Stories from Tuesday, November 29, 2011

It's not officially winter yet, but one would never know it by the scene around Southeast Missouri Tuesday morning. As many as three inches of snow blanketed the area overnight, forcing the closing of county schools and several services. Schools closed included Dexter, Bernie, Bloomfield and Richland. ...

Tickets are still available for the Dec. 3 Annual Holiday Home Tour, sponsored by the Dexter Heritage House. They may be purchased at Chrisman Tire at the corner of Business 60 and Catalpa. The cost is $20 per ticket with tickets limited to 100. Homes on the tour this year include the home of Brian Crawford, 723 Saddle Spur Road; Mikal Long and John Brickley, 209 Holmes Drive; Matt and Marissa Mills, 324 East Vine Street; Tom and Lisa Thrower, 320 Chautauqua Lane; and the Heritage House just off Cooper Street, behind the police station.. ...

ADVANCE, Mo. - The life of Spc. James R. Burnett, Jr., the Brownwood soldier killed in action in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan on Nov. 16, was celebrated Saturday and Sunday as a community came together to honor the 21-year-old's ultimate sacrifice for his country...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - The Stoddard County Salary Commission voted 7-2 to grant a cost of living increase to elected officials beginning Jan. 1, 2012. The action came at their meeting Monday in the Government Building. The Salary Commission is made up of all the elected officials in the county as well as the three commissioners...

Increased interest and participation in the local AAU and Elks youth wrestling programs are starting to pay dividends for the Dexter Bearcats. The numbers are up for Dexter wrestling coach Rick Schwab this season and the younger wrestlers are coming in better prepared to contribute and be competitive at the varsity level...

The list is complete for this year's SOS Christmas program. With additional families added to the list since Friday, the program is at its capacity. The community's response has been tremendous, but several families are still in need of adoption. Any individuals or groups interested in adopting a family on the list is asked to call the paper at 573-624-4545 or stop by the newspaper offices at 133 S. Walnut St. in downtown Dexter...

BERNIE, Mo. - The winter weather has claimed its first life of the year in Stoddard County. At 6:30 a.m. on Hwy. 25 one mile north of Bernie, an accident occurred killing Michael D. Jines, 31 of Malden. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol traffic crash report released Tuesday morning, Jana Jennings, 54 of Bernie, was traveling northbound on Hwy. 25 when she lost control of her 2005 Buick CXL and struck a 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 driven by Jines head-on...

Kitty Welch, daughter of the late Carey Ward and Ira Worrell Ward, was born on April 19, 1921, at Brownsville, Tenn., and died in the Cypress Point Skilled Nursing Center at Dexter on Nov. 27, 2011 at the age of 90. Mrs. Welch was a member of the First General Baptist Church in Dexter, and a former member of the Women's Missionary Quartet singing group. ...

Lester "Gene" Stoker, son of the late Lester Woodrow Stoker and Mildred Ruby Hudgens, was born on Dec. 26, 1939 in Bloomfield, Mo. and died at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. on Nov. 27, 2011 at the age of 71. Mr. Stoker worked for Brown Construction Company in Dexter for many years and was a resident of Dexter...