Stories from Wednesday, February 2, 2022

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — There will be six more weeks of winter, Punxsutawney Phil predicted as he emerged from his burrow Wednesday to perform his Groundhog Day duties. Thousands of people from around the nation and other countries gathered at Gobbler's Knob as members of Punxsutawney Phil's "inner circle" summoned him from his tree stump at dawn to learn if he had seen his shadow, a message they said Phil communicated in "groundhogese." After Phil's prediction was announced, the crowd repeatedly chanted "six more weeks!". ...

As a precautionary measure, the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library will close at 2 p.m today, according to officials. This includes the Ridgel Branch, and lobby and lockers. Patrons can pick up their holds at Main and Ridgel before 2 p.m Wednesday, February 2...

A resident of the 900 block of Sunny Valley Lane reported at 2:29 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, that his/her 2008 Dodge Avenger was struck by an unknown vehicle while parked in the driveway and sustained damage to the rear bumper. _ Lonnie K. W. Camden, 27, of the 2600 block of County Road 480 was booked Tuesday, Feb. 1, at the Butler County jail on suspicion of third-degree domestic assault...

Poplar Bluff can expect its current drizzle to begin transitioning to ice around noon, followed by up to three inches of sleet and snow as temperatures drop into the 20s overnight. Just under 0.2 inches of ice is expected in Butler County, but the Bootheel counties could see up to half an inch...

Utility operators across Southeast Missouri say they are prepared for whatever an approaching winter storm brings, and like their highway maintenance counterparts, they now are in a wait-and-see pattern. “We’ve taken all the steps we know to take, and we’re just waiting to see what it does,” said Ozark Border Electric Cooperative General Manager David Schremp...

Great Circle, a behavioral health non-profit that runs women’s and youth shelters in Doniphan and Poplar Bluff, has been awarded $38,500 in federal CARES Act grant funding to expand programming. The funds are part of an Emergency Solutions Grant administered by the Missouri Department of Social Services and the Missouri Housing Development Commission...

The Twin Rivers R-I school district adopted a new COVID-19 policy at its Jan. 20 meeting to protect staffers’ sick days. Instead of using their own sick days to quarantine, full-time employees’ first five days of absence due to COVID will no longer be deducted from their leave time, provided they can produce a positive test administered by a health care professional...

Billy John Hamilton, 89, of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, passed away Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, in the Puxico Nursing Home. Bill was born on Dec. 7, 1932, in Greenway, Arkansas, to Robert Ordrey Hamilton and Clara Roe Oates Hamilton. He married Frances Elaine Gibson on July 9, 1954, in St. Francis, Arkansas...

First United Methodist Church Family Life Center, 500 N. Main St., Poplar Bluff, is opening a warming station at 7 p.m. Wednesday. At this point, the warming shelter is scheduled to run until Saturday morning. No pets please. The Methodist Church and Butler County Emergency Management Agency are partnering with Mount Calvary Powerhouse Church and FCC Behavioral Health to sponsor the warming center...

Poplar Bluff and the surrounding area have weathered the first stage of the winter storms passing through. The freezing rain is largely done, and does not seem to have exceeded the forecasted 0.18 inches within city limits. Nevertheless, MoDOT warns that highways and state routes are partly covered in ice, and Highway 60 is listed as completely covered from the intersection of Highway DD to Sikeston. Some roads to the southeast, including Missouri 51 and 53, were listed as clear as of 6:30 p.m...