Stories from Friday, May 10, 2019

Lifetime achievement awards will be presented to four area residents at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Holiday Inn in Poplar Bluff. The honors are being bestowed by Center Stage. Receiving the awards will be Three Rivers College coach Gene Bess, banker Ruther Anderson, law enforcement officer Bishop Johnny Williams and Vernestine Kennedy, who works for the Social Security Administration...

Residents may have noticed new messages from the Poplar Bluff Police Department — “Attention drug dealers report your competition anonymously …” and “Know a drug dealer? Report them anonymously …” on the north facing billboard on Westwood Boulevard at Vine Street in recent weeks...

The Poplar Bluff Academic Team has returned home from competing in the MSHSAA State Class 4 Scholar Bowl Tournament with a fifth place finish. “We thoroughly plan to win our way back to state next year and have already begun working toward it,” Scholar Bowl Coach Gail Karlish said...

DONIPHAN — A preliminary hearing will be held May 22 for a man who broke into a home in Doniphan while its residents were asleep. Heber C. Young, 23, was arraigned Thursday in Ripley County Circuit Court. Young, who is homeless, reportedly told Doniphan police he was ‘starving’ when he allegedly entered a residence on Fox Drive around 3 a.m. one night and stole food while the homeowner was sleeping...

Flying, food and fun are all scheduled for takeoff Saturday at the Poplar Bluff Municipal Airport during the annual fly-in pancake breakfast sponsored by SEMO Aviation Services. “What we like to do is get the community involved with aviation and let them see what it is,” SEMO Aviation Services Owner Dustin Ramsey said. “We also want to let them see what their local airport is. By people knowing that this is their airport and finally getting to use it for something is kind of nice.”...

A near capacity crowd gathered Thursday at the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library on the 92nd anniversary of the tornado that devastated the city of Poplar Bluff and its residents. The audience turned out to listen to local author/historian, Kati Wylie Ray’s presentation on her new book “Poplar Bluff Tornado: May 9, 1927.”...

Vehicles are gathering now for the first official trip across a 2.5 mile Shelby Road extension. The road will open after a ribbon cutting ceremony and words from community leaders. Updates will be posted at darnews.com after the event.

Poplar Bluff opened the Shelby Road extension this morning after a ribbon cutting ceremony. City and community leaders spoke before the first group of cars made the 2.5 mile trip from Kanell Boulevard to Highway 53. Construction on the extension broke ground in September 2017...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Nina Belle Stewart, 87, of Poplar Bluff, died Thursday, May 9, 2019 at Oakdale Care Center in Poplar Bluff. Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Monday, April 13 at Fowler-Sullivan Funeral Home in Poplar Bluff. The funeral will follow at noon at the funeral home with Rev. Kenny King and Dr. Steve Proctor officiating.

Carter, Ripley and Wayne Counties, together with the Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission and the Delta Regional Authority, are close to completing an Enhanced 9-1-1/Rural Addressing project necessary to bring 9-1-1 emergency calling service to the residents and businesses in the three rural counties...

Brandon Jewell, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., was recently named to the Columbia College dean’s list for the Spring Semester (January-April 2019): well, Fort Leonard Wood - MO To be named to the dean’s list, a student must have completed 12 semester hours in a 16-week period and achieved a minimum GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0-point scale...

BROSELEY, Mo. — Mid Johnson, age 86, of Broseley, passed away April 29, 2019 and is now standing in the presence of his Lord and Savior. Born in Breathitt County, Kentucky to Henry and Paulina (Spencer) Johnson, he was one of six children. He has returned to the loving arms of his wife of 64 years, Wilma Faye (Adams) Johnson, who had preceded him in death four months earlier...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Jerry Ezell, 78, of Poplar Bluff, died Friday, May 10, 2019 at his residence. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, May 14 from 11 a.m.-noon at Fowler-Sullivan Funeral Home in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Funeral services will follow at noon with Rev. Calvin Buhler officiating. Burial will take place at Shiloh Cemetery in Grandin, Mo.

Poplar Bluff marked its second major milestone this week on Friday, with the long-awaited opening of the Shelby Road extension. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Friday morning on the Kanell Boulevard side of the stretch of four-lane highway. The road was built in the hopes it would eventually handle more than 15,000 cars a day...

The 51st annual commencement ceremony for Three Rivers College will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, at the Libla Family Sports Complex at the Poplar Bluff campus. “Commencement is our college’s most important event of the year, the culmination of all our students’ hard work,” said Three Rivers President Dr. Wesley Payne. “We are proud to announce that this year’s commencement speaker is our 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, Todd Richardson.”...

Well, before you know it, Sunday will be here. Mother’s Day 2019 will be upon us and we will be honoring Mother’s for all they are and how much they mean to us. Mother’s Day always chalks up incredible memories for me of my mother when I was growing up. She is a very strong woman. She always has been relentless. A very hard worker when I was a kid. In her later years, I have watched her work, taking care of my father who is now confined to a wheelchair...

This week the House stopped a plan to use Missouri tax dollars to subsidize higher education for illegal immigrants. Since 2015, the Missouri State budget has required undocumented immigrants to pay international rates at state colleges and universities. ...