Stories from Thursday, May 16, 2024

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. — A Poplar Bluff, Missouri, man and Naylor, Missouri, woman face federal drug charges following an investigation in Stoddard County. Milton Taylor Jr., 34, of Poplar Bluff and Liberty Lambert, 19, of Naylor are each charged with felony first-degree drug trafficking and misdemeanor possession of an imitation controlled substance, according to Stoddard County Sheriff Carl Hefner...

CHARLESTON, Mo. — Every Monday morning from April through the end of the school year in May, male volunteers greeted Hearnes Elementary students in Charleston with high-fives and fist bumps as they entered the building to brighten their day. B.J. Babb, communications specialist for Charleston R-1 School District, said the new program, Bright Blue Greeters, is a volunteer project launched by the school district in collaboration with the Charleston Ministerial Alliance...

SIKESTON – The extra amount of money that people facing hunger said they need to have enough food reached its highest point in the last 20 years, according to Feeding America’s annual Map the Meal Gap study. At the local level, Map the Meal Gap finds that across southeast Missouri, an average meal cost $3.46 in 2022 (the most recent year data is available), up from $2.73 in 2019 and $3.12 in 2021...

NEW MADRID, Mo. — David Sloan, a sophomore at New Madrid County Central High School, waters a hanging basket of flowers at the FFA Greenhouse at the school. The FFA’s greenhouse sale will continue until 4 p.m. Friday and includes hanging baskets as well as vegetables...

BERTRAND, Mo. — Mary "Jan" Rainwater went home to be with her Lord on May 14, 2024, as a resident of Bertrand Nursing and Rehab Center. Jan was born on April 28, 1941, to Elmer Thomas and Roy Ruth Farmer Rainwater in Camden, Tennessee.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner Wavis Jordan waived a preliminary hearing in his ongoing criminal case in Cape Girardeau County Court on Tuesday, May 14. A preliminary hearing is a standard practice for the prosecution to give evidence to convince a judge that probable cause exists for the charged crimes. Waiving such a hearing is common...