Stories from Friday, October 12, 2012

By LEONNA HEURING SEMO News Service BENTON, Mo. -- Twenty-year-old Brianna M. Branson of Miner looked straight ahead Wednesday afternoon as 34th Circuit Court Judge Fred Copeland told a full courtroom he found her not guilty on charges of felony murder, assault in the second degree and armed criminal action for the July 24, 2010, death of 18-year-old Kendra Gray...

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH SEMO News Service JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Three Southeast Missouri judges, an area prosecutor and private attorney were among the candidates to be interviewed Thursday to fill a vacancy on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District...

NOREEN HYSLOP-nhyslop@dailystatesman.com Vicky Fields, who serves as president of the Heartland Quilt Guild, displays a fall work of art that will be raffled off during Saturday's downtown Fall Fest in Dexter. The quilt was pieced together after each member of the local guild was provided with one eighth of a yard of material to assemble one block each. ...

By NOREEN HYSLOP Managing Editor Gone are the days of school menus being planned around government commodities, and no more will school cooks be found jotting down their proposed menus based on what was available at a reasonable cost. Those highly anticipated Friday menus of chili and cinnamon rolls are likely a thing of the past. No more fried chicken, chocolate chip cookies or cherry pie either...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Eight Missouri public safety officials have been honored with the state's Medal of Valor. The medals were presented Thursday in the governor's office. The awards are based on the recommendations of a special review board...

DUDLEY, Mo. -- A Dexter woman, 20-year-old Taylor B. Adams, sustained moderate injuries in a Thursday afternoon wreck on US 60, one and one-half miles west of Dudley. According to the Highway Patrol, Adams was eastbound in a 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer when she drove into the median and overturned into the westbound lane...

Shawn Byron Smith, son of Daniel A. Smith, of Bloomfield, Mo. and the late Karen Ruth Gillett Smith, was born on May 29, 1975, in Dexter, Mo. and died on Sept. 6, 2012, in Dexter, Mo. at the age of 37. Mr. Smith was a member of the Lighthouse Christian Center in Dexter, Mo., and was employed as a mechanic for Hollister Lube and Oil in Hollister, Mo...