Stories from Saturday, February 14, 2015

Mailey Kent (left) and Terry Pratt (right) were crowned as the Stoddard County ARC king and queen Friday during the ARC Valentine's party.

Bus drivers in the Dexter School District wore shirts displaying the words, "It Takes Heart to be a Driver," in observance of Valentine's Day. There are 27 bus drivers in the district, 19 of which are full time. Shown above from left are Dee Wamble, Jo Ann Rodery, Vicky Noyes, Curtiss Baisden, Renda Burton, Linda McCollough, Leonard Madigan, Brad LaRue and Frances Rossi. Debbie Quoos also had a shirt, but was not present for the photo...

When Jim Baker retired from the machinists union, he and his wife moved home to Dexter from St. Louis. Since then, he has been smoking ribs for the Elks and playing the Missouri Lottery at Town & Country, 707 Specialty Dr., in Dexter. He made his regular purchase of Draw Games tickets on Jan. 28 and included a couple of Scratchers tickets. One of those tickets was a $100,000 winner...

Approximately 1,000 Dexter residents were without power and two homes were evacuated Thursday night while a ruptured gas line shot flames, as a result of a single-vehicle accident on Highway AF. According to the report, at 10:41 p.m., Thursday night, a pickup truck, which was driven by Charles Walters, 20, of Bernie ran off the road, went down an embankment, and struck a utility pole and gas line belonging to Ameren...

BERNIE, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon today was joined by Missouri Department of Agriculture Director Richard Fordyce and regional agriculture industry leaders at the Martin Rice Warehouse in Stoddard County for a roundtable discussion on the economic benefits of increased trade to Cuba, especially for Missouri rice and cotton farmers...

"Without the tremendous support of the community and the work of our volunteers, there is no way we could offer this program." So says Stoddard County Senior Center Administrator Dena Rawson who is grateful for the support in the community to provide nutritional meals to residents at the center or in their home...

DEXTER, Mo. - The third time proved to be the charm for the Dexter Bearcats varsity boys basketball program against the Kennett Indians Friday night. Dexter scored the first seven points and led the rest of the way as it secured a 61-45 victory against Kennett on Senior Night at the Bearcat Event Center...

BERNIE, Mo. - The Bernie Mules varsity boys basketball program reached the 20-win plateau yet again Friday night with a 76-61 win against the Malden Green Wave. Malden played Bernie even in the second half after being outscored 41-26 in the first half...