STATE CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING BASKETBALL COACH AND MISSOURI SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE PASSES AWAY
A Missouri state championship winning basketball coach and member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame has passed away.
Carroll Cookson died on May 1st at the age of 88.
Cookson coached in both Arkansas and Missouri, winning state championships in 1972 and 1975 while coaching in Advance.
He finished his illustrious career with over 524 wins and was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.
Visitation has been scheduled for 4:30 to 8 pm Friday at Morgan Funeral Chapel in Advance. The funeral service will follow at 3 pm on Saturday in the Advance High School Gymnasium.
MISSING CHILD OUT OF MADISON COUNTY FOUND SAFE
Updating a story we brought to you earlier this week, an Endangered Person Advisory for a missing newborn baby from Madison County has been canceled.
The advisory was issued last Friday night for less than two week old Kai Noel Joseph Gutierrez Nickel.
Officials say that the child was located safe in St. Louis County with his mother, 28 year old Sarah Jane Diggs.
Further details were not released.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI MAN SENTENCED TO OVER FIVE YEARS IN PRISON FOR SELLING MACHINE GUNS
A Southeast Missouri man is set to spend over seven years in prison for selling machine guns.
A US District Judge sentenced 24 year old Lamad Cross, of Kennett, to five and a half years in prison for selling seven devices that convert AR-15 style rifles into fully automatic weapons. Cross pleaded guilty in January to one felony charge of unlawful transfer of a machine gun.
A confidential informant working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives contacted Cross via social media and asked about buying a Glock switch. Cross instead offered a drop-in “auto sear” that converts an AR-15-style rifle into an automatic weapon.
Glock switches and auto sears, even if not installed in a firearm, are considered machine guns under federal law.
The judge ordered the sentence to run consecutive to any sentence Cross receives for violating his probation in a Dunklin County Circuit Court case. Cross pleaded guilty in 2021 in that case to resisting arrest by fleeing.
POPLAR BLUFF POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS TO TEAM UP FOR BLOOD DRIVE
The Poplar Bluff Police and Fire Departments are teaming up for a blood drive early next month.
The “Battle of the Badges” Poplar Bluff Community Blood Drive has been scheduled for 12:30 to 5:30 pm on Thursday, June 1st. The event will be held at the Poplar Bluff Police Department Multi-Use Room on Shelby Road.
You can call 1-800-Red Cross or visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter PoplarBluffCommunity to schedule an appointment.
CONTRACTS AWARDED FOR NUMEROUS ROAD PROJECTS IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
Multiple Southeast Missouri roadways will be getting improvements in the future.
The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission awarded contracts for Southeast District projects during its regular meeting this week.
An almost $500,000 contract was awarded for intersection improvements at various locations in Butler, Carter, Stoddard, and Wayne Counties.
An almost $900,000 contract was awarded for a culvert replacement on Route 142 over Mill Creek in Ripley County.
Over $581,0000 will go to erosion control repairs at various locations on Route 60 in Carter and Shannon counties.
Additional information, including timelines and impacts to traffic, will be released prior to the start of construction.
MODOT CREWS WORKING ON ROUTE 51 NEAR FISK
Route 51 in Stoddard County will be reduced to one lane today as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform bridge maintenance.
The work zone is located from Outer 60 to County Road 494 near Fisk.
Weather permitting, work will take place from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
