Stories from Saturday, August 9, 2014

EPHRATA, Wash. - The Charleston Fighting Squirrels suffered a 5-0 loss to the host Columbia Basin River Dogs of Ephrata Washington late Friday night at the Senior Babe Ruth World Series at Johnson O-Brien Stadium. Cam Walker threw a one-hit shutout against Charleston. He struck out seven and walked two in seven innings pitched...

WILLOW SPRINGS-Route C in Bollinger and Stoddard Counties will be reduced to one lane with a 10-foot width restriction as contractor crews seal coat the roadway. This section of roadway is located from Route 51 in Bollinger County to Route 91 in Stoddard County...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man is in serious condition in a St. Louis, Mo., hospital after being run over by a van Wednesday morning on Highland Drive near the Poplar Bluff High School. Lew Tinker and his 53-year-old son, Lester Tinker, apparently had been mowing a yard at 1409 Highland Drive, according to Poplar Bluff Police Patrolman Jamie Sample, who investigated the accident...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A federal judge will hear a lawsuit challenging Missouri's ban on gay marriage after state Attorney General Chris Koster intervened in the case and moved it out of state court. The switch could put the Missouri case on a more direct route through the federal appellate courts at a time when U.S. judges have been increasingly striking down other states' gay-marriage bans...

Police Chief Sammy Stone with the Dexter Police Department announces that sometime during the month of August 2014, the Dexter Police Department will conduct a sobriety check point within the city limits of Dexter MO. The operation will be conducted by the Dexter Police Department in cooperation with other local area law enforcement agencies...

The Stoddard County Health Coalition is planning a Health Fair to be held Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Southwest Elementary gym from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It marks the first time for the Coalition sponsored Health Fair. The sponsors of the fair hope it will become an annual event. Admission to the Health Fair is free...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Supreme Court canceled an impending execution for one man Thursday and instead scheduled a different inmate to die by lethal injection next month. The court did not say why it rescinded its Sept. 10 execution order for Leon Taylor, but its decision came a few days after Taylor's attorneys had indicated in a court document they wouldn't have enough time to work on his case before the execution...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Corn Growers Association (MCGA) President Jim Stuever of Dexter was elected to the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) board of directors at the annual delegates meeting in Omaha, Neb., July 30. Stuever is the first Missouri corn grower to serve on the board in over 15 years. For more than two years, Stuever has led the USGC Biotechnology Advisory Team, helping build consensus and aid policy development to enable trade where biotechnology is concerned...

At the age of eight, sitting in the pew at church, Beth Shaffer felt the call being placed on her life to serve others as a missionary. She wanted to start immediately, but it would be 21 years later before she got started. A resident of Dexter, Shaffer educates fourth-graders at Sacred Heart Elementary School in Poplar Bluff. Her time off during the summer afforded her a unique opportunity -- one which has motivated her to pursue her calling and saw her going to spend a week in Ecuador...

PROVIDED PHOTO 2014 Advance graduate Allie Below recently signed a letter of intent to play college volleyball at Lakeland College. Pictured at the signing left to right standing are: USAV coach Carl Dean Ritter, Advance assistant volleyball coach Kaci Cooper and Advance Athletic Director James Hamlin; pictured left to right seated are: mother & Advance volleyball coach Dana Below, Allie Below, father Jim Below...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - The Bloomfield Wildcats enter the 2014 fall baseball season hoping to put together another winning season with new a group of leaders. The Wildcats graduated five seniors off of last season's spring squad that finished 14-10 and placed second in the SCAA baseball tournament...