Stories from Saturday, May 17, 2014

"Because of where we are, not having a right to work law is killing us." Those words were spoken by Ed Dust, director of Sikeston Economic Development, at the regular meeting of the Bootheel Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission (BRP-EDC) Thursday...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A former Bloomfield-area pastor accused of conspiring to kill his wife in a January 2013 contract arson attempt may be arraigned in a Stoddard County courtroom as early as Monday. Donald Lafferty, 69, most recently of Queche, Vt., was arrested at 11:20 p.m. ...

BERNIE, Mo. -- Bradley Freed and Tanner Mayberry have been named the top two students of the 2014 Bernie High School class. Bradley Christopher Freed is the 2014 Class Valedictorian. He is graduating with a grade point average of 4.2571. Freed is the son of Chris and Debbie Freed, with academic honors that include the George Washington Carver Award, the President's Award for educational Excellence, Student of theYear Nominee, Faculty Awards in Health and Government, Elks Student of the Month, and Honorable Mention in Missouri Scholars Top 100.. ...

Diplomas were issued to 135 Dexter High School graduates Friday night in ceremonies held at the Bearcat Event Center. Among them were, from left, Valedictorian Jacob Robinson, Sarah Richardson, Ashley Long, Krysta Winstead, and Student Body President Zach Sims...

It's a little known fact locally that seven individuals from Dexter worked on the atomic bomb during World War II. Dubbed "The Manhattan Project," a group of scientists including J. Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi and many others set out in the mid 1940s to develop the world's first nuclear weapon. Even Albert Einstein worked on the project...

Note: A photo gallery of the Bernie-Saxony Lutheran game is available at this link: View Photos Here BERNIE, Mo. - Bernie Mules baseball coach Darrin Shipman believes defense has been one of his team's biggest keys to success during its double-digit winning streak in the 2014 spring season...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The fourth-seeded Dexter Bearcats gave top-seeded Notre Dame everything it wanted in a boys tennis district semifinal Friday. Dexter forced three sets in five of six singles matches. Notre Dame avoided playing doubles by putting together strong third-set performances in every match as it outlasted Dexter 6-0...