Stories from Thursday, October 24, 2019

SIKESTON — A Sikeston R-6 school has been placed on a lockdown while police investigate a threat made to one individual. Around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Sikeston Junior High School was placed on a lock out, which means no one may enter or exit the buildings, according to Sikeston R-6 School District officials...

SIKESTON — A Sikeston R-6 student was taken into custody Thursday after allegedly making a threat to another student and forcing a school into a brief lockdown. “Junior High was placed on lockdown while DPS investigated threats made by a student to another student,” said Lt. Jon Broom, DPS public information officer. “The student was taken into custody, and the school was taken off lockdown.”...

SIKESTON — A welding teacher from Sikeston won first place in the 2019 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence, earning his high school trades program $70,000 as part of a $1 million awarded nationally. Brent Trankler, who is a welding teacher at the Sikeston Career and Technology Center (SCTC) in Sikeston, was surprised in his classroom by a representative from Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Thursday morning. ...

ESSEX, Mo. — Two people are in custody in connection with the robbery of an Essex bank Monday afternoon. According to the Stoddard County Sheriff Carl Hefner, Glenn Hamilton, 52 of the Poplar Bluff and St. Louis area and Jamie White, 54, of the Poplar Bluff are both charged with first degree robbery and are being held with no bond...

CHAFFEE, Mo. — Elizabeth Reischman Hartman, 96, died Oct. 24, 2019, at Chaffee Nursing Center in Chaffee. Born April 12, 1923, in Glennon, daughter of the late Joseph and Lena Koenig Spooler, she was a cook for many years at the Catholic and public schools in Oran. She was a member of the Guardian Angel Catholic Church in Oran...

SIKESTON Elizabeth "Betty" McConnell, 87, died Oct. 24, 2019, at her home in Sikeston. Born Aug. 12, 1932, in Woodriver, Ill., daughter of the late Bill and Martha Hall Bechel, she was a member of Miner Baptist Church. On Sept. 30, 1956, at Sikeston, she married A.E. "Junior" McConnell, he survives of the home in Sikeston...

DEXTER, Mo. — The Dexter School Board approved a measure to move its trade school affiliation from the Sikeston Career and Technical Center to the Poplar Bluff Career and Technical Center. The school felt the communication and programming at the Sikeston location were in need of improvement and it is not offering trades that are of interest to Dexter...

SIKESTON — This week is National School Bus Safety Week, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol encourages parents to take the tiem adn talk to their children about their responsibilities as a passenger. “The Missouri State Highway Patrol recognizes the importance of bus safety and inspects every school bus in the state each year. We want children to arrive at school safely,” said Capt. John J. Hotz with the Patrol...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. — Apichat Nat “Nathan” Amornmontrigul, 51, died Oct. 20, 2019, while n Hattiesburg, Miss. Born March 26, 1968, in Bangkok, Thailand, son of Roy Carroll of Hattiesburg and Wasana Carroll of Memphis, Tenn., he served in the U.S. Navy where he was involved in Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  In 2008, he moved to East Prairie...