Stories from Tuesday, July 3, 2012

ROLLA, Mo. -- Firefighters have made significant progress on The East End Fire, estimated at 622 acres, and the Madison Fire, estimated at 48 acres, burning on or near Mark Twain National Forest lands. The East End Fire is approximately six miles east of Bixby, Mo., on both sides of Missouri Highway 32. This fire is suspected arson and is under investigation by law enforcement...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon this weekend directed Dr. Jon Hagler, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, to request that the USDA Farm Service Agency open Conservation Reserve Program lands to grazing in counties meeting requirements for shortages of hay/forage and precipitation...

Whitney Layton, a 2012 DHS graduate and the daughter of Donnie and Janet Layton, is our July Calendar Girl. Whitney participated in a number of activities during her high school career including FCCLA. Dexter Show Choir, Honors Choir, Colorguard, and Girls Softball. Calendar Girls are comprised of the 12 finalists in the Miss Dexter competition, sponsored annually by the DHS Vocal Music Program...

Thousands of fish, most of them gizzard shad and small crappie, washed up on the banks of Dexter's City Lake over the weekend, the result of what the Missouri Department of Conservation and Dexter Parks Director Lawson Metcalf say was a "natural event," primarily due to the recent extreme heat...