Friday, September 11, 2026

9/11 REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY TO BE HELD TODAY AT LARRY HILLIS DODGE IN POPLAR BLUFF

A special ceremony will be held today in Poplar Bluff to commemorate 25 years since the deadly terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001.

The 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony is scheduled to begin at 9 am at Larry Hillis Dodge.

Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs will serve as the keynote speaker and State Representatives Hardy Billington and Cameron Parker Bunting are also expected to be in attendance.

Lori Phelps, Brian Burlingame, and Robby Myers will also be speaking.

The National Anthem will be performed by Poplar Bluff 5th and 6th Grade students. There will also be a performance by Clifton Hoffmann on bagpipes.

The public is invited to take part in the ceremony and those attending will also receive American Flags courtesy of Representative Billington.

FOUR POPLAR BLUFF POLICE OFFICERS TO RECEIVE GOVERNOR’S MEDAL DURING CEREMONY NEXT WEEK

Four Poplar Bluff Police Officers will receive Missouri’s highest public safety honor for their heroic life saving efforts.

According to Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe, Poplar Bluff Police Lieutenant Dusty Johnson, along with officers Kenneth Carpenter Jr., Adam Miles, and Sami Tscherning, will be awarded the Governor’s Medal for rescuing and transporting a woman that was trapped in a collapsed house following the EF-3 tornado that struck the city in March of 2025.

The Governor’s Medal is bestowed for heroic acts performed by a team of first responders.

K-9 Officer Henry Franklin, with the Sikeston Department of Public Safety, will posthumously receive the Red, White and Blue Heart Award, which is given for first responders seriously or fatally injured in the line of duty.

Franklin was a member of the Sikeston DPS SWAT team when he was shot and killed by a gunman during the service of an arrest warrant in October of 2025.

The awards will be presented at a ceremony in Jefferson City on Tuesday. The ceremony will be live streamed on the Missouri Department of Public Safety Facebook page beginning at 1:30 pm.

RIPLEY COUNTY MAN SENTENCED TO FOUR DECADES IN PRISON

A Ripley County man has been ordered to spend multiple decades behind bars for child pornography charges.

Officials with the United States Attorney’s Office tell KWOC News that 26 year old Lantz Crawford pleaded guilty in June to five counts of production of child pornography.

Officials say that Crawford recorded his sexual abuse of five children, all under the age of seven, between the summer of 2024 and late 2025.

In December of 2025, the mother of one of the children contacted the Ripley County Sheriff’s Office after her child reported the abuse. Crawford’s phone was seized and investigators found child sexual abuse material depicting young children.

On Thursday, Crawford was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

ARREST MADE IN CONNECTION TO SCOTT COUNTY DEATH INVESTIGATION

A man is facing multiple charges following his arrest in connection to a death investigation in Scott County.

As KWOC News previously reported, 35 year old Kali Hasty, of Sikeston, was found dead in the early morning hours of July 25th along Scott County Highway 529.

Scott County Sheriff Derick Wheetley tells KWOC News that after several weeks of investigative work, charges were filed against Hasty’s husband, Travis J. Hasty, who was arrested without incident on Tuesday.

Hasty has been charged with felony abandonment of a corpse, driving while intoxicated, and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.

Sheriff Wheetley says that Hasty remains in custody at the Scott County Jail.

UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT THROWS OUT MISSOURI CONGRESSIONAL MAPS

The U.S. Supreme Court again rejected Missouri congressional maps backed by President Donald Trump on Thursday, a loss for Republicans trying to maintain control of the House in the pivotal midterm elections.

The decision appears to clear the way for the state to use a map passed in 2022, as the state's highest court ordered.

It's part of a pitched legal battle that has created confusion for voters and others shortly before ballots begin going out for the November elections. The Trump administration had urged the court to keep the president’s preferred maps, which were aimed at gaining one additional GOP House seat.

No Supreme Court justices publicly dissented from the brief order. It did not detail the court’s legal reasoning, as is typical in emergency appeals.

Meanwhile, the legal fight featuring dueling orders from different courts continued unfolding in Missouri, where the state's top court held a hearing Thursday on whether to hold Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in contempt for not following its orders to use districts passed after the last census. Hoskins had instead told local election authorities to use the new Trump-backed map, pointing to a competing order from a federal judge on Tuesday requiring its use.

Missouri Supreme Court judges, while questioning a state attorney representing Hoskins, repeatedly pressed for Hoskins to send out new guidance Thursday to use the 2022 version of the congressional districts. The court made no immediate decision on whether to hold Hoskins in contempt for his actions but urged him not to stray too far from the state's capital of Jefferson City.

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision likely means Missouri will run the general election with a different congressional map than was used in the primary. Some people might not be able to vote for the same candidate they chose in the primary. It’s an unusual situation that leaves Missouri without a clear-cut example to follow.

RUN 4 THE ARTS SCHEDULED FOR THIS WEEKEND

The 11th annual Run 4 the Arts hosted by Three Rivers College is this weekend.

The four-mile run or walk, along with the walk and wag, will be held at 8 am on Saturday at the College’s Poplar Bluff Campus. The course will begin and end in front of the Tinnin Fine Arts Center.

Funds from the event will go to benefit Three Rivers fine arts scholarships.

You can register online at TRCC.edu.

2026 FISK FALL FESTIVAL COMING UP ON SATURDAY

The Fisk community will be coming together this weekend for their annual fall festival.

The 2026 Fisk Fall Festival will begin with the parade at 10 am on Saturday. Line-up will begin at 9:30 am at the Fisk school.

There will also be a car show, games, a bounce house, vendors, and many more activities for the entire family at the Fisk City Park after the parade.

CURRENT RIVER CLEANUP SET FOR THIS WEEKEND

AmeriCorps Senior and the Community Resource Council will be hosting a clean-up of Current River for the 5th annual National Day of Service on Saturday.

The event will be from 10 am to 4 pm, spanning from Watercress Spring to Big Spring.

There will also be food and prizes as a part of the event as well.

For more information, call 573-686-8624.