Stories from Tuesday, November 5, 2019

The Missouri State Highway Patrol would like to remind the public that driver examination stations throughout the state will be closed on Monday, Nov. 11 in observance of Veterans Day. Normal operations will resume on Tuesday, Nov. 12. Follow the Missouri State Highway Patrol on Twitter @MSHPTrooperGHQ...

FREE ACCESS Voting has started on the only ballot item before voters in Butler County today, a use tax for the city of Poplar Bluff. All five city wards can vote on the measure through the closing of polls at 7 p.m. About 35 votes had been cast by 8 a.m. in Ward 4, one of the city's largest wards...

The Greater St. Louis Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, will hold Scouting for Food, the largest service project of the year, this month, according to a news release. Thousands of scouts will deliver more than 1 million blue Scouting for Food bags throughout the area Saturday, the release stated. They will pick up the bags Nov. 16; bags should be placed outside by 9 a.m. In Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois, Scouts take donations directly to local food pantries...

MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL A 52-year-old Maynard, Ark., woman was injured in a one-vehicle crash at 12:25 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4, on a southbound U.S. 67 ramp in Butler County. According to the report, Arleen A. Benton was operating a 2016 Hyundai Tucson when it struck an animal in the road...

City firefighters responded at 12:16 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, to a report of an unauthorized burn in the alley between Neat and Center streets. According to the report, firefighters found a burn barrel on fire in the back yard at the 1002 Grand Ave. residence owned and occupied by Terraine Foulk...

FISK — Evelyn Ferguson, 84, passed away peacefully at home in Indianapolis, Ind. on Oct. 30, 2019. She was born on July 4, 1935 in Rock Island, Ill. to the late William and Mabel (Scarborough) Spaulding. Evelyn worked as a sales associate in the garden department for Walmart in Plainfield, Ind. and later transferred to the Poplar Bluff location, where she retired after many years of service...

Michael David Wright, 62, of Wappapello, died Friday, Nov. 1, 2019 at his residence. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Condolences: www.whitesandersfuneralhome.com

The First United Methodist Church fellowship hall was filled with diners and the enticing aroma of Lion Dennis Keeling’s award-winning chili Tuesday for the annual Poplar Bluff Lions Club Chili Day. The annual event began over 25 years ago as a ham and bean dinner changing to chili a few years ago. Chili Day is one of the Lions Club’s three major yearly fundraisers and is held on Election Day each November...

Reliable Community Bancshares, Inc., the parent company of The Bank of Missouri, announces its next phase of growth. As of Nov. 1, Bolivar Bancshares, Inc. has executed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Reliable Community Bancshares, Inc., according to a press release...

Get an attitude when searching newspapers online, Patsy Luebbert, grant manager of the State Historical Society of Missouri, challenged a group meeting recently at the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library. Luebbert was in town talking about the partnership between the local library and the State Historical Society of Missouri to put online more than 60 years of local newspapers dating back to 1878...

Probation and Parole officials opened the doors to the local Community Supervision Center this week to showcase the “re-purposing” that has taken place as part of a new statewide initiative. The re-purposing is part of the Justice Re-Investment Treatment initiative, which kicked off Jan. 1...

ELLSINORE ­— Rosemary Irene Bauman, 69, of Poplar Bluff, died Nov. 4, 2019 at the Mark Twain Caring Center in Poplar Bluff. Visitation will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 8 at the McSpadden Funeral Home in Ellsinore. The funeral will follow at 1 p.m. in the funeral home chapel with Rev. James Huffman officiating. Burial will be in the Owls Roost Cemetery in Ellsinore...

For those interested in games, food and trivia the Twin Rivers High School Beta Club will host a trivia night Friday as a fundraiser for the club.

UPDATE 7:30 p.m. The Poplar Bluff city use tax has failed by a significant margin. Residents voted 276 in favor, with 491 against, according to the county clerk’s office at Butler County Courthouse. More information will be posted soon at www.darnews.com...

A use tax for the city of Poplar Bluff failed 276-491 Tuesday. It’s a result officials say will mean no raises for city employees in the coming year and could lead to layoffs, or unfilled positions. The use tax would have been applied to certain out of state online purchases, at the same rate goods are taxed when purchased from brick and mortar stores in Poplar Bluff...

One Poplar Bluff facility has opened a program-driven Alzheimer’s care program for those in the early-to-mid stages of the disease.