Weekly Record

NEW MADRID, Mo. - On the afternoon of Feb. 22, officers responded to an address in the 600 block of Mott Street in reference to a burglary in progress. A woman reported that her estranged boyfriend was attempting to force his way into her house. By the time officers arrived the man had left, but the door facing was broken and it was clear the man had partially made it through the door...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - Bids will be opened March 9 for the next phase of New Madrid County R-1’s Safe and Secure projects. Corey Bextermueller presented construction updates to the New Madrid County R-1 School Board at their February meeting. Bextermueller advised everything is on target in terms of the time line and budget, according to Dr. Sam Duncan, superintendent...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. - A grant will enable the New Madrid County Library System to expand its summer reading program in 2021. The reading program will be offered to children ages 5-10 and their families at the libraries at Gideon, Matthews, Morehouse, New Madrid, Parma, Portageville and Risco. Also library personnel are partnering with the New Madrid County Family Resource Center to provide additional programs...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - The following memorials have been added to the New Madrid Memorial Library: Good Boy: My life in Seven Dogs by Jennifer Finney Boylan given in memory of Courtney Bailey by Gary Cook. Bring Jade Home by Michelle Caffrey given in memory of Kathy King by Ralph Barnwell...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. - An essay by a Portageville High School student has earned him recognition. Andrew “Drew” Thomas Irby is the recipient of the DAR Good Citizen Award from Portageville High School. Currently the Portageville High School Student Council president, Irby is also Beta Club president and captain of the basketball team. In addition, he is a member of the PHS baseball team and the Honor Society...

Kendra Gregg has taken over the duties of New Madrid city clerk, replacing longtime city clerk Karen Chapman. Gregg, a 2003 graduate of New Madrid County Central High School, completed her associate degree in business management from Three Rivers College in 2020. ...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - Just after 6 p.m. Feb. 8, officers responded to the area of Blades Drive where a 911 caller said several people were shooting at each other. When officers arrived, they found that an apartment building had been hit by several bullets and there several shell casings on the ground. Throughout the night officers collected evidence at the scene and interviewed witnesses. Also four handguns were seized as evidence...

PARMA, Mo. - It was fire and ice for crews battling a blaze which destroyed a Parma residence. On the evening of Feb. 13, Engine 3 from the Lilbourn Volunteer Fire Department responded to 303 S Cypress in Parma at the request of the Parma Fire Chief. The call was at a vacant single residential structure, which had recently been put on the market...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - Members of the New Madrid Police Department will soon be wearing body cameras again. At the Feb. 8 city council meeting, approval was given to pay $27,773.60 to Wolf Company of Pasadena, Calif., to purchase body cameras. According to City Administrator Richard McGill, while local police officers previously wore body cameras, dealing with the on-site storage of the videos became a problem...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - LaKishea Braxton has a heart to help others. In 2018, she and her husband, Cornell, came to New Madrid to lead the New Prayer of Deliverance Church. As the church grew, the Braxtons wanted to do more. They explained they saw so many needs in their community and the surrounding area, they felt a call to take action. Last year they created the non-profit organization Heart2Help...

NEW MADRID, Mo. — An attempt to settle an ongoing feud took a violent turn Monday evening. Shamyka Shanee Tucker, 38, of New Madrid is charged with two counts of first degree assault, three counts of armed criminal action, discharge/ shoot firearm at a person, motor vehicle, building and first degree property damage. She is scheduled to appear in Division II of New Madrid County Circuit Court at 10 a.m. Thursday...

Cindy Miller, director of human resources for SEMO Health Network, was recently honored for her 30 years of service to the organization. In presenting Miller with a plaque Chris Jones, chief executive officer of SEMO Health Network, said, “Cindy . . . has been a great friend and mentor. We just really appreciate everything she has done for us over the years.”...

he Veterans of Foreign Wars Post and VFW Auxiliary at Lilbourn, Mo., honored three teachers in the New Madrid County R-1 School District.

