poplar Bluff man was ordered to stand trial Monday afternoon for his alleged role in connection to the death of another man whose remains were found at the bottom of a drained lake. Accompanied by his attorney, Eldrid Leon Smith, 27, appeared before Associate Circuit Judge Thomas David Swindle for a preliminary hearing on the Class A felony of first-degree murder...