Stories from Friday, February 18, 2022

The Poplar Bluff Parks and Recreation Department recently was awarded a grant to extend a walking trail along Kanell Boulevard. “It is a Recreational Trails Program grant through Missouri State Parks, but it’s federally funded,” said Parks and Recreation Department Director Lanny Corcimiglia...

WAPPAPELLO — The periodic inspection of the Wappapello Lake dam, planned for next week, will be rescheduled after several inches of rain fell on the lake and its upper watershed Thursday. “It’s going to be a while,” said Park Ranger Andrew Jefferson, before the inspection can take place because the lake must be drawn down a foot and a half below the winter conservation pool of 354.74 feet...

Betty T. “Nanga” Martin, 95, went Home to the Lord Saturday, Feb. 12 while at Oakdale Nursing Facility in Judsonia, Arkansas. She was born July 27, 1926 in Pontiac, Michigan to C.B. (Preacher) and Lola (Roopie) Thomas. The child of a minister, she grew up in Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri. She was a long-time member of the Highland Drive Church of Christ in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, before moving to Searcy, Arkansas where she was a member of the Cloverdale Church of Christ...

Nancy Sue Wooze Purdom peacefully passed away Feb.10, 2022 and is now at rest. Sue was born in Poplar Bluff, Missouri Sept.27, 1957 to Purvis and Norma (Hutcherson) Purdom. Sue was raised in Missouri, spending most of her life in Neelyville, Missouri from 1957 to 1982, before moving to Oklahoma City...

Butler County firefighters responded to two separate incidences of motorists trapped in their cars because of high water Thursday. The first call for assistance came in at 2:20 p.m. Thursday when a vehicle became stranded on County Road 450, which was covered with water...

Robert Martindale McCluskey was born April 29, 1945, in Bernie, Missouri. His mother, Bonnie Ester Goodwin, and his father, Aaron Rossie McCluskey, were married in 1921. He was the youngest of 11 children. He is survived by only one sister Lillian Ester Neil of Colorado Springs...

Brenda Sue Starks, 61, resident of Wappapello, Missouri, passed away unexpectedly of natural causes at her daughter’s home in Ripley, Mississippi. The family has requested private services in Missouri. Arrangements will be provided by The Ripley Funeral Home...

After deliberating for several months, Poplar Bluff R-I District board decided to move forward with the construction of a new junior high school activity center. Amy Jackson, superintendent of finance, outlined the current proposal at the board’s Thursday meeting...

POPLAR BLUFF FIRE DEPARTMENT Firefighters responded at 5:24 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, to a reported structure fire at 1034 Grand Avenue. Upon arrival, they were told by occupants Linda Brown and Queen Longford there had been a small grease fire in the kitchen but it was put out. Firefighters set up a positive pressure ventilation fan to clear smoke from the home...