By Annabeth Miiler,
ShowMe Times Editor

After more than 30 years, it was time for a bit of a ‘facelift.’

The Dexter Police Station is undergoing an important transition this summer as construction work is under way right alongside the day-to-day work of the Dexter Police Department. A long-awaited expansion and remodeling project is underway at the facility on Cooper Street.

"The original building was built in the early 1970s,” said Police Chief Sammy Stone. "There were two additions to the original structure, but the look and functionality of the facility were not greatly changed."

Now in a new millennium, there are new needs for a community police station. Stone said the new structure will take into consideration the needs of technology – including wiring and Internet and new office equipment as well as improvements in law enforcement tools.

“There’s a greater need for technology today,” Stone said during a tour of the station and the addition.

Many changes within the existing facility will allow for great records storage, a cyber crime lab, and new tools for the Dexter police force. The old portion of the facility will be remodeled to house new administrative offices, new communications department, work space for officers, new booking room, as well as a new entrance facing Cooper Street.

“We’ve really needed this for quite a while,” Stone said. He joined the Dexter Police Department in the early 1970s, and has witnessed first-hand the previous two remodeling projects. This project, however, is the most significant change to the facility in his tenure.

The contractor for the project is Walker Construction of Dexter. Architects are Dille & Travel, LLC, from Poplar Bluff.

Stone said funding for the project is from two sources – a USDA Rural Development grant of $85,000, as well as money set aside for the expansion by the department for the last several years.

By Annabeth Miiler,
ShowMe Times Editor

Plenty of "oohs and aahs" were heard Sunday evening as Dexter heralded in the Independence Day holiday with the traditional city fireworks display.

Crowds packed into East City Park and along Airport Road to view the fireworks that had plenty of beautiful fireworks and enough "bang" for thrills for everyone.

The holiday continues on Monday with a parade in downtown Dexter for kids, and picnics and family fun throughout the day.

Photo Above: Crowds enjoyed the traditional Independence Day fireworks display in Dexter on Sunday evening/ (SMT Photo by Annabeth Miller)

And, as reminder of what the holiday is all about, the ShowMe Times is proud to publish this transcript of the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776 and signed by 56 brave men.(Source: United States Archives)

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IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

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The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Ultimate reinvestment expected between $1.5 billion and $2 billion

Jefferson City, Mo. - Just five weeks after the tornado, insurance companies serving consumers in the Joplin area have paid more than $509 million in claims for residential, personal and commercial property damaged by the EF-5 tornado that struck the area on May 22. The insurance companies have reported their preliminary claims and payment numbers to the Missouri Department of Insurance, which are as follows:

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"This will be the largest insurance event in Missouri history, and these numbers confirm that the insurance industry is playing a vital role in Joplin's recovery," said John M. Huff, director of the Department of Insurance. "This is half a billion dollars already reinvested into the local economy, and we expect it to be three to four times that amount by the time all claims are settled."

The Department of Insurance has maintained close oversight of insurers' activities in Joplin since the tornado.

The department has provided technical expertise to city officials, as well as other state agencies and the federal government. It has also provided guidance to insurance companies on the requirements of Missouri laws and regulations and emergency rules issued to protect consumers in Jasper and Newton counties. The department has staffed the State of Missouri State Resource, Recovery & Rebuilding Center since it was opened by Gov. Jay Nixon on June 7.

Huff says the insurance industry's response to the tornado thus far has been commendable. At the same time, he says the department continues to receive a steady stream of consumer inquiries and complaints. He encourages consumers to contact the department at insurance.mo.gov or call the Insurance Consumer Hotline at 800-726-7390.

About the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions & Professional Registration

The Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration (DIFP) is responsible for consumer protection through the regulation of financial industries and professionals. The department's seven divisions work to enforce state regulations both efficiently and effectively while encouraging a competitive environment for industries and professions to ensure consumers have access to quality products.

A University spokesman confirmed to the ShowMe Times that fall admission referrals will include prospective students living outside a 50-Mile radius of Cape Girardeau, including Dexter.

By Annabeth Miiler,
ShowMe Times Editor

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Southeast Missouri State University announced Thursday that it plans to begin deferring admission as the university faces housing restraints and another year of projected record enrollment.

Beginning July 11 applications for the Fall 2011 semester at Southeast will be deferred until Spring 2012 for applicants living outside a 50-mile radius of Cape Girardeau.

A spokesman for Southeast confirmed to the ShowMe Times on Thursday afternoon that Dexter students will be considered outside the 50-mile radius.

The action was taken in light of a large anticipated beginning freshman class, said Dr. Debbie Below, assistant vice president for enrollment management/director of admissions. The fall 2011 semester at Southeast begins Aug. 22.

"We are expecting a large freshmen class of approximately 1,900 students this fall," she said, and Southeast's residence hall system is at its capacity. “This is the second consecutive year the University anticipates enrolling 1,900 freshmen and nearly 700 new transfer students.”

Below says the admissions deferral applies to students who have already applied as well as future applicants, including traditional, new first-time applicants outside the 50-mile radius and new transfer applicants outside the 50-miles radius who do not meet the residency requirement.

The deadline for these students to complete the admission process and submit their $150 housing deposit and contract is July 8.

To date, the University already has 2,981 housing contracts in place for this fall, said Dr. Bruce Skinner, director of Residence Life at Southeast. He says Southeast currently has 120 more housing contracts than it had at this time last year.

Southeast had 2,937 students living in its residence halls on move-in day in August 2010.

“We are full everywhere,” Skinner said. “There are no floors we are holding. We have identified every traditional residence hall room and have looked at assigning students into them.”

Below said Southeast will continue to accept admissions applications for the fall 2011 semester for students within commuting distance of Southeast who are not requesting on-campus housing.

"Students who are not required to live on campus can continue to apply," she said. "We can just no longer supply them with campus housing."

Beginning freshmen or new transfer students with fewer than 57 completed credit hours, who are under 21, unmarried, not supporting dependent children, not a veteran and not living with a parent are required to live on campus at Southeast.

A Dexter native has graduated from the 93rd Missouri State Highway Patrol Recruit Class and has been assigned to Troop E in Southeast Missouri.

Captain George E. Ridens, commanding officer of Troop E, Poplar Bluff, announced this week that Christopher B. Christian of Dexter graduated from the Patrol Academy on June 24 and will report for duty in Troop E on July 11.

Christian is a 2005 graduate of Dexter High School and received a bachelor’s of science degree in management from Missouri State University in Springfield.

Christian has been assigned to Zone 8 in Troop E, which serves the citizens of New Madrid and Pemiscot counties. His field-training officer will be Trooper Brooks Pratt.

Two other Southeast Missouri residents were also members of the Academy class that graduated this month. Devin W. Foust and David P. Rinehart, both of Sikeston, were a part of the class. Both have been assigned to Zone 6, which serves Scott, Mississippi and New Madrid counties.

Others troopers new to Troop E include:

• Trooper Conrad Purnell of Kansas City; assigned to Zone 8 (New Madrid and Pemiscot counties)
• Trooper Eric M. Reynolds, a native of Mt. Zion, Illinois; assigned to Zone 3 (Wayne County)