Stories from Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Charles "Doc" Steph-ens, 85, of Bloomfield, Mo., the son of Matthew and Melinda Jane Nicholson Stephens, was born Nov. 23, 1925, in Bell City, Mo., and died Nov. 21, 2011, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Doc retired as general manager of G.C. ...

Altha Louise Ogles, daughter of the late Grigg Woodruff and Nora Norwood Woodruff, was born on Feb. 2, 1922, in Parma, Mo., and died at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo., on Nov. 21, 2011, at the age of 89. Mrs. Ogles was a member of the Lighthouse Christian Center in Dexter, a former employee of the Elder Manufactur-ing Company in Dexter for 19 years, and a resident of Dexter...

By MIKE MCCOY Statesman Staff Writer BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - Stoddard County has received $67,690 in the form of a grant and loan from USDA Rural Development for the purchase of two new vehicles in the Stoddard County Sheriff's office. The announcement was made Monday morning at the meeting of the Stoddard County Commission. ...

By NOREEN HYSLOP Managing Editor Dexter School Board members covered a variety of items during their recent November meeting, including a review of the district's Early Retirement Incentive Program. The program implemented in years past met with the board's approval once again. In essence, the program offers veteran teachers monetary incentives for providing formal retirement notification to the Board of Education several months in advance of their retirement dates...

Staff Reports BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - University of Missouri Extension, USDA-NRCS and the Stoddard County Soil and Water Conservation District will be hosting back-to-back informational meetings pertaining to local agricultural issues at the USDA Service Center in Bloomfield on Tuesday, Dec. 20. The first meeting, which will address the subject of irrigation, will take place from 9 until 11:30 a.m. at the USDA Service Center, located on Highway 25 between Dexter and Bloomfield...

NOREEN HYSLOP PHOTO Elizabeth Arnold, six-year-old daughter of Paul and Rebecca Arnold of Dexter, helps carry some books she and her grandfather, Roy Sherfield, picked out at Saturday morning's Annual Book Sale at Keller Public Library. Little was left on the tables of the library's Community Room by noon Saturday. ...

NOREEN HYSLOP PHOTO Elizabeth Arnold, six-year-old daughter of Paul and Rebecca Arnold of Dexter, helps carry some books she and her grandfather, Roy Sherfield, picked out at Saturday morning's Annual Book Sale at Keller Public Library. Little was left on the tables of the library's Community Room by noon Saturday. ...

BROWNWOOD, Mo. - A memorial service for James Burnett, Jr., the Brownwood soldier killed by an IED in Afghanistan Nov. 16, is planned for Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011, at the old Advance gymnasium on Hwy. C in Advance. There will be a receiving line at the gym beginning at 2 p.m. and lasting until 5 p.m., with the memorial service to follow. The memorial service will be open to the public...