NEW MADRID, Mo. - At approximately 3:45 p.m. Jan. 29., officers responded to the 400 block of Vandenvender for a large fight in the courtyard of a public housing complex. When officers arrived they found a man with a small wound to his head, but later found that he was the aggressor in the incident. He and a family member had assaulted a man after an argument broke out over a child in the complex...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - There was some good news in 2020. New Madrid County’s budget ended the year in the black and with a boost in its reserves. A year ago, the County Commission forecast a general revenues deficit of $550,000. However, due to higher than anticipated sales tax revenue and expenditures being under budget along with COVID-19 CARES Act reimbursement, the general revenue fund ended the year with a surplus of $761,061.30, according to County Clerk Clement Cravens...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - New Madrid County Commissioners had their eyes on the future as they signed off on the 2021 county budget. The 2021 General Revenue budget includes estimates of $6,151,900 in revenue and expenditures of $6,377,105.87. The year would end with projected deficit spending of $225,205.87 and an ending fund balance of $3,184,362.48, according to the budget provided by County Clerk Clement Cravens...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - The cold winds blowing across the Mississippi River didn’t deter the four men gathered at the New Madrid boat ramp. Armed with technology and determination they were in hopes of solving a cold case. Jared Leisek with Adventures With Purpose, a speciality sonar search and recovery dive team, explained they were there in their continuing effort to located Barbara Stoffer. The 83-year-old New Madrid woman disappeared Aug. 20, 2013...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - The New Madrid County Ambulance District honored three of its employees recently. In presenting the awards, Jon Burden, NMCAD administrator, called each of the recipients outstanding. “All three of these remarkable individuals are very involved in the District and go above and beyond in all aspects of patient care and daily duties,” he added...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - The administration of the city’s police and fire departments is merging. At the January City Council meeting, Mayor Richard Bodi named Joey Higgerson as the chief of the New Madrid Department of Public Safety. Higgerson, who currently serves as the chief of police, will oversee the two departments...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. - Dr. Gene Stevens’ career has benefited farmers across the Bootheel and around the world. Hired in 1994 as a crop system specialist for the University of Missouri-Fisher Delta Research Center in Portageville, Stevens was known by co-workers and farmers for his innovative and forward-thinking research during his more than a quarter-century in the Bootheel. On Jan. 5, he officially retired...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - Catholic Schools Week might look a little different with face masks and social distancing, but school officials say there is lots to celebrate. “We are not going to let COVID-19 stop us from celebrating Catholic Schools Week,” said Immaculate Conception School principal Lynette Fowler. “We know it is going to be a fun-filled week of celebrating Catholic school and what Catholic school is all about. We will be celebrating big here at I.C.”...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - As part of the New Madrid County R-1 School District’s efforts to ensure student safety, the playground at the Lilbourn Elementary School will be moved. During its January meeting, the board accepted a a bid from Zoellner Construction to relocate the playground. The $98,000 cost for project is being funded through the bond issue passed last year by the district’s patrons...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - Now there are three. Monday morning, one of the candidates initially filing to serve on the New Madrid County R-1 School Board officially withdrew their name. Seeking the two three-year terms on the board at the April election are incumbents Demetrius Moore and Mary Kay Davis along with Jeffrey Polk...

On the afternoon of Jan. 21, officers responded to an address in the 600 block of Mill Street in reference to an assault in progress. When they arrived on-scene they found a woman standing on the sidewalk with an injury to her head. The woman said she had been assaulted by her boyfriend, who had forced the front door of the apartment open and punched her in the face during an argument...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - The smell of hot rolls fresh from the oven is still there. So are the friendly greetings when a senior appears at the door. But much has changed since coronavirus forced the New Madrid Oaks Nutrition Center to close its dining facilities...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - It has been almost 10 months since the hallways of the school buildings across the New Madrid County R-1 School District were filled with all its students. But on Feb. 1, the district will be one step closer as it moves to what school leaders are calling “Eagle Days 4 All.”...

Zamari Jackson was crowned as the 2021 NMCC Winter Homecoming Queen Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, at New Madrid County Central High School.

Jim Russell, second from the left, was honored recently by the New Madrid County Ambulance District. Russell, a resident of New Madrid, Mo., retired in December from the NMCAD after working as an emergency medical technician for 11 years and nine months. He was presented with a clock and a shadow box in appreciatiion of his service. Pictured from left are Jon Burden, NMCAD administrator; Russell; Russell’s grandson, Will Sutton; Brandon Gleason; Robert Sandage; and Jordan Robinson...

Jan. 20 80 Years Ago - Work was started on the drilling of an oil well on property of Mrs. Eddie Phillips about a mile west of the New Madrid city limits. 60 Years Ago - Sam L. Hunter Jr., vice president of the Bank of New Madrid, suffered a broken leg when he fell from a horse he was riding at the farm home of Mrs. Fred M. Copeland near New Madrid...

On the afternoon of Jan. 11 an officer took a report about a stolen farm truck. The truck was actually found by the owner on a parking lot on Main Street before he knew it had been stolen. After reviewing camera footage and talking to witnesses, officers identified a suspect and learned that he was already in jail on separate charges...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - After what New Madrid City Administrator Richard McGill described as “hours and hours and hours of discussion,” the New Madrid Board of Aldermen approved the 2021 budget just as 2020 came to an end. For the coming year, the city of New Madrid budget forecasts general revenues of $2,112,300 and expenditures of $2,107,150. It expects to end 2021 in the black with $5,150...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - New Madrid City Administrator Richard McGill is used to challenges. When he began work with the city six years ago, within the first month the county’s largest employer, Noranda Aluminum, announced its closure. In 2019, the county experienced a 500-year flood event...

COVID Update New Madrid County Health Department’s COVID-19 Update as of Jan. 17 Confirmed cases: 1,947 Out of Quarantine: 1,907 Deaths: 40 Active: 40 By gender: Female 1,138; Male: 809 Race: African American, 341; Caucasian, 1,567; multi-race, 14; other, 25...

NEW MADRID, Mo. — Subscribers of The Weekly Record in New Madrid received some tough news in the Friday, Jan. 1 edition of their hometown newspaper. The headline read: “You Are Reading Our Final Issue.” Owners Linda and Ed Thomason announced they were retiring from the newspaper business. Owning and conducting day-to-day operations of a small-town newspaper can be overwhelming at times...