Stories from Friday, October 23, 2015

Dexter Police Oct. 21-22, 2015 At 12:32 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 20, Dexter Police arrested Joshua D. Johnson, 21, of Dexter, on a Malden City warrant. At 10:20 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 20, Dexter Police arrested Ian Jacob Curd, 18, of Essex, on a summons for the charge of shoplifting...

Sunflowers abound this fall on the farmland of Jeff and Sherry Dukes northwest of Dexter. With an appreciation for wildlife, Jeff Dukes planted this crop in August near a creek on the family farm. The sunflowers began to bloom just before the recent frost and now cover about an acre of land on the farm. The black seeds of the sunflowers attract doves, quail, turkeys and in some areas, pheasants...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- If sales taxes generated in the county are any indication, the local economy has remained pretty flat so far in 2015. Total sales tax receipts this year (Dec. 2014 -- Sept. 2015) have been $2,378,860.65. That is only $12,071.62 ahead of the $2,366,789.03 received last year for the same period...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Sen. Doug Libla (R-Dist. 25) told the Stoddard County Commission this week that he was continuing to push for a way to raise funding for transportation in the state to prevent the loss of federal matching revenue and to finance future maintenance and improvements for bridges and roads...

PUXICO, Mo. -- An ongoing investigation by the SEMO Drug Task Force yielded some very positive results on Tuesday, Oct. 20. According to a press release from the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department, Joseph L. Caulfield, 49, of Puxico; and Stanley T. Chubb, 48, of Zalma were both arrested after a warrant was served at Caulfield's residence at 1096 County Road 406, outside of Puxico...

Bernie and Bloomfield are slated to host sectional and quarterfinal volleyball playoffs Saturday. The Class 1 playoffs take place at Bernie and the Class 2 playoffs take place at Bloomfield. Sectional winners square off in quarterfinal action Saturday night about 6 p.m...

A Dexter resident brought this mysterious looking tool into The Daily Statesman offices Thursday to see if readers might be able to positively identify it and its intended use. It measures about four feet tall, and making it unique is the slotted, but closed in bottom portion of the device. ...

Lurton Oron Dukes, age 100, of Spencer, Okla., died Oct. 22, 2015. Lurton was born Feb. 28, 1915, in Cumberland City, Tenn., to James William Young Dukes and Cora Della Hamilton. Lurton left school in the 6th grade to work on the family farm. He farmed from age 12 until age 92. He served in the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1934-1935. He worked for Brown Shoe Company as a shoe laster (attaching sole to the top of shoes) retiring after 27 years...

Verna M. Jones, 81, of Cape Girardeau formerly of Jackson died Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015, at Fountainbleau Lodge in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 17, 1933, in Oak Ridge, the daughter of Leo R. and Pearl M. Dambach Petzoldt. She and Stanley Jones were married Feb. 3, 1952...

Bob Shaw, a resident of Dexter, died Oct. 23, 2015, in Highland, Ill., at the age of 87. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home of Dexter.