Stories from Thursday, June 4, 2020

SIKESTON — A drive-thru COVID-19 testing is slated for June 8 at the parking lot of Southeast Missouri State University in Sikeston. Scott County Health Department Administrator Barry Cook said he learned early Thursday the Missouri National Guard will assist with administering 300 COVID-19 testing kits from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. by appointment only...

OXFORD, Miss. — Dr. Margaret Lynne Murchison, 73, passed away, Monday, June 1, 2020, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford. A visitation will be held Friday, June 5, 2020, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Coleman Funeral Home. A Funeral Service will be held Saturday, June 6, 2020, at 11 a.m. in the Pavilion at Garden of Memories Cemetery in Oxford. Interment will be held in the Oxford City Cemetery immediately following the service. Coleman Funeral Home of Oxford is in charge of arrangements...

CUMMING, Ga. — Donald E. Staples, 85, passed away Friday, May 29, 2020, at Northside Forsyth Hospital in Cumming, Georgia. Don was born July 25, 1934, in Charleston, Missouri, to Shirley and Marie Staples. He graduated from Charleston High School and attended the University of Missouri...

CHICAGO — Aretha Banks-Smoot, 74, died May 21, 2020, in Chicago. Born July 11, 1945. in Bell City, Missouri, daughter of the late Rodgers and Virgie Lee Sims Banks Sr., she was of the Christian belief and had been a member of Good News Community Church in Chicago. ...

Another resident of the Crowley Ridge Nursing Home in Dexter has died related to COVID-19. According to the Stoddard County Public Health Center, at approximately 8 a.m. Thursday officials were notified of the death. It is the sixth resident of the nursing home to die from the outbreak...

SIKESTON — On Monday, Phase II of the YMCA of Southeast Missouri reopening will begin. Many of the current restrictions will still be in place, but several guidelines have been loosened. The north half of the gymnasium can now be used for pickleball from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (one court only) and a limited number of group exercise classes...

SIKESTON — Anyone looking for fun, family entertainment while also social distancing will have the opportunity Saturday night during a drive-in movie at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo Grounds. Set for 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, the “Drive-In Movie Night” will include a showing of “The Sandlot.” Admission is $10 per vehicle. Healthcare/first responders are free with their valid IDs. The event, which has a 200-vehicle capacity for sound and picture quality, opens at 7:45 p.m...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. - While area high school officials want to give the members of the Class of 2020 the experience of a traditional graduation, they are also want to ensure the ceremony is safe in this time of pandemic concerns. In a letter to high school seniors and their parents, Portageville High School principal Barry Branscum announced graduation will be at 7 p.m. June 11...

LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — Anthony Glenn Williams, 56, died May 29, 2020, at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Born Sept. 24, 1963, in East Prairie, Missouri, son of George Williams Sr. of Sikeston, Missouri, and the late Mary Louise Jefro Williams, he was baptized at Mount Erie Missionary Baptist Church in Pinhook, Missouri. ...