Stories from Thursday, January 14, 2021

Charles B. Saulsbery Sr., 92, of Fort Smith, Arkansas, passed into the loving arms of his Heavenly Father Jan. 10, 2021. He was born Oct. 29, 1928 in Willow Hill Township, Illinois, to Estle and Pansy Saulsbery. Charles, many knew him as Buck, was a veteran of the Air Force, worked as a civil servant for many years, and was a retired truck driver. He was an ordained deacon and a member of First Southern Baptist Church in Central City...

Voting for the University of Missouri Extension Council of Butler County will be different this year since COVID-19 stalled the 2021 Heartland Agriculture and Natural Resources Expo. The expo normally is the site for many to vote to elect seven people for two-year terms...

FIRE City firefighters responded at 2:38 p.m Wednesday, Jan. 13, to a report of a carbon monoxide detector sounding at the 2532 N. Main St. residence owned by Bill Caputo. According to the report, firefighters used a handheld gas meter and found excessively high levels of carbon monoxide in the residence, with the highest levels in the basement. Firefighters opened doors and used fans to disspate the carbon monoxide...

POPLAR BLUFF POLICE DEPARTMENT Robert Ernest Sharp, 31, of Neelyville was arrested at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13, in the 1200 block of Tremont Street on a Butler County warrant for possession of a controlled substance. He was booked at the Butler County jail...

Poplar Bluff’s trap team will be signing up shooters for the coming year this weekend. From 9-10 a.m. Saturday, at the Poplar Bluff Gun Club, the team will be holding sign-ups for returning members. That time period also will be when the club hosts its annual booster meeting...

A Poplar Bluff man was ordered to stand trial Thursday afternoon for his role in connection with a recent fatal home invasion. Christopher “Jantzen” Gilmore appeared by video before Associate Circuit Judge C. Wade Pierce for a preliminary hearing in his case. He was accompanied by his attorney, Ted Liszewski...

A duo of Butler County residents have been added to the Missouri University Extension Leaders’ Honor Roll. Honorees Brittany McKay and Sherry Crisel Harlan are being applauded for their support of Extension. The Leaders Honor Roll recognizes outstanding leaders and volunteers who have supported and helped to advance MU Extension in their communities...

Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Poplar Bluff will be observed differently this year. COVID-19 and the winter weather have influenced organizers to plan a drive-up program Monday at Wheatley Park, an outside venue located by the historic Wheatley School, said Rex Rattler, a concerned citizen and member of the Wheatley Historic Preservation Association...

A National Day of Service project in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Greater Poplar Area Chamber of Commerce, 1111 W. Pine St. The project is in remembrance of Dr. King who believed, “no citizen of the country should ever go hungry, or without being clothed, go without being loved, go without being cared for, go without being visited and loved when incarcerated.”...

A Poplar Bluff family became part of Missouri history Monday when they helped the state’s 57th governor celebrate his inauguration. The Wisdom family has been in the fireworks business for nearly 80 years, doing everything from movies to grandiose displays of light and fire that have awed thousands. But, this week marked a first for them, and for the state. The Wisdoms became the first people to hold a fireworks show on the grounds of the Missouri Capitol building. It was a day after they helped Gov. Mike Parson and more than 150 of his closest friends and family celebrate his recent election during an event in Jefferson City.