Stories from Tuesday, March 25, 2014

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The Chaffee Police Department is investigating a threat made last week at Chaffee High School. Superintendent Ken Latham said the school's principal, Brad Blackman, was threatened in a message scrawled in pencil on a small piece of wood under a bathroom sink. Latham said Blackman was mentioned twice in the threatening message...

A report released recently by the The Missouri Budget Project, a not-for-profit policy analysis organization, revealed there are funding shortfalls in public schools (K-12) in 106 of the 115 counties in the state. The organization's report, "A Shaky Foundation: Missouri Underfunding the School Formula," said Missouri is underfunding kindergarten through 12th-grade state public schools by almost 20 percent below the required level. ...

Cancer has claimed the life of Drew Albritton, four-year-old son of Mike and Elizabeth Albritton of St. Louis. Elizabeth Albritton is the former Elizabeth Carroll, a Dexter native and DHS graduate. The child's grandparents, Dean and Carolyn Carroll, reside in Dexter...

Dexter's four seniors -- Hannah Noe, Alison Jarrell, Erika Cobb and Paige Patterson --receive the second-place plaque at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo., Saturday night after a hard fought game against Incarnate Word Academy. The Lady Cats took a 60-43 loss in the Class 4 state championship. See the full story and photos from the game on today's sports pages...

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com Dexter 7th grader Chaylea Mosby measures a serve Monday night against Scott City. The Dexter 7th grade beat Scott City 25-6, 25-15 Monday. The Dexter 8th grade beat Scott City 25-1, 25-13. Dexter will host Bernie in its Hits for Hope Game Tuesday night at Dexter...

Verline McCollough, daughter of the late George Granville Ferguson and Ethel Aldred Ferguson, was born on April 8, 1924, in Bloomfield and died on March 22, 2014, at her residence in Dudley at the age of 89. Mrs. McCollough was a homemaker and a member of the Sugar Tree General Baptist Church...