Stories from Sunday, February 23, 2014

By MIKE MCCOY Statesman Staff Writer Stoddard County 911 Services Administrator Carol Moreland said she was encouraged by a House bill that is working its way through the legislature that would abolish the tariff on telephone land line users to fund 911 services in the state and replace it with a tax on all telephone devices used to call 911...

By MIKE MCCOY Statesman Staff Writer The Stoddard County 911 Services Board met Thursday night and worked through committee reports on addressing, education and hardware. The bulk of the meeting was dedicated to discussion of a proposed new fee on cell phones (see main story) with Presiding County Commissioner Greg Mathis and Commissioner Carol Jarrell in attendance...

By JIM SALTER Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Despite the snow still covering the upper Midwest, National Weather Service experts are optimistic that come spring, flooding will be minimal in the nation's Heartland. Several Midwestern branch offices of the National Weather Service released spring flood outlook reports late Thursday. None project significant flooding -- even the risk of minor flooding is below normal in many places...

NOREEN HYSLOP photo A female Cardinal takes her turn snacking as her male counterpart waits in the background. A hint of springtime weather was in the air on Saturday, with temperatures rising to the lower 60s. The official start of spring is March 20. Next week's forecast, though, calls for temperatures to drop again into the teens by Thursday...