Stories from Sunday, December 22, 2013

By MIKE MCCOY Statesman Staff Writer The filing period for the April 8 election for municipalities and school boards began Dec . 17 and already some positions will be contested in the election. The most interesting early filings were in the Dexter School District where six people have filed for three positions on the school board. The City of Bernie will have contested races for mayor and tax collector. Candidates for the April 8 election have until Jan. 21 to file for an office...

Purchase this photo at dailystatesman.com NOREEN HYSLOP-nhyslop@dailystatesman.com Secret Santa at Bloomfield Bloomfield Schools Supt. Toni Hill, at left, is shown with staff members and volunteers who went on a shopping spree to Walmart on Friday afternoon after an anonymous donor gave the school $3,500 to allow 35 children of the school's choice to spend $100 each for Christmas. ...

By NOREEN HYSLOP Managing Editor A few weeks after Marilyn (Shipman) Tucker graduated from Dexter High School in 1968, she heard the local newspaper was looking for a receptionist. She applied for the job and got it. She was positioned at the front of the building at 200 W. Stoddard Street in downtown Dexter. She greeted customers and helped with a variety of duties around the office...

By DAVID SILVERBERG SEMO News Service POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Support for the National Wreaths Across America Day event at the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield, Mo., has made it possible for 540 extra wreaths to be placed on the graves of Butler County veterans for Christmas...

It was a dark and stormy Saturday, but the weather did not stop six parents and five children from participating in the first collaboration of the Advance Community Library and the Parents as Teachers Program in Advance. "We're very pleased to launch this new combined approach to early education," said P.A.T. assistant director Sally Jones. "As a member of the library board, I'm in a unique position to work with both organizations."...