Stories from Monday, February 13, 2017

HATYI, Mo. -- Head football coach Neal Cruce didn't tout his constantly improving record or the accolades he's earned during his time with Hayti High School. The thing that mattered the most and what made his decision to leave the school after four seasons a difficult one was having to say goodbye to a part of his family...

SIKESTON -- Things couldn't have gone much better for the Sikeston girls basketball team on Monday night. They earned a big win over the visiting Portageville Bulldogs and were able to celebrate senior night in grand fashion. Sikeston defeated Portageville 61-26 behind senior Tyeshia Mitchell's 20 points at the Sikeston Field House. ...

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- Police are searching for a suspect in an early Sunday shooting of six people at a club in Caruthersville. At 3:50 a.m. Sunday, a shooting occurred at Club Envy in Caruthersville, according to Sgt. Clark D. Parrott with the Missouri State Highway Patrol...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- A former Charleston resident received quite a surprise this week when he learned a rare coin collection stolen from his Charleston residence over 45 years ago had been recovered by the Mississippi County Sheriff's Office. According to Mississippi County Sheriff Cory Hutcheson, the coin collection was noticed by deputies last month during a search of a suspected drug dealer's home...

The Black History Month display, which features accomplishments of local black residents, will continue through the month of February. The display was organized by the Daughters of Sunset.

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Former Poplar Bluff businessman Benjamin Ressel, accompanied by his lawyer, surrendered himself at the Butler County Courthouse on Friday morning after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection to the December 2015 hit-and-run death of 13-year-old Heavenly Grace Hafford...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's prevailing wage law may not prevail much longer. The Republican-dominated Legislature has set its sights on repealing or revising the state law. Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens called for the law's repeal in his State of the State speech because it "drives up the cost of important construction work that needs to get done."...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (SMNS) -- Five area veterans who acted with bravery and devotion during their service in the U.S. Army will be honored Monday at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center. The annual Wall of Valor ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the VA...

Scott County Rural, Miner, Sikeston and Oran fire departments were called to a fire at a chicken house Sunday afternoon at a farm at Scott County Road 405 south of Benton, Missouri.

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- Two men face charges for their alleged involvement in the death of another man Sunday. On Monday, Travis L. Ware II, 25, of was arrested and charged with first degree murder and armed criminal action, according to Sgt. Clark D. Parrott, public information officer for Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop E...

SIKESTON -- A Sikeston mother and her boyfriend face charges in the death of the woman's son.

DEXTER, Mo. - Elma (Harlan) Brown, 93, departed this life at Southeast Health of Stoddard County in Dexter, Missouri. She was the daughter of Marion Franklin and Chloe Ross Harlan. She was a retired school teacher that taught in Illinois Public Schools and a member of First Baptist Church in Dexter, Missouri...

SIKESTON - Laverna Rennier, 89, died Feb. 12, 2017, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Born Sept. 29, 1927, in Hamel, Il., to the late William and Alice (Snyder) Wilkening, she was a member of Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church. On Nov. 28, 1953, she married Joseph F. Rennier; he preceded her in death March 23, 2009...