By Annabeth Miller, SMT editor

Candidates for Dexter city positions were on hand first thing Tuesday morning when city offices were open and filing for the April 2012 election could begin.

Five candidates had signed “on the dotted line” and were officially running for reelection by late Tuesday morning. Those who have filed for office include:

• Joe Weber, for reelection to a four-year term as mayor; Weber was first elected as mayor in 2002
• Crystal Allstun, for reelection to a four-year term as city collector. Allstun first became city collector in 2002; she is seeking her second four-year term
• Jerry D. Corder, reelection to a two-year term as alderman from Ward One
• Ray Pixley, reelection to a two-year term as alderman from Ward Three 

In addition, Tim Aslin filled for election to a one-year term to fill an unexpired term on the board. Aslin was appointed to the Board of Aldermen earlier this year from Ward Two to fill an opening left by the resignation of Rick Hux.

Also this morning, one person filed to seek one of two positions open on the Dexter R-XI Board of Education.  Allen L. Massey of Dexter filed the first morning for one of two positions on the board.

Two positions on the Dexter R-XI Board of Education will be on the April ballot. School board members serve a 3-year term. Positions on the ballot will be those currently held by Rick Williams and Kenny Pope.

Interested persons have until Jan. 17, 2012 to file for office for the April 3, 2012 election. Filing for city positions may be completed at the Dexter City Administration Building on Stoddard Street during regular business hours, except those days the city offices are closed for holidays.

Persons interested in filing for positions on school board may do so at the Dexter Schools Administrative Offices on Brown Pilot Lane during business hours expect on those days the offices are closed for the holidays.

The last day to register or change an address for voter registration for the April 3, 2012 election is March 7, 2012.

By Annabeth Miller, SMT Editor

Candidate filing will open tomorrow (Tuesday) for city and school board elections in Missouri.

Filing will open for the April 3 local elections on Tuesday. Dec. 13 for city candidates running for office in the city. In Dexter, four aldermanic as well as the mayoral and city collector positions will be on the ballot.

Three positions on the Board of Aldermen for two-year terms will be on the ballot. Positions on the ballot include those currently held by Ward I Alderman Jerry Corder, Ward II Alderman Kent Essner, and Ward II Alderman Ray Pixley.

In addition, Ward II Alderman Tim Aslin’s position will be on the ballot. Aslin was appointed earlier this year to the board following the resignation of Rick Hux until the next election. This a one-year position to fill the unexpired term.

Two city positions will also be on April’s ballot – mayor and city collector. Joe Weber has led the city as mayor since 2002. The mayor serves a two-year term. Crystal Allstun is the city collector; the collector serves a four-year term. 

Candidates for city positions may file beginning at 8 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 13, at the Dexter City Administration Building on Stoddard Street in Downtown Dexter. Individuals may file on business days, Monday-Friday except on days when city offices are closed for holidays.

Two positions on the Dexter R-XI Board of Education will be on the April ballot. School board embers serve a 3-year term. Positions on the ballot will be those currently held by Rick Williams and Kenny Pope.

Candidates for school board positions may file beginning at 8 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 13 at the Dexter R-XI Administrative Offices on Brown Pilot Lane in Dexter. Individuals may file on business days, Monday-Friday except on days when school offices are closed for holidays.

The last day for interested persons to file for either city or school board positions is Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012.

Each candidate filing for an elected position shall receive and sign for a “Candidate Acknowledgment,” a summary of Conflict of Interest and Campaign Finance Laws over which the Missouri Ethics Commission has enforcement powers pursuant to Chapter 105 RSMo and Chapter 130 RSMo.

The last day to register to vote or to change voter registration for this election is March 7, 2012.

The city of Dexter has announced a road closure in the city on Monday morning.

City Administrator Mark Stidham announced that North Locust Street near the Dexter Housing Authority would be closed from West Rainey to West Taylor for leak repair on Monday morning.

Stidham says the city apologizes for an inconvenience the closure may create, and assures drives the work with be done as swiftly as possible.

Persons with any questions may contact city officials at the City Administration Building at 573.624.5959.

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt strongly condemned the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed rule today, which would restrict youth from performing some duties on farms.

The Obama Administration is considering revisions to federal agricultural work rules that effectively would bar teens younger than 16 from engaging in a number of traditional chores for pay — including detasseling.

Opponents of the rules across the Farm Belt argue that they are in part an attack on a way of life, one foreign to Beltway bureaucrats and one that should be encouraged in an era of rising childhood obesity rates and increasingly sedentary lifestyles.

“Having grown up working on my family’s dairy farm, I am outraged by the Department of Labor’s ridiculous attempts to restrict other young Americans from doing the same,” said Blunt.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Some farmers are opposing new rules proposed by the federal government that would restrict the chores children can be hired to perform in the nation's fields, including driving tractors and rounding up cattle in corrals on horseback.”

“Farmers and ranchers care deeply about the safety of those working on their farms,” Blunt continued. “But this rule is absurd, and it would hurt these job creators who rely on young people to assist with the day-to-day operations of American farms.”

“The next generation of farmers and ranchers need hands-on experience and skills to meet the challenge of feeding a rapidly growing world. Not only would this rule prevent young people from learning how to safely work in this industry, but it would harm programs like 4-H and FFA that help foster and develop critical skills for future leaders in agriculture.”

The American Farm Bureau is heading a coalition of more than 70 ag groups that have petitioned the Labor Department to reconsider what would be the first major rewrite of farm labor standards since the 1970s.

“We have no desire at all to have young teenagers working in jobs that are inappropriate or entail too much risk,” said Bob Stallman, president of the farm bureau.“Farmers and ranchers are more interested than anyone else in assuring the safety of farming operations, and their right to operate their farms with family members is specifically permitted by Congress. We don’t want to see those rights infringed.”

The department is reviewing those laws, which also would cover work with bulls, cows and other farm animals and farm machinery, at the urging of groups such as the Child Labor Coalition and the National Safety Council.