Stories from Thursday, August 1, 2019

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Michael Eugene McMillan, 67, died July 30, 2019, at Ratliff Care Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Nov. 17, 1951, in Oran, son of the late Oliver Scott and Helen Ruth Atkins McMillan Sr., he was a forklift operator for DHL and a member of Life Church in Sikeston. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army...

SIKESTON — Merlin G. “Popo” Hagy, 77, passed away July 31, 2019, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Aug. 10, 1941, in Crowder, son of the late George W. and Geneva Preston Hagy, he was a veteran of the United States Navy where he served during the Cuban Missile Crisis. ...

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. — Maxine Lemons Haney, 90, formerly of East Prairie, Mo., died July 31, 2019, at her daughter’s home in Ocean Springs. Born Dec. 6, 1928, at Cooter, Mo., daughter of the late Robert Lemons and Pearl Davis Lemons, she had lived in East Prairie most of her life and had been employed several years with the Brown Shoe Co. at Charleston and CB Forms at East Prairie. She then worked at the East Prairie Nursing Center until she retired at 80...

FULTON, Ky. — Playfair Weems, 83, formerly of East Prairie, Mo., died July 31, 2019, at her home in Fulton. Born Nov. 7, 1935, in Malden, daughter of the late John and Lottie Root Chavers, she was a homemaker and of the Christian belief. On Nov. 5, 1953, she married Bobby Joe Weems, who preceded her in death on Jan. 16, 2005...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. — On Tuesday, a special election in Portageville will decide if Portageville Public Schools will utilize security resource officers. In 2018, voters in Portageville approved a quarter-cent sales tax to help fund a school resource officer for Portageville schools. However, a state statute didn’t allow fourth class cities to ask for a quarter-cent sales tax for public safety...

SIKESTON — The annual Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday weekend is officially underway. Missouri’s Tax-Free Weekend began at 12:01a.m. Friday and runs through Sunday. Back-to-school items such as clothing, school supplies, computers and other items defined by the Missouri statute are exempt from state and county sales tax during this time period...

SIKESTON — An investigation continues into an armed robbery in Sikeston. At 11:18 p.m. July 26, a male reported a delayed armed robbery in the 200 block of William Street, according to Capt. Austin Henley with Sikeston Department of Public Safety. The man told police two, black male suspects approached him and robbed him. The man said one of the men pointed a hand gun at him and took approximately $500 cash, house keys and a firearm that the victim had in his possession, Henley said. The subjects then fled the area on foot. . ...

SIKESTON — An early-morning shooting Sunday morning is being investigated by the Sikeston Department of Public Safety. According to Sikeston DPS Asst. Chief Jim McMillen, officers were called to the area of William and Lanning Streets on Sunday morning around 3 a.m. in reference to a large group of people and shots fired. Officers located around 40 cars in the area and about 100 people hanging around what appeared to have been a party...

Former Missouri Department of Public Safety (DPS) director Drew Juden’s administration “abused” the state’s purchasing process by funneling a more-than $1 million fingerprint-technology contract through a foundation that Juden once chaired, and paid the foundation to manage it, a state audit shows...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. — Wilma Ann Jansen Eftink, 87, died July 31, 2019, at New Madrid Living Center in New Madrid. Born Oct. 11, 1931, in Leopold, daughter of the late Mary (Holweg) Jansen and Jacob Jansen, she was member of St Eustachius Catholic Church and also served many years in Ladies of Sodality...