Stories from Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Stoddard County and most of the Bootheel did poorly on recent health rankings by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest philanthropic organization in the nation. Stoddard County received a ranking of 102 out of 114 counties in the state in the Health Outcomes ranking, but ranked 74th in the overall ranking which also includes Health Factors. Mississippi, Dunklin, New Madrid and Pemiscot Counties were the bottom four in the rankings in Health Outcomes...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- County Clerk Joe Watson told the Stoddard County Commission that 156 absentee ballots had been cast as of Monday morning in the municipal election set for Tuesday. He said ballots were being delivered to the various precincts across the county on Monday in preparation for the election...

A retirement celebration is planned for Sunday, April 12, at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church Parish Hall at 102 E. Castor St. in Dexter to honor Lawson Metcalf for his work heading up the city's Parks and Recreation Department. Metcalf will officially step down on April 17, 2015, following a 29-year long career with the department...

Regional Healthcare's Foundation Mother to Mother program has partnered with Dexter Parents as Teachers and Southeast Building Blocks to receive a grant from the Infant Mortality Initiative. As part of that grant, a workshop will be presented on Thursday, April 9 at Cox' Corner in Dexter on preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, more commonly known as SIDS...

Dexter Fire Chief Don Seymore has been with the fire department for 35 years; and, in that time he said there have been five deaths as a result of someone getting trapped inside a grain bin. "Five deaths is far too many," Seymore commented. "That's why I'm glad we're going to have this training."...

The Advance Hornets trailed state-ranked Bernie by just one run after four innings of play but were unable to put together the finish needed to hand the Mules its first loss. Bernie outscored Advance 6-0 in the final three innings on its way to a 10-3 road victory Monday...

ADVANCE, Mo. - The Advance Hornets softball team tallied five runs in the first inning and hung on for a 7-4 victory against the Bernie Mules Monday afternoon. Hannah Clark was the winning pitcher and went 2 for 4 at the plate to lead Advance (5-1). Jordan Eaton finished 2 for 3 at the plate for the Hornets...

The brackets have been released for the SCAA middle school volleyball tournaments. The tournaments are slated to take place April 11, 13 and 14 at Advance High School. Bernie is the top-seeded in the seventh grade bracket and Dexter is the top-seeded in the eighth grade bracket...

With heart and dedication six Dexter athletes competed in their first sanctioned tournament on March 1, 2015. The AAU Missouri State wrestling championships, that was held in St. Charles MO. To youth wrestlers all over the state this event is considered to be "The Big Show". ...

Barbara Lou Mayhall, daughter of the late Henry Albert and Evelyn Jewell Walker Cagle, was born in Dexter on December 25, 1953, and died at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff on April 6, 2015, at the age of 61. She had lived in Abilene, Texas for many years before returning to Southeast Missouri one year ago...