Stories from Wednesday, July 24, 2013

WAPAPELLO LAKE -- The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers at Wappapello Lake has announced two upcoming events. First, the annual duck blind drawing and registration will be held on Aug. 17, 2013, at 1 p.m. in the multi-purpose room of the Bill Emerson Memorial Visitor Center. Anyone wishing to place a floating blind on the lake needs to be signed up before 1 p.m. Those who are not signed up by that time will be required to wait until the drawing and placement process has concluded...

Editor's note: A host of springs exist in Missouri, with each one having a personality of its own and its own distinct points of interest. The Daily Statesman will periodically publish information on these "stay-cation" spots, most just a morning's drive from Stoddard County. The following information about Alley Spring is provided by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

A jazz concert by the Southeast Regional Jazz Orchestra is on tap for this Friday night, July 26 in the sanctuary of the First Assembly of God Church. The Church is located on Brown pilot Lane behind Southwest Elementary School. The local jazz band was established 14 years ago and is under the direction of Dexter High School Band Director Scott Rybolt...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Route AC in Stoddard County will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews pavement repairs. This section of roadway is located from Route AA to County Road 237. Work is already underway and slated to conclude, weather permitting, on Thursday, July 25...

The city's red caboose that was moved Friday afternoon is now in place just west of the old Dexter Depot, which serves as the city's Welcome Center. Work is underway by city employees to build a six-foot wide sidewalk leading from the depot (see far right side of photo) to the caboose site...

Band Camps for both middle school and high school students began Monday, under the direction of Scott Rybolt and Jim Wade. Among musicians in the saxophone section at T.S. Hill Middle School are, from left, Macyon Okan, Victoria Bess, Irene Huang.

Move to Common Core Standards is underway. EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first of two stories explaining Common Core standards and the controversy surrounding them. The second part, with input from local administrators, will be published Thursday.

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - The Stoddard County Board of Equalization (BOE) denied an appeal by Missouri Utilities, doing business as Ameren Missouri, of the assessed value given their property by Stoddard County Assessor Jody Lemmon. The 2012 assessed value for Ameren Missouri was $9,128,855 for real property and $1,148,508 for personal property. ...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The red, white and blue is flying high above Bloomfield City Hall this week for the first time ever. The city has not had a free-standing flag pole since moving to its new location in 2007. The new flag pole has been erected on the southwest quadrant of the property. It was donated by Helen Monroe of Dexter. Monroe is the mother of City Clerk Kari Standley...

A convicted rapist was sentenced to just over 50 years in prison after his appearance in Dyer County Circuit Court on Tuesday. Dyer County Circuit Court Judge Lee Moore handed down the sentence of 50 years, 11 months and 29 days to 27-year-old Katius Williams for the charges of aggravated rape, aggravated burglary, and theft under $500. Williams was convicted by a jury last month on the charges that stem from an incident that occurred on July 25, 2009...

STEELVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- An eastern Missouri man is charged with second-degree murder, accused of shooting another man following an argument along the Meramec River. The shooting happened Saturday afternoon. The suspect, 59-year-old James Crocker of Steelville, is jailed on $650,000 cash-only bond...

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- The University of Missouri will pay a southern California search firm $100,000 to guide the hiring process for the next chancellor of its Columbia campus. The Columbia Daily Tribune (bit.ly/12ZydT7 ) reported Monday that Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates of suburban Los Angeles will screen prospective candidates to succeed Chancellor Brady Deaton, who is retiring in November. His replacement will be chosen by the university's Board of Curators and system President Tim Wolfe...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Federal health investigators have confirmed that ticks carry the new virus that sickened two Missouri men. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suspected ticks were a likely source of the Heartland virus, which was named for the St. Joseph hospital where the men were treated in 2009...