Stories from Wednesday, April 1, 2015

PIEDMONT, Mo. - The Bloomfield high school golf team placed first in a nine-hole match Monday at Canyon Club in Piedmont. Bloomfield calculated a first-place score of 190, Clearwater placed second with a team score of 221 and Doniphan finished third with a score of 224...

Stoddard County March 31, 2015 Chuck Curtis Baker, 42, of Malden, was arrested on two warrants for failure to appear. Total bond was set at $5,150, with $150 being cash only, and he remains in jail at this time. Melissa Gail Chambers, 43, of Essex, was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear. Bond was set at $250 cash and she bonded out...

Voters in three cities in Stoddard County will decide on a ballot issue that would allow the cities not to hold a municipal election if there are no contested races on the ballot. Aldermen in Essex, Dudley and Puxico in Stoddard County have approved putting the issue on the April 7 ballot. City officials at Bell City did not approve putting the issue on the ballot...

David Stone, Monsanto DSM, (left) presented a check for $2,500 to Kenneth Keller (center) as a winner in "America's Farmers Grow Communities", sponsored by the Monsanto Fund. The program enrolls farmers for a chance to win $2,500, which is then donated to the farmer's nonprofit of choice. Kenneth Keller selected Richland R-I School District to receive the donation. Also pictured is Richland School Board President Kevin Evans (right)...

The glory days of America's wild frontier are long gone, but guests can still take a step back in time and relive a little history at the 6th Annual Stoddard County Spring Festival in Dexter's East City Park this weekend. The Spring Festival will host a Walk Back in Time Living History Encampment placing visitors back in the 1880s with the smell of kellte corn in the air. ...

Several issues -- from Common Core to whether more funding should be placed locally toward Early Childhood Education -- were on the agenda at Monday night's Dexter School Board Candidate's Forum. Six candidates, including one incumbent, are vying for two seats on the local board, to be determined in the municipal election next Tuesday, April 7...

According to its Facebook fan page, Human Zoo is "arguably one of the top five rock bands to ever come out of Advance." Band members Todd Mayberry, Scott Slinkard, Andy French, and Youn Gonzales play with a spirit of humor and lighthearted fun that began over 20 years ago...

Lindsey Landowski, assistant refuge manager at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, where she developed a love of nature. "My parents would push us out the door in the morning and we wouldn't come back until that night. My dad was into the outdoors. We were always camping and doing things outside," she recalls...

BERNIE, Mo. - The Advance Hornets eighth grade volleyball team pulled off three consecutive upsets to take home the top prize at the Bernie eighth grade volleyball tournament Tuesday night. Advance finished third in Pool A of the eight-team tournament Monday. Bloomfield won Pool A, Bernie finished second in Pool A and Sikeston was fourth in Pool A...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Dexter Bearcats varsity boys tennis team beat defending district champion Notre Dame 7-2 Tuesday afternoon. Dexter won five of six singles matches and two of three doubles matches. Notre Dame edged Dexter 5-4 in the junior varsity contest...